This is Mine Blog

Nice emails from leggy

2009-03-03T22:58:00.000-08:00

I want the poo to be available for gchat though.

Cesar and Mission construction - mystery solved

2009-02-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

Sigh. Big sigh. I've been watching the construction at the old Kelly Moore site at Cesar and Mission and was scared to find out what was going up. My guess that it was going to be a Walgreens was right. Gawd. We already have a Walgreens at 23rd and at 30th!
More info on the monstrosity.

Amuse Bouche at 24th Street BART

2009-02-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

This week I've been enjoying a little treat before my commute. For $1 you can get a delicious little lemon poppyseed muffin and a dinky cup of homebrewed chai. It's all neatly cradled in a two-seater egg carton with a triangularly folded napkin. Excellent presentation!

Then what you can do is go down the BART stairs and enjoy your snack while you listen to the Manjo/Banjolin player, or the punk rock Johnny Cash guy. Let me tell you, this makes for a great start to the day.

Amuse Bouche Cart: You are great!

CA State Taxes

2009-02-09T19:17:00.001-08:00

I'm spastic about taxes. I did them last weekend. I just went online to check the status of my CA State return and this is what was there!

"Your return has been received and processed, however, your refund cannot be issued at this time.

Due to the state’s persistent cash and budget problems, the State Controller has directed FTB to stop sending refund requests to the State Controller’s Office for payment. Refund payments will resume when the State Controller indicates there is enough cash available to make refund payments."

I want my money.

Another dream

2009-02-03T22:21:00.000-08:00

I had a dream that the way you type text messages is to tap on someone's teeth with your index finger. Each tooth represents a letter. When you touch a tooth the letter gets transferred to a phone. In my dream I did this to a willing stranger on a park bench. She had long straight hair and big, straight teeth.

Barack Obama is scared of flammable chemicals

2009-01-28T21:03:00.000-08:00

I dreamed/dreamt(?) that I was in a night class in some sort of pac 'n' save grocery warehouse place. It was night time and apparently there was a storm and everyone was supposed to go grab their things because it was going to be cold. People were dragging in jackets and sleeping bags. I went to grab my things too. This meant that I ran down the street to get my stuff.

My stuff, it turns out, was a glass carboy of homemade beer (funny because I just brewed my first batch about 10 days ago and last night we had to do an emergency transfer of the beer to a secondary fermenter so that the yeast would stop cannibalizing themselves and ruining the flavor). Anyway...I grabbed the 5 gallon jug ans ran down the street back to class. I put a wash cloth in my back pocket that was soaked in the special sanitizing solution used to clean the beer making equipment.

I was running down the street in the dark and Barack Obama was standing in the road and gave me a very serious look. He was about 7 feet tall and he reached down and grabbed the wash cloth from my pocket. He thought I was a terrorist because the wash cloth was apparently flammable. I told him how it was for beer brewing and made sure to touch him a lot on the shoulder so that he would like me. He took a lot of convincing but eventually he released me. He acted like such a cop, and in the dream I was super attracted to him.

This is what the beer looked like last night:

InBrief

2008-08-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

In the spring my work hosted an underwear design contest. The winning designer was awarded with a dozen pairs of underwear with their design on it. We have a lot of left overs.

This is mine Fig

2008-08-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

So the Fig has left for New York. Big and great things will be done by her AND I will visit, and gchat still exists and Skype and text messaging and the telephone. Several weeks before the departure we went to the beach and ran along it and sang lots of favorites like Bohemian Rhapsody, Hey Jude, Sweet Child o' Mine and The Longest Time.

Make sure you check out the fancy finger work here on the air sea weed guitar.

Important amazing things - Opposite day!

2008-07-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Shannen Doherty is back in a new 90210 spin-off. Hey, I didn't ask for this!

And...

I found this picture of Blossom, who now has a phD in neuroscience.

That is all. Somebody take me on a trip please.

Plane not so plain

2008-07-01T23:05:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on my couch reading A Happy Death by Camus (which I just can't get into) and a plane flew by the window. I have old rippled glass so the plane looked like a giant inch worm crawling across the sky.

Oh, and please look at the gayest button ever.

The Rooster Curtains Process

2008-06-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

My kitchen needed curtains after the departure of the cowgirl curtains. Kit and Shane thought that the new ones should be red, but that they should have roosters on them and not cowgirls. I concurred. They had no luck finding rooster patterned material so the solution was to make our own using potato prints. What you are about to see actually happened.

Iron square pattern into curtain fabric:

Carve potato masterpieces with farm theme:

Print on some test strips so you don't ruin everything:

Take the leap:

Be done with it:

The are of course now hanging in the kitchen and are much cuter there than they ever were on the banister. yay.

\o/ House Party \o/

2008-06-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

Meet the guests

Learn the moves

Because I love Creme Eggs

2008-06-11T15:05:00.001-07:00

39 pieces of propaganda

2008-05-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

I didn't check my mailbox on Friday, but when I went into it on Saturday, among other things, there were 39 pieces of mail regarding the June third vote. Here's what the fliers told me to do:

(10) Yes on A - Parcel tax for schools
(9) Yes on B - protects health care for retired city employees
(3) No on C - Makes "moral turpitude" a felony, forfeiture of retiree benefits for certain crimes
(7) Yes on D - End holdover appointments
(10) Yes on E - Supervisor OK for PUC board
(3) N0 on E - Don't give supervisors more power
(3) Yes on F - Affordable housing in Bayview
(12) No on F - "F will dash the hopes of the Bayview"
(14) Yes on G - "Bring hope back to the kids of the Bayview"
(3) No on G - Brings luxury condos to Bayview
(1) Yes on H - Campaign finance reform of certain committees
(6) No on H - Lets mayor take gifts
(8) No on 98 - Ends rent control, bogus eminent domain reform
(8) Yes on 99 - Saves rent control, real eminent domain reform
(5) Yes to Geraldo Sandoval (Judge)
(1) Yes to Thomas Mellon (Judge)
(5) Yes to Mark Leno (State Senator)
(5) Yes to Carole Midgen (State Senator) - one flier disguised as a gay wedding invitation
(6) Yes to Joe Nation (State Senator)
(1) No to Joe Nation (State Senator)
(1) Yes to David Chiu (SF supervisor)
(7) Yes to Tom Amiano (State Assembly)
(5) Yes to Fiona Ma (State Assembly)
(101) Democratic central committee endorsements

Based on mailings, my prediction is that the following will pass: A, B, D, E, G, an 99.

My obsessive side is now satisfied and I can recycle.

Forest City - inhabited

2008-05-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

Alicia and I went up the Tahoe National Forest a few weeks ago. We left early and went straight to Forest City. When we got there I was all grumbly because people were there. There was a young guy that rode in on his motorcycle and there was a family playing ball in the road and there was a piano on a truck and people were hanging out in the Dance Hall. We walked right by them because I didn't want to share!

So, we saw the sights:This one has got to be an E Clampus Vitus joke. I hope.

