Friday, May 30, 2008

Bye bye fog, hello motherland.

...8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1...Kaboom!!  (worst count down ever)  

I'm off to Greece tonight.  I cannot wait to see, taste, smell, fell, and touch down in Greece.  It has been a long time coming that my I get to finally experience Greece with my brother.  I can see some great times ahead of us.
I'll see the rest of you when I get back.  Do me a favor while I'm gone, ring San Francisco out....this city is too soggy for me.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

For crying out loud.

Morning weight:  190.2

Last week cyclist Kirk Janes was struck and killed at the intersection of Fulton and Steiner.  
Yesterday a cyclist was hit, and is listed in critical condition, on Bayshore Blvd. near the Cesar Chavez off ramp.
There have been countless others that I have been reading about both in and around the San Francisco Bay Area as well as out of state.  Please drivers, be mindful.  There are some daredevils in the cycling community but for every unlawful, daredevil cyclist out there there are hundreds of oblivious drivers mowing down the rest of us law abiding cyclist.  So please, just be aware.  Stop driving like you are in a bubble.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

**********

Morning weight: 192.8 lbs.

Well, my birthday has come and gone, sort of.  The day actually slipped by this past Tuesday.  What a shitty day to have a birthday on.  Tuesdays are even worse than Mondays.  Anyway, it slipped by with out a peep.  I planned nothing, I did nothing, and I enjoyed doing nothing.  Emma and I had a sleepy night watching movies from bed and snuggling up with some blankets and pillows.
Emma already gave me her present and it is probably the coolest present I have ever gotten.  She signed me up for sailing instruction and certification with OCSC Sailing.  I think Emma just one the best girlfriend of the year award, thank you very much.  
This weekend I will be heading out to Concord to spend some time with my folks and siblings and to celebrate my birthday again.  I cannot wait to hang out in the kitchen with my Mom.  For years I have been her prep cook/sous chef.  We are having lamb shanks, spanakopita, pastitsio, horiatiki salata, garlic bread, beer/wine, and who knows what else.  I love to eat.  
So there you go.

Oh yes, Greece, the countdown starts today.  Well, it should have started yesterday, the 21st.  So here we go...

THE MOTHER LAND, GREECE, HERE I COME.
In 10...9...

I figured I'd do two to make up for the late start. 

For our beautiful Rebecca (New York)




For our beautiful Rebecca (New York)





For our beautiful Rebecca (New York)





Friday, May 16, 2008

JCS's big advice for this weekend:

Don't have any babies. As a matter of fact, don't ever have a baby. It'll be the greenest thing you will ever not do.

Both Both, Tonight

BOTH BOTH READING
Tonight, Friday the 16th.

from JOHN SAKKIS....and then posted by LRS, stolen by me and reposted below:

Friday May 16, 7pm
415 Pierce St. #3 (between Oak and Fell)
San Francisco


BOTH BOTH means LOVE...

I'm very excited to be bi-coastally (all the way from Brooklyn) hosting Julian Brolaski and Tracy Grinnell for the next BOTH BOTH (5/16/7pm).

I'm also San Franpsychotically stoked to announce that local SF hero, Lauren Kohne, will be gracing the walls of my apartment with new art works/ installation.

this BOTH BOTH is the magazine issue...just like the old print format; 2 writers/ 1 artist

per usual some cans-o-beer will be provided but please bring your own liquor of your choice. and per usual snacks will not be provided (the economy!) so bring your brown bag lunch if you want to eat.


w/

Julian T. Brolaski is the author of the chapbooks Letters to Hank
Williams (True West Press, 2003), The Daily Usonian (Atticus/Finch
2004), Madame Bovary's Diary (Cy Press 2005) (under the name Tanya
Brolaski).

Brolaski lives in Brooklyn where zie is an editor at
Litmus Press and writing zir dissertation on rhyme and the poetics of
authority in medieval, Renaissance and Apache poetries.


