TV Guide

We got a hotel room in the Marina's Cow Hollow Motor Inn last night for a little vacation. The place is old school, with yellowish flower print wallpaper, hanging lamps, and green 7-Up soda vending machines with both Canada Dry ginger ale *and* Diet Canada Dry. Dinner was a trek. We crossed the street for Amici's "east coast pizzeria." The pepperoni, sausage, sauteed mushroom, bacon and garlic puree was a tasty treat. Good thing we skipped the Grove. The next morning we witnessed a great waterfall coming down onto unsuspecting outdoor seating.

For kicks we watched mucho TV, from the Cosby Show and Fresh Prince to J. Lo's Enough, the Colbert Report, Sex and the City, Futurama, the Smart Guy, South Park (smug pollution episode - how apropos), Wife Swap (not the Steven Fowler episode) and of course the Girls Next Door. Then I saw Pres. Obama's speech to the troops. Why so serious?

check in your bike here, please

cool new bike rack at the inner richmond branch library

ordered liberties

1. hit a car with my car yesterday. it was parked and i was pulling out. i cracked the bumper of the older BMW and dented in my door. i left a note.
   
   last night i got a call from "Steve." FIrst off, he said, he wanted to thank me for leaving a note, something not often done in the city. Second, he was going to give away the "roach coach" soon and didn't need any money from me. Yippp!


2. saw Milk at the newly remodeled Sundance Kabuki theater. comfy seats, small theaters, a wine bistro up the ticket price but are worth the $3 amenities fee per ticket. or maybe i just say that cuz the film was so good. my hang up with the movie was its addition of a line at the end about the killer's "Twinkie Defense," an overblown sensationalist mantra of the press pillorying the justice system for letting a guy off because he was high on sugar -- though the whole twinkie thing was actually just evidence of Dan White's bipolarism. whatevs. Diego luna was great.



3. got Mike Sherman's random list of 25 things chain letter on Facebook. i'm happy that he's happy and healthy. he's working out and not lighting things on fire.


4. saw Across the Universe. Bono's in it, but it's still pretty entertaining, a cute 60s love story, and full of decent versions of Beatles' songs. also, Burn After Reading, Baby Geniuses, Erin Brockovich, Da Vinci Code, Caddyshack, Meet Me in St. Louis, Wall-E, & Angels in America. Obviously, I'm behind on my reading in Property, Criminal Procedure, and Contracts II.

meet my cousin, the atv riding filmmaker

this is an epic (thanks for the adjective britt) trailer for my cousin's upcoming film about, presumably, ATV riding. he lives in Nebraska and goes to school in Kansas and loves him some ATVs.

northern exposure

i went to the missoula, MT area for a few days. we flew there and drove through the snow to get to my uncle and aunt's ranch. i almost hit like 5 deer with the car.

other highlights: buying Starbucks inside a Target store, getting a complimentary espresso shot; buying Starbucks across the street from a Cracker Barrel and the C'mon Inn, whose billboard advertised an indoor pool, five hot tubs, and an indoor waterfall; and drinking Irish coffee and other cocktails (pear mojito, sour apple thingy) courtesy of my brother.

i read The Appeal by John Grisham and Barrel Fever by David Sedaris. Reading the two made me want to do a spoof of Grisham novels. The Appeal is more jaded than his earlier novels. Sedaris was fun and evil.

We mostly spent our time eating, reading, and drinking while playing Gin Rummy, pool, and beer pong. I taught my eight year old cousin to play Iron Man on guitar, and how to play chess. He and my uncle beat me.

The Daring Ones on the Flying Trapeze

Check out this video from our Circus Arts Center flying trapeze lesson. Don't miss my ginormous belly flop.

Thanks to my mom and Gabriel Micek for the footage and Britt the Director for direction/storyboard and music consultation. I produced, engineered, and sound edited. The songs are "Itchy Chicken" by Los Straitjackets, "Electric Counterpoint / Fast 2" by Pat Metheny/Steve Reich and "King Porter" by Jelly Roll Morton.

hep!

yesterday was our surprise holiday family outing day. the only instructions were to wear gym shorts and shoes, and give up your Sunday from 11-4.

first, we went to the Circus Center in SF for a flying trapeze session with three instructors.

the whole thing is set up in a big old gym near Kezar Stadium. first you sign your life away on a waiver, then, when it's your turn, you climb a 30-40 foot ladder and maneuver onto this little platform. There's a big net below, but not while you're climbing the ladder!

Once you're in position, they say ready, you bend your knees, then it's "Hep!" That means jump! Swinging, you wait for the next cue, to put up your legs. Finally you take your hands off the bar and swing upside down, with back arched, and knees over the bar.

the first time i went up i totally cheated and did all the stuff they showed us without waiting for them to tell me to. i got what i deserved, though, by doing this giant belly flop onto the net while everyone laughed at me. the second time i followed instructions and it was better.

the last time i went it was for the big Catch. The youngest instructor climbed onto another trapeze, swinging back and forth about 25 feet in front of me. he gave the instructions, the timing was perfect, and he caught me as I swung with my arms out!

Rad. Everyone did it except for my youngest sis. We're all paying for it with sore muscles today. Next we went to Andronico's to buy food to donate to St. Anthony's. Finally, we had a big lunch at the Beach Chalet. The view of Ocean Beach was pretty despite the rain.

