Folsom Street Fair Weekend 2010

This past monday in San Francisco, everyone's facebook and twitter status read something like 'what a crazy weekend..RECOVERY DAY!'  Yep, it was folsom weekend, and while my recovery day consisted of going to work, i made sure to skip the gym afterward and go home and veg with some serranos pizza. This was my fifth folsom..Folsom Street Fair is like a holiday weekend in san francisco. The fair itself is the biggest leather/fetish fairs in the US (world?), and people come from all over. This prompts lots of parties and events leading up to the actual fair itself on Sunday. Added to that, SF also hosted the GayVN gay porn awards at Castro Theatre on Friday, so there were even more people here in the city. Something I never noticed till this year, the Castro flag is replaced by the leather flag in the week preceding folsom, and lots of homes and such sport it as well. It's pretty. My weekend started Thursday night with the Folsom/Gayvn edition of Haute at Lime. My best friend Dj Tristan Jaxx was spinning, and he did a great job, which was no surprise. That night there were a billion events, so the crowd was kind of split up, but everyone seemed to have fun, including me. The next day, four hrs of sleep later, I was back at work. The night before's warm had turned into rare hot weather, which continued the whole weekend long (and half this week!). This is the summer we never had! Friday night, Tristan and I set off for the GayVN afterparty put on by Gus at club NV. I found last year's afterparty set up to be much better. I was already sleepy from not much sleep and a full day's work, so DJs Frank Wild and Paulo's afterhours type music was a little too much for me on a Friday night. I know, I always like afterhours, but I needed something lighter for a Friday night. I tried to leave early, but it was already almost 3 by the time I did, anyway, and since the night closed at 4, I wasn’t too early. Saturday I got to sleep (!) and did errands and walked around downtown & over to the ferry bldg, in the beautiful, hot day. Heaven! I had considered going to Industry, because I really enjoy DJ Tony Moran, but decided to nap instead. So glad I did, because, due to technical difficulties, the club wasn't even able to open. I woke up at 2am and got ready, and was at the club by 4am. There was a long line, and they let people with physical tickets skip it. I only had will call, so although at some point I was able to skip part of the line, it still took me till almost 530am to get in. Once I did get in though (finally) I had LOTS of fun! The club was Aftershock, with Dj Abel. I was disappointed the last time I heard Abel, though I usually love him, and this time he got off to a slow start, but soon he was doing great! It wasn't even like a SF party, it was more like a real party, with his technicians helping him, and a fun vibe. It was crowded, but not super crowded that I couldn't move, and it was hot, but not deathly hot, and plus, they passed out POPSICLES! My popsicle cooled me down and put me in an even better mood. I can't believe I never went to Aftershock these previous years, but I can fix that in the future. Fun dancing! We stayed till almost close, just about till 10am. By 11 I was home for a nap, but it was hard with the bright, sunny day, and a party going on next door, so I really didn't sleep much. By the time we got up, got dressed in our folsom outfits, had a yummy vietnamese sandwich, and got to the fair, it was already 4. The fair itself was a kind of let down after the whole rest of the weekend. It's really not what it used to be…every year it's tamer. There were no good costumes that I saw (maybe those people had all left already?), nothing over the top at all. And it's folsom fair…it's SUPPOSED to be over the top! I heard that someone got kicked out for public sex..in a fair that is labeled as adult themed and 18+, the rule should be (and used to be) that just about anything goes. Now it's starting to become more homogenized into any other street fair. I see this happening more each year. Unfortunately, out of the people who were visiting, I only got to see some people not at all, or just for a few minutes. There were so many things all going on the whole weekend, and even as a late arrival at the fair, there were so many people there, that it was just almost impossible to find people to hang out. If I didn’t have to work every day in a draining cube, I would have had way more energy to expend on more parties. As it was, by 6pm, I was exhausted…I couldn’t even find the energy to dance at the block party part of the fair. After hiking all around to get dinner, I went home, collapsed into a book, and an unrestful sleep, to wake up early for work the next day. Another fun folsom weekend over, till next year! Despite the dumbing down of the fair, I'll be looking forward to it! I love SF crazy holidays!
Photos by Merredith Lloyd, Marques Daniels and Mike Dreyden
 

