not quite oprah's book club

on my way out of the library today, i noticed a big, yellow sign plastered onto the door that said in massive, capital letters "ADULT BOOK CLUB." now, this is san francisco, so i thought "wow- the library is so progressive! what a great way to encourage people to read." well, upon further reading, i realized it's not an adult book club, but a book club for adults. i'm not sure why they had to specify it, as there were no harry potter or tween books on the list, but now that i think about it, an adult book club would be kind of cool. "i really enjoyed the part where he did the sorority- the writing evoked images of dormitories and screaming coeds!" just think about it.

tickets schmickets

oakland a's single tickets went out sale this weekend, so i was prepped at the computer saturday morning, wrapped up in a flannel blanket and a hoodie, to make my purchases, but low and behold, tickets.com sucks. you can pick which ticket price you want, but not which section, so i kept returning seats and getting still awful tickets on the wrong side of the stadium. and that's how tickets.com works. it sells tickets right to left, and i wanted left. very, very left. after 3 hours, i gave up and called, and since it was also fanfest day, they couldn't sell me the tickets i wanted over the phone until sunday. so finally, after much mental (and wallet) anguish, i called back yesterday and bought tickets for the first choice game (april 23) with the sneaky intention of buying the other tickets at the box office on the 23rd so that i don't have to pay the abnoxiously high tickets.com fees ($5.25 per ticket + overall $3.50 handling charge per order). last year i had a "ticket guy," someone who bought a lot of tickets using a 2-for-1 discount, and resold them at face value (yet still a profit for him). if the ticket situation gets dire, i may have to shoot him an email. must. sit. behind. bullpen. must. have. nice. view. of huston. and rich. sigh. swoon. faint.

eleve-ted

tonight, i plan to take a big leap backwards towards my youth. i'm going to go buy a pair of ballet slippers. i woke up the other day with the biggest urge to take a ballet class, perhaps due to the dancing sheep in my dream (thanks to the thoracic strain nighttime medicine), and it's still there, deep within my belly. so after the last of this training, i'm going to head over to san francisco dancewear and pick up a nice, clean pair of sanshas. after that, i'll need to find some courage to actually go to a class. think i can buy that? maybe i'll go to the zoo and chat with the lion.

addendum to taxi

so i was at work this morning and had to cab downtown. i hop in, tell the cabbie where i'm going, and he says "so you wanna go oak or masonic to geary?" after bit@h slapping him and screaming until my face turned red, i chose masonic to geary. really, why must i do everyone else's job?

taxi!

i love cabbies in san francisco. well not love. more like semi-dislike. why is it that, after you've spent half of your day flagging a cab down, you hop in and say where you're going (aka "market at gough," which implies that i know where i'm going as opposed to "1702 market"), but instead of just taking you the easiest and fastest way, they give you 5 different options? is this to test whether or not you'r a tourist so they can gouge you for extra money with a scenic tour of the tenderloin? and why do they get mad when you suggest a more direct route? maybe this should be my next job. becca, super duper amazing and no accent taxi driver. but that won't happen because then i'd have to drive. more than a block. better just to call luxor and tip myself with a soy hot chocolate.

i spy something with my little eye

i so want to play the go game. a while back, i saw hoardes of people at 10pm on a saturday convening upon the panhandle with flashlights, maps, and little computerized thingamabobs, and it looked like fun, sort of like clue and trivial pursuit combined into a real life game. but not how jumanji went from being a game to semi-real life terror. this is much safer- no vines to wrap their branchy arms around you and such. so i was hoping to participate in the next one (the go game, not jumanji), but it's the saturday right after my surgery, so no go for me. unless it's go to sleep. or go to the couch. or go back to the doctor.

if you're interested in a massively fun scavenger hunt that screams san francisco, this is for you:

Urban Scavenger Hunt

• An all-out urban adventure game with San Francisco as the board game, and you are the pieces.
• Saturday, February 4, 1-5p - $25 per person
• Where: All over Hayes Valley - sign up for exact meeting location

The Go Game is a technology-fueled, reality-based experience that encourages hard play and a keen eye for the weird, the beautiful, or the faintly out-of-the-ordinary. The "rule book" is reality, the "board" is San Francisco, and the "pieces" are the players -- you and your team. Through clues downloaded to a wireless device and hints planted in unlikely places, you'll be guided through a city you only think you're familiar with. Clues can appear at any time, anywhere. whether it's a note written under a park bench, a spur-of-the moment sidewalk bowling game, or the vision of your best friend going undercover as a fry-cook at KFC. It's one part brain teaser, one part performance art, one part double dare and one part hijinks. This edition's theme is "Wonder Twins."