E. Tracy Grinnell is the author of Some Clear Souvenir (O Books 2006) and Music or Forgetting (O Books 2001), as well as the limited edition chapbooks Leukadia (Trafficker Prees forthcoming 2008), Quadriga, a collaboration with Paul Foster Johnson (gong chapbooks 2006), Of the Frame (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs 2004), and Harmonics (Melodeon Poetry Systems 2000).

She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she teaches writing and edits Litmus Press and the journal Aufgabe.

San Francisco based artist Lauren Kohne creates sculptural art-pieces. She investigates social structures, habits and standards through materiality in bookmaking, painting, mixed and multi media pieces. Her work has been shown in Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as published in various poetry chap

Thursday, May 15, 2008

This is a test.

Buggin

That Muay Thai shorts post is starting to bug me so I thought I would move it down by writing some useless crap.

First off.  I have really good looking trash.  At work.  I work in advertising and all the photography, art, illustration, everything, it all gets filtered through me.  And guess what.  We no longer accept art submissions by mail.  That means that all this nice stuff ends up in my circular filing cabinet aka, the trash.  

Second off.  That doesn't sound right, second off.  Secondly, that's better.  Today is the hottest day we've had in San Francisco this year so far.  And guess what.  (this post is full of guess whats)  I don't have to spend it sitting at my desk in an office.  Nope.  The boys of the office have taken it upon themselves to rally and go to a Giants game.  So we leave in an hour to go and drink beer, eat shitty food, and watch America's/the Bay Area's favorite past time....baseball.  

Thirdly.  Tonight Brett Blackburn will be celebrating her birthday in true Blackburn fashion....by dancing to the beat of Manicato, a Latin funk/reggae band.  I will be right there along side her acting fooling and dancing off some of those beer/nachos/dogs/more beer/garlic fries/beer calories. 

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Muay Thai Shorts










I can't stand all the crappy Muay Thai shorts that I constantly see warn in the gyms.  Here are a few examples of the shorts I hate...
Shorts with awful patches of skulls, 'scary' eyes, flames, shorts that sparkle.   Other shorts that bother me are overly baggy shorts.  All boxing shorts fall into this category.  Shorts with tassel's, shorts with slits up the sides, pretty much all shorts with crappily designed, useless flair.  Thank you for listening. 

Monday, May 12, 2008

---

This weekend was more fulfilling than I thought it was going to be.  Friday night my roommate Pat and I ordered pizza from the worst place ever.  I forget what it was called, but it took over an hour for them to deliver it....to the wrong address.  We finally got it and I ended up eating it while sitting on my floor an watching The Office, season 3.

Saturday morning, I awoke bright and early and well rested.  I packed up my climbing gear and headed for Emma's.  We walked down to the Lower Haight together and parted way at Steiner and Haight, her to work, me to climb.

I met up with Ben in front of Edo Salon.  We did a quick scavenger hunt for Emma's Mustang.  After loading up the back seat with our beach/climbing gear we were on our way out of the city.  Lately, driving out of the city gives me a great sense of escape.  We drove up and over Mt. Tamalpias and along the coast to Stinson Beach.  
The beach wasn't very crowded.  The surf was small, maybe two or three feet.  The tide must have just gone out as the sand was still tightly packed and wet.  We walked along, barefoot, for about a quarter of a mile to the south end of the beach.  There is a group of maybe a half a dozen or so boulders ranging in height from 8' - 40'+.  We warmed up on the 8' boulder.  I haven't climbed regularly in year and a half or so so I ended up on my butt more often than on top of the rock.  We did some nice problems but ended up leaving this rock after about an hour.  
The second boulder we worked on was a nice little triangular traverse up the diagonal edge.  We only worked here for about twenty minutes or so before heading further south to explore some of the larger boulders.  The 40'+ had some nice juggy holds.  We decided on a nice spot to call the top out and worked on getting there.  I never made it. 
Regardless of how crappily I climbed I had a great time.  I love that I have all these activities that allow me to focus.  Muay Thai, climbing, rafting, and biking.  I love the problems they present, the process of figuring out the right line, route, combination what ever.  Anyway, it was great to get outside and work some problems with my renewed friend Ben. 