And then, while I was waiting for Alicia to use the one hundred and forty year old outhouse, a kid with bright red curly hair on a bicycle rode by and said that we should check out the dance hall. So, we did and ended up meeting the guy who basically saved Forest City several times over. First the forest service wanted to burn it and he stopped them, and then some dot com mountain bikers wanted to make a resort and he stopped them. He now owns half the town. His son grew up there and was the guy on the motorcycle. The piano that was on the truck had been originally made for the dance hall and was being donated back on this very day!

The dancehall has a museum in it. The Forest City guy talked about inheriting people's houses when they died and they would be filled with super old things...like one hundred year old downhill skis!

I donated 20 dollars to the organization dedicated to preserving Forest City. Then we left because one of the guys hanging out in the dancehall started trying to tell us that there was a "naked lady at the bottom of a pool" up the street. We didn't know what he meant, nor did we want to find out.

Things and more things

2008-05-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

I have been a bad blogger. I haven't yet posted the video of Mr. Potato head being reunited with his ear. I haven't posted pictures from Alicia and my fabulous ghosttown/ icy river adventure, nor described the steak I grilled that was not good.

Other news:
My sister is having another baby, due in September. I will be a double uncle.
I'm not going to Alaska this summer (but will next year for certain).
I gave Mark the gift of everlasting life for his birthday and it finally died.
Leggy found my new favorite artist.
Mel interviewed me for her blog and it was great!

Super potato find

2008-05-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

Two things:

First, I'm relying on Flickr to produce an abundance of Superhero wedding shots. Here are the first few of the super lovely wedded ones.

kj arrives on land, escorted by two strange fish

The run wildly and super-ly

Sean teaches super children how to fly

Second, for those of you who followed the story of the rescued Mr. Potato Head with no eyes and only one ear...my housemate's special friend was walking down Valencia and came across Mr. Potato Head's ear. He picked it up and brought it home to his house. Then, later that night he came over to my house. He had not previously known that I had found Mr. Potato Head. He took one look at Mr. Potato head, and knew it must have been his ear. The ear has not yet be reunited with the Mr., but the promise is there.

Stuck in Dulles Airport

2008-05-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

I think I've been delayed at Dulles airport almost as many times as I have George Bush International in Houston. After a systematic review, George Bush International has a greater quantity of American flag shirts, both for sale and on bodies.

I took a red eye out last night. Red-eyes are always strange because, at least heading east, the sun only sets for a few hours...like being in Alaska, except I was on a plane.

The good news is that I'm on my way to kj and Sean's superhero themed wedding in Providence and I have an amazing costume. In preparation, I was supposed to have learned Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' on Kazoo, but I haven't and the airport does not sell kazoos.
Pictures to come...

Airport update: They delayed us from 8am until 12:30pm, loaded us on the plane, let us sit there, then told us the plane was broken and we had to get off. Now they will give us an update at 2pm. They also gave us $50. Thanks United.

How to have a lucky day

2008-04-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

1. Find a Mr. Potato Head on the street with feet stuck in his face and a disconnected butt. (this photo is a re-enactment)
2. Take stock of his body parts
3. Bathe him
4. Dry him
5. Enjoy him

This is mine boat

2008-04-16T16:53:00.000-07:00

I had a gchat conversation with Leggy today:

me: If I want to go to the boat area, how is the best way to walk?
and where the EFF is it?
leggy tells andy
Allegra: hmmmmmm
hang on
me: otay
Allegra: i send you a map!

And then I got this:

Who can beat my highscore of 67,000?

2008-04-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's best on the big screen.

Gold Minergreat free widgetsWidgetbox

UPDATE: I guess everyone hates the gold miner game.

Yuri's Night

2008-04-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went to Yuri's Night (50th anniversary party of the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin) at NASA with Fig and a special friend of Fig.
First, we ate something called Pigs in Space, which were delicious. Later we got nauseous watching the air show. Then we controlled things with our minds...and then we watched a space fashion show. Here are the finalists: There were a lot of burning man people there. I cheered loudest for the kid.

Then, we went for a little ride.

Then we met an astronaut, Yvonne Darlene Cagle. We all got photos autographed for our mothers, accept not me, I got it for myself.

Hugs

2008-04-08T20:42:00.001-07:00

I just squeezed Birdy and she burped. I also found her favorite dinosaur toy behind the couch, but I haven't told her yet.

Update: This is the dino and it's actually her second favorite.

Desert bloom

2008-04-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

We got off to a late start, but made it to "boyscout" camp by 2am. It was pitch black and something very large growled and scared us and then we laughed and it woke up and tossed and turned in its tent. Oops.

Leggy and I went to Leadfield on Saturday. To get there you have to drive into Nevada and then back into Death Valley on a one way dirt road that's 30 miles long. The wild flowers were out and the desert was very green. What?!

Leadfield was pretty cool (inhabited from 1926-7) except for a tour of 4x4 Jeep people that stormed in on our ghosttown holiday. So we told some party-pooping child that they stored bodies in this building.
The drive through Titus Canyon, what you hit after Leadfield, was crazy. The cliffs rise up on either side of the road and narrow in so that you are snaking through the canyon. You really can't tell from this.

Next we went did 30 more miles of dirt road to get to the racetrack, one of my favorite places on the planet. I happened to have some plastic twirlers that we launched in the wind. And this time we really did find some of the creepy creeping rocks.

Ubehebe Crater
Even the Joshuas were in bloom

Leaving tomorrow

2008-04-03T09:36:00.001-07:00


Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast

Update: The valley floor is actually 40% higher than the reported temp in this widget. Also, I will Twitter my trip.

This was mine trip

2008-03-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

I never posted about the towns I saw on my way back on the south side of the Mojave during my birthday trip.

My favorite stretch of route 66 goes from Kingman AZ to Needles. It's windy, narrow, full of mines on the side of the road and treacherous if the sun is going down. I ate in Oatman at a biker and cowgirl restaurant, then took the waitress's advice and camped south of town on the side of the road. I was awakened by a baby donkey rooting through my damp campfire. So cute.

The next morning, on my way down the mountain, I found a little 'town' that I can only identify as Vivian on one map. There were about 4 or 5 foundations and a few buildings sinking into the earth.

Vivian was also apparently for sale at one time...or still is. Anyone?

The trip home also brought me through Danby, an eerie abandoned train station (complete with abandoned train) obviously in habited in multiple stages.

Anboy was a honeymooning spot in the 50s. You could walk right into the unlocked motel suites.

Ludlow was where I dropped my sunglasses into a stopped up toilet. It was very different from Varney's 30 year old account I was going from.

After dinner chew

2008-03-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today I tried to see if cornstarch silverware can be eaten. I think the answer is yes, but it would need to taste better for me to make the commitment.

Later I visited my Friendster account for the first time in nearly 2 years with the intention of deleting it. Hard to believe this sort of thing has been around 5 years. Here are some relics from my social networking days of yore:

Good bye Friendster

By the way...something better

2008-03-05T01:01:00.000-08:00

I tried something new in therapy (EMDR) that was really interesting. Starting from a bad thought you follow lights back and forth (yeah sounds nuts) and then you stop, take a breath, say what you were thinking and then go back to following lights. Then like every five thoughts you go back to the original bad thought and start over. The thing the kept coming up for me was this:

I need to roll around in the dirt. mk bye.

