Rode my new motorcycle even farther today… all the way to Daly City. I actually toyed with the idea of going all the way to Pacifica, but the way I know to get there involves a real highway portion of Route 1, and I’m not quite comfortable enough on the bike (having ridden on the streets less than two days) for the freeway. Route 35 was scary enough because the wind was pretty high. Getting pushed around by crosswinds … Read the rest
My downstairs neighbors had a party last night. I’m getting old over here and what would have been a nice tame party when I was twenty turned out to be an insanely crowded drunken explosion. They had drinking games set up in the garage, and I have no idea what the rules were. I never could follow the rules of a drinking game when I was drinking, and frankly never cared to. Drinking games were invented to be lost, weren’t … Read the rest
Wow.
No, I mean WOW.
I thought I was crazy. Perhaps I still think I’m crazy. But this is good crazy.
I was terrified of this thing, and perhaps I was right to be. I still am. I almost didn’t do anything but take it straight home (well, after bringing it by Muddy’s to show off, of course.) My friend Rick told me I HAD to ride it, but prudence was winning. After all, stalling out in the middle of Van Ness … Read the rest
Sorry, forgot to write down yesterday’s: Out front of Muddy Waters, I said “hello” to a woman who paused briefly at the entrance. She said “hello” cheerily before continuing down the street.
Today, waiting for the bus on the way home from work, I asked a pair of journalism students who were examining the bus map if they needed help finding something. We chatted briefly about the bus route and the correct place to wait. Students travelling together. I got … Read the rest
On the train on the way to the gym for my swim lesson tonight, I noticed that I was seated across from a young woman who was working in her sketchbook. She was attentive to her work and did a good job of translating what her eye saw to what her pencil drew out.
She had some difficulty with the foreshortening of the outline of the eyes of her subjects, especially from the side. And no wonder: that’s a very tricky … Read the rest
One lesson learned: it’s possible to make eye contact with music blaring on the headphones, but if I want to actually say “hello” I should ditch the iPod.… Read the rest
Someone, who will for now remain anonymous, has suggested to me the following course of action: each day I am to say “hello” to one attractive woman who I don’t know. I am to pay attention to what happens as a result.
So put this next to my 50 Book Challenge, I guess. It’s a 365 Hello Challenge.
Funny. 24 hours in a day, that’s 84,600 seconds. It takes at most a second and a half to say … Read the rest
According to my «insider sources,» the band Simon Stinger has split up. Apparently they canceled their Studio Z show that was supposed to have been Feb 17th. I guess I saw them play their last show in Fairfax in December.
It’s always sad to see one of the voices of hope and optimism give up and go home.… Read the rest
Yes, yes, I know that this isn’t heroism, it’s just plain baseline citizenry, but in subscribing to the idea that self-esteem comes from esteemable acts (yes, I know that “esteemable” isn’t a real word, but I didn’t make up the slogan) I’m trying to take note of the things I do right. So, not to toot my own horn, but just to report what I do right and encourage myself to continue.
Yesterday I saw a credit card on the … Read the rest
Brought costume and tights with me to the office for the first time in what seems to be an age. Looking forward to a quick patrol along the waterfront this evening. Funny how wearing my Optic Nerves instead of the Ray-Bans gives me that little extra edge. It’s all in my mind, I know. I mean, what do I think the polycarbonate is going to protect me from?
Getting on the MUNI a woman dropped her umbrella ahead of me. Four … Read the rest