Finding Your Grandmother Name

Here's a blog I wrote mid August, but couldn't release it until now..
My sister's pregnancy is the first on our side of the family, and since she thinks writing is boring, and didn't want to do my idea of starting a blog about it, it's up to me to blog about interesting baby type things.  Something interesting that my mother is going through is choosing a grandmother name. it never really occurred to me that this would need to be done.  when i was born, i was the first grandchild on my mother's side, and the 5th on my father's side. But it was still easy. Each of my parents had one mother and one father, and that's it. So, my mother's parents became Nana and Grandpa Al, and my father's parents became Grandma and Grandpa George.  Out of those, only nana is still alive. But apparently, the new baby would have a bunch of grandmother type people, and they all need names. So my mother is trying to find the right fit for her.  There are whole articles online about this. We even took a quiz about it (it said she is the traditional type of grandmother and should take a traditional grandmother name).  The articles say to think about it early, and get your dibbs in for your choice.  Of course, when the child comes along, he or she may end up changing it, but especially before they talk, you've got to have something. this just never occurred to me before. i offered to ask everyone online what they thought, but then remembered that at the time i'm writing this, it's still a secret (you're reading this much later). For my father, it's easier, because i guess there are not a surplus of grandfather people. And for my brother and i, it's super easy, just add 'auntie' and 'uncle' in front of our names, which would even last through should this kid have a kid.  Renaming yourself is a powerful thing. my mother is moving into a new stage of her life with a new identity, even as my sister is. with just a name, she gets to set the whole tone of this new chapter of her life. it's kind of exciting. my nana has always been nana to me, but imagine how she felt all those years ago, learning she's about to become a grandmother.  she used to be someone different, and her whole self shifted. the same thing that's happening for my sister beth, she's no longer beth the woman, sister, daughter, wife and teacher. now she'll be a mom. and perhaps, one day, she'll be there picking out HER grandmother name.
Are you a grandparent? What do your grandkids call you? What do/did you call your grandparents?

4 Yrs Ago: 9/28/06 First Impressions of the Job, First Day In

Hmmm… I have never worked in an office so hot since I worked at the library. There, it was freezing in the summer, but burning hot in the winter. That’s not a bad thing though. I’d a thousand times rather be hot than cold. That’s the best part about my new job. I am so not cut out for being an assistant; I a trillion times over respect everyone who is one – we should give them giant bonuses on secretary’s day. This is such a boring job. My first two days were training, but today, Monday, the woman I’m replacing for a month is gone and it’s just me. Most of the day I spent wrestling with people to get me the proper computer permissions, which should’ve been done last week. Not to mention the fact that they have my wrong birthday and social security number on file STILL after it was supposed to have been fixed last week (after being accused of being an imposter!). Besides that, I made copies. And filed. And made five whole labels. Wow. Careful, I might strain myself… Plus the fact that the only thing you can do here is if someone tells you to. I have to walk by and look at people’s outboxes in case they left work there. Or they might email and ask to print something out. Print it out yourself! Friday I was shocked to learn I have to empty people’s recycle bins. Don’t they have someone who does that I thought…Then I realized with horror – I AM that someone! I’ve been sitting here forever doing nothing. I never have nothing. Even when I was bored before there were always things to do, projects I could make up… Here I check the mail, the fax, the outboxes, the email. Over and over. I don’t dare go on myspace or anything, only email. What will happen to my brain? Will it rot? The worst part is the others who have that superior air and if their door is closed, I can walk right in. I’m that much of a nonentity that I don’t even matter! I have never thought of anyone like that! So will never apply for this position again… I’m not the right type of person. I’d rather be paid less and be more in charge. I’d even rather do data entry… Go give everyone in admin a hug – they need it!

4 Yrs Ago: 9/22/06: Ooh yay

yay so i have a job! its only a temp job but it goes for a month and a half so that's long! im so excited! ever since i moved here, everything i say has been prefaced with once i have a job. once i have a job, im gonna buy lots of cute clothes, once i have a job i can get a curtain for my door, so no one can see in, im going to get a bureau, gonna decorate the house, gonna go to museums, the zoo, etc. etc. etc...
so i cant go crazy with things, cuz who knows how long it will be between jobs after this one is done, but it pays well and i can finally breathe a bit. yay.

