Friday, September 30, 2005

Mames

Sometimes you see people who are important to you, and they just look good. Last night, we stopped by SFMC after our Mandarin class to see James. James is one of the coolest people I know, and he looked great. It made me think I ought to drop into people’s lives more often, because it makes me happy to see my friends happy. Sadly, so many are too hard to get to, too busy, too stressed… But James looked great. Yay James! He’s talking about possibly racing sidecars at Isle of Man next year. That means James is way cooler than you or me.

This weekend we are going to do oil changes, a friend's birthday dinner, ride to Reno and back to watch the Supermoto, and go to Sears Point (I will NOT call it Infineon) to watch AFM. Maybe we'll even have time for ice cream and beer at some point.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

And some unpopular opinions

Update:
1.) I went on a Monday Night Ride, for the first time in a long time. I only went for one reason. Keep that in mind when you tell me how busy you are.

2.) I think the Mandarin teacher is hot for my boyfriend. I could get offended and snap her in two. Or I could sell him to her in exchange for an “A.”

3.) I fucking hate laundromats.

4.) Saturday was spent roaming around the city, drinking, shopping for computer stuff, and bitching about the Love Parade. What a useless distraction. There’s an honest-to-goodness peace rally at one end of the downtown, and then there’s this bullshit blinky thumpy tripe. Way to go, idiot electronica consumers. And for fucks sake, don’t get all starry eyed and preachy about the importance of the electronic dance community. Call it what it is: a bunch of blinky blinky bullshit. Your 5-year old has more sophisticated interests. Oooh! TWELVE LIVE DJ’s! Stop the presses. But not traffic, not for that.

5.) Sunday I went to volunteer at the Rider Survival Skills Day in La Honda. It’s a fundraiser for the La Honda Volunteer Fire Brigade. I watched some fantastically bad parking jobs, and saw some really neat old bikes. Including, finally, a GSXR even I wanted! Oooh! I feel so squidly!

6.) Tuesday we went and saw Marisa off on a nice hangover.

7.) The grief is unimaginable. And yet I keep catching myself imagining it. At least, the not-knowing is over, but the conditions make it a new kind of hell. For those of us on the periphery, looking in, it is sad and confusing. For those in the middle of it, my heart goes out to you. As little as I knew Melinda Moore, I did enjoy her and find her inspiring. I don’t want to hear that you knew her, or that we lost one of the good ones, or a hero, oh, another one got taken from us, or some crap.* Of course you knew her; if you rode in the area and didn’t ever meet her, you weren’t fucking riding enough. Remember her the way you remembered her a month ago; death is not a glorifying event. This is the part where everyone is going to bring up some other riders that died in the past couple of years. It’s not the same. It never is. It’s a personal hell for her family and fiancĂ©, and my sincerest thoughts are with them. But to say that it is my own pain, would be insincere. I wonder, and it brings me such sadness to think of the mistake, and the things that were left behind, and the journey that the close people will have to start, but it is not my story. And if its not yours either, just shut the fuck up, offer your condolences, celebrate the life as it was , not the death as you imagine it, and take care of those in your own life. Goodbye Big Red. I hardly knew you, but somehow you always remembered my name. I doubt you were a hero, but you had people in your life who love you. May they find their peace with and without you somehow.
(*I’m still hearing about Sean Crane from people I’m pretty sure barely knew him. Let him rest, people. Let it be as it was, not as you wish it to be.)

8.) We are considering hopping on our bikes early Saturday morning to go to Reno to watch Supermoto, and returning that evening when they are over. I think this means I’m a Beemer guy, even though I don’t have a Beemer.

9.) Mandarin is retarded. Tonal language: a very stupid idea.

