As I’ve mentioned previously, I have lots of time to read during my 3 hours of commuting each day, so I thought I’d share what I’ve read thus far this year.
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace – This collection of seven essays from Wallace vary from mind candy (the title essay, about going on a cruise) to the challenging (essays about literary theory and the math involved in tennis). I especially enjoyed the title essay and the essay on David Lynch making Lost Highway. Some misses, but mostly hits.
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson – Bryson is one of the funniest authors going today, and this book about growing up in Des Moines, IA solidifies my theory. Highlights include getting his elementary school teacher to lick pee and his cross-country trip to Disney World. Highly recommended.
Made in America by Bill Bryson – Another Bryson book, can you tell I’m a big fan, I’m glad Diana introduced me to him. This book on American etymology is a fascinating read if you are into the history of words. He tackles this in a chronological order and you learn many reasons behind some of the words, place names, and sayings we take for granted today (including the fact that the original writers of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” had, in fact, never actually been to a game). Fun book if you are normally interested in these kinds of things.
Americana by Hampton Sides – The theme of this book concentrates on different groups of people brought together by a love of something. Included in this collection are stories about attending a Private Investigation Academy run by G. Gordon Liddy, a visit to Sturgis and attending a temporary town made up exclusively of Airstream Trailers. Entertaining book.
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn – I read this book about 10 years ago, but I don’t think it really sunk in back then, I was too interested in myself at the time. Now considered an alternative history classic, it definitely can get you worked up about all of the different conflicts that the United States has gotten into. The chapters on the Vietnam War were especially disheartening, and you can draw direct parallels between what happened 40 years ago and what is happening right now. Not an easy read, but a great read.
IV, A Decade of Curios People and Dangerous Ideas by Chuck Klosterman – Ah Chuck, he can do no wrong in my mind. This is a collection of some of his previous articles and stories for various publications. I especially love it because he puts footnotes throughout to explain what he was thinking when he wrote them. If you are a Chuck fan or just a fan of Pop-Culture in general, pick this up.
The Red Sox Reader edited by Dan Riley – A collection of essays and articles about the Boston Red Sox. I love baseball books and will read most anything. This was interesting, but definitely dated (the book came out shortly after Buckner let it go through his wickets in ’86). Authors include Peter Gammons, Steven King and John Updike.
Absurdistan by Gary Shteyngart – This was a good find, it is about a hip –hop loving son of a Russian/Jewish mafia Don and how he ends up in the middle of a war being conducted primarily to get Haliburton to finance the fledgling country. Great satire and the lead character reminds me of a cross between Ignatius Reilly, Fredo Corleone, and Alex (played by Eugene Hutz) in Everything is Illuminated.
A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester – This is a history of the 1906 SF earthquake, plus analysis of other earthquakes that happened in US history and the inevitability of another one happening. Sometimes gets pretty technical, but filled with interesting parts (including the fact that there were earthquakes in Missouri and North Carolina in the early history of our country).
Disturbing the Peace by Vaclav Havel – This was a book length interview with the absurdist playwright who later became the first president of the new Czech Republic. Not a great read, it definitely would’ve helped if I had known a little bit more about Czech history.
Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy by Jane Leavy – I always heard that Koufax may have been the best pitcher ever in the Major Leagues, and this book makes a strong case for this argument. The book reveals that Koufax would have rather played basketball, pitched through a ton of pain over the last few years, and was one of the first players to stick to his beliefs (he wouldn’t pitch in the first game of the World Series because it occurred on Rosh Hashanah).
Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs – Another collection of memoir stories from Mr. Burroughs. Not as crazy as Running with Scissors, but not as depressing as Dry. Solid book. On a side note, we saw Mr. Burroughs at The Zeitgeist about 2 months ago, just hanging out. That brings my SF celebrity sightings to two (the other being Rob Courdrey from The Daily Show).
McGoorty: A Pool Room Hustler – A biography of a champion billiards player/professional hobo/womanizer from the SF area. Very quick read, I finished it in one day.