Chicken vagina lies set straight

2008-02-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

Below is a classic video of mine titled Chicken Vagina.

But there's something that you need to know. I lied to you. Chickens don't even have vaginas. They have cloacas. And most boy birds don't even have penises either.

This is an amazing article about fowl genitals: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Wild-Animals-705/Birds.htm

Credit: Shane and Michael

Cubing and crafting with Fig

2008-02-28T21:07:00.001-08:00

I went to Fig's craft night at Socha. My craft was Rubik's cube. The other crafters (who were largely knitters) were skeptical, but then I wowed them. First by solving the "Dedmore H." Fig captured the fleeting moment on her phone.

Then I finished the dang thing.

If you need a tranlation:
Fig says "talk"
I say "Why talk? It shows for itself."

Obviously I was impaired by my own glory. I can't get too proud because Leggy solved hers in like 4 days and it took me almost three weeks.

Burfday - some of half number 2

2008-02-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

On the night of my birthday I camped at Lake Mead, close to the Nevada Arizona border. I ate a can of chicken soup, drank a fancy birthday beer, made a fire and solved the first two rows of my Rubik's cube.

In the morning I drove over the Hoover Dam. Currently a bridge is being built near the dam so that not all of the traffic goes over the dam...or maybe they are going to re-route all of it. Regardless, the new bridge was crazy looking. The two ends each have several columns built but they aren't connected yet. The pictures don't really show how high it is, but its high okay.

By 9:00AM on the 17th I had AZ highway 93 ahead of me. There were four towns I wanted to see: White Hills, Chloride, Mineral Park and Cerbat.

In my search for White Hills I skidded around on dirt roads that reminded me of the moon and found things like washed up speed boats on land, more free fire wood than I ever could have wished for and an abandoned "animal sanctuary."

White Hills was interesting mostly because it has changed so much in the last 30 years. The AZ ghost town book I have showed several buildings and talked about the mine entrances littering the mountain sides leading up to town. The adits have all been bulldozed closed and some netting put down to cover the shafts, but a sleepy town has grown up around the remaining buildings...some abandoned already and some inhabited.

Chloride has about 300 people in it, most of whom were parked outside the church when I got there. There was a tourist info/convenience store and the guy inside drew me an awesome map of how to find the murals and petroglyphs up in the hills. He also told me I was free to climb around near the mine as long as I didn't "go into any holes or anything." The murals had just been repainted by their original artist to celebrate their 40 anniversary. Chloride also felt very lunar.

Mineral Park was pretty awesome. Varney mentioned (in the 30 year old book) that a modern mining company was operating next to the old site. There was one there, but a different one. There were two buildings (one with crazy old mud bricks) and multiple shafts in the hills. Unfortunatley I had to share the experience with a grandfather and grandson who were "searching for treasure" with a metal detector with an abhorrent beep. Cute...but inside I was like, 'you're not allowed to take anything even if you're bonding!!!'

Cerbat was different in that there was a sign that actually invited anyone to camp or hunt quail there provided you signed in and out. There was one private ranch house and then a mine on a hill. I parked and walked past several bullet riddled cars, saw more big kitty prints and went right back to the truck.

Birthday - first halfsies

2008-02-19T22:14:00.000-08:00

After a lovely Denny's dinner and sleeping at a truck stop east of Barstow, I woke up early and had a delicious bacon breakfast at Mad Greek Cafe near Baker, CA which boasted the "Best Gyros in the USA." It was too early to find out if that was really true.
Across the street was a popular place that I wish I had known about the night before:
Next I headed into the Mojave to find Cima, Ivanpah, Vanderbilt, and Rose, most of which are abandoned rain stations/mining towns within the natural preserve.
Houses at Cima: Vanderbilt was basically one large foundation and a wall: Looking through a busted main frame at Rose with peeping Joshua trees: Next I went to find Ivanpah. There are actually two Ivanpahs. One is in the Mojave preserve and is an abandoned train station, and the other is off of highway 15 just outside. I followed Varney's instructions very carefully, noting my milage and everything. I ended up winding left and right down these crazy dirt roads and finally landing on a Y and not knowing which way to go. The road up ahead was impassible, so I got out and started walking. I quickly realized that I was on the wrong road because I could see the stone walls of several 100+ year old buildings on the road below. I turned around to go down and that's when I saw many gigantic kitty cat prints in the sand. I know...they might look like dog prints...but these things were massive.

A bag of gummy frogs later, and on my way to a Lake Mead camping spot (where the grocery store cashier sang happy birthday to me and a mean lady with 6 golden retrievers was camping), I found this very interesting desert structure. Funny Varney never mentioned it.

Days 3 through 5 are coming up shortly, and they are better because I am older in them.

Area man cancels birthday

2008-02-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

I've decided to stay 27 another year. Thanks to everyone who was going to go camping with me and then received a phone call, that no, nope, camping wasn't happening. Instead I'll be heading into the Arizona desert alone with a borrowed dog.

Condolences birthday, I know you'll be back.

My little gma

2008-02-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

For the winter holidays I went to Texas (read about insane ordeal and Chinese food airport breakfast here). As most of you might know, my grandmother has Alzheimer's. She was much quieter this year than in the last several years past. She didn't join in the conversation this year or joke as much.

My uncle Jim got my aunt Lesley a baby doll as a Christmas present this year. My grandmother held it for nearly an hour and talked about it constantly. She kept saying things like, "If anyone came in here and they didn't know this was a doll, they would think it was real." And then she would stroke it's hair or examine its hands. And a few minutes later she would say the same thing. Since I didn't know how to interact with her much this visit, just watching her with the doll was nice.

Don't mind the dogs in this video. Lefty is the big one, Annie the small one.

Also, I think I already mentioned the Brownsville Zoo, but the kangaroos and gorillas were something else.

A very special visitor

2008-02-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Taxes/Internets/Thistles

2008-01-30T21:35:00.000-08:00

I want to be the first person I know to do their taxes before Groundhog's Day. Can I do it?

Largely it will depend on my trusty/not-trusty free internet connection through Meraki and the Free the Net network. They'll send you a free "repeater" in like two days. Right now it's slow but awesome. The more people that send away for one, the faster I can do my taxes.

--

Often I wish I was back in the thistles. Courtesy Leggy.

Enough already

2008-01-27T21:33:00.000-08:00

It's been a rocky few months for many reasons. The other day I started to feel funny. I was tingly and I was laughing a lot. Yesterday I was driving and the 101 roadside looked like the Windows XP wallpaper with the green rolling hills and perfect blue sky. I felt like I wanted to call everyone and tell them about the formation of the birds in the sky. I realized that I was feeling happy. Happier than I have been in a long time.

I usually don't write about super personal things here. But whatevs. :) I'm climbing out of the tunnel that was full of monsters and it feels really really good.

----

Also in the works:
Alaska
My birthday
A clean house

Texas - I made it!

2007-12-25T14:12:00.001-08:00

My itinerary to get to Harlingen, TX for Christmas was as follows:

Oakland to George Bush International - the red eye - 12:35AM to 6AM

George Bush Intl to Harlingen - 9ish AM to 10ish AM.

