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May 27, 2005
How Old Are We?
The King Of Bonding took me out to Tokyo Go Go last night. “I’ll charge it to the Firm,” he says, how could I resist? We sat at the bar, and The King Of Bonding decided he needed to hook me up with our dashing young sushi chef. His ridiculously obvious tactics involved loud comments about his latest exploits (so that it was clear we weren’t together), small talk over the fish display (“oh you grew up in the North Bay? So did she!”), and lots of trips to the bathroom to leave the two of us alone.
Unfortunately, while cute, the kid had no game. “Wow, University High had an amazing soccer team. They still do.” While Lewis might brag about robbing the cradle, it’s kind of a buzz kill for me when high school soccer teams are so fresh in someone’s mind-- What's that you say? I've been talking a lot about high school lately too? You quiet down.
***
These are for Mariana; bonus points for every tactic you can spot! When he was out here, Feltron and I paid a visit to Lewis's cubicle. Lewis then soundly beat the two of us at Foos Ball in the lunch room... since the doctor (ok, she isn't exactly a bone specialist, but still) thinks I may have actually fractured my rib a month ago, I feel like I have a good excuse.
The rest of these are from last weekend.
Tonight: Old Crow Medicine Show at Great American (thanks Mahea)
Weekend: BBQ and various other Bolinas adventures
Posted by Elizabeth at 01:29 PM | Comments (2)
May 24, 2005
Hometown Tourism
I've been taking advantage of this amazing weather to remind myself that it doesn't get much more beautiful than California.
Spent a day at the Heartland Festival representing Organic Valley, one of my favorite national food companies. The cooperative is 100% farmer-owned, and as much as possible, they package and ship their products locally. The bus runs on biodiesel.
Double T Acres Ranch is a trip!
***
There is significant evidence that I'm out of shape. Friday's hike from the Mountain Point Inn to the West Point Inn on Mt Tam kicked my ass, and I managed to injure myself during a brief doubles ping pong match at Lewis's grandpa's retirement community the next day... mostly because I was laughing so hard.
Certain people with one-track minds see surfing spots wherever they go, and borrow other people's cameras to document them:
Last night Amanda and I watched the sun set over Mt Tam from Ring Mountain. A few minutes later, the full moon rose over the East Bay.
On today's agenda: Bass Lake.
Posted by Elizabeth at 04:43 AM | Comments (0)
May 20, 2005
Zzzzzzzz
Falling asleep. Experiencing serious I'm-finally-done-with-my-MBA exhaustion. Instead of a real post, I present the avatars of two of my AudioScrobbler neighbors; tomorrow, Mt Tam and dairy farm photos.
(Ah, the things I do with my free time.)
Posted by Elizabeth at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2005
Virtual Crushes
The blogosphere heats up! A virtual crush on Mariana went public today, in spite of her boyfriend; meanwhile, when I confessed my soft spot for messieur Raeo a few days ago (to someone who actually sees him in person), I was informed that I'd better take a number.
It will be interesting to see what happens when the proposed visit to New York en masse occurs. Hook-ups, beat-downs, or just plain awkwardness??? I'm sure it will be exciting.
In the meantime, check out Store Wars.
Posted by Elizabeth at 05:30 PM | Comments (1)
May 17, 2005
It's Official: I'm a Cheap Date
A few weeks ago I dared claim that I don't really drink, and the Curmudgeon countered: "hyperbole!"
In my latest contribution to the infographics trend, the following diagram outlines my weekly alcohol consumption over the last two months. I think it's safe to say that I don't really drink.
There are, however, a few facts to consider:
--I was sick throughout the majority of the sample period
--The last three weeks show an upward trend in alcohol consumption
--There's a bottle of champagne and only two of us in the room at the Holiday Inn at Fisherman's Wharf; just my luck that one of Kate's many job descriptions includes conducting audits of various Bay Area hotels! So glad to be able to assist.
Posted by Elizabeth at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2005
Scavenger Hunt
Once upon a time, Weezer and Soul Coughing got together to record a song called American Girls. I believe it was written for one of the girls in my high school class, who is--perhaps inappropriately--named Mercy.
