In a Western Place

As of May 1st, I became a fully insured human being again. Yup, I can now get sick, injured, or both without facing serious financial ruin (I'm looking in your direction, Kidney Infection bill!) Ah, it feels so good to be living a life of danger again! Now, I can resume some of my favorite physical activities, such as:

Skipping down the hills
Climbing trees
Learning how to ride Matty's skateboard
Binge drinking
Log hurling

And more importantly:

Running

Yes, I can be a runner again! Just in time for my first race since I completed the 2006 Chicago Marathon, Bay to Breakers.

I only have 3 er 2 weeks to train, which sounds pretty grueling — but I did effortlessly climb up Jones street from Geary yesterday morning carrying a tote full of heavy items. I'm not too worried. 7.46 miles isn't 26.2, that's for sure. It's all in the mind, man.

Now the cutting down on wine consumption, that'll be challenging.

Yesterday will forever live in infamy as the day that Matty and I sat on the couch and watched over 5 straight hours of the same hockey game. Yes, the San Jose vs. Dallas game went into its 4th overtime before Dallas finally scored the tie breaking goal. Big Shame. We’re Sabres fans, but we’ve adopted the Sharks as our West Coast team. Since the Sabres graciously disappointed us by missing the Cup playoffs by a hair, we were pretty upset that San Jose lost. I almost cried because the team really tried and the look of disappointment on tired faces tugged at my heart strings. Ah well, time to find another team to root for and it's not gonna be the Stars.

The weekend was a bit chilly compared to previous ones, which hindered project: wear flip flops all the time. Matty had a small carnival at his school on Saturday to help raise funds for the art program, so I tagged along. I’ve been to his school before, but this was my first time there while some of his students were present. Apparently, a few of his girl students were eying me from afar. I'll bet they're bombarding him questions today: Mr. ___ do you kiss that girl?

On Saturday night we headed up to Berkley to see Iron Man with some friends. My interest in the film was low – mostly because I’ve grown to loathe watching films in the theatre, and how good of a super hero could a Robert Downy Jr. make? Uh, a GREAT one! I'm glad we saw it, very entertaining, very silly, and Mr. Audi that new R8 is sweet! Too bad I have no place to put it, even if I could afford one. Did you catch the Avengers bit at the very end?

Add some delicious Buckwheat crepes from that French place on 16th and Valencia and I'd say yet another perfect weekend has passed. Back to the cut and paste.

I was all prepared with a post about my first day back to running until a co-worker sent me this link and I almost choked on my California tortilla shell free burrito with black beans. And mango salsa. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! Somebody scrap me off the floor!!!

Now you'll know where I'll be on September 30th. Here's hoping I won't have to resort to violence to get a ticket. I'm not afraid to bite.

• high ceilings
• very yellow
• minimal furnishings
• 25% mirror coverage
• full of sun light
• perfect, for now...

One of the roommates and I walked out of our rooms simultaneously this morning. Me, fully dressed and carrying my work tote. She, in her pajamas carrying a jug partially filled with red wine.

"I'm just getting this out of my room, I wasn't drinking it!" She defended.

"That's cool. See you later!" I yelled as I headed out the front door toward work. And during my entire walk, I couldn't help but think that wine should be the new coffee, at least on Friday mornings. I would totally get away with it, too... I'm not flying a plane or performing rocket surgery.

Whoo hoo, happy Friday!

After exploring a Niña replica over by Pier 9 on Saturday, we were walking toward California and Market Street when a flock of birds with an unfamiliar shrill passed over our heads. I couldn't identify them until another flock swarmed by... green birds with red heads. I racked my brain, Parrots! Wild Parrots were flying excitedly past us, landing on top of street lights, snacking on top of small buildings, and cavorting on treetops throughout the small block of grass on Washington and Drumm. I rubbed my eyes, "Parrots?" Then I remembered that Parrots live up on Telegraph Hill, a short jaunt from where we were standing. I wonder what brought them downtown?

Here's a super, zoomed-in shot. Fearing for my head, it was the best I could do.

Well, who doesn't!?

Matty got me this shirt because he's the tops and I'm going to wear it every night to sleep. Or, frame it. What do you think?

Yesterday was hot. Insanely hot. Too hot. Grouchy hot. Hot hot hot. Don't believe me?.

Thankfully, I have Thursdays off, so I was able to avoid my non-air conditioned office in favor of my air-conditioned salon. My apartment also managed to stay relatively cool (it's shaded by other buildings and plant-life), and aside from walking around outside, I wasn't too uncomfortable. Now it's Friday and I'm back at work, sweating and panting because the air from yesterday is still trapped in the building. We're baking! Not only that, but the weather report says it's going to stay hot through the weekend. It's only 9:15 and I already want to move my workstation over to the pier. The cool, cool pier.

Heat wave induced grumpiness aside, Bay to Breakers is this Sunday! Full update to follow... happy weekend!

Well... Bay to Breakers was a heaping bowl of crazy. I've never seen such a large display of public intoxication in my life (FYI: I was 100% sober). Play by play tomorrow (with some pics, hopefully). In the meantime, read all about it here.

I neglected to "lock" my phone prior to placing it in my rear pocket this morning and just as I sat down, it called one of my co-workers at approximately 7:11am. I know I'm not usually up at that time, so when I finally made it into work, I had to do the awkward "yeah, sorry my butt dialed your number and woke you up this morning."

