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Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
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5:26 pm - tonight in berkeley: Tragos, film by Antero Alli
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http://www.verticalpool.com
I have enthused here before about how incredible Antero Alli's films are. If you're in the bay area, you can head to Berkeley tonight to see one of his best: Tragos.
This was the first film of his that I saw, and it knocked me for a loop. I had previously not experienced film as *art* before (only entertainment, if you grok the difference). Tragos is very intense. If you believe in occulty stuff, it opened some big energy taps inside me. It's amazing. Antero is the one who did the astrological reading I recently got.
I'd be going myself, but I have standing plans.
Still, if you are able, please go. Tell him I said hi.
If you're far away, he's now started selling all his films on DVD. They are absolutely worth the money.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, April 25th, 2008
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4:05 pm - bored in the bay area tonight? bart party
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| Thursday, March 27th, 2008
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10:36 am - cupcake disposal & the creative process
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[friend] how are you?
[me] I am good. I have found that baking gives me a ridiculous sense of accomplishment at times, and found myself recently compelled to bake cupcakes. I have three dozen that I am about to unleash on work. I am savoring the anticipation.
[friend] What kind of cupcakes?
[friend] Yum
[me] they're yellow cake with different kinds of frosting. some have chocolate chips.
[me] one of the problems i often have with making art is that once i have made it, then i have this thing around that i don't know what to do with. i don't like having random stuff, and making art often feels wasteful to me because then it's just a thing i have, this byproduct of my creative process. even if i really like it, there are only a few display options.
[me] the cupcakes seem to be an ideal solution to this.
[me] they're baking stuff, but they're also creative as i can decorate them with different colors and stuff.
[friend] Edible art?
[friend] I like that idea
[me] not only that, work is ideal for baked-goods disposal. i only have so many people at home. i can't bake a huge batch of these and expect them not to go to waste at home.
[me] but i have discovered a new use for my job!
[friend] Cupcake disposal?
[me] exactly. i can engage in the creative process, and then bring the results in to work and it will go away. not only that, it will make me friends in the process.
[friend] Fantastic
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, March 20th, 2008
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11:27 pm - wiki newsom hack
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| Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
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1:13 pm - storypeople
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I don't know how long I can do this, he said. I think the universe has different plans for me & we sat there in silence & I thought to myself that this is the thing we all come to & this is the thing we all fight & if we are lucky enough to lose, our lives become beautiful with mystery again & I sat there silent because that is not something that can be said.
--"Different Plans" by Brian Andreas
I promise you not a moment will be lost as long as I have heart & voice to speak & we will walk again together with a thousand others & a thousand more & on & on until there is no one among us who does not know the truth: there is no future without love.
--"Legacy"
http://www.storypeople.com
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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10:11 am - best rant i've seen in a while
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Damn, there goes my meth supply
Thank God for big local drug raids, because now you can't get coke or pot or Ecstasy anymore. Oh wait
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/
Do you have any sympathy for the police? Or the Feds? I mean, just a little? I do.
I figure you gotta muster at least a little compassion for how rough and dispiriting it must be knowing you've done your job well and worked your ass off and maybe even risked your life, spending every single day for two years straight following leads and compiling evidence and coordinating a large drug investigation across multiple enforcement agencies, all of which finally culminated in a successful bust of some very large local meth operations.
And maybe you even made headlines by nailing a notorious drug-making family who was capable of cranking out upwards of 20 pounds of meth a month, and you were maybe lauded by the media and applauded by your boss and glad-handed by the mayor and perhaps even for a moment felt like something truly good has been accomplished.
And then, well, then you turn around and realize it's all pretty much a big, nasty joke. Pointless, senseless, quite nearly useless — that what you've done really makes no difference whatsoever. And what's more, it never really has.
( Read more... )
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
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4:52 pm - obsolescence conspiracy
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I am starting to think that maybe this is a giant obsolescence conspiracy.
They are not giving me that much for my car, just about what they want for the 'fair' KBB listing. It had a lot of miles on it. I guess that's ok, I'll manage to find something, but it's really frustrating. Whatever.
The thing that is kind of bothering me about this is the consumptive aspect of this. I dunno, we just don't repair things anymore. Why bother when you can just get another? Most of me is fine with this, hey new car, but it also feels kind of wasteful. The body shop doesn't want to fix it - why work when they can get lots of money to take it to salvage and do hardly anything? The insurance doesn't want to fix it - it would cost them more to put me in a rental for the time to fix it, and then they'd be liable for the repairs for the rest of the life of the car. The market, if it can be personified would rather I buy something new.