Boxing is not as good as just hitting stuff

 I'd always imagined that doing a sport where you get to hit things would be super fun. Getting out all that pent up anger, frustration, annoyance, energy that builds up throughout the day..especially if you work in a cubicle.. Sounded fantastic! So, couple weeks ago, I had a coupon - yup, another one..you'll notice, I love these coupons I buy off online, they encourage me to do things I normally wouldn’t - anyway I had a coupon for 2 classes of… boxing! I seriously don’t remember buying it, but my friend A reminded me and he was right! We made plans the other Thursday to take our first boxing class at Polk Street Boxing Gym. Only, his plans changed, and I ended up going alone. I was slightly nervous…not sure if it's apparent by my photos on here, but I'm a small person. I felt like anyone boxing with me would earn an automatic KO! Lol. I walked in and was greeted by a super nice guy at the front desk, who handed me a jumprope, a set of boxing gloves, and pointed me in the direction of the locker room. I went in there, and there were tons of girls, they all seemed to know each other and were chattering away. It was very bare bones in there, one tiny room, and I had no idea where to put my stuff. I finally had to interrupt the girls to find out where to store my stuff (cubby outside). I stepped back out and surveyed the gym. It looked like the boxing gyms you see on tv. This place is the real thing. A ring in the corner, an area with a bunch of punching bags hanging down, and an empty area. That's it. No frills. People were jumping rope. Was that the class? I tried to make a space, and not get hit by the ropes, holding my gloves…the instructor guy was there and I introduced myself to him and told him I had no idea what was going on and he was nice enough..i tried chatting with him for a few minutes, scared to start, but he gently reminded me I'd better get jumping, and so I did. Horror of horrors, I didn’t remember how to jump rope! When I told my mother later, she told me I had never been very good at jumping rope in the first place when I was a kid. I guess I was pretty horrible at it, and now, after a billion yrs away from it, I could only jump a couple times..and I was in the FRONT ROW! Thankfully, jumping rope time stopped, and we were told to split into groups of 3. All the girls split into their prearranged teams. Did I mention, that this class was mostly women? SO unexpected! Two guys seemed to need a third so I quickly ran over there and got in their group. Phew. Somewhat friendly faces.. We did circuit training of floor, ball and crate exercises. Then we did sample swings, where I didn’t learn much. Then the teacher told everyone to pair up and practice boxing. Except me, because I was new. I got to punch a bag. They all took turns with different combos, and I punched a bag. SO BORING! Next, they got to punch a bag in teams. I got to still punch my bag. I was so bored. The music was super straight trance house music…not what I'd want, no energy at all. The whole place stank. Especially the gloves. I don’t mind sweat. This was some other raunchy smell, maybe accumulated old sweat. I just didn’t have fun at all. FINALLY it was over. I was still totally intimidated by these boxing girls, so I didn’t even change back into regular clothes, I just snapped a photo of the gloves, and left. On the way out, the front desk guy asked if I'd be back. I hedged and hemmed and hawed.. He offered me a free second class..i replied I had already bought a second class..he said well maybe this one was a bit chaotic, because you were new. New students can come on Saturday mornings and its only new people. OOOH news to me! Oops! That probably would have helped! Oh well..im not one to wake up early Saturday mornings! I fully expected to love this class, as long as I didn’t get beat up too badly. Instead, I ended up deciding against using my second class at all. The smell (which wouldn’t wash off my hands for a day) I could have gotten over. The intimidating clickish girls was probably my own insecurities. I felt SO relieved when I got to talk with the big muscle guys like ah these are friendly and people I can relate to. I'm like a little chihuahua that forgets im small. Those women were so..i cant explain it. They were small mostly, so it wasn’t that they were super big tough, I guess just that they all seemed snobby and to themselves, meaning it was probably me that was a snob. The biggest thing was though that the next week when I went to my kickboxing class, I just felt 'WOW now this is FUN!' Cardio kickboxing has dancey music, and fun routines, it's actually like youre dancing, in a way. Boxing is repititous, until you get to the stage where you actually fight, and it doesn’t naturally flow. You need patience. It's more work. So I'll stick to kickboxing. Have you ever been to a boxing gym? If you haven't, you should do it once in your life, at least. Do you like to box? Do you feel intimidated when you're dropped into a place with a bunch of women who already are in their own clique?