I wish I could upload the song, as it makes me very happy, and I would like to share. In the meantime, there are twelve points available to anyone who can figure out where I downloaded it from in the first place...
Posted by Elizabeth at 10:34 AM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2005
Just Another School Night
I don't have that many rules, but I'm serious about No Street Clothes in the Bed. Fortunately Terry only forgot for a few seconds before removing the offending jeans, phew!
After watching The Anchorman we somehow got on the topic of this ad from Ikea, and of course had to watch it multiple times. If I hadn't had half a glass of wine two hours ago, I might be able to figure out how to capture an image from RealPlayer... just watch it.
Only two days (including tomorrow's 12 hour marathon, and that's not counting the reunion), two presentations, and two papers to go.
Posted by Elizabeth at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2005
10 Year High School Reunion Prep
According to Feltron, some of us are growing facial hair (see comments under 05.10.05 entry- how do I link to comments directly???), and others are buying suits. I would be posting incriminating photos, but I haven't been able to find any. Yet.
***
OK here's one, courtesy of Raeo. Thanks for reminding me of beards!
Posted by Elizabeth at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
Daily Email Analysis
I spent almost all day writing about food, and forgetting to eat any. I'm hoping that explains the shakes, and the general lack of cognitive function. Scavenging has gotten desperate now that we've exhausted the supplies of Annie's mac & cheese, ramen, frozen potstickers, and granola...
Fortunately I've got Excel muscle memory. Inspired by Feltron's much more aesthetically pleasing infographics, I present this pie chart of the day's emails. This was an uncharacteristically heavy email day, and yes, I've gone completely bonkers.
Posted by Elizabeth at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2005
Not As Bad as Ed Getting the Truck
Sometime near the nebulous end of our affair, the Curmudgeon and I were at Reverie Café (his favorite), and I asked him how many first dates he’d had there.
“None,” he responded, “why, how many first dates have you had here?”
Pause.
“Just one. Ours.”
***
So... as I am not particularly well versed in The Rules, I found myself wondering: is Reverie totally off limits, being “his” spot? For the most part, I’ve left the town/state/country after relationships end (or he has, or is it more accurate to say they end because one of us leaves? Hard to say))))), so I’ve skirted this sort of issue entirely. But in this case I’m still here, and so is he, and because I’ve temporarily set up office in the neighborhood, I’d started thinking it would be nice to take advantage of Reverie’s terrace on sunny days.
My official survey of one produced the following result: “Avoid.” Which seems fair enough; I don’t care enough about that exact terrace to risk anyone’s discomfort, and the pastries at Boulange are so much more exciting. Is this turfing behavior normal though? It just seems so contrived...
Posted by Elizabeth at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2005
On Your Right, Observe the Wi-Fi Addicts
From my barstool perch at Maxfield's, I observed five tour busses (in as many hours) cruise up Dolores and take a right on 17th. I'm guessing they're on their way to the Castro from downtown? The tourists inside were certainly gawking at us geeks, but I doubt that's an official part of the tour...
Random factoid: according to the Delocator, there are 82 indie coffee shops within five miles of 94114, and only 74 Starbucks. We win!
Posted by Elizabeth at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2005
Fifteen, Four, Three, Two...
Whirlwind, whirlwind! Amazing how much stuff goes down when there things due. Only four papers, three days of actually going to school, two presentations (and a partridge in a pear tree) left; good thing it’s raining now so I can finally hunker down this weekend. I do feel bad for the Wildlife crew though, as they had to call off their party in the park due to the weather...
A few brief reviews/lessons learned over the last few days:
Ebisu Sushi: their specials are a bit too over-the-top for my liking. I prefer No Name, especially the standard rolls in miniature.
Potlucks: it’s never a bad idea to bring something you know you’ll eat... just kidding, I love potlucks. More potlucks!
Beauty Bar: not so much in the music category. Lots of, um, interesting people to watch/keep off your toes. Super-weak drinks always get thumbs up from me, but I realize that’s rare.
Backyard BBQ’s: down jackets are good protection from iffy San Francisco weather. BYO bottle opener to avoid frustration and make friends at the cooler (Evan’s trick).