"A new high-tech scavenger hunt sends players on a whacky whirlwind of a day"

- SF Chronicle

playground

over the next few days, i think i'm going to play with the blog design a little bit. maybe tweak the background and perhaps the header as well. feel free to let me know what you think, but if something is completely awful, don't be too mean! it's a work in progress.

cocoa cocoa gadget arm

the writing's on the wall, and i'm pretty sure the world is coming to an end. he has spoken, and chocolate is forever tainted with the evilness of superbowl snackfoods. there's no other reason why general mills would create chocolate chex mix (and in two different flavors!). i'm a self-described chocoholic, yet i'm pretty sure i'd never eat this. give me 70% dark chocolate any day, but not this horrible attempt to replace those enamel-deteriorating chocolatey cereals of yesteryear like cookie crisp and cocoa pebbles.

really feelin it

a while back, i mentioned feel real cafe, a veggie cafe/restaurant way out in the outer sunset, just a few blocks away from the pacific ocean. one of the neat things about the getting used to after 3 visits, is the "naming your own value" part of the meal. each menu item has a value range, and you can assign your own value, based on what you thought the item was worth. for example, the sunset scramble has a range of $10-$13, and if you thought it was really great, you might decide to pay $13 for it while if it was just ok, you'd pay $10. or maybe you only have$10 in your wallet. and tips are separate from the rest of the bill.

the time before last, we ordered the sunset scramble (i think it's quickly becoming my fave dish there), which is tofu scramble w/tomato chutney and a choice of side salad or massive potato pancake. obviously, we choose the pancake. duh. we also had the homegrown veggie burger, which is sort of like a bbq sloppy joe. it's delicious. (images of these are at home, so i'll post them later tonight.) last time, we had the sunset scramble along with the special soup of the day, 14-bean chilli (not to be confused with the 21-bean chilli on the menu). it was hot and full of tummy goodness. mmm.
(here are the additional pictures from awhile ago.)

there are some tables set up on the sidewalk, and it's nice to sit there are a pleasant day with a big pot of tea. there's also a huge communal stone table inside as well as some smaller tables along with hanging plants. the music is up to the discretion of the cooks, but is most likely old school records blasting bob marley, 50's doowop, or some other veggie-friendly style.

we have a tendancy for walking all the 4.x miles to feel real, checking out the park and enjoying the pleasant weather, and by the time we get there, we've built up an appetite fit for a king (and queen). last time, we walked by one of the ponds in golden gate park, and found two turtles making out on a rock. guess they were just feeling real. real good.

there is no spoon

matrix ping pong. what more could you ask for?

smush (not parker)

as you may have heard, we had some torrential storms at the end of last month. Our backyard fence collapsed, thanks to the rains and winds which turned it into a nice patio for us.

up near masonic and geary, someone's car got totaled by a huge tree, and as of two weeks ago, the tree had been removed, but the car was still there. from one side, it didn''t look too bad. here, a few guys were trying to take some "sport" pictures-- they'd set up some lighting, had nice big professional cameras (as opposed to my 3.2 megapixels panasonic lumix), and had some guys try to skateboard onto the car and do tricks to make it look like they totaled the car.
it was great until the cops came by and insisted they cease and desist. oh well. it at least allowed me to get a picture of the car from a "better angle."

office space

we added a 3rd person to our office a month ago, and we just don't all fit quite like the architect thought we would, so we're redesigning our office! we have these modules that all attach, and there are three of us... it's tight, especially when we turn around and knock knees or get up all at once or are all on the phone yapping away, and sometimes we have a volunteer which increases our numbers to 4. so the design guy came by yesterday, and we got to reconfigure the whole room. i'm going from this triangular thing to a nice long work space, plus i get a window! i'm so excited; my view will go from a wall to air conditioning vents. now, i remember back to my old job, where i had an office with badly used furniture and a chair that had no back support and huge shelves right behind me that acted as major storage (wine glasses, overfilled binders, etc.) which could potentially collapse on me at any given moment. i was pretty much a goner if there was ever a large earthquake. and sure, i had a view of an ugly building and sometimes-naked men, but the personal office space really just made up for the lowsy pay and lack of organizational direction. so eventhough i now share an office, i've got a better working environment plus working heat and no noticeable deathwish. ah, i'm moving up in the world.