It was a fun day.

cupcakes

Three finals down, one to go. Contracts, I will break you!! mwahahaha

• interviewed for britt's armenian genocide paper. never felt more armenian. forgot to mention a few things, that Borat's co-star is armenian, and speaks it the whole film; that Hitler said, after all, who remembers what happened to the Armenians? before deciding to go ahead with the Holocaust, and other random thoughts.


• movies: princess mononoke, finding forrester, the big lebowski, quantum of solace, casino royale, the great debaters, fear and loathing in las vegas, brazil


• other: Clue, photoshop, sushi on california (Chin's), Kara's Cupcakes, cold weather, christmas lights, Mario Kart for DS, shave and a haircut


• homemade: tortilla soup, massive salads, cupcakes (see picture), artichoke/mayo pita dip (thanks britt) and a Cucumber/oatmeal facial following a milk steam bath/mask. Presidio Inn and Spa is open for business!


• goodbye to brian, see you deutschman


• wiki'd: ted williams


• love Freedom

Microwave "usable", but still needs repair

George the Landlord and two older Russian gentlemen said the Presidio Inn microwave was still usable, despite its mechanical problems. The three made their way into the Inn on Weds. morning and in short order, diagnosed the gear-grinding type noise as a motor problem. "The heat rays" are not affected, one of the repairmen said with an accent. George then told Peter that the machine could be used.

The repairmen had threatened to break some of the custom woodwork to remove the built-in microwave, but they did not want to hurt such fine carpentry. George agreed to call the original installer.

Later, George told Pete that the original contractor would be out Monday to see it, in the morning or afternoon. He asked that the area of the kitchen be cleared out, "so none of your things get broken."

In other words, clean up yr dang apt!

Photo 179

Photo 179
Originally uploaded by Monster Pete

me and britt happened to be wearing the same thing, inverted of course. she had been gone for three days, and when i picked her up at the train station, this is what we saw. i think she was mad at me until she noticed our uncoordinated coordination. it's hard to hate your opposite.

HAJI SPRINGER FEAT. CHINGO BLING

it's here. the tandoori tamale.

beautiful seizure

the other night, on a crowded BART train leaving a Warriors game, a young man had a seizure. he convulsed and tensed up and frothed at the mouth. i just stood there watching while people around me either left the area or tried to help, depending on their level of medical expertise.

Tina, my friend, a dentist, was the first on the scene. she didn't really know what to do, she said later, but did scream for someone to tell the driver to stop the train because of a medical emergency.

we're in the middle of the tunnel, came the reply from somewhere, and can't stop.

then came a nurse and a young guy and an older man, who i had noticed as very drunk moments before. he stood over the victim, as he recovered from the seizure, with his hand on his neck. in a slurred, overly dramatic way, he said to the victim, "ok... ok... shhhh... shhhh..."

i looked at the girl the victim was with, and she was distraught. somebody came to hug her, and i started to tear up.

deep thoughts

my parents are probably mad at me for not seeing me in some time. this hasn't happened since i've lived in the bay area. i think it's probably ok b/c after all, i'm all growed up and going to law school, likes they wanted. you can't have yr cake and eat it too.

one more black man living off the government...

just kidding. i'm learning about his 26-yr-old speechwriter now. karazy!

Exploring Music

I study the violin. My teacher is Luan. She has been here ten years from Shanghai and is married to a sick old Armenian man.

I teach Luan conversational English and she teaches me conversational violin and Mandarin. She gives me relationship advice but makes me promise not to tell my girlfriend.

I like the Chinese songs she teaches me. They are more fun than the Suzuki, Western (Handel, Vivaldi, Bach) finger-benders. The slides and trills of the Oriental music sooth my nerves. The high notes make my fingers climb the neck and step daintily, taking the body of the violin in my palm. I owe the violin shop all kinds of money for the rental instrument, which I have not paid for in months.

Today, I finished my lesson as the girl after me and her mom looked on. The girl is around 4 years old, with medium brown curls and a 1/10 size violin. They are both very cute. Her dark brown eyes stare at me intently like I'm on trial and she's the judge. I need to play violin to keep from thinking about lawyering all the time.

I played her violin the other day. It was miniature but sounded and looked great. I guess size isn't everything. It depends on how you use it.

Palin 2012 and My Reason for Being

and this



I'm totally obsessed with PalinAsPresident.com. What will I do after the election? Lack direction and a funny place to retire to online.

Motorcade caught on tape on Lake Street

Guess who's in town:
A. Your mom
B. Sexy Sarah
C. Tina Fey
D. Diane Feinstein

ack ack ack

plane flying over boats

This is an FA-18 Hornet's approach of Alcatraz Island just before striking the key missile placements of a group of ex-US military specialists-turned-kidnappers seeking to restore honor to their fallen comrades.

Oh, wait, that was The Rock.This was just the Blue Angels.

america's next top model

been enjoying life as much as school allows.

• movies - the firm, vanilla sky, mary poppins, the cable guy, control room (doc), who killed the electric car? (doc), smart people, volver


• blue angels and the presidio on bike with britt


• jack in the box (near the bus station in SF - this place is in another dimension), in'n'out, hamburger haven on clement, chevy's, pizza at 24th and potrero in the mission with Keith


• keith's new apartment at 22nd and harrison is rad, empty, and cold. anyone looking for a place? he's got two extra bedrooms.


• I acted as an agent for my friend trying out for America's Next Top Model. We stood in a hot line for hours down on Powell and Market. She was fantastic, and Britt and I were her fans. The girls really wanted to be on TV, dancing with the CW sign and all. Aw.