No Diggity

Ain't no party like a West Coast party cause a West Coast party don't stop. Okay, you're right. That wasn't from No Diggity. It was, in fact, from "1, 2, 3, 4, Sumpin' New" by Coolio. My apologies. I recently acquired a great deal of music from the 1990s. I've spent some time this morning organizing the tunes and reminiscing. I can honestly say Mariah Carey, Puff Daddy, the Backstreet Boys, and New Edition have never factored into a Saturday morning before. Certainly not with anything that I had control over. Somehow this connects back to the ringer selection process for my sister. She had all sorts of great requests for songs to indicate she was calling. But no, she got "I want it that way" by the Backsteet Boys, the result of some serious car singing/dancing when the song came on from an old CD she found. When I say old, I mean the kind that took some time to burn with the songs most likely stolen with the help of Napster. Anyway, it was an epic performance from both of us. And now it's her ringer when she calls. In my defense, I couldn't get "Return of the Mac" by Mark Morrison, which was her request and mine. The world is cruel to Mr. Morrison. "Return of the Mac," I'm told by Wikipedia, was kept out of the number 1 slot of the Billboard charts in 1997 by the hideous "MMMBop." Tragedy. Ah, "Don't Let Go (Love)" by EnVogue just came up. 1996. Featured in the movie Set It Off, I believe. So good.

Don't judge, people. Embrace it.

San to the Fricso

new old hats and new old tricks

New old hats: So, the Euge has an awesome new vintage store which is entirely too cool for the town. Seriously. I procured the featured hat there last night for a mere 6 clams. Sometime soon I'll feature the jacket I also picked up. Ski Levi's. Just try to wrap your mind around that one.

New old tricks: Okay, not really any new old tricks or even old new tricks. But I am down in San Francisco for work staying in a old (new) hotel. You know, the nicely remodeled and well appointed places that you'd never think of to stay if you were actually paying? One issue that has cropped up is the new toilet on old pipes doesn't always flush. I feel the need to practice because that's just not something one wants to mess with. I've tried to develop some technique without much success.

Tonight it's the Mission and Burritos with a homie from work. Should be most excellent. One final bendiction... May your toilets easily flush.

oh time, where do you go?

So, I feel as if I've been doing nothing but running around all month. I was busy getting ready for a trip down to Cali for work and work decided to be much more demanding than normal. Spent time in Cali in meetings and meetings, thus normal stuff I needed to get done were delayed for work later. It's funny how even though you're someplace for work the actual work you need to do doesn't adjust. One might say, "Hey! I've got this big stuff going on, I need to pay attention to that!" Then your normal work slaps you across the face and cries, "you don't pay attention to me anymore!" Meanwhile, the marriage counselor "tut-tut"s you into working extra super-duper hard because of course it's your fault. Okay, that doesn't make a lot of sense. But I've been busy. And I'm down to Cali again next week for more stuff. Just 3 days this time though.

Luckily, I was able to see some awesome people. The ever fashionable KFR, Beetlegirl, and Ms. A, respectively. No less than two awesome hug attack opportunities filled with chats, wigs, and beer. Most excellent. Then, when I returned home the bro came down and we had a splendid time hanging out, walking around, takin' in the sights, etc. Even better, we went to a Hell's Belle's concert. In case you're not in the loop, they're an all-female AC/DC tribute band*. If you ever get the chance, I heartily recommend them. And that musical event leads me to my evening tonight. I'm up to the big city to see one Ms. Brandi Carlile and then some general hanging about in PDX on Friday. That's right! I'm neglecting the work! Oh, what would the marriage counselor say?

* not to be confused with a cover band, which are just generally bad.

October Fun

I love October. Seriously, I could break into verse at any point because I love it so much. Rather than bore you with that, I'll bore you with a list. Why I love October:

• yellow, orange, and red leaves
• sweaters without coats
• the fun angle of your shadow on the ground
• the idea of baseball playoffs
• transition
• running through leaves
• the crisp smell in the air
• gourds
• corn maze
• halloween
• apple cider
• brown liquor

I could go on. But I'll leave it at that. And as a party favor, also leave you with this picture I snapped with my cell phone yesterday. Oh, I'd also like to offer up some excellent Hug Attttaaaaaack warm-fuzzies to everyone. I'll get to see the Cool Kids of Cali this week and my homie M's fiancee comes back from Iraq on Monday.

I lost my shoe.

Welcome back, kiddies! School is starting up again and even though I haven't been a student in more years than I'd like to admit, it's still an easy way to track time. Students are back in town, which means a few things: going near the university for anything is a bear; shouts of "woo!" will rise exponentially as will the hem of skirts; you won't be able to go out to breakfast on a weekend and not wait an hour if you show up after 10:00AM... hangovers are, after all, a slow process; and finally, fights.

Friend M. observed the last item this last weekend in a town about 50 miles up the road. She sent me a Captain's Log of events in poetry form. I told her I must share. The second is particularly good.

From MQH~
Here's my weekend in coffee house poetry form:

Just Another Testosterone Saturday Night

Huge fist fight broke out right in front of my house. Horrible.

25 to 30 skinny white boys in hoodies.

I had to call 911. The cops chased them down just like on TV.

Handcuffed face down in the grass.

There were injuries. A circle of blood left on my lawn.

Recite with bongos and black beret for maximum effect.

Stab Wound to the Neck

He's bleeding out. Said the cop.

I lost my shoe. Said the boy.

You're injured. Said the cop.

I lost my shoe. Said the boy.

Get something to tie it off. Said the cop.

an anwanted guest lingers

Well, I finally managed to give myself some form of food poisoning. Those are the breaks, I guess. This happened late last week. I wasn't nice to my stomach over the weekend, thus I'm getting my ass kicked (yet again). And this is a really, really bad time to be sidelined from good food. Because it's everywhere. Good food is everywhere and applesauce makes my stomach feel like the end of Spaceballs when they spoof Alien. Not nice. So, let this be a lesson to you: check dates, smell, reheat, don't drink cream or milk if it curdles on hot beverages, etc. etc. etc. I've prepared a haiku in honor of the occasion:

in the House of Nerd
an unwanted guest lingers
flush summer away