...and then this afternoon, someone called from the car rental company to tell me that they also sell cars, and they'd heard mine is a total loss. Would I like to buy a car?
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, March 7th, 2008
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2:57 pm - more on my car
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I bought my car new. It was my first new car, and potentially my first for a very long time.
Both cars I'd owned up until that point had been hand-me-downs from my parents - the '85 Buick station wagon (two-tone blue! and later, covered with spray paint and stickers) that was mine from '95-99, and the '95 Ford Taurus station wagon that wasn't exactly mine but ended up being my primary conveyance from '99-00.
The Buick in particular was unreliable by the time I got it. I drove that car into the ground, with two cross-country moves and several other long trips, and moving it to western Mass. and Colorado. The couple of times it ran out of gas were my fault. The loose battery terminals causing random power loss and the way one was only able to start it by opening the air filter and sticking something in the choke while revving it, these were not my fault. Nor was the time the power steering belt randomly jumped into the engine while I was driving it.
The Taurus was more reliable, untill it seized and needed a new transmission. That was enough with the car problems for me.
I wanted something new, with decent gas mileage. Something that wasn't a station wagon.
I knew I wanted a 4-door because while I might mostly use it to commute, I like go drive places with friends and I like to take stuff with me. I looked around the roads and decided on what I liked, and researched online to figure out which of these I could afford. I settled on the 2000 Honda Civic EX 4-door. I was hoping for dark purple or green, but couldn't get these with the grey interior - and the beige interior was awful. So, black.
I followed the excellent advice from the Motley Fool - decide on what you want, get the numbers of the fleet managers at all your local dealerships, and fax them a list of what you want and put them in a bidding war against each other to give it to you. It took a while, but there was a fax machine at work and I was patient. I got my car in August 2000, cheap, less than retail, no docking fees. I had managed a loan from my father's credit union. Signing the papers was exciting.
I haven't treated my cars very well. I have tended to driving a lot, long stretches of time, and leaving all sorts of accumulated junk in the car. My cars have been filled with coats and drinks and papers and stray forks and pens and books. I haven't always been rigorous about oil changes (though I recently heard that perhaps the 3k rule should be extended to 10k+ with today's newer cars and environmental needs) and maintenance. I have an awesome repair place (On Track Auto in Burlingame, I highly recommend), but I've ignored body work for years.
Until Tuesday, my car had three big dents, and a broken bumper.
The bumper went first, probably as early as 2001. I was backing out of the small driveway in my apartment building in Daly City, and backed into a post.
The large dent on the driver's side rear quarter panel came as a friend was backing out of my driveway after a party. Neither of us had insurance at the time, and plans were made to fix it. It never happened - we both got distracted and she moved. Just to be clear, this is not something I'm upset about. I didn't ping her on it, and wasn't ever really ready to deal with it.
The dented scrape on the front passenger's side door is from a dumpster. A friend and I were in Berkeley getting coffee near Telegraph, and when we came out we saw that a wheeled dumpster on the street had somehow wheeled itself into my car and half off the curb. We had a hell of a time getting it back on the sidewalk without getting covered in nastiness, and the door has been well-dented ever since.
The dent in the driver's quarter panel was from some asshole hit and run who must have backed into my car when it was parked in Oakland. The door doesn't open all the way anymore, and squeaks.
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(comment on this)
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11:37 am - paging Dr. Ganesh
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Written from the doctor's waiting room:
I have an appointment in just a few minutes to get my wedding and engagement rings removed. I've gained just enough weight since I put them on last that now they won't come off, not even with soap or sexual lubricant or any amount of force I am able to apply. I guess they'll have to cut it, or something. So here I am at the doctor's office, waiting for this. My appointment is with someone named Dr. Ganesh, which seems deeply and hilariously appropriate.
*****
They're off now. My finger feels weird, has an ingrown indentation. Thankfully I am not tan. They are in my pocket, two ragged and precious half moons of metal and stone. I guess I will get a nice box to keep them in.
A metaphor: Chris took his rings off because they were causing the skin underneath to rot. I couldn't take mine off because they had become way too tight, and had to be cut off by doctors.
Dr. Ganesh was a young and very American person of Indian descent, with a shaved head and appropriately large ears. He was very friendly. While we were waiting for them to get the ring tool, I told him how amused I was that Dr. Ganesh was helping me remove my wedding and engagement ring. He laughed and agreed that it was very funny.
He does not usually hold offices there. Either he's new, or he was conjured by the Universe just for me. Perhaps he holds offices all around the world, conjured when needed to project the right sense of irony for specific situations.