10.) I’ve been thinking a lot about life paths and compromise lately. I’m aware of compromise in my life but the very thought of it seems to offend people. Case in point: Going to the Academy of Art, I guess everyone is supposed to want to be some faaaabulous fashion design queen. Actually, I very much knew I wanted to get into costuming. Until somewhere toward the end of my time there, when I realized that Costuming: the Career, was totally not for me. I loved the art, but it would mean finding a new job after each project, it meant low pay, no job security, no insurance, no benefits. Maybe it’s because I was going into the hospital more than my peers, but that didn’t seem OK for me. So, OK, I guess Fashion, I mean, that was my major after all. Well, a few weeks into the job search, it looked real bleak. Nothing remotely creatively interesting in the Bay Area. What’s left of the Fashion Design jobs is mostly in LA or New York. Crisis. I got desperate, started looking at other fields. People were still hiring for every goddam thing in the computer industry at that time. Internet crap, whatever, I needed a job. I got really lucky, I guess, at the job I landed, when I’d really given up hope for an apparel industry job. But the thing I wasn’t willing to do was move. I have family here, and I love the area too much to move out to where the better jobs are. Even though I’d spent 4 years in school chasing the degree, the job wouldn’t be worth it to me.

If someone tells you they don’t compromise, they are full of shit, or an incredibly boring person. For everything you give up, you get something else. For everything you decide is non-negotiable, you will find something that is, if you look. And that’s how your values grow and develop. If you’ve never sat down and acquainted yourself with the choices you’ve made, the things you’ve weighed against each other to put you on your path, you really don’t know where your values are taking you.

So I ask you, what are the compromises you have made in your life, and what do they tell you about yourself?

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

rumbling

We just got our first thunder and rain for the season.
I LOVE the sound of thunder!
It seems a little early for the season to start, and I didn't miss some of the storms we rode through last winter, but I do love that sound, and I do love winter.
I'm not quite yet mentally prapared to begin showing up to work every morning soaked, but oh well...

Boobies for a cause!

guilt-free objectification of dumbass sorority girls

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Cleaning the garage, my ass!

Today we went for a long overdue ride through the hills. Nice, saw an overturned semi on Pescadero (oh, the hilarity!) and got a little jump on the 280 flyover offramp.

We stopped in the suburbs to distribute a few Watchtowers while we were out:


Now it is 5pm, and we are going to spend our Sunday getting plastered.

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Cleaning House

I’m cleaning up and freecycling a bunch of stuff.
One man’s junk is another man’s fetish.

Please let me know if any of the following are of interest to you. I will not ship anything. You gotta come get it.

15 are GONE!
6.) A bunch of clothes, all types. Some work/office stuff, some old T-shirts, some playa-riffic stuff, some shoes. Size is probably 10-12. Shoes sizes 8.5 or 9.
7-9 are GONE
10.) Lights: big round string lights, blue and red. New. I know you hippies love blinky, but as far as I can tell, these do not blink
11.) 3 Picture Frames: 8x10, with the glass
12.) Random Rat EX500 parts: those plastic bits, I think, go into the front fairing, dashboard-style. The previous owner was an idiot, and so you will probably want to remove his shitty paintjob. Shouldn’t be hard since the red paint is already chipping off. One stock mirror, on not stock, one perch & lever. One handlebar, which, amazingly, appears to not be bent. I must not have put it onto my bike.
13.) Plastic repair kit: Used once, but there’s still a bunch left? I’m not into plastics, but if yours are cracked, and you care, you need this. Apparently. At least, my ex seemed to think so.



Will be adding more later













































Friday, September 16, 2005

Cranky

When I was younger, I guess when I was still in school, I had to defend my wanting to date a guy with a better job. I remember hearing “girls are always hung up on a guy making money,” etc. etc. blah blah blah. I didn’t want to be that girl, but I wanted to, like, be able to get a burrito when I felt like it. If you can’t afford a burrito when you feel like it, I don’t want to date you. I’m not talking, jewelry here, just, like, a falafel now and then. I don’t know why that makes me shallow or materialistic. I think underemployed guys were just bitter.

Now, I’m that guy. I can’t afford what is wanted. I mean, burritos, yes, but not other important big-ticket things. I just can’t. I made horrible school and career choices, financially speaking, and I won’t ever be able to do that.

So, calling the search for new digs off, for the second time in as many years.