Instead, my red eye out was oversold. No body gave up there seat for me and why would they? The Continental staff couldn't find me anything. Did I want to fly into San Antonio and rent a car to drive to Harlingen in the middle the the following night? No. Did I want to fly on the 23rd and return on the 25th? No.

After waiting with two tearful angry men until 2AM I finally got it sorted out. I would take a shuttle to San Jose airport, take the 9:55AM to Houston and the 6PM to McAllen where the family would get me.

I was compensated $275. And although I would have preferred a hotel to the San Jose airport floor, I did get breakfast and lunch vouchers.

This is me sleeping in the City Shuttle on the way to San Jose from Oakland. Half way to the airport we went BACK to Oakland to pickup two more travelers. I guess the van was more comfortable than the floor was about to be (I used my shoes as a pillow).

I ate fried rice, bacon and eggs with my breakfast voucher at 4:30AM in San Jose.

YUM.

This couple was soo into the Bush History montage in Houston International.

My trip was awesome but way too short. Lesley and I went to the Brownsville zoo on the 24th and saw a baby gorilla, baby kangaroos and baby meercats. OMG.

More soon...I'm back at George Bush Intl right now starting to doubt that I'll be home tonight.

Seasons Tidy Cat

2007-12-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

For those of you who can't read this shopping list I found, it says:

Tidy cats
Jumbo
Multiple cats (7)
----------
Washing up liquid

On a related topic (but not too related), this is Birdy and I during our first Christmas together.

I'm off to Texas for a few days, and sadly there are no alligators there in the winter.

Hankie / fat

2007-12-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

I had a moment last week where I absolutely needed to buy some space/rocket themed vintage handkerchiefs. I found some amazing ones on EBay but was out bid. What I did win is below. They arrived freshly ironed and dowsed with perfume. They make my eyes water and make me sneeze, but somehow thinking of someone packaging them with so much care makes me not want to wash them yet. I'm just sitting in a different room than they are.

Also, this is what has become of Birdy. I think there's a baby penguin under there.

Tis the season

2007-12-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

Birdy singed her tail feathers on Shane's lit menorah last night, but today all of the crinkled burnt hairs have been licked away.

And our guests today are...

2007-12-04T19:39:00.000-08:00

Allegra and I were just on TV for 22 minutes. I might share the footage but for now I feel like my face is still too red.

UPDATE: Allegra posted the tv show.

Turkey Days

2007-11-25T18:55:00.000-08:00

If you are me on Thanksgiving: You go to your aunt Jean's house to meet up with your mom and your Jean and many dogs (8).

Then you go to the aquarium for dinner.

Then you play poker with your family and some small dogs.

Then a certain small dog sleeps with you.

You also play scrabble and get together with the FolkaDots (these pictures are actually from a previous FolkaDot gathering).

Then you Turkey Trot with a bee.

Heinz 1992 - 2007

2007-11-21T22:55:00.000-08:00

My Tiger has gone up with the huge kitty in the sky. She loved her dog Yoda.

DV - Twice in one month

2007-11-18T16:58:00.000-08:00

I can't get enough of Death Valley. Leggy and I went in October, and then W.D. and Leggy and I went last weekend.

The Racetrack
This is the place with the skating rocks and some weird depth perception issues. It's 30 miles down a dirt road so you really should not get a flat tire.

Lost Burro Mine
Lost Burro had around 7 mine shafts that we went into. The rickety supports were not deterrent enough, so we stumbled over rail tracks and rat eaten miner clothing in the dark.

Darwin
Darwin is one of my favorite modern ghosttowns (up there with Eagle Mountain and Desert Center). When we arrived, there was a coyote running down the road chasing a rabbit. Someone who lives here is obsessed with Aliens.

Cerro Gordo
The caretaker did not answer the phone. This place is a hairy drive and you need a tour to really see it. The view of of Keeler and Mount Whitney is amazing. It also has hanging ore carts, one of my favorite things.

NOVEMBER
Known as just "Mine" on the map, this fluffy place in northern Death Valley was probably a rhyolite mine. We felt like we were being poisoned just by being there because there were fluorescent green rocks and white puffy fluff everywhere...and there had obviously been some crash alien landings.

Rhyolite, a Nevada ghosttown, was full of great desert art and some of the tallest ghosted ruins I've seen.

Keene Wonder Mine. Still one of my favorite hikes in the world so far. Madeline and I did it in February as the sun was going down. This time D and A and I started early. We hiked past the main frame, threw rocks down caves we shouldn't have been near and then headed down the canyon rather than on the ridge. We saw a baby rattlesnake, bottles of old miner's drugs and fallen mine carts. The only thing better than a fallen mine cart is a hanging mine cart.

This house is at the old Harrisberg site close to Skidoo. We scared a motorcyclist who had slept there to get out of the rain.

Yosemite is too beautiful to be real. We had to get out of the car to make sure this wasn't a mountain mirage.

They have landed!

2007-11-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last night I sat for three hours and got my Lunar Landers colored in. :)

Jesse told me to sleep in the plastic wrap stuff. Birdy hated the sound it made when I moved and made big hair and eyes at me.

Somewhere on a desert highway

2007-10-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

Leggy and I went to Death Valley and around the Mojave and Yosemite area last weekend. Pictures and narration are in the works, but for now...here are a few of our adventures in motion. It's a little long, but I couldn't resist the 360 panoramas. We went to the flattest place on the planet, The Racetrack (home of sailing stones); we found old miner's clothing and eating utensils and went in half a dozen mines (tailing wheels and stamp mills included!); we spotted coyotes, tarantulas, and rabbits; we ate cold supper, and we saw Ubehebe crater. We also dabbled in Darwin and Cerro Gordo...both of which deserve a return trip. Varney rarely leads us astray, but this time we found stuff that I'm sure Varney doesn't even know about.

This trip only increased my obsession with buying waterless property to call my own. I even have the Cerro Gordo caretaker's number programmed into my phone.

I call it "Banjindia"

2007-10-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

These pictures are a mix of both Madeline's and mine from our travels in India. The banjo of course is yours truly.

Garbagefish and other dirty things

2007-10-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

On the way to Rough and Ready many things happened (read more here and here about R and R, Bridgeport and French Corral). First Leggy and w.d. and I couldn't figure out how to get a camp site...and we ran into a nessie-infested yet beautiful reservoir near Dark Day Campground. Then we meandered out an around a huge dam that I didn't even know existed. My truck hung out with other trucks
and then we booked our campsite with some lady on a floating-campsite-booking-office out on the water. Said lady told us we could feed the fish.

Me: "What kind of fish are they, there's some big ones."
Lady: "Oh, those are just garbagefish....they are really loud."

Then, as if that wasn't enough, we had trouble finding firewood, we ate luke warm chili, and it rained on all of us...soaking the tent corners and dripping through the truck onto my head. Don't get me wrong though...we had a great time. The best was the Fruit Jar Pickers, Rough and Ready's one and only weekly concert. Oh yes.

I put some gratuitous ukulele from the ukefest at the end.