if we took a holiday

now our summer vacation plans are leaning towards europe, specifically germany, prague, and maybe brussels or amsterdam or vienna or somewhere else. james and matt moved to dusseldorf last month, and they've kindly offered to host us for a few days, so now i've got stacks of travel books from the library, and i'm trying to figure out where we can go with very limited german (hello, how much, thank you, we're vegetarian). it seems like we have options; who knew that roughly 1/5 of all germans are vegetarian? while in germany, i may have to search for some of my ancestral ties. like for example, the sichels, who owned a winery in germany that produced (and still does, but for a larger conglomerate) blue nun wine. todd found a bottle (at bargain bank, of all places) and presented it to me for my birthday last month. the wine was... well, not quite a v. sattui, but that's not the point. somehow, this blue bottle of badly fermented wine is a part of me, and that's what matters. or maybe i'll just visit bargain bank and get that warm and fuzzy feeling all in the comforts of home.

queue are you?

this weekend, we watched two movies compliments of netflix: march of the penguins and born into brothels. guess i wasn't looking ahead in my queue b/c i didn't realize we'd be getting two documentaries at the same time over a long weekend. i have nothing against documentaries. bowling for columbine was great, as was super size me. i literally fell asleep, though, during the corporation, and that would have been alright, except we were in the theater. with other people. snore. but really i think of myself as more of an independant movie fan or a sci-fi person (princess mononoke and star wars and lord of the rings and spaceballs for example). right, so on topic, both of these movies were excellent, and now i'm looking at what else i can add to my queue. right now, i'm thinking the story of the weeping camel and the fog of war. and now that i say "queue" regularly, what's next? wait for me, mate. i need to use the loo. you've got a huge arse. screw the stairs, let's take the lift. it's raining. guess i'll put on my wellies. are you peckish? have a bickie!

rubber duckie, i'm awfully fond of you

tops 5 reasons why cold medicine is great

5. memories of days gone by when you could take big swigs of grape-flavored liquid and still smile about it.
4. everyone else is doing it.
3. you now get carded (at least when it contains pseudoephedrine), no matter how old you are.
2. it hides the symptoms and makes you think you can do superwoman tasks, like clean all the windows with the new mr. clean scrub pad. it's magical.
1. after chugging it, you dream silly and impossible things, like ll cool j being tom cruise's publicist. sweet.

timpurr!

one of the givens of being home sick is that i get to play with alphie. i gave him a banana toy filled with organic catnip for the holidays (didn't want him to feel left out!), and we've been tossing it around, and he chases it and kicks it and licks it... my favorite game this morning, though, has been "when will alphie fall off the bookcase" game. he's lying in the sun, but trying to curl up in a ball, and he doesn't quite fit...

does your blog dance?

being home sick sucks, so i used some of my "spare" time to place most of my dance reviews from the past few years into a blog of their own. i'll continue to post them at criticaldance, but also here for easier viewing. plus, if i get really advantageous, i might even post other dance news from around the bay!

i can't believe he's not butter

today is my second day of bedrest. there's a nasty cold circulating at work, and now i'm hacking, coughing, sniffling, and aching. yesterday i did some work via laptop and slept for most of the afternoon. well, today i've been watching the alito confirmation hearings on C-SPAN. it's absolutely fascinating and yet shocking how he gets away with circumventing so many questions! like his way of explaining why he didn't necessarily support the idea of one man, one vote (aka reapportionment) way back in 1985. he's a slippery little fellow, and it's scary that even with his evasion of questions and unresponsiveness, he may still get confirmed. sigh. hack. sniff.

a whole new world

so the haircut yesterday was... interesting. at least the process was. the "salon" is actually a little mini-studio in pac heights in a basement of an apartment building along w/other "art" studios. there's a communal bathroom for the floor, but no kitchens or anything. alex's room is set up w/a washer station on glass blocks, a desk and computer, and then a room w/the styling chair, a chest full of brushes, a shelf of products, and a corner dedicated to an array of plants, keys (really. keys displayed like artwork. on the floor.), and a couch. i felt like i was in the middle of some art studio or museum really, only with euro techno music thumping wildly and not about to get my hair done. we got to know each other while he shampooed me, and i found out that he knows one of my coworkers, and he even tried to date her, except she was too christian. um. ok. later, he insisted i get 3 inches cut off, and i told him it had to be long enough for a decent pony tail and couldn't be too wild. so i ended up with a cut that has 3 totally different layers in it- one "short" one underneath to take out the bulk, a longer one on top of that, and a layer of shorter ones up near the top of my head. i'm not used to it yet, but we'll see- it's definitely something i've never had before. more like becca 2010.

