i got a new chair from macy's to replace my dead couch, and it just arrived! what do you think? i love it!
now i just have to rearrange my whole house to put it in the perfect spot. yay!

standing-room-only "seats"? "Big shoehorn in the sky; Airlines always looking for ways to cram more people into coach"

these and all the space-loss cuts to room for passengers are one of the biggest reasons i hate to fly. it's too much of a burden and it's too cramped. i feel like a sardine and i can't move. i hate the whole experience of flying. hate it

one guy's ode to journey's ESC4P3 album:

The album begins with "Don't Stop Believin'," a song that just may have magical properties within its opening piano signature. Seriously, lock yourself in a room right now and listen to that keyboard part 35 times in a row. Sick of it yet? If you said yes, then you're a filthy liar.

Now here's the mind-blowing part. As any serious "Escape" fan will tell you, that's only the third- or maybe fourth-best track on the album. The next song, "Stone in Love," is even better -- and part of Journey's master plan to tease you with a fast song, then a slow song ("Who's Crying Now"), another fast one ("Keep on Runnin' ") and another slow one ("Still They Ride").

After that, you've reached "Escape," a five-minute, 16-second track with only four intelligible phrases. (They are: "They won't take me, they won't break me," "He's on the streets breakin' all the rules," "I've got dreams I'm livin' for" and "This is my escape, yes I'm on my way.") And yet it still prevails as the best song on the album -- maybe on any album.

Listening to the song "Escape" is the equivalent of getting a personal two-hour life-coaching session by Tony Robbins and then smoking PCP. Each time "Escape" finishes, I am completely convinced that I can dunk a basketball, break a 2-by-4 in half with my bare hands and eat 25 hot dogs in a minute.

you know, i've never heard the full ESC4P3 album by journey (and i call myself a fan) well, now i know what i have to do

from my mother:

jessie and i are taking a roadtrip to san diego over memorial day weekend. and with this book at our side, we'll have plenty of wacky things to keep us busy...

I'm the decider, and I decide what's best.

such profound eloquence... not. sounds more like a child in a playground whining to get their way. such stupidity

from my mother:

what i love the most out of all of this nostalgia and remembrance of the centennial of the terrible disaster that befell the city i call home now is the idea that



there is always hope

even in our darkest hours

another fun thing they did for the centennial was turning the regular newspaper today into a retro-historical piece by placing on top of today's front page cover a front page cover from the days after the 1906 earthquake which made the reminder of the true calamity of the event. it was a terrific artistic add-on to a city-wide remembrance.

so i happened to be downtown this afternoon-- after all the festivities (morning event and day parade)-- and found myself in front of lotta's fountain. it still had two wreaths hanging on it and many flowers in its wells. below are some photos i took with my camera phone: (click on each for a bigger photo)



and here's my futile, terrible attempts to photo myself with the fountain with my camera phone:

The Great Quake: 1906-2006, Day 10 (a lot of pieces today as it's the big anniversary day):

From smoke and ruin, a new city
As with Katrina, federal role caused discord
Rising from the ashes
Bracing for the next 'big one'

and an early story about this morning's festivities, with a few photos of the memorial at Lotta's Fountain:
Thousands in SF celebrate, mourn quake's 100th anniversary

beginning today, i will start posting photos, one at a time, from my mother:


if you have interest in her photographs or would like more information about her photography in general, email me

"Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We May Have to Go to Oakland."
The Great Quake: 1906-2006, Day 9: United by loss, survival spirit and A cultural turning point

today's first piece above includes this lovely jewel for jessie:
Complicating matters were the damaged sewers, which prompted civil authorities to prohibit the use of bathrooms in houses for several days. It is difficult to find an account of how the refugees coped with sanitation -- such matters were not discussed in public a century ago. More than likely, the military used battlefield tactics: field latrines. Whatever the method, it was effective. No outbreaks of disease materialized.

The Great Quake: 1906-2006, Day 7: The last stand and Exhibits offer glimpses into post-quake era

The Great Quake: 1906-2006, Day 8: A city walker steps back 100 years and A great city reduced to rubble.

and here's something really freaky: The great catastrophe of 2006: [The Chronicle] envision[s], with expert help, a 1906-magnitude quake today. What if it happened again? What if the 1906 earthquake repeated itself in 2006?

The Great Quake: 1906-2006, Day 5: The dynamite disaster and Out of chaos came new Chinese America

The Great Quake: 1906-2006, Day 6: The Refugees and Quake sparked boom in East Bay

The Great Quake: 1906-2006's Day 4: The great fire and a fascinating look at Grand S.F. plans that never came to be

as part of my participation in the research study, Project T, i went to the UCSF medical campus here in the city to have a full-body bone scan. the nurse had me lay on a long scanning table and this x-ray machine slowly scanned over my full body one section at a time for about 6 minutes total. then they took several other area sections separately. and that was about it. it's supposed to measure my bone density, as well as my bodyfat index or something like that. i'm not sure. whatever they did, they'll do again in 6 months to see if things have changed any now that i'm on the pill.

and speaking of 'the pill'...