Garbagefish on their way / NOPD

2007-10-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

So, I've heard that people are sick of my prehistoric palm movie and that they want to hear about garbagefish and see garbagefish footage. Okay okay...coming soon.

I was just in New Orleans for the National Coalition of STD Directors annual conference (hail Kelly), and contrary to popular belief, I didn't just talk about chlamydia the whole time. In between sipping coolaid-lace drinks and feeling full of beignets I went on an informal tour of the ninth ward and south ninth ward. Louisiana's STD director drove us through and told us all about the rebuilding efforts as she's experienced them from the health department stand point.

Many folks down there call the hurricane "Hurricane NOPD" because the police basically took over the main STD clinic in New Orleans, looted it, and denied doing so. Booooo.

What left a lasting impression on me was the way that many gutted homes were being literally eaten by weeds and covered over with green. Homes that still had their facades were marked by a familiar spray painted X with four quadrants. One quadrant specified the date the home was searched, one said who searched it, one said how many people were found and the other specified the number of animals found. Often next to these Xs were sprayed statements like "John and Brenda are okay," or "young dog under house."

Prehistoric palm movie

2007-09-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

This palm tree almost died when I went to India. I cut a few of it's fronds off when I got back and it sprung back to life and its babies grew like weeds. My intent was to show them growing over a few weeks. That kind of happens here. Note Birdy.

Oh and that isn't me playing. The only banjo song I could find slow enough was from my beginner's cd, hence the metronome.

OMG who is that?

2007-09-15T18:17:00.001-07:00

Sorry. I had to.

Nerd, Geek or Dork? Test

2007-09-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

For a work blog today I took a bunch of online dating/personality quizzes on OKCupid. The best one settled one lasting question I've had about myself. Am I a nerd, geek or dork? Not really thinking about it I guessed that I would be a geek (because that's the sexiest option), but as it turns out, I'm "Pure nerd."

Here are the definitions that were presented with my results:

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

It all makes sense now.

Want to take the quiz?

India - in no particular order

2007-09-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

In Tranquebar we talked to the most children. This boy in front was the biggest ham of them all. When we first asked if we could photograph them an older woman came climbing out on the rocks with the littlest boy so he could be in it too. But Ham stole the spotlight.

Kids playing on the Gandhi statue in Pondecherry.

I posted a video of these sugarcane juice guys earlier. We went against all sorts of tourist food rules: do not eat street food, do not eat food that has been rolling around in the muddy-poo street before it's made, do not eat uncooked food. Ooops. We only suffered a little.

This is a very tame scooter shot. 4 to 5 individuals can ride scooters at one time, whole families. Usually no one has a helmet and the smallest baby is just squeezed under its mother's arm.

Enough Indian fishing boats already!

2007-08-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

In 4 of the places we went (Mamallapuram, Pondecherry, Tranquebar and Kannyakumari) fishing was a major industry. The fishing boats were really fun to photograph because they were either really brightly painted, or they were made up of logs laced together. Nets and boats were beached at night and left for the next days work. Cows are not fisherpeople but sometimes they guard the boats.

Home again home again rat tat tat

2007-08-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

In between imagining that I still need to dodge cars in traffic, that every piece of food will poison me, that every skinny animal needs to be saved, and that I can never (ever) eat aloo palak again...I am re-acclimating to being home again.

I can't really process the pictures I took just yet, but stringing together a bunch of boring videos was easy. Here is a completely unedited group of videos (guaranteed to be boring), sans narration. It comprises snips from our trip from Mumbai over to Tamil Nadu, down to Kannyakumari, and up through Kerala back to Mumbai. Note the stack of egg flats on the back of a bicycle and the ferocity of the goats.

More to come.

Kanyakumari continued

2007-08-07T01:21:00.000-07:00

Okay, so there are like five different ways this town is spelled.

Bars is this town are all underground...meaning down at least ten steps and dark (as opposed to Mamallapuram where anything edible is found only on rooftops). The first one we went to we couldn't even see it was so dark and they wouldn't let us play cards. The second one had a plastic palm tree wall covering with a bald eagle on it and felt like (as Madeline put it) a church basement.

The puppies were gone this morning and we fear the worst.

We took a train to Trivandrum where once we arrived an old man wanted my seat so badly when we left the train that he shoved everyone out of the way and basically lifted me out of it. There were people sleeping on the luggage racks. Tomorrow we head to Perriyar, the largest wild animal park in India...but we are advised not to hike because "leeches make it impossible." Boat tours are available though. Phew.

Kanniyakumari

2007-08-06T00:45:00.000-07:00

Kanniyakumari is the southermn most city in India, where the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal all come together. It took us a long time to get here. First we took a rickshaw from Tranquebar to Katikali where it took us over two hours to find the right bus. Then we bused to a town outside of Thanjuvar (sp?) where we transfered*. Then our second bus reached Trichy where we took an over night train. The light from the hall crept into our bunks and I stuck to the plastic bed all night. Then in the morning I had diarrhea in the train station...not a fun place to have that.

Anyhow...the weather is nice today, only a little rain, and the children attach themselves to me like little crabs. We had excellent coffee this morning and found a litter of the cutest puppies on earth.

*At the first bus stop an official looking bus station guy assigned another passenger to us...basically told him that he had to get us on the right bus going in the right direction. I think it was a big responsibility because the busses are so crowded and with our bags we look like four people. Anyway, without our helper we would probably still be on a bus somewhere in the middle of India.

Tranquebar (Tharangambodi)

2007-08-04T03:21:00.000-07:00

From Pondecherry we took a bus to Tranquebar that ended up taking many many hours, first because there was a fatality on the road and traffic backed up, then because the bus passed our town completely and we had to walk back to it. When it did stop we tried to pull our bags down from the luggage rack, but they were stuck...ha ha, finally we wrestled them out with the help of several other riders who weren't very amused. Walking to Tranquebar I saw the smallest baby goat in the world and I'm in love with it. Picture a goat the size of Birdy.

In Tranquebar we found our hotel easily, right across from an old Danish fort (I didn't take this picture). Our room didn't have any power so they moved us to a room that did have power, but also had roaches. The hotel people insisted that they were the only restaurant and that they could drive us places...but later we did find other food and apparently cheaper rides. It's the off season and they're pretty hard up.

Tranquebar's beach is covered with the same types of fishing boats we've seen in both Pondecherry and Mamallapuram. It's also covered in children who love to practice their english. Some run after us saying "HI HI HI" others are pushed squirming and squealing towards us by their friends. "Hi how are you hi how are you" "What is your name?" I took a lot of kid photos.

We ate spaghettios for lunch today. Tomorrow another bus riding adventure inland.

Pondecherry

2007-08-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

From Mammalapuram we took a bus with "color video screens" 100 km south to Pondecherry and were blasted with amazing Indian music videos nearly the whole ride. When we arrived a rickshaw driver approached us and told us to stay put while he got his rickshaw. We both thought it would be an auto rickshaw, but then he rounded the corner on a rickety bike. We reluctantly loaded ourselves and three heavy bags and watched the driver drip sweat for the next ten minutes weaving us in and out of smoggy traffic. Phew.

