borat sucked

You guys know me; I don't shy away from offensive and awkward humor. That being said, I think the movie "Borat" was a complete piece of crap, dim and stupidly written, and, well, bad. Definitely spend your ten bucks on something else!

wtf thursday

The only WTF I have is about my own musical taste between 1998 and 2000.

If I EVER would have thought that my favorite late-nineties women musicians would end up as Starbucks poster children or obscure public radio program showcased artists (read: Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, fuckin' Sarah McLachlan [you can find her debut holiday standards album next to the after-coffee mints]), I may have been going to Lollapalooza instead of Lilith Fair.

That being said, I did enjoy my grande gingerbread latte.

misc. wednesday

-Love this bridge:

-Public radio bias aside, I think npr.org has the best interactive election website, hands-down.

-In response to how President Bush plans to handle the likely Pelosi House leadership, he began his reply with "This isn't my first rodeo..." I just think that's hilarious. On a related note, I think he's doing a good job overall with this particular news conference...very candid and sincere sounding. Actually, it's almost stand-up-comic-like.

-I'm kind of sad the California cigarette tax proposition failed. It would have been interesting to see what, if anything, it would have done for public health.

-Is there something wrong with me for being so antsy with my job? Am I cursed with an insatiable work ethic? Seriously...it's not "ungratefulness"; I know many would give anything for my setup and thinking back to my initial hire, I thought I was the luckiest gal in the whole wide world. But while those theoreticals fly about in the flourescently-lit air, I'm managing to trudge through the days, completely out of ideas for how to make it better, and it's kinda taking a (albeit sporadic) toll. Maybe my lifetime of moving around, and then four years of college involved with every activity under the "sun" (Syracuse joke) has made it even more difficult to find a corresponding job. But I'm OK with that challenge, even if it pains me daily to not be there yet. I would rather work nonstop from 8 - 6 than stroll in here at 9 and wrack my brains thinking of how to contribute until five. (By the by...it's not that the work I do is 'easy,' it's just that there's not enough of it, it's getting super repetitive, and I've completely outgrown the skills required to complete the duties). The good things are that I've realized this about myself (this need to be completely engaged and challenged on the job), and I have enough time on my hands to apply to other jobs.

-On an ironic, but similar note, there was what I consider an amazing essay this past Monday on Morning Edition's weekly "This I Believe" series. A woman explains why you have to live with what you do every single day, so it might as well be exactly what you want. Amen to that - and I'm workin' on it!

-Hyperlinks are the new parentheses.

-I think I'm going to go home for lunch and make macaroni and cheese. My favorite kind of mac-n-cheese is Kraft spirals.

-I'm very excited about Friday night! Going to see Michael Tilson Thomas conduct the SF Symphony...and they're playing my favorite, Mozart!!

-Karen leaves for her much-anticipated return visit to South Africa today. We'll miss you!

weekend edition: boo's mom

A great weekend overall! Well, except for this:

At 2-6, I'm not sure if Ben and the boys will be seeing much playoff action. But with this kind of thing, maybe they're getting all the "action" they need.

OK, maybe that was a tasteless joke. But I didn't take the picture, for god's sakes!

Regardless of their record/propensity for compromising positions, I'm still looking forward to Heinz Field on Christmas Eve.


Moving on to more pressing matters, as I mentioned above I had a lovely weekend, mostly due to the visit of Mrs. Tuckman ("Jan"). Raised in a Southern-slash-military household, I still have a hard time calling her Jan.
But I should really self-actualize my 25 year-old-ness and get on with it.

Jan's Visit 2006 began after work on Friday when the three of us (Jan, Leah, myself) met up at Limon...a yummy Peruvian restaurant specializing in ceviche, which I will officially label as the 'bomb diggity.'
Last weekend some guy dented Leah's car while it was parked in my neighborhood. He left a note, Leah called him, and he offered to get her a gift certificate for dinner somewhere when Leah said the dent wasn't a big deal. By the end of the day there was a $100 credit towards Limon in the mailbox!
Nice guy, huh? So San Francisco.
But that was last weekend and this is supposed to be about this weekend, so I continue. Limon...awesome.

Saturday met boo and boo's mom down at the Ferry Building for some wonderful market-browsing which resulted in the purchase of some green tomatoes, rainbow chard, and a sugar pumpkin for a Sunday of cooking and baking. Afterwards we took an afternoon trip to the secret beach, the location of which remains a secret to many, save a sprinkle of San Franciscans and a handful of nude-prone gay men. It's located off of Lincoln Blvd via Langdoon Court in the Presidio (closer to the bridge more than Baker Beach).
Post-Pacific Ocean sunset we headed back to the cit-ay and caught the latest Killing My Lobster show: another hilarious sketch comedy by the crew and I highly recommend checking it out! If you do, you'll know why after the performance we high-tailed it over to Taqueria Castillito for some much-needed Mexican fare. After saying farewell to a lovely Saturday with the ladies, went home and watched the first three episodes of Six Feet Under, season 5.