Photo by merredith lloyd

Utopia Pool Party - September 2010 Edition

The Sunday before last was the last utopia pool party of the season, and the second utopia pool party for me. I had expected our cold summer to warm up by september, and it did somewhat, but not by much. This was a record cold summer. (boo). Learning lessons from last time, I grabbed a couple friends and took the shuttle over from SF to Burlingame, where the party is held. We also left later than the last time, since I was too early before. However, there was a giant, horrible accident on the highway, and our shuttle truck was one of the few that thought to go around it…85% of people got stuck for probably an hour or so on the highway, and so when we got to the party, it was pretty dead, even with the later time. It was not only dead, but they were still doing sound checks and setting things up, and so it was the same thing all over again. Utopia's attendance never did recover from that accident, or people's busy-ness, or whatever it was, because there were a lot fewer people than last time (and, I've heard, last time, there were a lot fewer people than the first one, which I didn’t go to). Utopia is a Trigger party, and the music was, predictably, very Trigger. It all has that distinctive beat to it, and all the songs were cut super short. Everything was just a couple minutes each rotating very poppy music (often played multiple times by the many Djs) with the Trigger beat, and very few lyrics. It wasn’t so much pool party music. It wasn’t even so much afterhours music either. It was just there, and not great. But, for once, I didn’t come for the music, and it was pretty much what I expected, so I was fine with that. I had fun. Talking to people, making fun of lots of unfortunate bathing suit purchases, people watching, seeing the little kids running around and dancing on the stage, petting my friend's new dog.. It was slightly warmer there, so I managed to wear just my bathing suit for most of the time..till somewhere around 630,7, when it got super cold. And then we left, taken home in a colorful limo. Hopefully next year, it will be warm enough to have more pool parties, and actually get hot!

Photos by Merredith Lloyd, Matt Oltman and David Wong

Auntie Merredith??!!

This was written over a month ago...i can FINALLY publish it!!

Today was a usual saturday. i was out doing errands and shopping, getting things done that i cant during the week when work takes up all my time. i was at the bus stop when my sister called.  hi beth! i was happy to hear from her, but remembered when i was texting with her the day before she said she'd call me this weekend. suddenly, i realized the words that were coming across the telephone... she's pregnant! i'm going to be an auntie! the bus pulled up and i got on in a daze...there's a baby coming!! she and her husband, my brother in law robert, had always wanted kids, but i was not expecting a baby so soon. i thought i'd have to wait a while while they got ready to try, and then that when they started trying, that it would take some time. i guess i underestimated the energy of robert's sperm! i almost cried.  maybe i was a little emotional from drinking an iced coffee, which always makes me very caffiene high, but my eyes watered in joy on the bus as i asked my sister questions. the baby is due in april probably. yes, she will keep being a vegetarian. but yes, she will eat healthier and see a dietician. (you can bet i will  be sending her articles from now on so my niece or nephew comes out perfect!).  Wait! Isn't it too soon, how far along are you? 5 weeks. So we're not telling anyone. That means you cant put it up on facebook and dont write a blog. OOOH!!! i had already been planning on twittering/facebooking/blogging the joyous news as soon as i got home. i've compromised..i told some of my friends, told them to keep it a secret, and am writing this blog but not publishing it till i get the OK. I've always wanted to be an aunt!! When i was young, i wanted kids, but then i realized i dont really want to be a mom. I'm not a mom type person (other than over-mothering my friends). Just the other day, my friend paul asked me if i ever considered kids and i said can you imagine me with a baby? And he laughed, because he could not. BUT a niece or nephew...its like having your own kids, but BETTER! My genes are passed along. I get to be a fun pseudo parental figure, without all of the meanness or the responsibility. It will give my life a sense of measurement, watching this child grow up. And, in the horrible event that anything happens to beth and robert, and, i guess my parents and his parents and who knows who else, i will be there to help raise this child. Not that anything like that would happen (knock on wood) thats the product of too many movies. As the big sister to my brother and sister, ive always wanted to be a good role model to them. Now i have one more person i have to be a role model to. im excited about something that for once isnt superficial. i hope my sister is ready for the barrage of emails full of articles i'm gonna send her. and i have to go shopping... lol. of course, i'm not going to really like this baby until he or she can move around and show a real personality, which takes months and months after they're born. but anyway, in the end, i'm going to be an aunt!!!!

