Don't look down, don't look down!

So I went to Harbin Hot Springs for the first time last weekend. Uhhhh, okay. The setting is beautiful, and while I love the idea of an Earth loving, all-natural hippie commune, the reality of it was crunchier than stale Grape-Nuts. I enjoyed myself much more when I just wandered about through trails alone and napped at our campsite; I didn't much dig the pool areas. I'm not a prude and I'm not modest, but the number of foreign peni was overwhelming. One of the hot tubs was so overcrowded and luke warm that I dubbed it 'People Soup'. I just don't trust a hot tub that's not hot enough to kill everything if you know what I mean. I was also faced with a sight that I've trying my whole life to avoid; red pubic hair. I can't explain it but men with red hair have always made me feel a little unsettled and the idea of seeing their private region was more than I cold bear, but Sunday afternoon a red head was bearing all at the cafe and I came face to groin with his burning bush. Cripes, orange pubes, ick! Over all it was nice to be in the woods, play in the creek and spend two days with good friends.

Hell if I know!

I have a friend coming to visit in a couple of weeks and we're going to a Giant's game. Last night on the phone she asked who the Giant's would be playing and I said I thought I remembered from the online schedule that it was the Kansas City Chiefs. I'm sure you already know that it would probably be pretty difficult for a football team to compete against a baseball team.

Good Times

Here are some photos from Friday night, a friend's birthday celebration at Medjool. This place is so slinky and hip, I love it. And the food was stellar, I can't wait to go back!

Shut Up! Shutup Shutup Shutup Shutup Shutup SHUT UP!!!

I just realized what exactly it is about cell phones that make me want to kick users in the shin real hard. First, here are a few reasons I was already fed-up with public yammering.

Could it be any ruder to continue your conversation with Cathy Babbles-a-Lot on the phone even while interacting with friendly counter people? We complain that customer service has gone down the crapper and then we show so little respect to those serving us, we don't even give them our full attention for less than five minutes. No one wants to hear about your boring day of endless meetings because, you just said it, THEY'RE BORING, and if they're boring to sit through, that's right Einstein, it's even worse hearing about them involuntarily!

And how fucking dangerous is it giving the person blabbering in your ear about what's-his-name more attention than cars and pedestrians on the road while driving? I can't count the number of times a car has rolled into a crosswalk, swerved into my lane or just blown through and intersection all together, and as I pass I see there's a shitty piece of plastic infused to their goddamn heads. And don't even try to tell me ear buds make a difference. If your attention is on the conversation, it's not on the road.

And finally, if I have to be audibly bullied by your gossipy conversations while confined on a bus or BART, I just wish I could hear BOTH sides of the conversation. Who? Who? Who did they catch her with in the laundry room with? And what is he keeping from her until after their vacation? Inquiring minds want to know! At least with a couple of loud talkers you can pass the time by eavesdropping.

But it dawned on me today what the real irritation is for me; that people are filling the air with their hollow words and generating useless energy. I know that thought alone is a powerful thing and people are emanating an energy whether they're shouting about tonight's dinner plans or not, but sound carries and resonates, and most conversations I hear could SURELY wait until they got their asses home. And yes, it's a given that when you're in public you subject yourself to the myriad of lives converging in close proximity, but at least before people thought they couldn't spend a single minute alone with themselves and decided to use every spare moment chatting idly about absofuckinglutely NOTHING, you could walk down the street with your own thoughts, observing, embracing or rejecting the kaleidoscope of energy swirling around in close proximity.

Now I'm just forced to listen to, "Well I want to talk to you about something else as well but I'm not really comfortable discussing it on a crowded bus", hee-hee-hee laugh, giggle, snicker. No, no, no, don't hang-up now! You're just getting to the good stuff. I just had to sit through fifteen minutes of little Billy's throw up incident, and how great you though Blade 3 was. Please, please, please at least carry on about something that will satisfy my impertinent little mind. Although impertinent is highly debatable when someone is screeching about their dope new, car-stealing, prostitute-killing video game at the top of their lungs in a 30 square foot space.

And I don't feel hypocritical at all admitting that I am a cell phone owner. I have no objection to the concept at all. I have mine for emergencies, coordinating rendezvous, my lonely grandma in Illinois, and the painfully rare possibility that I might get the chance to talk to my nine year-old brother who lives in Virginia. The most you'll hear from me is a hushed, "I'm out of the tunnel, pick me up at BART", or a non-intrusive, "I'll call you back in a minute, I love you Grandma". But most usage I encounter appears to be a pathetic crutch. I mean, it's not like it can be a status symbol anymore, everyone has one. Hang-up and listen to the birds. Listen to the rhythm of traffic. Smile at passers-by. Slow down and absorb your surroundings or get lost in thought. But stop bumping into people because you’re so engrossed in a selfish monologue. Just shut UP already!

Place your bets!

I swear my body chemistry is a Crap shoot. Some nights I can drink enough to kill a small child and still act like I have some sense, and other nights, yes, like last night, I have one drink and I'm pawing everyone like the town whore. I don't mind being a bit giddy and flirty, but I was slurring and losing my balance for Christ's sake.

I started off at a small Cinco de Mayo house party with my friend Melody where we ate killer tacos and wacked a pinata. Then I headed over to Levende Lounge where I was a Dance-a-thoner at a fundraiser for Room to Read. Rumor has it we raised $10,000! That's going to send four girls to school from kindergarten through high school.

Doing Good Feels Good! Bending over when you have a hang-over does not feel good.

Originally uploaded by qr.

It won't be long and this little guy will be flying away all on his own

A co-worker told me the printer was giving an error message regarding the trickle bottle. I mistakenly relayed the message as 'the tickle box needed servicing'. Well mine does at least!