1) Saw the following written in chalk in the stairwell leading to the 19th Street BART station on Friday: "Even our brotha Jesus got killed by the Po-pos." God I love Oakland.
2) If I ever have a band (unlikely, since I don't sing and can't play any instrument other than the piano and even then I only play classical music. And only for my mother) I've come up with the best band name ever. "Amy's Lamey Friends." That's gonna be my band's name. Actually, it's the underground secret name. It'll have some other name that most people know it by, but the really cool kids will know what it's really called. For everyone reading this who just went "what the hell is she talking about?" I apologize. It's an inside joke, and I hope to hell that the three people who get it will think it's really hillarious.
3) Went to the brewery on Friday afternoon. One friend accidentally peed on himself, one friend lost half of her beer because it was so windy (it literally blew out of the glass!), and I had a near run-in with George, which would have been awkward, and not in the fun way.
4) Tractor Pulls and Apricot Fiestas? Must be hanging out in the valley.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Perhaps justice isn't dead after all. Oh wait. Yes. Yes it is.
My faith in the criminal justice system, which was rapidly withering on the vine, has just had a small infusion of hope: a jury found Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling guilty of lying about the finances of Enron, thus leading to financial devastation for thousands of Enron employees when the company collapsed.
Admittedly, their attorney is going to appeal the ruling, and the odds are pretty good that even if they do go to prison, it won't be for long enough and it will probably be one of those white-collar prisons with tennis courts and yoga classes (a la Martha Stewart), despite the fact that they probably did more damage and wreaked more havoc than many people locked up in real prisons.
And since they are such good friends of the current administration, there's still the possibility that GW will step in and push for some crazy act of Congress (Terri Schiavo, anyone?) to get them off the hook. Or maybe, as is his usual strategy, he'll just bypass Congress and, you know, lawfullness, altogether to get them out of trouble. Maybe the CIA and the NSA can help out with that. Or maybe there's still time for them to figure out how to blame the Enron employees for this whole mess. When in doubt, blame it on the poor people. That always works. And heck, if in the process of helping out some old drinking buddies, we can all figure out how to undermine just a little bit more of the Constitution, then so much the better, right?
Is it still considered cynicism if it's founded in reality?
Admittedly, their attorney is going to appeal the ruling, and the odds are pretty good that even if they do go to prison, it won't be for long enough and it will probably be one of those white-collar prisons with tennis courts and yoga classes (a la Martha Stewart), despite the fact that they probably did more damage and wreaked more havoc than many people locked up in real prisons.
And since they are such good friends of the current administration, there's still the possibility that GW will step in and push for some crazy act of Congress (Terri Schiavo, anyone?) to get them off the hook. Or maybe, as is his usual strategy, he'll just bypass Congress and, you know, lawfullness, altogether to get them out of trouble. Maybe the CIA and the NSA can help out with that. Or maybe there's still time for them to figure out how to blame the Enron employees for this whole mess. When in doubt, blame it on the poor people. That always works. And heck, if in the process of helping out some old drinking buddies, we can all figure out how to undermine just a little bit more of the Constitution, then so much the better, right?
Is it still considered cynicism if it's founded in reality?
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Bay to Breakers
Despite the fact that this is my 4th May in the Bay Area, this was the first year that I'd participated in--or even seen-the spectacle that is the Bay to Breakers.
For those of you who are un-initiated, the Bay to Breakers technically is a 12K race that goes from the East Side of San Francisco (the bay) to the West Side (the ocean, or breakers. )Considering that 50,000 people registered for it, I'd say that probably a good 100,000 people participated. Of that number, maybe 20,000 actually attempted to run a fast time. The rest, realizing that it's San Francisco and thus a) it's hilly, b) it's kind of cold and c) there are about 5 million free-spirited anarchists all looking to dance in the streets and just generally get in the way, decided to to dress up and walked/drank it. This is the spirit which which I approached the Bay to Breakers (dressed as a scared-of-water snorkeler complete with pool floaties), as well as my friends Helen and Becky (who dressed like 80's aerobics instructors).