Pondecherry is known as a French colony and supposedly its French food. We went out to lunch our first day here. What ensued after ordering is almost better not describing...but let's just say it wasn't French, it wasn't fresh, and it was the first meal I didn't finish. Ugh. Luckily later we found "Hot Breads" a delicious bakery that almost made up for our mistake.

Tomorrow we leave for Tranquebar which we feared didn't exist until we realized it is more commonly known as Tharangambadi. Another bus adventure.

OMG - we also stumbled upon the filming of an Indian version of GREASE. It took me awhile to make it out, but a group of women were seated on some "bleachers" singing "tell me more tell me more..." So cool. We watched Sandra Dee get her makeup re-done.

Mammalapuram

2007-07-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

To get to Mammalapuram we took a water logged cab to the airport in Mumbai, got our water bottles stolen by our seatmate on the plane, and then suffered through another cab ride from Chennai to Mammalapuram with a cab driver who got into a fist fight and also tried to kill us by passing into head-on traffic. I also arrived with cold and diarrhea.

But there are lots of things I like about Mammalapuram:
Hundreds of brightly painted boats on the beach
Baby cows everywhere
Mosquito nets (thank god)
Beach front restaurants
More bangles than imaginable. Who wants bangles?

We might go to a crocodile sanctuary later and some temples. Hopefully the crocs arent attracted to the smell of sunscreen and mosquito spray.

Thanks D & A- nice resemblance

2007-07-27T23:24:00.000-07:00

I see you have placed me in a bar. Nice touch!

Arrival in Mumbai!

2007-07-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

I made it to Mumbai after 24 hours in transit. Once I got to Madeline's hotel my wallet was totally empty because the cab drivers swindled it all away. I am so gullible. I also want to rescue all of the skinny little bobble-head kittens who like to rub their faces on parked scooters.

Today I learned how to wipe with water, that chocolates melt here, and that Madeline's pants are like Ali baba's pants.

Now we're off to the tailor to pick up Madeline's custom business suit. (Hot!)

Not sick yet...

Little terrors and a perfect cat

2007-07-22T19:02:00.001-07:00

My mom and her doggies came to see me this weekend. We lost Spud instantly and later found him on the roof. He really liked to run up the edge. I did not like witnessing this.
Pansy on the other hand recently broke her foot and has a cast/booty that makes her looks like a hairy little ballerina.
The next morning my mom woke me up at six because that's when coffee is supposed to be served. My half and half had soured and I refuse to shop before leaving the country, so we used mint chip ice cream.
Birdy spent most of Friday night and Saturday morning in the kitchen cupboard where she is safe from the daredevil and the ballerina.
Sitting on your food machine does not make it turn sooner!
I'm leaving for India in three days to see Madeline! I am going to try and blog from there, but it probably won't be too easy. Thanks to everyone who kept me company in my lonely summer moments.

Butte Store and more (Part II)

2007-07-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

Our second day was just as full. Here is one particular Miwok grinding rock.

All around the grinding rock area were the manzanita copycats accept for the fact that their under bark was bright green. So cool.

This is the inside of a gigantic Miwok round house.

The Kennedy Mine had four tailing wheels (two still standing) that help carry the ore up and over the hills to the mill. This is the Kennedy mainframe looking through the tallest tailing wheel.

Sheep Ranch was cool. We almost crashed Allen and Allyn's reunion. The old gas station was a highlight.

A little closer to Yosemite is Chinese Camp. The main grouping of abandoned buildings were all connected to chicken coops. We were able to go inside some of the buildings.

Leggy picks stickers from her socks...a major theme of this trip.

Knight's Ferry was a nice surprise. We went to see the covered bridge, and discovered some fortress type buildings.

Mucky muck.

The bridge was covered to keep the wood from getting wet and expanding and cracking.

The Butte Store and more (PART 1)

2007-07-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

There were several minor freakouts before Wild Dani, Legs and I settled into our weekend in and around Amador County. First we couldn't find a campsite...and despite my calm, no-let's-not-plan nature, I got a little nervous. When we finally found "Indian Grinding Rock" camp ground W.dani and Legs realized that we had no stove. Limp finger pointing ensued so I ran off to pee only to return to news that there was also no tent...and no coffee making stuff. 'OMG' you must be thinking...but everything turned out just fine. We slept outside both nights and I never even needed a sweatshirt. The second night however a giant animal ran through our camp. That was scary.

We hit Fiddletown (settled in 1849) in the morning after a brief stop in Volcano (1848). Volcano was a bit too cute for me, but has a lot of firsts including first library, first private law school and first theater.

Fiddletown, named for the 'fiddlin' around' that the people there did, had a giant dinosaur skeleton. Man this town is old.

After seeing a baby fox on the side of the road drag around too run-over legs I was very sad. Not even seeing the dramatic Kennedy Mine in Jackson helped. I am so sensitive.

Although the town of Butte has all but vanished, Butte Store was really cool. There has been some heavy reinforcements put in to help keep the walls from falling.

Near the Mokulemne River was a burned down appliance store. My theory was that this car crashed into it...the driver got out and lifted the hood to try and put the fire out...and poof, up in smoke went all of the shiny appliances. Charred refrigerators and ovens galore.

I really liked these spiny flowers

What trip is complete without almost stepping on a giant snake? Luckily this one was not a rattler. I also got a pretty good video of it that I'll post soon.

Campo Seco was another good find, although mostly off limits to help protect the endangered Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle. Three roofless stores, including the Adams Express Agency building, were all in a row with trees growing up from the ground. We didn't see the school which Varney has a great shot of.

Our evenings were similar to most camping evenings I've had this summer. A few beers and more than enough exploding marshmallows. I'll blog day 2 soon!

These are mine teeth

2007-07-11T22:16:00.001-07:00

It's not hard to tell that these are my teeth...see the blue one?

And this is supposed to stop me from grinding them down to little old man nubs because my insurance probably doesn't cover caps...just like they didn't cover this.

Birdy just sniffed it.

I <3 Philip Varney

2007-07-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

In the introduction to Arizona's Best Ghost towns Varney says: "...don't stop looking for that elusive ghost town with the playing cards still on the table. I found it - once. But I won't hand it to you..." I would totally piss my pants.

Here are the three that I have so far...two more are on their way.

Oh Phil.

The day I did manly things

2007-07-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

I started my fourth of July off right by going to the butcher shop to grab a juicy steak.

Then these two guys

put this

back where it belongs

and drank Canadian beer

and a smaller American one.
This is the meat.
This is the song.
This is the dance.
And these are the tears.
There was a lollypop dress,
a short nap,
and patriotic thievery.
Julia is a stunning host as usual.

For the creationists

2007-07-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Cute little baby dinosaurThe kill

Watching it die

Back in Black

2007-07-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Wild dani (that's the latin name for it) and Legs and I went back to Black Diamond Mines in Antioch because we were burned the first time looking for Prospect Tunnel only to turn around several hundred feet from it's opening. But this time we were determined to find it. (and yes, I forgot the flashlight as usual)

These mine birds were very cute until they decided we were scary and all five of them flew haphazardly out of the mine straight into our faces.

We walked in all 200 ft with out a light...there was barely enough coming in through the opening.

