I'm Becoming My Mother

Now, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. Daisey is a wonderful person! But I do notice as I get older that the things I made fun of her for (and Lord knows the woman has put up with a lot of abuse), are things I do more and more often.

I can not tell you how many times we'd get in the car or even out the driveway, when suddenly, we'd hear: "I think I might have left the coffeepot on" and of course we'd turn back and check. Now, granted, the coffee pot was always on in our house, so you would THINK it would become the norm to check it before leaving the house...but I digress.

In all seriousness, though, I do find myself becoming much more of a worrier. My grandmother O'Day (Daisey's mom) was a worrier with the best of them. And Daisey's a bit of a worrier. And now I'm becoming one too. I think we worry about different things but I do find that I'm constantly thinking about ways to make sure things go okay and according to plan. And when I entertain, I'm definitely like my mother: too much food, and constantly second guessing decisions I've made about what to serve.

I also always gave my mother a hard time about never sitting still. We'd sit down to watch a movie and she'd be trying to do a million things at once, up and down, up and down from the couch. It was hard for her to not always be "doing something". I have found recently that that's who I am now too. I'm finding it harder and harder to just relax. And when I do have down time, I can't just enjoy the moment. Instead, I think about what I'm going to do next.

It does make my wonder about genetics. How much of our personality is genetic? Or is it just that we observe our parents and take on those traits? It's certainly hard to say. I just hope that I age as beautifully as Daisey :-)

These are a few of my favorite things

So, I'm not Oprah. But I still am allowed to have my list of favorite things too. And I'm going to share two of my favorite new websites with you. First of all, there is HULU! It's this great streaming video site and you can watch all sorts of old TV shows, clips, commercials, even full length movies - FOR FREE!!! (if you watch a few commercials). I personally have enjoyed some of the Saturday Night Live Clips, but I also use this to watch some of the current TV shows that I miss (as they often put up episodes a few days after they air online). Here for your viewing enjoyment is one of my favorites of the SNL clips:



Check out some of the other great things on Hulu.

My second favorite thing this week is the website Clean Scores. It's a site that lists the health inspection scores for various restaurants in this city and many others. I like to know that where I'm eating is clean and this site pulls directly from the public record so it's very useful. But be warned....some of my favorite places did not score so well, while some real hole-in-the-wall type joints I know of, did fine. You may be surprised!

Weekend Update

The weekend was really good. Friday night I had people over on the roof for a party. The weather was beautiful and we snacked on some chips and nuts and had white sangria, cranberry vodka iced tea, and beer. It really was a great night and I'm so happy the weather cooperated. Here are some pictures. Kurt has more on his camera, so I might add some later.








































Saturday, Kurt and I went to lunch, then I had a client. A trip to the gym and then out that night and met up with our friends David and Alan. Sunday, we went to the gym and then met other friends for brunch and to see "The Happening". My score: one star. DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE! It was bad. Well, it started out interesting, but then went no where and the acting and dialogue was bad. This is the last time that M. Night Shyamalamadingdong gets my money. And I mean it this time.

He's Your Man

Thursday night, Kurt and I traveled to San Jose for the George Michael concert. It was great! George looked a bit older, but he still had the same hair, signature sunglasses and perfect stubble. And his voice sounded great. He didn't use a lot of back up tracks, instead opting for 6 backup singers and the band on a tiered scaffolding behind him. This to me, shows he doesn't need a lot of techno gizmos to cover up for his voice.

To the best of my recollection, here was the set list:
I'm Your Man
Fast Love
Father Figure
Everything She Wants
One More Try
Teacher
Roxanne (cover)
Too Funky

20 minute intermission

Faith
Kissing a Fool
Spinning the Wheel
Feeling Good (cover)
Different Corner
Flawless
Amazing
Outside

1st encore: Praying for Time and Careless Whisper

2nd Encore: Freedom

The crowd really was into it and on it's feet most of the time. The stage was really cool. The whole backdrop was one big monitor which then curved down and became the floor of the stage as well. All sorts of graphics, images, and videos were displayed throughout. It was very well produced. If you get a chance, go see him. Here are some pictures! We actually had good seats but only had cell phone cameras so the pictures aren't great. :-(

Kurt - very excited to be at the concert! :-)

Waiting for it to start.