Anyway, I like my apartment, so whatever. Anyone who hates my apartment should think seriously about the last time they were able to stumble home from 15 bars and out to Thai food at 2am, or walk down to about 12 museums in the afternoon. I am a city girl; suburbs are quaint at best, more like dead to me. Having a yard is no compensation for being isolated from city life. I don’t even like gardening.

So, I’m getting rid of a lot of stuff. Photo stuff, art supplies, clothes, shoes, probably a lot of fabric, a printer, my giant G3 at some point, some bike parts, motorcycle gear… just to start. That should be a good start, and the rest to follow. I may post some of this stuff if anyone is interested. Otherwise, goodwill or whatever. I’m too stupid to ebay. Shipping confuses me.

I’ve been really fucking cranky recently, and I need to figure out how to make that stop. I feel so fragmented, and it seems unfounded. I don’t even know why I’ve been so busy, but I don’t spend enough time at home I guess, to keep it in order. That bugs the hell out of me, because I really feel like I’m not even doing that much. I used to have friends, but even that has faded away. Every week or so, I try to touch base with James, but fail. Well, at least I saw Lucy. Yay, I did something. What am I really doing to make the world a better place? Not a whole lot. I’m failing. Work has gotten bad, but I think mostly because of my own attitude. I need to take control, and point it in the direction I want, and do a much better job than I’ve been doing. The same could be said about all aspects of my life right now. Clean up, make a plan, move in a new direction. Throw out the deadwood. I’m the only one responsible for making me happy, and making my job better, and making my home life work.

Starting today at work, and tonight at home.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

New Stuff

Saturday, Paul and I went to San Jose to meet up with my Junior High School-era friend Lucy, who was visiting from LA, and her new boyfriend. They were all icky-cute and stuff. There is NOT A GODDAM THING TO DO IN SAN JOSE. What a pit. It’s actually gotten way more boring than it was when I was living there. Suckers. The streets were empty where there used to be people working, drinking coffee, discussing, living, DOING. Now there was no one, and everything was closed, except at the mall. The mall was packed. Fucking disgusting San Jose bullshit culture. We wanted to go to the Apple store to see if was easier to get help at the one in San Jose. The one in SF is always full of people just wasting time and checking their email. I want to BUY.

Got some info, then rushed back up to the City, parked, and hiked down to the Apple store. And within a half hour or so, I had my new computer! Woot. I am so excited. The machine I was using at home had been stretched beyond its years. But, being a cheap bastard, I wanted to make it last longer. Until, recently, when the monitor started to die. It was THE hot shit when it came to my house about 8 or ten years ago, the first generation of G3. Now it is a giant paperweight.

Note: I now have a new computer, and there are a few myspace profiles that still take like five minutes to load. Those people might want to rethink how important they think they are, that they need all that bullshit on there.

So now I have a 12” Ibook, and I can join the legions of people who go to public places and sit in front of their computers. Once I figure that out, anyway. For now, I’ve gotten most of my photos onto it, and made the internet work at home with the DSL cables. I still need to unpack the printer and Ipod, but I think I ought to do some cleaning (or possibly something in the vein of clear-cutting) at my apartment first. What a sty!

Wasted Sunday engrossed in my new toy, transferring data, and puttering around the bookstore a bit. Paul and I will be spending about a week in Ireland after the Isle of Man TT next June, but can’t figure out what we ought to do there. Ideas?

One thought is that I may need to learn to drive. I’ve always thought it was a part of my charm, the fact that I’ve never learned to drive a car. Cars suck anyway. But we can’t find any motorcycle rental places in Ireland (except Belfast, and we are coming in and out of Dublin I think) and I don’t know that the train will work for us, depending on where we decide to go. So, anyone want to teach me how to drive stick? I refuse to learn in an automatic car. That hardly seems worth justifying with the word “learn,” like it’s a skill or something.

Sunday, my mom surprised us by being in the City, so we met for dinner at Zuni. It was yummy of course.

And the other pending issue is apartment hunting. We’re looking for a new place to live. Needs, in order of priority: Garage, cat, one or two bedrooms, non-ghetto neighborhood, outside space for said cat (even just a patio or whatever), convenient-ish to freeways or whatever, and less than $1500. A lot less would be a lot better.