Sunday-day the Tuckmans had their own time; I went on a bike ride and tried my hand at running right afterward (weird sensation). I then commenced what would be a five-hour baking/cooking spree, culminating in a Sunday-evening dinner for me, Leah, and "Jan" consisting of fried green tomatoes, sauteed chard and some butternut squash soup, as well as pumpkin bread and oatmeal cookies. Pleasant time all around with the Colts ending a Pats win streak, 27-20.

Happy Monday!

autumn? autumn!

And now for a cheesy post about autumn, so typical of east-coasters who would never THINK of leaving the paradise that is the Bay Area...except during this time of year:

To be frank, I used to HATE autumn. Not sure why. I think part of it had to do with the omninous flute music and earthy color scheme of (boring) 1970s television reruns. Also, because I lived overseas for so long, I never grew up with those American autumnal staples like football, pumpkin-based foodstuffs, and sweatshirts with turtlenecks underneath. In fact, I used to dislike the fall because it basically meant that I would have to wear sweatshirts with turtlenecks underneath.
And I hate sweatshirts!

OK, not really. It just meant that playing outside was coming to a close end and then I'd be stuck inside with my family.
Um, no thanks.
But somewhere along the line, I began to like the fall.

Well, not just "somewhere." I know where this deciduous decision began, goshdarnit, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. It started with high-school cross country. Yes, cross country. I know that sounds really dorky...but whatevs, yo. Cross country is dorky! But that's where it started and you're going to have to accept that about me.
You see, after months of training in hot weather, the season quickly changed to cool, brisk afternoons which made running 70 minutes of hills much more bearable--nay--enjoyable.

Then came the races themselves. Set against a brilliant backdrop of red, orange, and yellow, the meets were both exciting and familiar. Exciting because you never knew where your legs would--or wouldn't--take you that day. (At least that's my definition of "exciting." You?)
Familiar because there was always the coolness and the colorfulness by your side.

My falls at SU came with significant bruises, and were mostly due to drinking.
Just kidding.
My falls at SU came both with and without running, mostly due to knee injuries, impairments and issues. But Central NY provided an awesome substitute for the glory days of Carlisle XC with its most beautiful trees and many an apple festival.
Probably too many an apple festival, now that I think about it.
The point is, I had to mentally and emotionally separate fall from running, which was tough, but, like most college 'experiences,' it is something I wouldn't trade for the whole wide world and for which I am now a better person who can share my experience with, and provide support for, others who are also going through this difficult challenge related to knees, autumn, running and apples.
I am here for you.

Since healthily separating fall from running, I have come to love its other above-mentioned American adornments: football, pumpkin-based foodstuffs, and...well, call me a party pooper, but you'd still be hard pressed to find me wearing a turtleneck. But I can say with unwavering confidence that autumn has slowly made its way to the top of my favorite-seasons list.

Well, if I was on the east coast.

misc. wednesday

---Today is the official one-year anniversary of me, Karen, and Leigh living in San Francisco (pictured below on lease-signing day 2005.) Holla!

---On a related note, it's also the 251st anniversary of the Lisbon earthquake and tsunami.

---Yesterday's Project Read session went very well. Mohammed has now officially completed the phonics chapters for the letters 'A' and 'U' and has a box of handmade flash cards to show for it. This means he's mastered most three-letter words containing those vowels in the middle, such as bat, jab, and mug. Along the way he's accidentally mastered a few four-letter words, but those weren't through my teaching. Well, most of them. I'm just really proud of the guy; six months ago he swallowed his 33-year-old pride and came to the program at a zero-literacy level. Now he can read more than one hundred words and figure out even more on his own. Yeah, buddy!

---Blogger Beta is for some reason not allowing me my typical double-space between sections, hence the triple-hypen denotation.

---I'm really into this Forum episode right now; professor Richard Dawkins of Oxford U. is in studio talking about why religion is delusional. It's a very interesting viewpoint, and is one of those which really makes me think about all of the religious people I know. It doesn't make me think they're "stupid" because that would mean that I agree with Mr. Dawkins and am taking it one step further into some sort of judgment. But if, for the sake of thinking, I did agree with Mr. Dawkins, would that mean that I would have to consider all of these folks "stupid?" How could you share his viewpoint and not live cynically in our widely-religious world?

---I've decided that I will continue to use commas the way I was first taught, which is to put one before the conjunction in a series ("eats, shoots, and leaves" instead of "eats, shoots and leaves") There has been some nonsensical talk in the grammar world of removing this stalwart of syntax, but that's just ridiculous to me.

---Here are what I consider two of the most wittily-written phrases in modern popular culture:

1) "That's the statement of the great mint in Doublemint Gum."

-Wrigley commercial, ca. 1995.

2) "I don't know how you do the voodoo that you do so well. It's a spell, hell...makes me wanna shoop, shoop, shoop."

-Salt 'N' Pepa, Shoop (Very Necessary), 1993

---I'd like to congratulate my friend Ren on getting her graphic-design/intelligence dream job at the CIA. Your New Hampshire hermitage paid off and I'm so happy for you, girlin!