[now censored information, to be asked for in-person only...]

one of the newest and most fascinating things we're learning here about emergency preparedness out here in san francisco is something that people learned from their kids during hurricane katrina in new orleans: the importance of knowing how to text message during a crisis. people in new orleans realized that all the phone lines were jammed, including cell phone lines, and they couldn't communicate. but the youth of the city took it upon themselves to text message each other, and since texting requires less they were able to communicate where their elders couldn't since the technology is new to them. so, as i was saying to my mother last night, if you don't know how, ask your favorite 12 year old how to use the technology and you'll be prepared to communicate in the next crisis.

Along with the San Francisco Chronicle's SPECIAL EARTHQUAKE CENTENNIAL PAGE, there are a great number of other articles and pieces everyday added to the paper and online at the special Page. (For my mother, I'm sending you the hardcopy papers in the mail, but there's so much online that you should check it all out too). Here's some articles of note from yesterday and today, Day 3: The Quake Damage.

And I loved this article entitled Risk of quakes adds spice to life. Here's some excerpts of this great piece:

"I'm nervous just being here right now," he said.

Chicken.

"San Francisco isn't for scaredy-cats," says social commentator Ralph Keyes, author of "Chancing It: Why We Take Risks."

Hundreds of thousands of people make San Francisco their home, and thousands more come in every day to work. Unlike farmers in flood plains or tornado corridors, who depend on their land for survival, most of us could live and work in less-risky places. We could go to, say, Minneapolis or Chicago or Phoenix, cities not likely to be devastated by natural disasters.

Yet here we are. There probably has not been a San Franciscan since 1906 who hasn't been asked, "Aren't you frightened? How can you live in place that's going to fall into the ocean one of these days?"...

"In life there are no guarantees," Garaventa said. "Every day there's a risk, so you have to live life to the fullest. You could walk outside right now and get hit by a bus. You just have to pick a place you love and enjoy it." He's right about walking outside and getting hit, by the way. From 1995 to 2002, 192 people were hit and killed by cars, trucks or buses in San Francisco. The number during that time killed by quakes: 0. (In the 1989 quake, 63 people died, and 3,757 were injured.)...

It is also true that people can't prepare for every risk, so we choose what to fear and how much to fear it. In the Bay Area, we know perfectly well we live atop a brittle, unsettled slab of earth. We know it could crack wide open at any moment. We also know there is nothing we can do about it, short of moving away. And most of us can't imagine living anywhere else.

So we live in denial to some degree -- how could we get through the day if we didn't? But we also know that nobody, no matter where they live, escapes death. Something's going to kill every one of us someday. The point is to live as well as we can while we can.

And if we do meet our end in an earthquake that swallows up the most beautiful city in America, what a way to go.

new post from Ariana, that great Woman of the World, during her adventures in Ecuadar with the Peace Corps:

Hola,

So, I learned a very important lesson the hard way yesterday. I was waiting in a bus terminal in Santo Domingo (the largest city near my site) with 5 other trainees for a bus to Quito, and I had my large REI backpack, my purse, and a plastic bag full of clothes behind me. I turned my back on my stuff to look for one of the girls in our group, and when I turned back, my backpack was gone. Luckily, all my valuable stuff was in my purse (like my Ipod, I would be devastated if I lost my Ipod, it´s the only thing that keeps me sane and it also prevents me from having to talk to annoying people), so they only stole a bag full of dirty clothes. The only real valuable thing was the backpack, and my favorite towel. I loved that towel. I even have a picture of it on my blog. It was a big Land´s End towel with the NOAA symbol on it. Oh well. They also stole my winnie the pooh diary that my mom bought for me, so when I see that dude using my diary, I will know who stole my backpack! Plus my favorite pairs of jeans, and my Ecuador wildlife guide.

The police were kindof weird, the first guy insisted that my friends were confused and they had my backpack, or that I just lost it. He decided that I was being sincere later on. I am not sure why I would lie about something like that. Then the second guy who wrote the police report asked if I was Catholic, Protestant or Christian. I didn´t know why that was important, but I said I was Catholic. Peace Corps said that they are going to reimburse me for what I lost, it´ll just take awhile.

My Peace Corps family has been very kind and supportive. One staff member helped me get a new atm card and went with me to the police station. We are now all together again, and everyone else in the group heard about the loss of my backpack, so my friend Jonathan started a collection for me, and they gave me about $30. I guess each person gave $1-3, which was very kind and generous. It´s actually not really necessary, because I still have money, and there was no money in the backpack. I actually have 2 to 3 times as much money as some of the people who gave me money, but they won´t take their money back. I am a little short on clothes now, but Joseph says I can wear his pants and look like MC Hammer and Lily and Maggie said they´d go shopping with me so I can look like a fashionable Ecuadorian.

Anyway, so i learned my lesson, never turn your back on your stuff and always have the straps looped around your arm or legs. I also lost my address book which had everyone´s numbers and birthdays. So, when you get a chance, please email me your address, phone number, and birthday.