Saturday night was spent with my family at my Thea Anna and Theo Angelo's home in Oakland.  I absolutely love their house.  The architecture, the landscaping, the art and decorations, everything.  Oh, and not to mention the food.  Oh. My. God.  Amazing.  I ate my self silly and then went home to Emma and fell asleep.

Sunday.  Rafting the South Fork of the American river.  I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and stumbled home grab my gear.  Suzanne was going to pick me up at 6:00 a.m.   I stumbled around between my bedroom, the kitchen and the bathroom for a while, collecting my gear.  Waiting for the call.  When I finally climbed into her car it was still foggy and dawn was barely breaking.  Again, I felt incredibly relieved to be escaping the city.  We met up with Yukihiro on some gravel road off of the 80 and then continued on to the river. 
We had decided earlier that we were going to do all 21 miles of the river that day which meant a lot of rowing, a lot of sun, a lot of white water, and a hell of a good day....regardless of the sense of urgency that we all felt.  The flows peaked some where around 2,000-2,200 cfs (cubic feet per second).  Suzanne started out guiding Meat Grinder, the first rapid on the Chili Bar section.  She did a great job of choosing her line and sticking with it.  Just ahead of us was a commercial boat, I believe it was White Water Excitement.  They had flat wrapped their boat in a little parking space just below the main wrap rock in the middle of the rapid.  I should mention that this is the rapid that took the life of a 13 year old girl just two years ago.  She swam from just above where this boat had flat wrapped.  She got her foot entrapped in some rocks and was sucked under.  Anyway, this WWE guide must have been a rookie because he made several dumb decisions, the first of which was getting himself flat wrapped in an easily avoidable spot.  The second of which was to get out of the boat to try to wriggle it free and push it around the rock.  He ended up getting the boat free but what he did then was just plain dumb.  He decided to turn the boat perpendicular to the current (now the right-starboard side of the boat is facing the rock) and then push back into the current and jump in some time soon after and then smoothly guide the rest of the rapid.  I knew this wasn't what would happen.  Yes, I too have been stuck in that spot.  Only once, and, yes, I was a rookie.  So he pushed the boat but I guess he forgot to jump in because the boat floated out of the eddy and into the current, guide-less, it was then pushed back up against the same rock, sideways, only to dump all of its paddlers into the rushing white water.  The boat floated close enough for Yukihiro to jump into and paddle into a nearby eddy.  Most of the paddlers swam to the other WWE boat that was in an eddy below, all but one.  She was frozen.  I spotted her and was shouting directions to Suzanne as to how to pick her up.  We finally rowed close enough to her for me to grab her paddle and pluck her out of the water.  She was a bit shaken but I talked to her and calmed her down.  We did a quick body assessment to check for injuries but found nothing, save her rattled nerves.  We eventually reunited her with her boat and guide and took off on our way.  
The rest of the river was smooth sailing....or rafting.  Between Yukihiro, Suzanne and I what could go wrong?  We all took turns rowing through the class III water having a blast, teasing each other and enjoying our time back at our home away from home.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

More things I'd like to do, or to do better:

White water kayaking...


White water rafting...(either by oars or guide stick, it doesn't matter to me)


Things I'd like to learn to do or learn to do better:

Bouldering...


Sailing...(in Greece in particular)


Surfing...(anywhere where the water is warmer and there are less sharks than there are in San Francisco)


Muay Thai...(I think I'd like to have another fight....a smoker at least)


Scuba diving...(I don't want Fiji to be the last place I do any under water exploration)


Morning weight: 192 lbs.