Legs went back to escort the dani

Then we saw a little coyote

who went here for water.

The Star Mine. Ooh la la. (Please check this ooh la la wiki entry. Just do it.)

Later Legs grew a snow pea mustache in the cemetery.

Oh, we did find "Jim's" Place and I think that the park service is making up lies about it being cool so that the air shaft attraction nearby gets more visitors. Boo on the backwards map too.

Bayshore to Third St.

2007-07-01T18:10:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I took a walk from home to Bayshore, then cut down to Third St.

On the hill next to Lukas Stained Glass Studio was a camp of people living in plywood dwellings.

Spare rim

Floating milk?

This Ritual Roasters is half a block off Third Street. The hipsters have arrived.

I had to snap one of the 'wifey' tag.

Back in the Mission, the San Francisco Mime Troop was being very loud.

Birdy loves and loves

2007-06-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

So, in the absence of any dark tunnels to go into, here is some gratuitous Birdy footage. This is also so Madeline can see how much our baby has grown since May.

She loves and loves.

Birdy doesn't realize the bird totally sees her.

Note the snail trail...

Gee thanks

2007-06-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Safeway. I picked up yogurt, razors, bananas, dandruff shampoo...you know, the basics. When I got to the counter the checker asked how I was in a very soft voice. I gave her the normal, "good, and you?" She bagged up my things and tore the receipt from the register, glanced at it, and said, "thank you Mr. Dandruff," in the same soft and normal voice.

I don't think she noticed her slip. Or maybe she meant it. I love the Safeway.

More about mines and ghosttowns and rope swings soon...

Zoo

2007-06-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

I went to the San Francisco Zoo for the very first time this Sunday. So while most people were being smothered by rainbow flags at gay pride downtown, I enjoyed the sleepy lions and silly gorillas.

The chimps were mellow. One hid under a blankie.

Just like Bird's Landing, there are peacocks roaming free.

I don't know if this is a kangaroo or a wallaroo.

The polar bears made me feel sleepy.

One of a pair of four year old sister bears

The lions reminded me of Birdy when she's being nice.

The silverback gorilla sat in a plastic bucket and acted tough.

I want to go back when there are no grown men making bad animal sounds at the animals

Gay 10K

2007-06-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I ran the Gay Pride 10K run in Golden Gate park. The sad part was that I ran 6 minutes slower than last year. 53 minutes as opposed to 46. Boo.

Before the race I had to go to the bathroom (yet that kind). I went into the men's room and there were 6 stalls all in a row all without doors. There was a guy sitting in the corner stall so I waited for that one because it had the most semi-privacy. When I was done there was an entire row of dudes with their pants around their ankles all sitting in the doorless stalls! I really set an example apparently.

No I don't have pictures. Ew.

Grand Canyon here they/we come!

2007-06-24T18:01:00.001-07:00

The engagement party was the perfect ending to a great day in the park. Neither Ms. Marchman nor Ms. Madsen wore pants, the soundtrack was dazzling and the diamonds sparkling.

Look at those beautiful rings

A toast to one long gone malicious cat and two lovely ladies

Dance with me Angelina!

I don't think Dani ever stopped smiling all night

Allegra, why don't you eat the papusas I brought instead?

Oh, and there was this head.

MyHeritage - ooh la la

2007-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

The first time I tried MyHeritage it told me I looked like Heath Ledger, which I can totally deal with. Last night however the news wasn't so good. Um, and this is a really bad photo, OK??

Dani looked like Condoleeza Rice so I guess Paris Hilton isn't so bad. Allegra was Kate Winslet.

Update: This is what Birdy and I really look like. We just have to redeem ourselves.

Bird's Landing, Collinsville, Wind Turbines

2007-06-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, Allegra and Dani said it before me, but Collinsville (unincorporated), Bird's Landing and the wind turbine farm were truly amazing.

I will have to visit Shirley (ex Bird's Landing postmistress turned Tavern owner) again for more stories about drug busts, FBI paranoia, Clint Eastwood movie reenactments, runned down peacocks, drinking E clampus vitus dudes and their plaques, and abandoned puppies that end up perfect.

North Bloomfield and Malkoff Diggins

2007-06-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

I never blogged about a major part of the the Yuba trip. So now I do. A and D both posted great photos too (way back closer to when we were actually there).

North Bloomfield is the town that supported Malakoff Diggins and giant the hydraulic mining operation in Tahoe National Forest that devastated parts of the forest. The town was a bit touristy for my taste with restored buildings housing "old" bottles and barber chairs, etc. The real treasures were down the street a ways closer to the mine site where we found a swampy mine adit as well as a crazy drainage tunnel that we were too freaked out to go more than 100 feet inside (if that).

This is a little cutesy for me. These were here during the gold rush. Yeah Right.

Dani got in trouble for not looking over the horizon correctly.

This is the type of gun that they used to blast away the mountains which decimated the wild life and trees.

A lone Manzanita of course.

This mine adit is currently filled with goopy water. When I knelt down beside it I thought that a swamp monster was going to bite me.

The drainage tunnel is constantly running and drips on your head just to scare you.

We Skype after steak/veggie burgers

2007-06-12T21:59:00.001-07:00

Allegra and Dani joined Erika and I at the homestead for steak, veggie burgers, asparagus, vegetable kebobs, sausages and beer. It was a lovely meal. Then, even lovelier, Madeline Skyped us!

So how hot is it?

Can you tell that I've had a few beers? Why is my voice so high?

Muddy Buddy very muddy

2007-06-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

Alicia and I ran/rode the Muddy Buddy race yesterday way up in some hills which I forgot the name of. We were late so we don't have an official time, but it doesn't matter because we are both winners anyway. I started off with the bike which doesn't shift or break very well and Alicia ran. The way it works is that you switch off running and riding at each obstacle and at the end swim/crawl through a huge mud pit together.

One thing that struck me was the attitudes of some of the racers, a lot of whoops of encouragement which is not my thing, but fine, and also strange competitive comments. For instance, one woman who I rode by on a downhill was running. She said to me, "you can go faster than that," with a you're-a-wussy tone. Whatever, my bike has no breaks, I can go as slow as I want [expletive].

So regardless of my poor attitude about poor attitudes it was a great time.

Yes, those are our socks. We walked through cow manure in them after the race to get back to the car.

Grand Opening / Squid songs

2007-06-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

Three Cheers! My aunt Jean has been accepted into the Carmel Art Association. Last night was the opening night for the three (just three!) inductees! So I took some distorted photos of her work and also of the guests, friends and family from around California.

This one is actually my bathroom in my old studio on 25th, and one of two of Jean's paintings to sell. When it was pulled off the wall there were all these gasps. It was among the favorites of the show.

This was the other one that sold.

Jean and Jerry and Phyllis

Anita, John and I (I'm the one with the gigantic nose). Jean, Katie and Jerry in the background.

Virginia and John talk art

Jean got flowers and a squid song!

Oh my god. Where did I leave my wine?

Jean sparkles

I unfortunately didn't get any good shots of my mom, Carol, Terry, Phyllis, Holly, Pam or Diana. Jean, have you uploaded your pictures yet?

