Reflections on my Bike Ride to Work #2

Today on my ride through tha SOMA ah hit pretty much every single light. This has nevah happened - ah know in theory if ah gae 25 mph hour ahm supposed ta time it rite, but ah don't actually know how fast ahm gaein. Ahm nawt a particularly fast er aggressive rider - often ah find myself bein passed by people on less snazzy rides then mine. Ah pay a fair amount of attention to tha traffic signs n lights - more so in tha SOMA then tha mission, but ahll run thru thangs if tha coast is clear.

But today once ah passed undah tha highway, it was perfect. My pace was steady, solid, n everytime ah gawt close to a red light, it went green fer me.

Ridin steady is a different feelin then most city ridin - thars a lawt of start n stop. Ah need ta start werkin my endurance more so ah ken start tacklin some longah stretches of ridin. Haven't even been ovah tha Golden Gate Bridge yet!

Reflections on my Bike Ride to Work #1

Passing under the highway from the Mission into the SOMA is always such an uplifting feeling. While the Mission is generally sunnier and more climate then most areas in the city in the morning, some days it takes a while for the fog to clear. However, the SOMA, being slightly further East is always a few degrees warmer and a touch sunnier pretty much every morning. It's almost exactly halfway between my house and my office, and it feels a little like a reward for biking to work. Often I'll remove my gloves at this point and unzip my jacket now that ahve worked up a lil internal heat.

Also - this is my 200th blogpost. Holy shit, 200 posts. That is includin tha 11 from 2006, but that means 189 of them are since ah moved ta CA. Craziness. Thanks fer readin thru all tha slang folks!

At tha theater? Seriously?

Sunday night I found myself at the Berkeley Rep, watching the last showing of a damn good, and especially gory, play "The Lieutenant of Inishmore". The drunk guy in his late 30s/early 40s behind me however did not think the play was quite as good as it could be, and apparently felt it necessary to add his own (stupid) comments fairly regularly (example of said stupid comments, when someones foot was cut off, he loudly exclaimed "Das Boot". a Real Winner). Both the person I was with as well as the person sitting next to him told him more then once to be quiet, and eventually I turned around and told him sternly (like I talk to children who are misbehaving) "I am the third person telling you to be quiet".

Shortly after that, I could have sworn he started calling me a "Dork" although I was focusing more on the gruesome finale of the play in front of me so I couldn't be sure. However, as we started to trickle out of the theater, I was sure I heard him address me as "Guy in the Colombia Jacket", followed by "You're a dork."

A dork? Really? Is that really the best he had? I pretty much figured he would fuck off sooner rather then later, as his heart really wasn't in the confrontation (I can't believe I made him so mad I immobolized him to the point where "Dork" was the only insult he could come up with). However, he followed us through the lobby, and down the hall to the bathrooms. Eventually he had my attention.

"Yes?"

"You're a dork"

"And you're a drunk asshole and you should piss off."

We walked a little further as the mental giant struggled with this extra form of verbal assault.

"What did you say?"

I turned around and looked him in the eye and repeated, louder, "I said you are a drunk asshole and you should PISS OFF."

We turned around again, going further down the hallway to the bathroom. You could hear the gears turning in his head, and then he asked:

"I don't suppose you want to take this outside?"

This kind of cracked me up. In reality, this guy was at least 6" and 40 pounds heavier then me, but hey, I'm a pretty thin guy. In a real fight, he would likely beat the shit out of me. But I just couldn't believe this was happening - in Berkeley of all places. I sort of wonder what kind of response this would've gotten from the theater-attending crowd. But instead I just said:

"No, I don't want to fight you. But I think you should go outside."

We stared at him for a little bit, and then I bent over to take a drink of water from the fountain. My friend continued to give him the death stare, and he walked off. I remarked that I hoped he wasn't waiting outside, as I just didn't want to deal w. this bullshit any longer. My friend told me "well then, he'll have to deal with me if he is".

In retrospect, that could've been pretty funny (my friend is even smaller then me, and female - but man does she hate an asshole talking through a play).

Sunday is full of win

Hey Severe, how's tha backyard comin?

Pretty good actually, thanks fer askin. Ahve cleared out tha majority of my intended garden space (well, except fer tha dirt n concrete n stones, but thar all at least organized), have some lettuce sprouts, n continue ta find large pots fer fun thangs like tomaters. Unfortunately, my basil has started lookin pretty yeller as well as burnt since movin it outside - ah guess it's been gittin too much sun. Ah have made tha waterin process easier (tha hose wasn't big enuff before ta reach out to tha plants area) howevah n am startin ta plan some next steps (otha then buy potting soil). Here's that area ah linked ta before.


N here's tha backyard from tha same angle as about a month n a half ago (second picture).


Tha weatha yestahday was fawkin unbelievable (so nice tha San Franciscans were callin it "too hot"). Everyone n thar mutha was down at Dolores Park, which is just a few blocks away from me, so ah joined tha party briefly. While ah did nawt partake in tha homemade slip n side, ah did sit in half-lotus fer about a half hour (longest ahve done that pose evah ah think) while enjoyin my favorite low-grade medication (gawta save tha good stuff, its expensive!), drinkin an Anchor Steam (gawdam, what a great local beer), listenin ta Pink Floyd's "Animals" album. BTW, this is my favorite place ta shop fer medication - an award winnah (n one ah was tha first ta review on Yelp!). Yes, it really is as nice as tha pics.