Speaking of funny stuff involving rear-ends. While walking through Golden Gate Park this past Sunday, Matty and I spotted a young boy that looked a lot like one of the Kindergardeners that attends his school (we often see him and his parents out and about). The boy was dressed up as Luke Skywalker, and he was creeping around a large bush toward a man about to urinate on a tree. "What is he doing?" we thought. With a plastic light saber in his hand, the boy continued to creep, slowly, to the back of this gentleman, then raised the light saber (now in both hands) and pointed it toward the man's bottom. Just as I thought, "nah, this kid isn't going to..." Skywalker used the toy to jab this poor guy's behind, repeatedly. The man, in midstream, made every attempt to finish, but a final blow to his "man-bits" forced him to turn around. Imagine the look on his face when he saw that the individual attempting to assault him was, in fact, a 5 year-old boy dressed as Star Wars character. Matty and I broke out into laughter, and thankfully, the victim thought it was pretty funny too. The boy's Mother heard us, immediately pieced together what had happened, then grabbed her son, mortified and very apologetic.

Skywalker wasn't who we thought, but we'll be laughing about this one for a long time.

More like the race from Nob Hill to the Beach Chalet, 2008.

I had every intention to run in this year's Bay to Breakers, but thanks in part to my undying love of procrastination, Zone 1 sold out and I would have been forced to register for Zone 2. Zone 1 is for folks that will complete the race in under 2 hours, and Zone 2 is for the folks that will complete it in 2-4 hours — mostly walkers. While could have registered in Zone 2, then play "catch up" to the Zone 1 pace... no, this is Bay to Breakers, and it would have looked a lot like this:

and this:

and this:

and ew, this:

We're talking hundreds of thousands of costumed people, drinking, urinating, laughing, fighting, dancing... all before noon on a Sunday. This isn't a race you might say, and you'd be correct; at least not this part. It's just another one of these bizarre San Franciscan traditions that you don't question, you just sort of go with it, even if it means have your retina's burned out by the sight of some REALLY old naked dudes. Naked and against the war. They had the body paint to prove it.

In brief, Matty and I overslept and we started the race from my home at 10:30am. The race officially started at 8:00am, so the real runners were long gone. We caught up to the pack around Fell street, next to Alamo Square — (the location of the infamous Painted Ladies, otherwise known as the Full House houses). I had every intention of photographing the event, but I stupidly swapped the charged battery in my camera with a dead one before we left. Dumb.The top photo is mine, the rest are Matty's. After my mistake rendered me fairly grouchy during the rest of the Fell Street leg (to put it lightly), but my attitude brightened once we entered Golden Gate Park, where it was impossible not to smile at the random things people dressed up as. Matty and I moved at full speed, and barreled through the parade, knocking over anyone in our path. Once we reached the end, our finish line being one of our favorite out-of-the-way restaurants, the Beach Chalet (on the Great American Highway), we had completed 7 of the 7.49 miles.

We ate buffalo wings and creme brulee, then hopped on the #5 bus for a long ride home... until a fight between a fairly inebriated dude in skimpy shorts and an another guy dressed as a Double Dare contestant broke out, forcing the bus to stop. There's never a dull moment in this city, that's for sure.

After a very exciting day and a half of my three and a half day long weekend (huh?), I spent the remaining two days recovering. What a great holiday weekend! More pics to follow, but here's one of me from my phone taken Friday night. Look, I'm a Bridesmaid, Indian-style!

This week is a 2-day workweek for me. And so is next week. You'd think that would have made it easier to get up for work this morning. Nah.

Matty and I spent Memorial Day watching game 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs (go Red Wings!) Well, OK, not the whole day. Prior to the game, we spent the afternoon in North America's largest Chinatown, just a few blocks down the hill from where I live. Here's pictorial evidence:

I was a Bridesmaid in my good friend Mindy's wedding last weekend. While the night before a wedding is typically reserved for the rehearsal and a maybe a dinner for the wedding party and out of town guests (yeah, I've done this a few times... you know the saying, always a bridesmaid, never a.... whatever) the groom's family opted for something more traditional: a full-fledged Indian wedding. Alas the Indian ceremony was a lot of fun, and I felt a surge of regret for declining on the few wedding invites I had received while working in India a few years back (darn those weekend bouts of delhi belly). The whole ceremony lasted about an hour — all on stage. After several fistfuls of rice were thrown (and butter/ghee thrown on the fire?) we were rewarded with an open bar and one of the best Indian dinners I've ever consumed in my life. Even the super spicy stuff that I tend to avoid was pretty outstanding. Oh, and I do believe the other Bridesmaids and I received a blessing for many husbands, but I could have misheard.

On Saturday, the rest of the Bridesmaids and I (and Bride) met up in a swanky hotel downtown, then rode in a champagne filled limo down to Ralston Hall, a fancy mansion in Belmont. The rest is a blur; we put on pretty dresses, lots of photos were taken, the ceremony happened, then everyone ate, drank and was VERY merry on the dance floor. Matty said it was one of the most beautiful weddings he's ever attended, and I wholeheartedly agreed.

Oh, and look - I'm a pretty Bridesmaid!

In other news: I'm hopping on a plane soon (for another wedding) and I won't be posting again until Wednesday at the very earliest, but I'm sure I'll be twittering like a mofo. Until then!