This is mine cat

2007-06-05T22:43:00.001-07:00

Birdy does a little floor dance on a square of sun every afternoon when I get home from work. She misses Madeline.

Forest City, CA - Super ghost!

2007-05-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

After a jaunt through Downieville and a fall into Woodruff Creek we headed up to Forest City, an abandoned gold mining town. Outside the town's entrance was a sign describing a stage coach hold up / shooting. The cemetery was filled with children, as I've come to expect from ghost towns, and the town itself was amazing. Over a dozen standing structures including a dance hall, a school house, a museum...and several outhouses, one in which a bear had it's way with a roll of toilet paper. And you're probably wondering which ghosts supply the town with toilet paper? E Clampus vitus...a historical fraternal order, that left their mobile gallows next to the school house.

Also check out Dani's speedy picture delivery.

One more amazing thing about Forest City was that they had a rope swing! Two of my favorite things at one time: ghost towns, rope swings.

Return to Downieville - 18 years later

2007-05-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Last Weekend I went camping in Tahoe National Forest. It had been 18 years since I had been back. We didn't know exactly where we wanted to go, so before really tackling highway 49 we stopped in at the ranger station. Being a holiday weekend, and being a non-planner, I asked the ranger where we might have campsite luck. She pulled out a gigantic map of the forest and began to point. I told her I wanted to be near Downieville. As she was pointing to campsites I saw something on the map that made my heart stop. A creek called Woodruff Creek. Along the creek was a strip of private land, a mining claim, said the ranger. I told her that my name was Woodruff and that my family used to come up there every summer. I described where we used to camp and about having several claims. It turned out that she had been a ranger in that forest since '79 and worked the fire year (when my grandparents were evacuated down the mountain). I started feeling that this woman, in her fifties probably, must have known my family. Even if she didn't, it felt like it.

When I think of the "Gold Country" as we called it, I think of my cousin, my grandfather, the color of the dirt and the chill of the Yuba. I also think about sharing mini cereal boxes with Hallie and getting donuts in Downieville. I think of my mom's homemade "floatation device" and the hubbub over what each person wanted in their sandwich. I remember Mertyl and rescuing kittens in 1987.

Here are a sequence of photos that I put together from Downieville and Woodruff Creek. (the video takes away some of the photo quality).

GG Park rope swing - in motion

2007-05-29T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I blogged this swing before - but never with video. So here we are swinging around in the park. Yes I know it is sideways. I have a video of me too, but it won't upload even though it's the exact same format as the one that did. Any suggestions?

Keene Wonder Mine - A place to return to

2007-05-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

Madeline and I went to Keene Wonder Mine for my birthday last February. We had a beer in the parking lot then took a gigantic hike up to the top, passing hanging ore carts, rusted safes and countless adits. Sadly we didn't have a flashlight. The weather was perfect.

Yesterday Dani and Allegra and I thought that returning to Death Valley, and to Keene Wonder Mine, might be a great idea. Wrong. It's 112 degrees. Instead we're going to the Yuba River near where my grandparents used to own several gold claims.

Here's Keene:

One of my most favorite photos ever. Below the end of the tracks is a pile of ore cars that look as if the ground fell out from under them.

This is when I cried because we had no flashlight.

No miner's booty left.

Looking down from the top.

We have a thing with machinery.

There were 11 of these towers all the way up the mountain.

Oooooh. It's dark in here.

Unicorns for comfort

2007-05-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

Since Madeline left for India, Birdy and I have been wearing/hovering around her unicorn sweatshirt.

Charmed by a Tumbleweed

2007-05-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

The second day of my mom's visit we went to the Maker's Faire. There was a high density of Ren Fair get ups, kooky bicycles, homemade purses, T-shirts, and robots. What made it worth while was the Tumbleweed house. I really haven't been able to shut up about buying a hunk of dusty desert, throwing a tumbleweed on it, and well, I don't really know what comes next.

Isn't my mom cute? (she likes Tumbleweeds too).

Instead of going inside, Madeline successfully avoided irritating Tumbleweed fans and memorialized my Tumbleweed visit.

Below = 100sq. ft.

EPU FLOOR PLAN

Mom, Spud and Pansy up Bernal

2007-05-20T17:46:00.000-07:00

My mom visited this weekend. We took Spud and Pansy up Bernal Hill and I stopped at a rope swing I've been meaning to try.

Skidoo!

2007-05-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

Skidoo (inside Death Valley National Park) is down one of the longest, bumpiest dirt roads I've ever driven on. We didn't think we'd ever get there. The town site is gone, but the stamp mill and several blocked off adits still remain. Ghosttowns.com has a great Skidoo spread...but I can't get a direct link. Click the map, then CA, then Inyo, then Skidoo.

Golden Gate rope swing

2007-05-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

There are several hidden rope swings in San Francisco. This one is in Golden Gate Park.

What's that smell? It's dead Tilapia.

2007-05-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

Before a long ride through LA traffic on our way home from Palm Springs in March, we drove around the Salton Sea. Besides numerous abandoned town alternating with numerous towns filled with brand new empty five bed room homes, there was an unbelievable stench. It was dead tilapia that apparently die in droves every year. All along the shore there were whole reefs that were made of crunched and powdered tilapia bones. yum.

Watermelons and Crosswords

2007-05-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Dolores Park to eat watermelon and do crosswords. Then it got cold and I had to pee and we had to go write final papers.

Muni graveyard and other Third St. delights

2007-05-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today I went to exchange Madeline's super reinforced shoulder purse for two leg pouches for India. Then I took a ride down Third street to see the Muni graveyard Dani had told me about and see if Poppa Neutrino's boat was still there. Sure enough...Poppa's boat is still there, and the Muni graveyard, well, I know there's a more spectacular one some where.

Eagle Mountain and some potato chips

2007-05-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

In March, while Madeline was studying away in our hotel (90% fake rock) in Desert Hot Springs (The foam version of Palm Springs), I drove to Eagle Mountain, a ghost town abandoned in the 1980s, just outside of Desert Center...a town of impending doom.

Eagle mountain was once an Iron mining town. Its all fenced off and has a brand new elementary school (also fenced off and seemingly unused). The lawns here were eerily trim, but homes empty.

Leaving Eagle Mountain, you have to pass through Desert Center. Here I found an abandoned hamburger shack that the previous owners never even bothered to pack up when they left. They were sun faded potato chips on the counter and red and white checkered french fry trays.

Here's more on Eagle Mountain written by someone who gets even more high as the article goes on.

Near death by rattle snake at Black Diamond Mine

2007-05-09T22:51:00.000-07:00

I went hiking alone at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. After having visions of a mountain lion jumping on my back from a tree I turned back, only to almost step on a large rattle snake. The snake pretended I wasn't there and allowed me to take pictures of s/he.

Black Diamond Mines is awesome. There are 5 or 6 former town sites and 12 mines. Some of the mines can be explored. For my first trip I forgot to bring a flash light so I'll be going back this summer. Like most ghost towns, Black Diamond Mines has a cemetary full of children. But unlike most mining towns you can pay three dollars for an extensive tour of the undergroud labrynth.