4 Yrs Ago: 9/20/06: Interviews are Weird

sometimes interviews are really strange things. the other week i was in an interview for an admin assistant at a pr firm (which i didnt get of course) and i had some of the strangest questions ever. things like describe yourself in three words, what is the name of your best friend... the strangest one was: i have a perfect world, in my perfect world, everyone can eat as much as they want all the time, and there are no calories, no one will gain weight or get fat, and all and any food is available to you...
at this point, i was thinking that was her perfect world and she was going to ask me what mine was. cuz that wouldnt be mine. i love food and all, but we do need calories, in her world we'd all starve to death. she was kinda pretty fat, so somehow this was on her mind. anyway..
so, in this perfect world, describe your dinner, including an apetizer, main dish and dessert.
that is the strangest question ever! what does what i like to eat have to do with anything? will that help me type better? lol i believe i answered a dessert buffet, homemade by my mother, with fruit and chocolate desserts, thai mango chicken and tofu curry, and then appetizers would be dim sum. she asked is that all? remember you wont get fat. i said well um, thai iced tea and mango lassi to drink? honestly even without calories id get bored after a while if i ate more.
in the end, i didnt score high enough on my powerpoint test, and plus messed up by telling her i wanted a job where i'd have potential to move up, whereupon she answered that once you're in admin, you stay in admin, no switching over to become a pr person. so not so desirable on my end...
anyway, watch out for the weird psychological questions they might pop on you at an interview...

4 Yrs Ago: 9/19/06: The Term Bi Curious

something ive never understood is the term bi-curious. just because you dont have a lot of experience with the same sex, people think of you as bi curious? when kids are young and they are straight are they straight curious? because they havent had sex with anyone or did anything but theyre still considered definitely straight. so then, what about all the girls who post and say theyre bi curious, are they really not sure, just because they never had sex with a girl? what if they have crushes on guys but never had sex with one and thought they might like girls too then maybe theyre lesbian curious.. lol
i know, a very random thing to post up... i tend to think you're whatever you are, regardless of whether you've had experience in it or not. so all the virgin girls who like guys are straight, the ones who like girls are lesbians and the ones who like both are bi. Be curious about something else. Ooh maybe im wealthy curious. After all ive never been a millionaire but i think i might like it.

My first real facial (no, not that kind! lol)

Until this past Monday, I'd never had a facial in my whole life. I'd played around with masks and stuff.. I'd even gotten a sample fake facial at a store, where you try out their products. But never an actual, real facial. Rewind back to a year ago, when I got one of those million coupon offers in my email, and I was feeling down and thought well hmm, I should get a facial! And I bought one (half off!). Then I forgot about it. Realizing my coupon was going to expire, I quickly emailed and scheduled an appointment. Unfortunately, there were no appointments not during work, so I took off early at nearly 3pm and went over to Aesthetique Skin Care. Inside, it looked like a doctor's office. I was led into a doctor's office looking room, and had to fill out a doctor's office type form. Then I got undressed and into a velcro white towel thingie. Hmm, already nicer than a doctor's office. The Esthetician, Theresa, tucked me into the table, folding sheets all around me, till I was nice and snug. 'Of course, you've gotten a facial before' she said. 'Um, no, this is my first..' I replied, embarrased. What kind of person gets to my age and has taken such poor care of her skin? Although surprised, she took this well, and proceeded to narrate everything she was doing throughout the whole process. I was washed, I was enzyme peeled, I was masked, I was shoulder and neck massaged, and I was extracted. Theresa spent a lot of care and time on me, and we even went over the sixty minutes (to almost 90!) with no charge. I felt really pampered.. It felt good, except the extraction. She kept apologizing..it hurt a little but not very much at all, and that's what I'm there for right, the whole treatment? The only annoying thing was the music. It was easy listening on Muzak. UGH! Afterward, my face felt moist and smooth. Days later, it still feels really smooth, although I have a couple breakouts (I guess it opened up the pores to get their gook out). I've read that you should get a facial every four to six weeks. 4-6 weeks!?! Oh no! I am way behind from YEARS and YEARS of neglect! Honestly, I don’t think I can afford to get a facial every month and a half.. But the results were so great, and my skin deserves it, so I will definitely never go longer than a year between facials again (and hopefully sooner!). I guess I'm a late bloomer to all this taking care of your body stuff, but better late than never! Do you like to get facials? How often do you get them?