Sunday had everythang smilin down at me - first off, ah gawt outta my least favorite part of yoga-studio cleanin b/c thar was an extra private lesson happenin at 2 pm - sweet! Then, ah went ta tha local hardware store ta exchange some "heavy duty" gardening gloves that ah put a hole in aftah just two days - n nawt only did they exchange me fer some new ones, they also REFUNDED ME. at - wait fer it - $3 more then ah actually paid!. Thank you karma!

Finally, ah went to a local thrift store to score some clothes fer tha Wee the Band photo shoot happenin this weekend n ah totally lucked out. My tie is awesome! You can't wait ta see it, trust me

Sunny Days in San Francisco

The weatha has been freakin unbelievable tha last few days - we had some rain early on last week, which prompted me ta FINALLY BUY A FAWKIN BUMPER FER MY BIKE. What ah really should've done is just gawt tha rack installed like ahve needed ta ferevah so ah ken start transportin shit on my ride, but, ah didn't. Sue me.

This weekend was relatively quiet actually - ah mean, yes, ah did gae to a party on Friday, n then Saturday nite ah supported my UU friend n Neighbor Melanie as she Went to the Other Side, followed up by drinks n UU-typed convo. N of kerse ah werked in my backyard n ah have lettuce comin up n basil in a pot.

But what really happened is Tha Wee the Band debut album "Have Another" is finished! It will still be a few weeks before we have any final product, but tha final mix was made (not-perfect, but close), tha artwork is apparently all done, n we are just about ready ta gae ta print w. this shit. YES! We've also gawt a band photo scheduled for next weekend, thangs are fallin intae place.

Melanie's friend Aaron tipped me off to The Sixty One, a pretty cool website that allows you to upload yer own tunes, vote on others, and track your favorite groups progress. Ah uploaded a few tunes, and highly encourage everyone ta check out tha site (n give Wee the Band some frickin love!)

So - if you would like a free copy of tha CD, please make sure ah have yer mailin address. Ah will gladly send out copies to anyone who wants it - n if you want ta help offset tha cost of shipping on my end, feel free to paypal it to me. However, if you want to buy the album and support tha whole band, ah will refer you all to our itunes site when it is set up.

We already have a bunch of gigs set up this summer, ah fricken LOVE how audible my bass is, and we have been hard at werk writin some very cool stuff that will BLOW YER MIND. This disc is pretty conservative - n ahm glad we've recorded a lawt of these songs cuz it means we git ta move on from them.

Wee the Band - Have Another is COMING SOON!!!!

Rainy/Sunny days in SF....

Tha title of this post is taken from a Wee the Band song - available soon on CD, and thru itunes! Woot! (even tho ah hate itunes).

Let's see, what have ah been up ta....

Last Wednesday ah went to a bday party for the guitarist in the pop/rock band ahm playin in. We currently don't have a name, so ah refer to us as tha Junk Bumpers. It's a long story how my friend n ah came up w. that, n while ah think its actually a decent name, it doesn't fit our musick. Anyway, tha bday party was at a Karaoke Bar in Fisherman's Wharf. Fisherman's Wharf is a touristy obnoxious part of tha city that you see if you visit (ah don't really know why, except that tha cable car gaes thar), n then ignore completely when you move here cuz it's fawkin lame. Generally, ah dont gae out like that (party started at 11) on weeknights, but when ah told Lavi that, he made such a sad face ah reconsidered. It was a pretty good time, ah sang a Pink song (ah let tha cat outta tha bag about my crush on her), n we took tha first pics of us togetha. Of kerse, ah ruined it by wearin my glasses, so it's nawt very indicative of me. But check out my beard (n tha fact that ahm smilin! Ahm tryin ta git bettah at that in photos):


Howevah, this next picture is much more what yer used ta:


Saturday aftahnoon ah took a Bikram Yoga MASTER CLASS w. head Teacher Trainer Craig Villani and it kicked my ass. Ah balanced on my tip toes in awkward pose until ah fell outta it - twice. N awkwards my GOOD pose!

Then think13 played a set - what tha? Yes, thar was a VAGABOOM! fundraiser featurin us, a performance troupe, a contortionist, some dude on a guitar, a synthesizer jam-band, a dj, and BURLESQUE. And what burlesque - ah was swoonin durin thar brief set (which featured big band versions of "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Baby Got Back"). On a total whim (meanin, ah saw them n made sure our drummer shared) ah snagged a bit of some "truffles" in chocolate form. Ah sorta fergawt about them, n was startin ta git concerned w. how funny everythang was when ah was reminded what ahd ingested, n thangs gawt really nice n relaxin aftah that. Ah spent tha nite laughin w. friends, talkin shit, n bein loud. Finish it off w. a nice bike ride home - aww yeah.

Sunday ah wen ta see Anvil: The Story of Anvil and it was really awesome. Thars a reason this movie has been gittin rave reviews from everywhar - it's fantastic. It's one of those movies you certainly don't need ta enjoy tha metal genre (er even be aware of) ta appreciate, n ta those of us in tha know, its amazin. It's so good, ahma include tha trailer here:


Now, tha rest of my week hasn't been THAT excitin, but yestahday ah bought some organic black beans n bulk n they are currently makin my kitchen smell really really good. Ta self-sufficiency!