It´s funny, I haven´t cried at all since I´ve been here, and I didn´t cry when I realized I lost my bag, but when I had to tell Mariana, one of the language facilitators what happened, I almost started crying. That´s because Mariana is super sweet and like my mom here. Luckily she lives in Quito, and I can visit her often!

I have been using the theft of my backpack to make people feel sorry for me and get out of training assignments, but I don´t know how long I can make that work. Anyway, now I am older and wiser, and I didn´t lose anything too valuable!

If you don´t email me, I cannot be held responsible for forgetting your birthday =)

Love,
Ariana
(Ariana's blog)

i rearranged my apartment yesterday. i'm getting a new chair for my house as my couch was on its last legs. the chair will arrive in a few weeks, but i had to get rid of the couch asap, so out it went yesterday. jessie helped me put it on the sidewalk last night-- which was a major chore since it's extra long and heavy and doesn't fit through doors or stairs all that easily. here's what was left of it this morning as i went to work:

the centennial of the 1906 earthquake is coming up next week on the 18th. there's two shows galore, community activities, events everywhere, and the local papers are doing various pieces on the subject. the chronicle has a new daily series, and a whole slew of other pieces of interest, at its new SPECIAL EARTHQUAKE CENTENNIAL PAGE. the series will be running through next week and all those links won't work until the day the piece runs, so check back each day for more stories and events. i'll put up a post each day with the newest daily piece here, just for any moms that may be reading my page. here are the first two pieces: Days before the disaster, and The Day the Earth Shook

it's a wild celebration out here in san francisco-- and there's a whole lot of shakin' going on.

i read a fun interview with Lily Tomlin about the release of the updated version of '925' and her personal life. (via gloss magazine) here's a couple of excerpts:

on her life: “I’d like the right to [marry her life-partner Jane Wagner], sure,” she shares. “I absolutely think we should have the right. Whether I take advantage, I don’t know. You know, I do a line: ‘I have to tell you I’m worried about same-sex marriage. It could be a slippery slope. If homos start imitating heteros, what’s next? Monster truck rallies?’ It’s a kind of imitating [heterosexual culture]. I don’t really want to. I’m not that crazy about society anyway so I don’t care about whether society accepts me or not!”

on the possibility of a '925' sequel: “There have been half a dozen written over the years,” Tomlin reveals. “One was going to be set in Washington. Violet was working as an aide to a senator, Doralee had gotten a job in one of the salons, and Judy married some big powerful guy. It was going to get into politics and we were going to use that underground train they have that goes between the buildings. I thought that was a great setting and premise.” That failing, perhaps Tomlin could convince the producers of the upcoming Broadway musical adaptation of Nine to Five (for which Parton is writing songs) to let her step back into Violet’s shoes.

my sister and my niece have been in hawaii for the week on vacation together. here's some pictures they sent our way:

new post from Ariana, that great Woman of the World, during her adventures in Ecuadar with the Peace Corps. and it looks like she's developed her own personal blog with photos galore!

I know that I am way behind on responding to personal emails, but I am currently obsessed with getting all the photos off my camera since my memory card is freaking out and randomly deleting photos. Due to popular requests for photos, I decided that I should set up my own blog to share my pictures and updates with yáll. The address is: http://rhiannabanana.blogspot.com/

Rhianna Banana comes from the nickname my family gave me when I was really little because I loved bananas, and my family name is Rhianna. I have never had a blog before, so I don´t know much about proper blog etiquette. Let me know if you would prefer to get my mass emails, rather than read the blog. Otherwise, I will quit harassing you and you can just check my blog when you are wondering what is new with me =)

Viva la Costa!
Amor,
Ariana

from her blog, check out these photos:
here's one of Ariana and some kids
here's one of a cool butterfly
and here's one my sister will love!

i took my first pill today. it's a 50/50 chance that it's a sugar pill or the drug Tenofovir. if we notice that i've gone completely insane in the next few days/months, then we'll know-- it was the sugar pill

tonight's my boss's big kickoff event for his reelection. if you're in the city, come on down!

brokeback's out on dvd today:
The "gay cowboy movie" is shorthand for "Brokeback Mountain" that neither does it justice nor gives the right impression. It's about two men who are in love, and it makes no sense. It makes no sense in terms of who they are, where they are, how they live and how they see themselves. It makes no sense in terms of what they do for a living or how they would probably vote in a national election. It makes no sense, except in one place in the world, the place where it started, on Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming.

And though they come down from that mountain and go about their lives, they keep going back to it, over the course of years, because however much the love doesn't make sense, it's real -- so real, it makes their lives unreal. There are kids, marriages, jobs, nights of drinking, heterosexual flings, in-laws and holidays to celebrate, and they do everything they're expected to do, but numb. Then every so often, they meet back up on the mountain and get to be themselves for a few stolen days.

how you like my latest home addition?

i had a most terrific weekend
just perfect

new young dems newsletter is up (but only works in internet explorer)