Labor Day 2010

My labor day weekend wasn't too eventful, but i had photos so i figured i'd write about it..and then the week of work happened, when i was super busy. so, coming to you late, it's labor day!  i just have to say, i LOVE it when i get out of work early..got out early on friday at 3 and had time to go to the gym and workout AND go to happy hour and still get home before i normally do on a usual weekday! awesome!  i managed to basically stay home and get random things around the house and online done on saturday.  sunday it was finally warm!! and before i knew it, it was time to go to Fresh Tdance at ruby skye..those tea dances really take up the whole day. the music was bad..DJ Kimberly S looked good, with her hair all straightened..love the look..didnt love the sound. i had fun flittering around Ruby Skye saying hi to everyone i knew...and then it was time to go to Sanctuary after that. I was so hoping for some great music to make up for the earlier music, but nope. Djs Matt Consola and Ted Eiel did not do that awesome. It started out super poppy - not a sanctuary afterhours sound, and then just went to more bad.  There were some good songs, but not many. HOWEVER i still had a lot of fun!! It was a great crowd with fun people and we all made the best of the music. Overall, a fun night!! Monday was just recovery day..sleeping, reading, soaking up the uncharacteristically hot day streaming through my open bedroom window..  Check out these photos of me at Fresh over in vip, and at Sanctuary in the outside room.









Photos by Marques Daniels and Richard Henry Thomas

4 Yrs Ago: 9/15/06: Ghiardelli Chocolate Festival

Once a year, San Francisco has a chocolate festival, every september. If you're from around here and didn't know it, mark your calendar for next year, because it seems quite a few people are unaware. Whoever invented a chocolate festival is wonderful. I LOVE chocolate!
My friends and i went over there, and it was way less crowded than we anticipated, although it got busier as the day went on. You can buy 5 tastes for $10 or 16 for $20, and since we're pigs, we got the larger one. only, my tummy was smaller than i thought... there were lots of things to sample - cake, cookies, tortes, donuts, even drinking chocolate which is SO RICH. we all ended up getting so full before our tickets were done. we went and got chocolate covered strawberries just to be refreshed by the strawberry part. then we had some pommegranite sorbet which was refreshing after all that chocolate as well. we ended up using the rest of the tastes on some chocolate liquoir and a few ghiardelli chocolate candies, which we were able to take home. we ate lunch/dinner afterwards, but it was too late. i had too much and passed out in a sugar coma on the way home and on the couch at home while everyone else got to play games and then go out. but it was still fun!

4 Yrs Ago: 9/14/10: Clothes

Now note: After my initial enthusiasm, i realized that SF is lacking in fashion in a different way. But the first impression was of differentness than usual, so i got excited...
THEN: I love the clothes in san francisco. i was so bored of boston clothes, i never bought any. whenever i found anything i liked, it was always a million dollars. boston clothes tend to be dull and conservative and plain. then i came here. all the stores have such fun stuff! once i have some money to spend on this stuff, im going to look like people in magazines! all cute, wearing fun things instead of the same old boring things over and over. i want every outfit i own to be my favorite outfit. well, ive done that somewhat already by throwing out all the stuff i hate. but still... i'm even going to have cute work clothes. no more wearing things to work just cuz i dont want to waste them on real life... im gonna have cute trendy work and play clothes! yay!