The sticking point is that the garage needs to be an honest-to-goodness garage. Just for us. No carports or shared deals. We will put tools and stuff in it, and change tires while drinking beers with the radio playing in the background.

Ideally, it would be in SF. MOST ideally, Potrero Hill, North side-ish, but, yeah, right, I know.

Friday, September 09, 2005

next, they'll want seatbelts

uhm, yeah. This is really dumb.

I mean, oh, good, this will eliminate all that whiplash I've been getting when T-Boning left turn-ers.

I appreciate the interest in safety and all, but motorcycles are very different than cars. WHO ends a crash sitting on their bike with their hands on the bars?
Pinkies out, no doubt.

This reminds me of the ghetto lady that rear-ended me on my dirtbike at a stoplight, then started yelling at me.
"Ain't you 'posedta be wearin a seatbelt?"
yeah, lady, tell the cops when they get here.

A random note about evacuating people

I'm not saying a lot about Katrina on purpose.
There's a lot, and we should all pay attention, and take notes, and not forget, because the spin is coming. The rose-colored glasses and finger-pointing are on their way. Don't forget what really happened when we watched it unfold in slow motion.

But I don't have the energy, nor the first-hand knowledge to make important discussions now.

However.

People not being allowed to take their pets is utter bullshit.
I know, the logical thing is to save the humans first, animals later, or something.

These people have lost everything. Maybe the only companion they have left is Fido. Maybe they just spent the last week with no one but Fido, and you're going to tell them to leave behing their ONE companion? Tell them to give up on the little furry bit of joy and love they've been taking care of all week? Ever been through something really tough with someone, and noticed an extra-special bond? It's just you and your dog, waiting for a week on a mostly-submerged rooftop, rationing out the snacks you have in your backpack, surviving. Now you're supposed to leave him behind?
Fuck a lot of that.

Seriously, inhumane to the animals and humans. This is ridiculous.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Wandering, but not in the desert

It’s nice being untethered.
Or, being tethered to another untethered thingy.

This is the first time in I think 6 years that I’ve not been out in Black Rock Desert for Labor Day. What to do? Well, I got all wrapped up with the Magic show, and nothing was planned. That’s OK, hell, maybe that’s actually better. Pile some crap on the bikes and let’s go!

Friday night we opted to stay home, since our target was about four hours away and finding and setting up a camp in the dark and cold sucks ass. I crashed out early while Paul fussed with the bikes.

The goal was to go north, probably around Fort Bragg somewhere. We didn't have plans or reservations, but worst case was turning around or pulling over somewhere remote. Shit, we already proved that we could ride out 24 hours in some snotty twisty shit, so nothing seemed worrisome about this. See something you like? Pull over! Like it a lot? Sleep there! Otherwise, keep wandering.

Saturday morning we finally hit the road around 10:00 and headed north. The directions were to take 101 to Willits and then go West on 20, but when we came up on 128, I remembered it went through Boonville to the coast. I like Boonville, and was tired of 101. We got to Fort Bragg just around the time my gas light started blinking (1 gallon left). That’s pretty good! For lunch, I dragged us into the North Coast Brewery, on account of, there’s always a huge wait at the Brewery during the Sheetiron, so I figured it must be good. It wasn’t. They make good beer, but my garden burger came out still frozen, and nothing was good except the fries. Good fries. Meh. Followed a bunch of assholes in RV’s out several miles north, and a few miles after they had all pulled off at a campground on the beach with “FULL HOOKUPS!” we found a nice spot just off Highway 1.

The actual campground was bleak, mainly just a field with firepits and picnic tables, and some pit toilets. We found a nice spot near the highway, opposite the line of RV’s camped along the ocean side of the bluff. The people at this campground were weird and scary, not in a personal danger sort of way, just in a “oh my god, this is what we’re up against” kind of way. People who ignore their kids unless they are yelling at them. And yell they did!

