Audrey stole the camera I was going to buy...

...that Charlie bought first. Audrey is a known compulsive camera buyer. She owns about 6 digital and 50 film cameras. When I told her how awesome and spectacular the Canon Powershot SD1000 was with it's super boxy, super sexy body with matte finish was, she knew it was too good to pass up. So she bought it today; it's like getting salt rubbed really hard into my broke ass wounds. I'm setting up the Give Young Money So He Can Buy A Newer, Sexier Camera Fund. There are no bank accounts set up to send money to, so just give me cash when you see me. I need it now!


Make this mine!

Lazy day, getting cold again

Waking up late on a Sunday is as right as rain. Crawled out of bed and made myself breakfast/brunch for one. Two pancakes and two eggs (I tried to make them over medium, but it didn't turn out that way). There's something very rewarding about cooking for yourself. Baby Char called and wanted to play tennis, so we met at the courts in Dolores Park. We played our shortest game yet, and I already forgot who won...it was a close one, though. Afterwards we stopped by the new Bi-Rite creamery and got a banana split each. The caramelized bananas in it were fantastic! Also, all the hot boys hang out around 18th and Dolores on sunny days.


Pancakes and eggs.


Banana split with caramelized bananas.

Best YouTube clip ever

Peugeot love

Went to dinner at Puerte Alegro on Valencia (famous for their margaritas and infamous for the long waits) tonight with Mark, Pam, Tom, and a few other people from the neighborhood. It was the first time that I locked my bike on the street for more than 20 minutes, and of all places by 16th Street, so needless to say I was a bit paranoid about it's safety. Luckily, it had a friend to keep it company for the three and half hours we were there...another old Peugeot. I don't even mind the ugly bandage-colored bar tape anymore.

Ross gets surprised

Ross' awesome wife Nicole organized a surprised birthday dinner at Benihana's tonight for his 34th. I was the lookout at the window and felt like a dyslexic Peeping Tom, looking out instead of in. Ross met us with many girlish shrieks, his way of saying "Thanks for all showing up on time to surprise me on my birthday."

The meal was fun, the food was good, and Ross got drunk. See for yourself.




Happy birthday, my bald friend.


(Look for Joe Sparks walking across the screen)

Sometimes people can be nice

Helena and I took a cab to Le Colonial to meet Mark for dinner. When we got there, I didn't have my cell phone and figured I left it at Helena's. Towards the end of our meal, Helena gets a call on her phone from my number. She's totally weirded out by it but answers. A passenger in the same cab we took earlier found my phone and called the last number I dialed.

I asked her to send the cab come back my way and I would pay for the trip. I should have offered to pay her fare, as well, but didn't think about that at the time since my only concern then was to get my phone back. Thank you anonymous cab rider! I owe you one.

Are you 'aving a laugh?!

Audrey and I patiently wait our turn to be extras in a bank security video. He's 'aving a laugh!!

UPDATE: I made $200 being an extra today, but I also got injured by Ragoni's (a shoe store with many ugly shoes) metal storefront gate. After the thing fell on my shoulder and scrapped the skin off the back of my heel (see Fig. 1 below), the guy who worked there came out and chided at us for standing in front of his store. May karma shove something really large up your hole, shoe man.


Fig. 1

Fun Friday

There are surprisingly a lot of people at the gym on Friday night. I'm starting to worry about my Bay-to-Breakers run. It's a month away and there's no way I think I can run a 12k (7.something miles) course all the way through. Well, actually, I ran almost 5 miles today and wasn't too tired afterward. Runners have 3 1/2 hours to cross the finish line; after that they take it down and you'd be running aimlessly around the city.

Right now I'm at Helena's waiting for Morrissey to come on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Actually, she's waiting for him to come on and I'm looking up pictures of Carrot Top and his waxy-lookin' skin.


CT with Sly and Tom Jones. Three lookers.