The Finger Scan at my Gym - the Future is Now

The present is getting more future-y every day. About a month ago, I went into the gym as usual, and noticed a sign announcing a new service. Before, we had to hand over our gym card, which has a copy of our license with a photo on it, and the gym person checked you in. Now, I was informed, we no longer need our cards. Now, we can get in with a finger scan. Wow, a finger scan? That's so high tech! That's so mission impossible. What's next, a retina scan too? Nope, just the finger. People started signing up right away, but I was a little trepidatious. I thought of gattica. I thought of all the futuristic type things I've seen over the years. What about 1984? So many of the old sci fi imagination type things have come true. Things that even when I was younger and read and thought wow that would be annoying (reading a ray bradbury story, I believe, where people could reach this guy ANYWHERE and they got annoyed if he didn’t pick up his little com link. Who wants to be accessible 24/7 I thought? Nowadays hello, cell phones..you can get me any time anywhere) are now normal. But the question is, did I want to be in their system? Do I want to be registered? It's convenient to not have to remember my card. Or dig it out of my bag. No one can pretend to be me. And the line moves faster to check in. But I was somehow kind of scared to be so high tech. I don’t know why.. Anyway, after a few days, when I had the chance, I got over my trepidation and signed up. After all, my fingerprints are already in the system from when I was a substitute teacher. And it doesn’t even take your full fingerprints either, just the key points. I figure, in a few years, these will be everywhere. No more work badge, just scan away! No more subway passes, no more debit cards..it will all be connected. Maybe one day there will be no more physical money..i hope not. Does your gym do this? How do you feel about these high tech things?

4 Yrs Ago: 9/12/06: Golden Gate Bridge

As part two of our roommate free sightseeing weekend, we went to see the golden gate bridge the other sunday. This is the symbol of San francisco, so i wanted to see it. And, i wanted to get it out of the way fast, because it's such a touristy you dont live here type of thing to do.
We took a bus up a long road and ended at the bridge. We got off, with the other tourists, and saw, the bridge. We took pictures. And that was the bridge. Really, what more can you say, it's a bridge! People drive over it, it must be constructed well, but how much time can you really spend on it? There was a bridge gift shop, which we walked through quickly, and a bridge snack shop, which we saw no need to even go near.
For the way back, matt wanted to walk back on the scenic route. So, we walked, and we saw the ocean, and the bridge from some other views, and some plants, which according to the signs were rare. We also saw a sign saying there would be birds on the trail, and guess what there were! We saw an old fort and barracks, and then a sign for a trail leading to an old battery but that sounded really boring so we skipped that. It was pretty to see the view of the city from above, and to see the sea. And then we ended up catching the bus towards home.
A very nice, roommatey day. :)

4 Yrs Ago: 9/5/06: ugh yes i know im unemployed

Yes, i know i dont have a job. Im aware of that fact. Do you really think im just sitting around doing nothing though? i dont think that jobs just pounce on you with no work. every day i apply to jobs, send out nice applications. i keep the phone on me at all times in case someone calls, and check my email a billion times a day. ive gone on all the interviews offered to me. yes, ive heard of temp agencies and ive signed up for a few. yes, im using craigslist. despite all of this, i dont have a job. i know, my roommates were able to get jobs. theyre great people. they should. but who knows why i havent. i just havent, its not from lack of trying.
its bad enough to be poor and unemployed, but its worse to have to hear from everyone i come in contact with dumb suggestions on how to try to get a job, as if im really stupid and not doing anything at all. i dont want to be yelled at or lectured or talked down to. i dont want to take a job at a grocery store, no offense to that but i cant live off of that.
im not gonna starve or get evicted. im not lazy (well i am but not in the working department). so i really wish that people would stop making me feel even worse and more worthless than i already make myself feel. i dont have a job, then move on. new subject. isnt something happening in the news?

Snapshot: Random Photos because i'm Writing Impared

I havent been in a writing mood (shock! i know). So, i havent done a snapshot blog in a while..where i post up some random photos that dont fit into any of my blogs.. here you go!



Me with Hoi, Antonio and Tristan at a house party August 2010



Me with Chad and Tristan at the August 2010 edition of HAUTE.



My new blogger tshirt!



Me and Antonio at the classics night party July 31 2010.

Photos courtesy of Merredith Lloyd, Marques Daniels and David Wong.