Here are some pictures, but seriously, they don't even begin to do justice to the zany drunkness that is the Bay to Breakers. Naked men who shouldn't have been naked, one naked woman painted red and one belly dancing, people wearing nothing but plastic wrap, approximately 200 people all wearing orange, a super old snow white with her seven dwarfs, gold aliens with anal probes (that's how they explained it to me in line buying 40's at the convenience store, anyway), about 5 sets of Noah's arc (complete with animals), the cast of Gilligan's island, about a million pirates: yeah--they were all there.
The $2 Miller High Life 40--"For on the go," as it said on the label. Quite the deal.
Snow white and her 7 dwarves
Claire tries to drink beer out of her snorkel. It leaks all over her shoulder and her pool floatie and she realizes it won't work. Then 20 minutes later, she tries again.
A trojan horse and a lot of, um, Trojans.
Becky signs the naked guy
My favorite Bay to Breakers costumes of the day: the protesters. And what were they protesting? Yeah that's right. Running.
Becky, Claire and Helen post-race and pre-food
For those of you who are un-initiated, the Bay to Breakers technically is a 12K race that goes from the East Side of San Francisco (the bay) to the West Side (the ocean, or breakers. )Considering that 50,000 people registered for it, I'd say that probably a good 100,000 people participated. Of that number, maybe 20,000 actually attempted to run a fast time. The rest, realizing that it's San Francisco and thus a) it's hilly, b) it's kind of cold and c) there are about 5 million free-spirited anarchists all looking to dance in the streets and just generally get in the way, decided to to dress up and walked/drank it. This is the spirit which which I approached the Bay to Breakers (dressed as a scared-of-water snorkeler complete with pool floaties), as well as my friends Helen and Becky (who dressed like 80's aerobics instructors).
Here are some pictures, but seriously, they don't even begin to do justice to the zany drunkness that is the Bay to Breakers. Naked men who shouldn't have been naked, one naked woman painted red and one belly dancing, people wearing nothing but plastic wrap, approximately 200 people all wearing orange, a super old snow white with her seven dwarfs, gold aliens with anal probes (that's how they explained it to me in line buying 40's at the convenience store, anyway), about 5 sets of Noah's arc (complete with animals), the cast of Gilligan's island, about a million pirates: yeah--they were all there.
The $2 Miller High Life 40--"For on the go," as it said on the label. Quite the deal.
Snow white and her 7 dwarves
Claire tries to drink beer out of her snorkel. It leaks all over her shoulder and her pool floatie and she realizes it won't work. Then 20 minutes later, she tries again.
A trojan horse and a lot of, um, Trojans.
Becky signs the naked guy
My favorite Bay to Breakers costumes of the day: the protesters. And what were they protesting? Yeah that's right. Running.
Becky, Claire and Helen post-race and pre-food
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Soul Cleaning?
I know, I know. It's been almost a month since I wrote in my blog. Is it possible that nothing bizarre or funny has happened to me in almost a month?
Proabably not.
The real issue is laziness, crossed with busy-ness. But that's a cop-out: when there's awkwardness to embrace, I'd better damn well be embracing it. And then writing about it later.
So while I get on that task, here's a little tidbit to tide everyone over:
I've now seen this kind of strange van twice in the course of a week. What made it so strange, you ask? On the side of the van was a logo, advertising "Pro-One Janitorial Services."
But on the back? On the back, it said "Ready or not, here we come. GOD. Let go, and let GOD."
Um, what?
Proabably not.
The real issue is laziness, crossed with busy-ness. But that's a cop-out: when there's awkwardness to embrace, I'd better damn well be embracing it. And then writing about it later.
So while I get on that task, here's a little tidbit to tide everyone over:
I've now seen this kind of strange van twice in the course of a week. What made it so strange, you ask? On the side of the van was a logo, advertising "Pro-One Janitorial Services."
But on the back? On the back, it said "Ready or not, here we come. GOD. Let go, and let GOD."
Um, what?
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