Presidio “Rager” = oxymoron. To qualify that, we decided that real ragers usually involve some combination of sticky floors, a general feeling of not having enough oxygen or personal space, and things getting broken and/or stolen. On the positive side, comfy couches, fancy cakes, and actually being able to hear the person you’re talking to garner points in my book.
Madrone Lounge: fancy girls (though the ones in the cat outfits were gone by the time we made it in) and good music last night; somehow the 80’s tunes were mixed in much more smoothly than at Beauty Bar. Maybe everything’s cooler when you’re holding a 24 of Budweiser? Ha, as if I could make it to the bottom of a tall can… The photographic rendition of Olympia currently hanging on the wall is somewhat disturbing.
The Pork Store Cafe (Haight): no review yet as cranky people with low blood sugar are allergic to long lines.
Posted by Elizabeth at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)
May 05, 2005
To France or Not to France?
The highly idealized Plan A was hatched several months ago: spend the summer in the South of France with Eliot, staying with Jen & Didier in their farmhouse, ride bikes nowhere in particular, swim in the river, meet local winemakers and potters, get sunburned, plant vegetables…
A would-be affair (for some reason a long trip overseas with the high school sweetheart wasn’t going over well?) and an oddly practical desire to secure a post-graduation job before vacationing put that plan on hold. Plan B oh-so-briefly involved Australia and no exes; the affair fizzled, the internship turned into a job, and a two-week version of Plan A (Plan C) was back in effect.
That is, until I started flight shopping. Egads! Procrastination is rarely your friend when it comes to plane tickets. This morning’s options: pay an arm and a leg for a normal flight, or burn 80,000 frequent flier miles to fly SFO to Chicago to Washington to Brussels… insert long pause for a seven hour layover… to Frankfurt to Toulouse. Then the train to Carcassonne. Very funny.
Plan D? Now accepting suggestions. Top of the list: another Northwest Adventure to see the bro and “his” whales (he took this photo), zoom around on government boats, eat salmon, veg out on Salt Spring Island, possibly visit Mahea on Cortes Island. Or ???
Posted by Elizabeth at 07:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2005
"I See," Said the Blind Man...
I just spent an amazing couple of hours at the second annual Barbara and Galen Rowell Lecture listening to Erik Weihennmayer tell stories and show slides and video footage of his adventures rock climbing, skiing, summiting Mount Everest... blind.
Kind of puts life's little challenges in perspective! I wish I had Erik's sense of humor; in addition to being a general bad-ass, the guy's a total comedian. And he drew more than a few tears with his insights into life, love, happiness...
Cheesy inspirational parting words: "Most people think you have to see to believe. But really, you have to believe to see." Aw.
Posted by Elizabeth at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
May 02, 2005
Excuse Me, Has Harold Budd Lived Here?
In the April issue, Wired Magazine reviewed Avalon Sutra, Harold Budd’s latest (and apparently final) recording. Accompanying the review was this photograph:
...and I’ve convinced myself that the ambient pianist is sitting in front of this awesome house:
...which I must have driven past and admired from a distace at least a hundred times en route from the Gordon Ranch (where I spent two winters living in squalor amongst masses of ornery climbers) to Joshua Tree National Park.
Google won't produce any evidence that Mr. Budd lived in that particular house, though this interview confirms that a colleague of his lived in Joshua Tree at some point; I’m willing to take that as proof enough, and let "glare" explain why the blue part of the house to appears washed out in the top photo. The angled doorway kind of gives it away, don’t you think? Fine then, it's settled.
Posted by Elizabeth at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2005
I'll Take the One with the Spear, Thank You
What’s up with supposedly-evolved men ending relationships via email? I’m all riled up after hearing that my friend just got a Dear Jane email from this guy she’s been seeing. Apparently not all monkeys have learned which tools are appropriate in which situations...
This guy had introduced her to his parents, his friends, and everything had been going really well; so we all thought. But he freaked out. Which is, in and of itself, disappointing, but still forgivable-- if he is straight-up about what’s going on, apologizes where necessary, and has the decency to call things off rather than letting it drag on indefinitely (or disappearing without a word). I have few kind thoughts for the dude who says one thing, and then hides behind a goddam email to say what he was too cowardly to say in person.
Posted by Elizabeth at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)