It always seems to be the weekend that does me in.  Too much beer, too many opportunities to eat great food.  Nothing to do but drink and eat.  Hopefully this weekend I wont get sucked into that trap again.  My Thea Anna and Theo Angelo's party this Saturday night will be a bit of a test.  But then again, when it's a test involving food I usually fail....and happily.
There are a couple of things going on this weekend that might help.  On Saturday I will be doing one of two things.  I may be going bouldering in Berkeley with my buddy Ben, or I may be heading up to the Merced to try out my rowing on some class IV white water.  Either one will help me work up a good appetite for an evening of Greek themed goodies.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

7.May.2008

Morning weight: 193 lbs.

Today I woke up fresh. I have been having a really hard time sleeping. I seem to wake up at 3:58 a.m. every morning. I get up, use the restroom and then I face plant onto my pillow only to toss and turn, dreading my alarm. But not this morning. Last night I stayed awake past my usual bed time of 11. I was very productive last night. I sold some DVDs to amoeba, I bought some toilet paper, cleaned my bathroom, kitchen, and laundry room floors. I eventually ended up on my floor, in front of my computer doing my Greek lessons. I know, computers and TVs are supposed to be horrible before bed time. Regardless, I slept the whole night through. Nothing could wake me. And this morning, at 7:00 am, I was chipper as a kitten.

There are a couple of things going on this weekend. On Saturday I will be up early to either ride my bike over to Berkeley to do some bouldering at Indian Rock. The other option is to hop in a car with the beautiful couple that is Brittany and Cooper and take a little day trip out to Jenner. Either way I will be stoked to get out of the city. I am feeling increasingly claustrophobic.  I need to make a change in my life style.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

This is one of my roommates

He is the cool one in the denim jacket.

Monday, May 5, 2008

+++

I am constantly conflicted.  The primary conflict: professional life - vs - real life/desired life.  Or between pursuing my hobbies professionally or pursuing a more traditional professional life.  
The secondary conflict:  Allotment of time.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Bits and pieces

Just a couple of things.

First off, if you are looking to try a new dish, either as a main or as an app. then look into this. I am completely addicted.

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000225ceviche.php

Secondly, I am now back into the 180's.  188.3 lbs to be exact.  Unfortunately, however, this is due in part to a recent bout with a bit of food poisoning.  I eat in China Town often and have never had a problem, until Wednesday night.  I had a chicken thigh and drum stick.  It looked fine, although I'm sure it had been siting out for, well, for a really, really long time.  Whatever, I was hungry, so I dug in.  It tasted fine after I picked off all the fatty parts and the skin, delicious actually.  But that night, sometime between four and five a.m. I awoke to what can only be described as icy intestines, cramps, and flashes of cold and hot sweats.  My belly was gurgling and my forehead beaded.  I tossed and turned for a couple of hours between consciousness and complete oblivion.  I spent the better part of that morning in the bathroom hugging my knees.  I called in to work to let them know what condition I was in and that I would try to make it in later that afternoon, tummy permitting.  My tummy did not permit.  Every fifteen minutes or so I was making a dash to the bathroom.  My head pounding, my stomach churning, and my whole body freaking out and turning into swamp thing.  By noon my bed was as sloppy, damp, cold, painful place to be.  I lost consciousness somewhere between one and two p.m. only to awake at 7 ish in a heap of soaking wet blankets.  Around 9 p.m. Emma came over to try to nurse me back to health.  She made me a fruit smoothie and cradled my head while she watched My Girl.  I, on the other hand couldn't handle the bright light and fast movements so I lay my head on her chest and listened to her heart beat while dozing in and out.  I took some NyQuil and eventually fell asleep.  
I woke up this morning feeling a bit better, a lot skinnier, and a lot weaker.  I haven't eaten real food since Wednesday night.  Currently, I am running on a glass of fruit smoothie and a cliff bar.  I have a whole chicken and veggies that I roasted on Wednesday night that I can't even think about, much less attempt to eat.