Whatever. The beach here (ahem, this is all a guess, since the trail was closed) is amazing. Feels very pristine. Shitloads of tidal pool life. I have never seen so many huge starfish jammed into one spot. Birds I’d never seen before. Cranes, seals (or were they sea lions? I’m not sure), hermit crabs, even a little tiny fish in the tidal pools. A few old engine parts rusting away next to mountains of seaweed, and a giant piece of bleached redwood. Flies were thick, and I had to keep my beer covered.

Drinking on the beach, picking through the slippery rocks with a beer in my hand. Oh, uhh, is the tide coming in or going out? Will we be able to get back before the sun sets?

And to think, I could have been roasting in a hot tent listening to some fucker's oontz oontz music all week with a hangover!

Sunday, we poked around Fort Bragg and Mendocino, and spent more time drinking and poking around on the beach.

Things I DIDN’T say to the two guys in Harley costumes standing next the parking spot we pulled into in the quaint little B&B town of Mendocino:
-“How do you decide which one of you gets to sit on the back?" when they asked why we came on two bikes.
-“Just like you two, a romantic weekend away?” when they asked what brought us out. (I mean, isn’t that what people DO in Mendocino?)
-“well, at least you ride,” when they said “well, at least you ride” with that tone of sympathy for us since we couldn’t ride Harleys.
-"because I prefer passing traffic, to holding up traffic," when asked why we chose the bikes we did.

Breakfast was in a shitty greasy spoon Monday because downtown Fort Bragg was closed for a parade. Oh, boy, were the weekend warrior riders out in force!

Highway 20 is the last leg of the Sheetiron westbound route, and I remembered it being very pretty. Figuring Highway 1 would be averaging 15mph because of RV assholes, we took 20 over to 101. For several miles, I was astounded at how nice people were being, taking the turnouts to let us pass on 20. It was all so civil! Soon enough, though we came to a trail of about six cars behind one RV. After he passed a few turnouts, the illegal passing had to start. This motherfucker must have had about thirty cars behind him by the time Paul passed him and slowed him up enough for me to get around (the road was pretty twisty by then). 20 is a beautiful road, and nicely planned such that there are a LOT of turnouts. What the fuck is it about RV drivers that they nearly ALWAYS refuse to use turnouts? The law states that you must pull out for 5 vehicles behind you. 30 vehicles behind you and passing turnouts? You ought to be dragged out and shot. Yes, shot. We don’t need selfish motherfuckers like you. READ the CVC’s dumbass! And, fuck, even without a law, you ought to have some goddam manners. Big problem here. Cops hate people passing over the double yellow, but they don't ticket for lane-blocking violations. Well, I'm sorry, but crossing highway 20 at 15mph, for what Mr. RV would have liked to be the ENTIRE stretch, is not a fucking option.

RV's are evil and pathetic. You're not camping. You're not out seeing the world. You're blocking it up for everyone else, all while maintaining your cute little isolated mentality. Just stay home. For the love of god, stay home.

Finally out of the RV shit-storm, we stopped in Petaluma to visit the cafe with my favorite bathroom. Home again and watched Scotland, PA from netflix. (It was decent)

Friday, September 02, 2005

Spam in my Fucking Blog?!?!?!?

That's like graffiti in someone's diary.
I'll be so excited to check out all of your websites! I've been looking for a good home based business to make millions.

I hate humans.



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Wynn is for Losers

Vegas! Yeah! Omigod, it’s so great!
OK, no, it’s not. It’s fucking 110 degrees in Las Vegas in August, and I don’t like that one bit.

Flew out to Vegas Saturday morning to set up for my company’s presence at the Magic show. This was my third time, and I think I’m starting to get it now.

Saturday, fly in, find my boss, go to the hotel, find the salespeople.

Everyone’s been a little excited about the new hotel. The Wynn! New! Fresh! Fancy! They spent $10,000 on each room! Two flat screen TV’s in each room!
Oh, shit, did we forget the hot water? But you got the TVs, right?

DO NOT stay at the Wynn hotel. (I'd link to it, but their website is annoying and slow)

I’ve stayed in worse places, hell yeah I have. But never for work, and never at that price. That price! More than the Bellagio, on some booking sites.