don't snip at me

today's the big day. no, not graduation. already did that twice. and not that big day. no, it's haircut day. w/the recommendation of a colleague and my past issues w/hair stylists, i'm trying alex sandor, who used to cut and trim and wack over at mr. pinkwhistle. now, what kind of name is mr. pinkwhistle? dunno. but i hope that alex turns out to be great. i'm hoping to keep the length, be able to wear it curly when necessary, get a little bit of layering for some bounce, and for it to not go flat and blah so easily. i want a look for today, one that says "i'm an adult" and not just "i saw this do on jennifer aniston/eva longoria." not too much to ask for, yet it is. sigh. so which me luck getting snipped, chopped, and remade into "becca 2006."

go here to see/hear the results.

at the end of the rainbow

rainbow brite has infiltrated the adidas concept store on haight! you too could be saving the world from murky and lurky and the evils of a colorless society. starlite, color kids, and sprites not included. sales tax may apply.

my name is mud

because of all the rain, my normal path to work is buried in 4 inches of mud. i tried walking home the direct way on monday, and i had to lift my pants up really high and tread carefully, hoping not to slip and slide my way there. arriving home with mud still clinging to the sides of my boots, i knew i had to alter my course, so now i walk through the panhandle towards masonic in the morning and evening, and you know, even though it adds 5 minutes or so to my commute, it's great! i get to see happy dogs walking and chasing big tennis balls, which is a huge plus, and it helps detract from the sweaty runners. plus, it's relaxing to just look up and see green trees and smell a little more fresh air than normal. my brain really appreciates the extra oxygen. plus, my shoes are a lot cleaner, and you can't beat that.

which country are you?

yep, it's one of those quizzes. so which country are you?

You're the United Nations!
Most people think you're ineffective, but you are trying to completely save the world from itself, so there's always going to be a long way to go. You're always the one trying to get friends to talk to each other, enemies to talk to each other, anyone who can to just talk instead of beating each other about the head and torso. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and you get very schizophrenic as a result. But your heart is in the right place, and sometimes also in New York.

Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

back to the futurama

fox may bring futurama back. it's interesting how often they're willing to admit their mistakes. first family guy, now futurama. what's next, renewing emmy-winning arrested development since canceling it and starting a bidding war between showtime and abc? no. first they'll have to admit that the simpsons have been in a torrential downward spiral for the past 2 1/2 years. but that would be a miracle. let's just applaud the baby steps that could resurrect futurama. world peace will come later.

paper, plastic, or neither

this morning i had to climb out of bed early and go to albertsons to grab oj, milk, breakfast bread, a fruit plate, napkins, and muffins for an 8am meeting. the oj and milk were heavy, as were the other items, so i put them in two paper bags, double-bagged... i'm scanning away at the self-checkout (as the real one isn't open that early), thinking about how strange it is that the main grocery store door isn't open and they make you walk down to the secondary door (which is conveniently located right by their in-store starbucks as opposed to the real starbucks across the street), when the little video/photo guy taps me on the shoulder and starts nasally lecturing me for double-bagging (wah-wah wah-wahwahwah) b/c albertsons has to reduce it's bagging by 20% over the next year or else they'll have to start charging me $0.17 for EVERY bag i utilize. after explaining all of these ramifications to me, he then mentioned that i could reuse my bags (duh) or start bringing my own cloth bags, but that in no way should i double-bag my items. now, i applaud the city for exploring this grocery bag charge, i do. there's so much waste out there, so let's try to reuse a little. and yes, they decided to apply the potential charge to paper as well as plastic so as not to be discriminatory (like a plastic bag is going to feel discriminated against... right) which is very pc of san francisco. but if they made sturdier bags, i'd be more inclined not to double-bag. plus if i was driving home and only using the bags as a container from cart to car to home, no problem. but i'm walking 7 blocks with two significantly heavy and bulky bags, so i will double-bag, and most likely in a year, it'll cost me $.88 for those 4 bags. i wonder if this charge will encourage people to reuse, or if it'll just create new revenue for the city. who knows. but be prepared, or you might get a tap on your shoulder.

have a nice trip, see you next fall.

we're looking to take a 1-2 week "real" vacation this summer, and we'd like it to be as veggie-friendly as possible. nothing sucks more than eating cheese and bread for your entire vacation. sure, the first day or so you're like "baguette et frommage!" but soon you just want to barf at the sight of brie. so this weekend, i sent out a request to one of the veggie lists asking for hotel/restaurant/destination recommendations. i'm thinking italy, greece, india, china, france, costa rica.... but no, someone suggested gainesville, florida. now, that's not a vacation. gainesville is hicksville, usa. really. lots of red plaid, smokers, pick-up trucks, and bush-supporters. guess this "vacation" is some kind of volunteer program where you donate your week or two to a farm sanctuary, cooking, cleaning, and sweating on the farm in exchange for... nothing. but c'mon, a relaxing vacation hanging out with chickens in gainesville? you might as well suggest texas.