George on the very cool stage.

George on screen.

Movie Reviews: Incredible Hulk and Kung-Fu Panda

I've been meaning to write these reviews for a while, but this week has just been busier than anticipated. I have decided to change my system of rating from letter grades to a 5 star scale with:
Five stars: One of the best movies ever (everyone should be required to see)
Four stars: Loved it (highly recommended)
Three stars: Liked it (but you might not or might want to wait until cable or DVD
Two stars: Disliked it (would not recommend)
One star: Hated it (don't waste your time)

I hope there will not be a need for a "no star" category.

Friday, Kurt and I saw "The Incredible Hulk". My rating: 3 stars. We're suckers for superhero movies, thus we always rush out to see them, but this one just wasn't as great as say Iron Man (4 stars). Now some people are huge Hulk fans and maybe for them it was what they wanted. In terms of the lore or story of Bruce Banner and his alter ego, it wasn't really that bad. And they did use the theme song from the TV show at one point, which I appreciated. But I've never found the Hulk to be that interesting. He can't talk (or at least not a lot) when he's big and green which certainly leaves little room for dialogue. And the dialogue that was written was not very good at all. Special effects were pretty good, but ultimately it's pretty formulaic with a big fight between two big things in the end. Really they only made this movie so they could make an Avengers movie down the road.

SKADOOSH! This is what Po, the portly Panda says in Kung Fu Panda from Dreamworks. I thought this was also pretty formulaic but then again, most animation movies are. I actually really liked it. My rating: 4 stars. The animation was great. The story was amusing and of course, came with the requisite empowering message. I think it's definitely good for kids and for adults.

So, if you have the option, check out Kung Fu Panda first, unless you want to wait for the tiny Iron Man/Tony Stark cameo at the end of the Hulk.

Congrats Phyllis and Del!

Today was a historic day here in California. Same sex marriages officially became legal. Phyllis Lion and Del Martin, octogenarians who have been together for 55 years were the first couple married by Mayor Gavin Newsom. And I say, bravo, it's about damn time that a love like that could officially be recognized by our government. Now, as many of you know, there is already a ballot initiative in CA for the November election that would amend our state constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. I would ask that, if you live in CA, you vote against it. More info at Equality California.

Now, I know this is a hot button issue for some, but I just feel like I need to get up on my soapbox for a bit. *Stepping up* I personally do not feel the need to get married. I do not feel like I need my government to validate the worth of my love. However, for those who want to get married, I think everyone should have the right to do just that. And I have yet to hear a convincing argument against it. For instance, I hear all the time that allowing same sex couples to marry will destroy the sanctity of marriage. How, I ask? How can two people who want to publicly declare there love for each other do anything other than strengthen and confirm the validity of couples in the same situation. What destroys the sanctity of marriage are things like adultery or domestic abuse. Things where someone is actually hurt. I don't understand how love between any two people is a bad thing. Love is sacred. Not the title "marriage" and not legislation from our government. And let's be realistic here, we all know some married couple, where there really is no sanctity there. There are married individuals that we all know shouldn't be. That does more harm to the "institution" of marriage I think. Society has always tried to sexualize same sex relationships, characterizing us as promiscuous and self-destructive. And when we want to actually form legally binding committed relationships, that's wrong too. Doesn't make sense to me.