First impression of the Wynn: lobby/casino: I’ve been assaulted, all senses. Loud, in every sense of the word. Garish; I don’t understand the theme, it’s crowded and chaotic, and thank god the check-in lady gave me a map and drew a path to my elevator. The ceilings are low and I feel claustrophobic. Smell of cigarettes. Ugh.

My room is on the 6th floor; somehow my boss schmoozed his way to the 15th, even though the hotel is too new to really have VIP’s. Isn’t it? I guess. That just makes me feel like I got screwed by not knowing how to work the system. Coworkers who arrived a day earlier got 54th floor and that range. Nice views, in their rooms. I get a stunning view of… the roof of the casino. Incredibly ugly. Lame.

OK, I’m designing a fancy resort, I want my customers to feel like they got something for their money. How about I put in a grassy sculpture garden on the roof of the casino, so the lower room guests don’t have to stare at concrete? Or, I don’t know, a mosaic, or pool, or something? Wow, I’m a genius.

Fine. I can deal with that. The room is nice. I mean, ok, yeah, I can see it. Not nearly as nice as Venetian (which is twice the size) or the Bellagio (which is just nice period) but it’s alright. The bathroom is big, but the tub is a pretty useless shape. What’s up with the moisturizer though? I have two conditioners and no moisturizer. Now, I think I even get moisturizer when I stay at Super 8. But not here! It’s 110 and very dry outside; this is lame. I thought maybe it was a mistake, until the next day when one conditioner was in the shower, they replaced it with… another conditioner. (later I found out that one of my coworkers was getting two moisturizers and no soap for the shower. The guests at the Wynn should all get together and form some sort of trading-union.) Whatever. I expect more from a $300 hotel room.

I shouldn’t, at the Wynn, though, cuz the service throughout the hotel is shit. At the cafĂ© for our breakfasts, it is s-l-o-w, and we can’t get seated immediately despite an empty and already set dining area. I know, but did I mention that my company spends a shitload of money when they are here? At night, when the big boys are gambling with big money ($1000 chips stacked up all around) they can NOT get a drink. Even asking the dealer, she just stares at them, and they have to track down a pit boss.

But wait, here’s the clincher. I had a swollen eye, and wanted a hot hot hot washcloth in the morning. But NO HOT WATER! Oh. My. God. Are we backpacking in Europe or something? OK fine, I’ll skip it and just take a shower. Again, nothing hot. I wait about five minutes, before making that heartbreaking decision that I am going to have to suck it up and suffer through a cold shower (at my schmancy resort hotel in Vegas) in order to make it to the show. Just about then, the water becomes tepid, and, well, I guess maybe you would say “warm.” Never “hot.” Totally unacceptable, but I have to go. (cuz I know breakfast is going to take a loooooong time)

Buffet: totally disorganized, shitty service, but good food.

Drugstore/CafĂ©: some of the highest prices I’ve seen. And, no I will not add a tip if I’ve just been charged $6 for a latte.

HOT WATER! NOT OPTIONAL!

Some nice things:
Daniel Boulud: One nice thing about the hotel. VERY good food.
Parasol Down: Despite the ridiculous one-drink minimum to watch the fountain outside, is very nice. This giant tile fountain and the trees around it are one of my favorite things about the hotel.
Tile: the colorful glass tile mosaics set into the marble floor throughout the casino are beautiful and fun. The tile work in the rest of the hotel is nice too.

OK, so no more Wynn hotel.

It was too hot to leave the hotel during the day, so I didn’t do a lot.

Nice spot at the top of Mandalay Bay (a beautiful hotel, if the public space is any indication) where we took some people out for a (pricey) dinner at Mix. The lounge up there is incredible, on the 64th floor, with stunning views and astoundingly high prices (what do you want? At least it was good and expensive, not bad and expensive, like everything at the Wynn)

The show was fun. Normally, I leave Monday around noon, but this time I spent a full day there, and left Tuesday around 2pm. Sticking around the booth is a little boring, but being in all the meetings with customers was interesting and gave me some insight on how they work and think. Yay! And there were yummy cookies too.

Smaller is Better

50
mpg


Haw Haw.


suckers.