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(21 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, March 6th, 2008
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12:13 pm - my car is totaled
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there will be a lot of posts on this because there's things in my head i need to get down. the first one is funny.
last friday, we got a catalogue for ebay motors wanting to show us what a great used car deal we could get from ebay. then monday, my car was crashed into and now it's totaled. ...is this ebay motors' new advertising strategy?!
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(9 comments | comment on this)
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8:55 am - dream
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I don't remember the whole thing, but I dreamt that schizophrenia was a sort of magic power. More, it was some sort of alien power that could infect humans like a disease. Since it wasn't really meant for our biology, it came with all these weird and bad side effects. So on the one hand, these people had interesting powers and could do things that normal people can't (I seem to remember a male ballet dancer who would change shape on stage and become a giant flower - it looked like a miraculous costume change, but it wasn't), but on the other hand, they also had disorganized speech and flattened affect and hallucinations and all the other stuff that goes along with a schizophrenia diagnosis.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
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6:18 pm - balkan beat box stopped by the INS
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| Friday, February 29th, 2008
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2:24 pm - chris & i are divorcing
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![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) chrisla and I have decided to part ways. We filed for divorce last night (in San Mateo county, you can do it online..!).
We had some good times (our wedding was seriously awesome), we had some bad times, and ultimately what we wanted for the long term just didn't match.
Neither of us are interested in side-taking or shit-talking; neither of us have always been our best selves in this situation, and dredging up unpleasant emotions and memories only makes things worse. We're aiming for "the good divorce," undrama.
We're still living together, and will continue to do so for another few months.
Thank you to our community of friends and acquaintances who have supported us while we've been together. We hope you'll recognize our parting with a hug and a minimum of commentary or awkwardness.
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| Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
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8:28 pm - BACKWARD RUNNING CAN CHANGE THE MILLENNIUM
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As I was arriving home tonight, I saw a woman in athletic clothing jogging by my house. This is not unusual. What made me stop and stare is that she was jogging *backwards*. Down the hill and around the corner of my very dark street that does not have sidewalks and very few streetlights.
I did what anyone would do: mockery, then Google.
I found this:
http://www.backward-running-backward.com/
....
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(19 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, January 11th, 2008
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4:09 pm - makeup question
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I like to wear thick black eyeliner pencil. My skin is just oily enough that by the end of the day, the eyeliner will have entirely migrated to various eyelid creases. Not hot. Eyeshadow is even worse, and takes only about an hour before it looks really just kind of icky.
Over the years, I have used various eyebase makeups, things you put on a thin layer of like foundation but right around your eyes, and they make your eyemakeup stay and look good all day. Years ago I used a version by Clinique, and it was decent but somehow I ran out. Then I tried this little vial of stuff from the local beauty supply store, and I *loved* it. But I've run out now, and they don't seem to have it anymore. I also bought some super expensive Paula Dorf stuff for my wedding that was supposed to work the same way, but I wasn't too fond of it. I've just tried it again today, and it totally sucks. It's about the same as not wearing it at all, but goopier. Yuck.
Any of you have recommendations? I want a container of some sort of makeup that can go on moist like foundation or concealer and then dry well, something I can then apply eyeliner and sometimes eyeshadow over and have them stay in place happily all day. It can be fleshtone or not, don't care too much (the one I really liked is a silvery white sparkly thing). I don't care about cost too much, I just want something that works really really well.
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(13 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, January 10th, 2008
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12:44 am - current state of my back
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It's pretty much healed like that so far. The next appointment in a couple of weeks is to add a couple of patches of Morse code, but I'm still deciding on exact placement. I am currently thinking maybe rectangles on my shoulder blades, but not sure. (Thoughts?) Anyways, happy with it. More pics if you click the picture.
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(13 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
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2:13 pm - unintentional news website humor....
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| Monday, December 31st, 2007
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8:22 pm - happy new year!
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| Friday, December 28th, 2007
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2:22 pm - SUP?
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So, what do you all think of this LJ acquisition? I've been off LJ for probably a month and a half, so while I heard about it, I didn't see any raging debates. And knowing some of you, I suspect there were raging debates.
What did you think when it was first announced? Has anything happened to change your mind one way or the other? What do you think about it now?
What are your future predictions for how this will go? Do you have any valid evidence, or is this just a hunch/hope/fear?
Did you read anyone's posts that you thought were especially eloquent on the subject? Any that you thought were blazingly stupid?
Feel free to use this space for ranting, linking, etc. Debate is fine, but keep it respectful.
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(19 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
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4:14 pm - my business card titles
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Special Assistant to the Command Line
Phantom Menace
Punch Card Analyst
Señor Support Specialist
Dynamic Synergist
Clock Winder
Postgeek
The Confounder
...thank you all for your help.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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