The second point I'd like to make has to do with religion. Like I said, Love is sacred. Government permission to be married or recognition from a church does not make it sacred. Love is sacred. In all it's forms. We here from childhood, "God is love". But now I'm being told, "Not your kind of love." Well, what about the love between a non-Christian, or non-religious man and woman? Is that not valid? Now, admittedly, not all Christians feel this way, and I know that sometimes they get lumped in with super conservative right wing fundamentalists. And this argument will go on for years. What I know is that my God is a benevolent one and He lives inside all of us. I do not see Him as being judgmental. Rather when I rejoice, He rejoices. When I am sad, He hurts too. I don't think God is out to make our lives miserable. He wants us to be truly fulfilled and happy because we create our heaven on earth. And quite honestly, I think God is probably more concerned with wars, poverty, killings, emotional abuse and all the other sins we inflict on each other than he is on two people who are in love. God, in my eyes, is never anti-love.

Finally, from a completely practical perspective, I'm not sure why the government is even in the business of legislating love. I understand that there is a civil contract there. In my eyes, that should be all the government should legislate. Any two people who want to form a civil contract should do so via the government and receive all the rights and privileges associated with that. Then, if they want to get "married" or not, they can do so via the church of their choice. This is really one instance where there is no separation of church and state in our country (that and printing on our money and swearing on the Bible in court). *stepping down*

I know my thoughts aren't groundbreaking. They've all been said before and I could go on and on about this (as could the opposition - and they probably will). But what it boils down to simply is love. We dream of it as children. It fills the lore of our stories, fairytales, and dearth of romantic comedies at the cinema. But we have the hardest time putting it into practice sometimes as human beings. We don't love each other, not only in the romantic way, but in the brotherly way as we should. I think that's what would disappoint God most of all. My hope though is that this is a move in the right direction and one day everyone will be able to love much more freely.

Satan prefers Peet's

What a crazy Saturday afternoon I had. Two clients, then a trip to Chipotle - where I had to have my tacos despite my ongoing tomato protest. Then I headed to the gym, but the overly long hour on the bus home is what was so interesting. As I was waiting for the bus, a guy in his twenties walked by with a leather jacket on with "Satan" embroidered on the left chest pocket. Now, first, I don't know who would want to take on that name, but more importantly, I thought to myself "What DOES Satan do on a sunny Saturday afternoon in San Francisco?". So, I watched him walk. Now, I'll tell you now, Satan was relatively attractive but very awkward. He walked like he either had something up his butt or had been riding a horse bareback for weeks.

More importantly, he walked right by a Starbuck's and went into Peet's. Now, I'm not sure what Satan prefers to drink as my bus arrived at this moment. But know that unless you want to support Satan's minions and causes, only drink Starbucks (or better yet, independent coffeeshops).

Well, the bus was packed and as we drove through Chinatown, I was seated in the back of the bus (because I'm just that cool). Then up near the center door of the bus, there was all this commotion. I took my earphones out to see what was going on. All these short little Chinese folks were yelling at this couple who had just gotten on. Apparently, they were accusing them of stealing an elderly woman's wallet as she had exited the bus. One little woman just kept yelling "Call the Police! Call the Police!". The muni driver was no help, mind you, which isn't a huge surprise. Anyway, like 10 men descended on the couple and started opening their bags, reaching in their pockets, etc. And sure enough, out came the wallet. Of course the couple continued to deny that they had taken it even after it was revealed. Then, everyone wouldn't close the door until they threw them off the bus. Now, that's a community taking care of itself :-)

Finally, we went by the North Beach Festival on my way home and the bus became full again with all these drunk yuppy revelers. One of them had a "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor" shirt on, so I asked him about the recurrence of my "itchy foot" issue, but he just stared blankly at me with his bloodshot eyes. Oh well, guess he's not part of my HMO network. Boy, I love Muni

Can I please get a damn tomato?

This recent tomato salmonella outbreak has me peeved. Not at the tomatoes, but at the people's reactions to it. Everyone is now fearful of eating ALL TOMATOES. And I can't get one for the life of me. Yesterday, I ordered a turkey panini from a local lunch place only to find it had no tomato on it, despite what was advertised. Today, I went to Chipotle for my favorite crispy chicken tacos only to find a sign saying they were not serving any fresh salsa even though....get this....all tomatoes from their suppliers had been deemed safe by the FDA and CDC. Then why can't I get my fresh salsa?!?!?!?!?!

