bay to breakers 2008

while in san francisco, we were lucky enough to witness the infamous bay to breakers "race". it was the most fun i've had in a long, long time. we caught up with the crowd somewhere in the vicinity of haight & ashbury. the atmosphere was so beautifully hippie and love-in-ish. i believe this is where i officially fell in love with sf.

instead of photos, i present to you video shot while being carried through the crowd on r's shoulders.

enjoy.

bounce

so last night my littlest brother graduated the 8th grade. craaaaazy.

nothing makes me feel older than watching this brother grow up. and nothing makes me prouder than watching how much of an individual he is. full of his own opinions (most of which are completely opposite of my opinions) and full of comedy. he is far better at being his own person than i ever was at that age. and that makes me smile.

the class presented their family members with plaques. here's the one he did for me:


if you were to read it you would see that it's very sweet and then ends with a p.s. that says i know you're a republican deep inside. ahhh. how little he knows about his big sister.

had he grown up with me, he would know that i first learned that i was not a republican when i was about 5 years old. i was riding in the car with my uncle jerry (funny how so many of my memories take place while riding in a car) when he presented two scenarios to me and asked which one i agreed with. i chose the one that sounded the most empathetic and he said that means you are a democrat.

but still, i tried to be a republican. i really did. even after registering as a democrat at 18 and voting democrat in the first election i was eligible to vote in, i tried to be a republican. because at that time i was more concerned with being "in the right" than i was with being true to myself. and i'm not proud of this.

but really, i could care less about being identified as a democrat. as i've stated many times before, i lack a lot in the way of political knowledge. all i know is that i am the definition of a bleeding heart liberal. all i have ever cared about is that people are loved and allowed to be themselves. it's why i've been an advocate for gay rights and minority rights and freedom of religion since before i knew what the word advocate meant. in my simple, idealistic mind all i want is for people to be free to love and be loved. and democrats just seem to do a better job at letting that happen than republicans. but i'm not really a big ass girl. well, i am. but not in the political sense.

anyway, this is all very ramble-y but it somewhat explains why i felt like crying when i saw a billboard for this on my drive home this morning.

SF: some pictures and a story, part one

so we left the conference hotel on friday morning. that means that we left behind AC, a heavenly bed, awesome square footage, and ample bathroom vanity space. but that's ok, because we were headed to the city and all of it's charm. charm = hiking 9 blocks up hill (with luggage!) to a very, very old hotel with rooms the size of shoe boxes, NO AC (Friday was HOT but luckily that changed), and NO bathroom vanity space (which forced me to straighten my hair in the hallway).

but really, it was charming (that's what i kept repeating to myself).

when we arrived at the hotel, the maintenance guy was spray painting the crazy old-timey elevator gold. this old-timey elevator had a regular door that opened to the shaft. there were all sorts of popping and clicking sounds that came from the breakers setting and resetting themselves. we were only on the 2nd floor and never really needed to take the elevator, but of course we took it as many times as we could.

because it was absolutely charming.

hi

so my weekend in sf was the best ever. i have a ton of photos and video and stories to share. maybe that'll happen sometime in the near future.

but for now, i sleep. and hope to regain the hearing i lost somewhere during my flight from milwaukee to orlando.

here's a fun pic. taken on the golden gate bridge. i'm wearing an obama sticker. it was very windy. and unexpectedly cold.


good night.

rapid-fire bulleted thoughts a go-go

• tonight i ate dinner with a random conference attendee i met on my walk to panera.
• dinner conversation included: therapeutic polygraphs, penile plethysmographs, uncovering deviant fantasies, and god.
• it was odd.
  
• and utterly delightful.
• i'm rather enjoying the hotel i'm staying in.
• right now the lobby has a very lounge-y feel with low lighting and groovy chill out music.
• there is a man sneezing uncontrollably as i type.
• he's ruining the vibe.
• i think the biggest thing i've learned at this conference is that I. AM. SMART.
• seriously. it feels good to have every single argument i've made in an effort to improve treatment at the facility be validated by the "experts".
  
• of course the "experts" are the same people who make masturbation jokes complete with sound effects during their presentations.
• how did i end up in this field again?
• i'm looking forward to a little vacation from perversity.
• but i'm sure to miss it soon enough.
  

pangea day recap

so i'm looking forward to catching up on all the films from the first ever pangea day.

what about you?

good as good goes

i'm 87% packed for my little east/west trip.

tomorrow evening i head to sf for three days of conferencing and dodging awkward dinners with colleagues. on thursday night a far more enjoyable traveling companion flies in and he will entertain himself until the conference ends (friday evening). that's when we will relocate to a quaint hotel in the city-city until late sunday night. i also have a high school friend who lives about 45 minutes away from sf and she'll be hooking up with us at some point.

then sunday night i head to orlando where i will be attending my littlest brother's 8th grade graduation and all related festivities (i can't believe he will be in high school next year). i will also be spending at least two solid days/nights at THE BEACH, where the water is actually warm enough to swim in - provided there aren't any sharks.

i am so stupid excited about the next fourteen days, i just can't even explain it. everything has seemed to fall into place so nicely, it's almost scary. i'm even caught up at work to a point where i don't feel guilty about taking off. i'm crossing my fingers and knocking on wood that everything will continue to go smoothly. i love to vacation, but leaving town always stresses me out just a bit.

you would think that this is where i would say that i'll be away from my computer for a while. but i'm sure there will be some blogging happening from my "heavenly" bed while i avoid fraternizing. i hate mixing with work people. which is odd because one of my longest friendships came out of a work situation. but whatever.

so posts and pictures are sure to come. oh, and i started using twitter again. we'll see how long it lasts this time. i've realized that i tend to live my life on binges. but that's another post entirely.

good night.

good, bad, or sad?

i can't decide.

but it sounds true enough.

once you commit yourself to something, however bizarre it might seem to other people, you kind of owe it to yourself to enjoy the experience.

- spoken in regards to relationships, from this movie

happy mother's day!

happy mother's day, momma.

i loves you.

see you in 7 days!!

cradled in the arms of a dream

hope i'm not enjoying this wrong

i've jumped on the pandora bandwagon. thank you multiple blog friends who have sung it's praises. i am grateful to you.

right now i'm listening to tracks that feature folk roots, acoustic sonority, major key tonality, acoustic rhythm guitars and many other similarities to eef barzelay.

and just so you can live this moment with me... i am in the living room with the door open. there are sirens blaring awfully close to my house (i hope everything is alright). the sirens are doing a good job of enhancing the haunting-ness of the music.

and also?

i'm wearing this:


there. now it's just like you are here with me.

the pale blue dot, a good reminder

happy pangea day

go watch the world connect through film.

it's inspiring.

green porno

have you seen this?

you must see this.

at the very least, watch the one called 'bee'.

my lips are famous

so, remember this post that inspired this dream?

(probably not)

anyway, thanks to ceri, if you go to google images and search "diamond lip ring" the very first image you will see is this:

those search terms lead quite a few visitors to my blog via the dream blog. i'm sure these visitors are quite disappointed when they realize i do not have a diamond lip ring nor can i direct them to a place that sells diamond lip rings.

but i can't help but wonder...

do they think i have a sexy motherpucker?

a future client