I had a weird voting experience today. I didn't get all the pre-election crap you usually get in the mail the last time I registered, so I registered again. They convinced me to sign up for an absentee ballot, even though that seems like a waste of paper to me and I'm not really keen on killing more trees.

Anyway, my boat-load of election materials arrives on cue and I fill out my cheat sheet and head for my polling place at the playground next door. I also had the brilliant idea to unload my Halloween candy by dropping it off there in a bag labeled "Thanks for Voting!"

Maybe my 5.6 pound all chocolate variety pack threw them, but the volunteers seemed to think I needed my absentee ballot to vote. So I go back to the house, transfer my cheat sheet answers to my absentee ballot, then go back. They fuss around a bit and decide they have to write "Surrender" on the envelope and put it in this special bin. That seems odd to me, but I sign my name to say I voted and go on my way.

Five minutes later, one of the volunteers tracks me down. Turns out writing "Surrender" on the absentee ballot makes it void, so now I have to go back to the polling place to fill out another one. I'm thinking, the only thing that made sense about the situation up until then was saving paper by using the ballot mailed to me. But now that one is "void" and I have to fill out another one. That is so fucked up.

Anyway, there was a time [inlink]twisted,5[/inlink] when I enjoyed throwing curve balls at election booth volunteers, but I am so over that now. Those guys have enough to worry about without me throwing a wrench into the works.

p.s. - some guy named Adam, identifying himself as being from the Democratic party, just stopped by to make sure I voted. Hell ya! Twice!

"A review, survey, or contemplation of things in the past."

I spend way too much time in retrospection already. And the rest in anticipation. Which doesn't leave much time for whatever the hell is supposed to come in between. Wow, that sucks.

But I'll indulge one more time.

Halloween in the Castro:

Hard to describe - kind of like SF itself. Better to experience in person.

I wish I'd been more prepared. You'd think the anticipation stage would have taken care of that, but unfortunately I'm also a consummate procrastinator, so all that planning is mostly putting off grandiose plans until the last minute. Maybe I shouldn't have spent Halloween day poking around San Jose until Paul was done with the conference that day. Makes a good excuse, but I know damn well it wouldn't have made any difference!

I can't believe I didn't get a single trick-or-treater. What's up with that? And who's going to eat all this candy?

Hotel TV:

If you tend to overdose on retrospection and anticipation, just spend 10 hours in a hotel bed watching TV. That'll cure you! And if that doesn't work, try Salvia (see below).

Salvia:

No comment. BTW, who the hell is going to eat all this Halloween candy? I am in big trouble.

(e:Iriesara) :

I'm so glad you came up! I hope it was worth changing your flight for our 15 minutes at the Monterey Aquarium. OMG, I still can't believe that.

p.s. - There is so much more to say, but this damn Halloween candy is calling out to me...

(p.p.s. - new user sound.)

I had a weird dream [inlink]paul,4711[/inlink] in super slow-motion the other day. The universe as I know it was tearing open to reveal a new one. My field of vision was literally folding open from the center of my head like being in a flip-book with both sides peeling open at 15 frames per second. Slow enough to recognize I was being pulled into oblivion from both sides like a "split vertical out" digital video transition, but fast enough to know there wasn't much time left. I could already feel and see the tips of my fingers being diced away in time with the relentless "tic tic tic" of each flipping frame like an old movie reel.

I realized the new "real" universe was infinitely bigger than my imaginary one. I couldn't believe everything I thought was real -- including me -- was really just a fabrication of my mind. How could so many intricate and intertwined perceptions not be real? Why make me "sentient" if it wasn't going to be real?

I watched the receding edges of my world moving inward. I noticed a candy wrapper on the rug (damn rug!) next to my hand and wondered how on earth so much detail -- all the backstory to that candy wrapper and the rest of my life -- couldn't be real. Then I saw (e:Paul) sitting on the rug (damn rug!) beyond the candy wrapper. He was smiling at me like he knew something crazy was happening, but he was totally ok with it. I wasn't sure if I was still projecting him as a figment of my imagination or if he really was real.

In some accounts of my dream, I clutched a finger of his outstretched hand and said "you're really here!" Things were getting hazy again at this point after being crystal clear in the middle of my dream, but I do have a vague recollection of that. In any case, eventually I managed to wake up and synch my body back to my own reality time enough to get the wrapper off my new Little Britain DVD so we could watch a few episodes.

I sure am glad not to be a speck on the butt of a flea in a larger universe! For now at least, haha.

A few more pix from the past week.


Castro on Halloween


Firecrackers? Or gunshots?


Monterey Aquarium


Tea tasting


Golden Gate bridge engulfed in a sudden mid-day fog


We use the photo op anyway


Bright sunshine 10 minutes later at the beach


Soaking up 15 more minutes of sun before heading to the airport


There's still more to see. Come back soon!


Naturally Pookie is despondent now that (e:Paul) and (e:Iriesara) are gone. I'd better take him for a walk while it's still sunny out. Maybe it'll cheer me up too. Otherwise, there's always sushi boat, haha.

Peace out and safe travels!

From yesterday...

::Download Flash Video::

I've never been there myself, but I'm sure google maps can help.

I can't believe (e:Paul) arrives tomorrow! It's about freakin' time!

I wish my guest quarters were as well-appointed as (e:PMT)'s. Hell, I wish I had guest quarters! It wasn't until Friday that I even had a sofa to sit on. Although I do have a killer rug. Granted, it's no white shag carpet [inlink]paul,4659[/inlink] BUT, I did manage to get my white shag pillow pup out of storage. I hope (e:Paul) isn't allergic to it, haha.