The bigger issue that bugs me is that people these days seem to live in fear. We're so worried about what's going to kill us or make us sick that we forget to enjoy life. It makes me sick. This case of the tomatoes for instance: There have been 228 documented cases of salmonella from tomatoes since mid-April. So, it's not even like this tomato thing was just recent! It's only now because the media picked it up that everyone is afraid! And it's only in certain states. They've tracked the distribution and know where you can get safe tomatoes, but it doesn't matter. All tomatoes are now discriminated against. But I digress, out of these 228 cases, only 23 have required hospitalization and no one has died as a result. Hell, I would probably hospitalize 23 people from my cooking a year if more people would eat it. 23 cases of hospitalization cause 50% of the population to stop eating tomatoes (according to an informal poll) all out of fear. It's really sad in my opinion.

The Rocker

So, Wednesday night, my friend Seth drove up from Santa Clara. He had free passes to see a movie called "The Rocker" about a has been drummer in a heavy metal band who, 20 years later, joins his nephew's high school band. My rating: "C". It wasn't horribly unwatchable, but it wasn't very good either. It comes out officially in August. Seth said it best with his description "It was like a Saturday Night Live skit drawn out into an hour and a half". And it was. It had plenty of extraneous filler, some unneeded gross-out humor, and a lot of watching a sweaty Rainn Wilson of "The Office" fame drum with his mouth open. I would suggest waiting for DVD or multiple airings on TNT if you ever feel the need to watch it at all. It did have some funny parts though, my favorite being this quote from Howard Hesseman of "WKRP in Cincinnati" fame: "There are two things I don't trust in this world: Cell phones, since they give you brain cancer, and marionettes." It's really random, but I liked it.

Anyway, then Seth and I went to Mel's Diner and caught up one on one which we hadn't done in a long time. He's moving to Washington, D.C. in a month, and although it makes me sad, I think it's the right decision for him. Not that he needs my validation or the validation of anyone else for that matter!

And today was Summer Semester Orientation. Five hundred new students! I had to go to work at 7 AM, so I'm beat now. But I always love the first day, particularly since they are all students. It's fun to look at how they dress. Some of them think they have to look unique, or super put together, or not put together at all. We play "guess the major" based on what they wear, which is fun. But it is really exciting to see how pumped they are about starting a new pursuit. That's what keeps me working with students...there is always a lot of energy.

Time to Blog!

It's good to have friends. And luckily, I know a lot of people in a lot of places. Unfortunately, I'm HORRIBLE at keeping in touch with them. Time differences, hectic work schedules, etc. I could make excuses for days, but I'd really like to try to make an effort to keep in better touch with all the people I know. Hence, I've decided to blog.

Now, you may say that this is a very one-sided form of communication. I agree that it is, and that's partially why it took me so long to jump on the blog bandwagon. But this is where you come in. It would be great if you read and comment and I'll comment back or better yet, e-mail or call you! (This is something I am still telling myself I'm going to try to do more - but this time I mean it!) Regardless, I'm hoping it makes me better connected with everyone I love.

So, mostly this blog will be about daily happenings and things going on in my life. And quite possibly as I get more tech savvy, perhaps it will include links, videos, pictures, etc. Already, you can click on the picture slideshow to the right to visit my flickr page for recent pictures (although looking at them, they're not that recent) which I'll also hopefully keep updated on a more regular basis.

Quick primer update: Not much is new in terms of large scale things. I am still working as an academic coach at the Academy of Art University, still seeing massage clients three nights a week and on Saturdays and still being "the help" for the condo building I manage in exchange for rent. And of course, still dating Kurt. All in all, life is good and that's why I want to share it with you. I hope you'll follow this blog and help me keep in touch!