Body snatchin' fungi

I learned on the BBC series Planet Earth last night that there are fungi in the rain forest that lodge themselves inside of insects, making them go crazy. Infected ants, for example, are exiled by their colony. Poor bastards.

Also, chimps are fucking scary.

Busy weekend

I got to San Jose on Friday and ended up meetng Kelsey at the gym at almost 1 in the morning. It was the first 24 Hour Fitness I've been to in San Jose and it smelled like one giant sock. Saturday was spent with Becky, Bella, and Sarah in Santa Cruz/Davenport/Pescadero. Lots of food was eaten; fun was had by all.

Today, Sunday, I spent driving around San Jose looking for handlebar tape and places to print digital photos. I don't ever miss the relatively slow pace of suburbia until I'm actually immersed in it. It's nice to drive around and then get to park right in front of where you want to be...without circling endlessly.



I didn't find any tape that I liked, but I did pick up a Topeak mini tool kit for my bike. It's possibly the coolest thing I've bought in a while (and I buy a lot of crap). The body of the tiny kit breaks into two halves, packed with 26 tools. In additional to standards like Allen and box wrenches, this badass comes with TWO tire levers (!!!!), a chain tool, spoke wrenches, AND a compartment for two chain pins. Topeak is definitely my favorite bike accessories brand. Their stuff is pricey, but well designed.

After driving around, I went for a long ride with my little cousin. We made a stop by my old junior high for kicks. The photo of the doors is the entrance to the band room, where I spent a great deal of my time in 7th and 8th grade.

My bike doesn't look good in nude

My little Peugeot was in desperate need of some new handlebar tape, so I went down to Freewheel Bike Shop and tried to buy some medium-dark brown tape (I want to replace my seat with a nice brown leather seat eventually). Apparently the color I want is really hard to come by, even though purple tape, pink tape, and purple tape with pink speckles were readily available. So I decided to go with a tan cork tape, figuring that it'll eventually get darker from wear. It took a while to put on the new tape, but I actually did a pretty decent job. However (and this is a huge however), my handlebars now look like they've been in an accident and are all bandaged up. It makes me a little sad to look at the bike. Sometime this week I'm going to have to go with another color, probably black, because I can't handle the tan.

Hindsight is 20/20

Creepy ad.
The company is still in business today.

Click for a larger version.

Bella is possibly THE cutest baby ever

Becky, Bella, Lark, and Sarah dropped by my place last night to pick me up to go to Matt's get together. I had them pose for some red wall photos while they were here. It's been a while since I've seen Bella—I think she's doubled in size. It was the most cheerful I've ever seen her (she was pretty much asleep all the other times). She makes the most awwww-inducing faces. Lark and I were completely mesmerized. She also has the most pinchable cheeks.

Mother Nature wants me to be fat

Ross and I had made plans to go bike riding and play tennis this Saturday, but the weather report calls for rain. What the hell? How am I supposed to stay active and fit?

Rain, Ross, and racquet below.

We got painted

Something like this doesn't happen everyday. Artist Christian Paine recreates our likeness from a photobooth picture of yesteryear. Neither of us have met him. Why did he decide to make my button a Smiths button?

I'm glad he got my bowl cut just right.

The man is out to get me

I got an email from my internet provider yesterday asking me to stop using peer-to-peer programs to download/upload NBC material. The letter pretty much asks my ISP to send me a reprimanding email and tell me to stop pirating. So all of you downloading episodes or seasons of The Office better stop it now.

In other news, is it shallow that I listen to Sufjan Stevens because I think he's kinda hot? No? Ok, good. Also, I think he looks like a young Clive Owen.

Sole is the fish of the devil

I'm never cooking sole again. It's been over a day and a half and my apartment still reeks of fish. I should have known better than to eat fish named for its resemblance to sandals.

So ugly!


UPDATE: 4/07 - It's been a week and I can still smell it. Febreeze has nothing on the smell.