Double Duce by Aaron Cometbus – A collection of the famous ‘zine writer’s stories about living in a crap-hole apartment with his messed-up roommates in Berkley. The author, who also was the drummer in Cleveland Bound Death Sentence (which also included members of other MPLS bands Dillinger Four and The Saltines), hand wrote the entire book, which just makes it visually kind of neat.
The Drunken Tourist by Hadrian Santana - Probably the worst book I’ve read this year, the author recounts his fleeing from the law to go over to Europe to do copious amounts of drugs, get laid, and spread the word about some shitty religion he’s really into. The book ends with him going to jail, I hope he’s still there. He just comes across as a jerk with no redeeming qualities.
Managing Ignatius – The real-life story of Lucky Dogs Hot Dog Vendors made popular in A Confederacy of Dunces. The manager lets everyone know about the dysfunctional types of people who would be working these carts and the hijinks they get into. A little disjointed but very funny.
A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain – Basically a written version of his Travel Channel show “No Reservations”, but equally funny and interesting to read about the quest for the perfect meal. Makes me want to get into the restaurant business for sure.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell – The author’s theories behind why something becomes popular or a hit. Very interesting read and reminds me a little bit of Freakonomics, but from an anthropology point of view. Covers everything from Hush Puppies to graffiti, neat book.
Hopefully everyone can find at least one book on here that they hadn’t heard of before and check it out.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sometimes Parents Just Don’t Understand
My parents visited us over the weekend, here are some of the highlights:
Thursday 03/22/07
I picked up Ed and Joyce along with their traveling companions, Richard and Roxanne at the SFO airport on Thursday afternoon. After wedging the luggage into my smallish automobile, we were on our way back towards the city, with my mother making gasping noises about my driving the majority of the way. I responded by making fun of her for wearing her San Francisco T-Shirt we had given her for X-mas.
We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and cruised into Sausalito in Marin County. We enjoyed a nice lunch at a little café and checked out the bay. Next we went up Highway 1 into the base of the Muir Woods. I had planned to take them to a nice lookout that was about ¼ mile off of a trailhead off of the highway, but was foiled by the cops. I had entered a closed section of the highway (road construction) and the officers were not amused at my ambitions to drive along that portion of the road. I pleaded ignorance and went back on my way sans any citations, which was nice.
Once back in the city, we took our visitors to their vacation residence. I had found the top floor of a flat a couple blocks from our place. It was a really nice two bedroom affair that had a working fireplace, a rather large television and stereo system, even laundry and a dishwasher. It kind of made our place look drab by comparison.
That night the six of us went out to dinner to Jimi-san’s Japanese Restaurant. We enjoyed several different appetizers and rolls, and everyone was very game about trying new things. My mom even used chopsticks and was close to mastering them by the end of the evening. Jimi-san hooked us up with free desserts at the end of the meal, he’s the best. The evening was capped off by a drink at the second oldest bar in SF, the Little Shamrock.
Friday 03/23/07
The six of us headed over to Golden Gate Park and went to the Japanese Tea Gardens. It was really beautiful in the gardens, with some excellent water features, bridges, blossoming cherry trees and Zen gardens. After that, we headed across the street to the arboretum and checked out some of the foliage there.
Our zeal for plants satiated, we caught the Muni to the Upper Haight Neighborhood. Mom was amazed that someone was actually driving the train, I’m not sure if she thought it was controlled by robots or something else. We checked out some of the shops and took some pictures at the ever-famous Haight-Ashbury crossing. Mom and Dad picked up some Haight-Ashbury hoodies and then mailed them to themselves so they needn’t tote them around the rest of the day.
We dined at a brew-pub called Magnolia for lunch. My father completed what I’d term “The Big Lebowski”, by tasting every single type of beer available in the establishment by consuming not one but two sampler trays of 2.5 oz. beers. Richard also got the new nickname of “Oysterhead”, named after the Stout that was being served at the Magnolia (Richard’s surname is Stout).
Once lunch was completed we took a bus down to the Mission area and wandered around a bit. It was OK, although Mom thought that the Ice Cream Cart Vendors were fanciful homeless people (very confusing logic from Mom here, too much to get into detail). Around 2:30 we headed over to the Zeitgeist, a killer biker/bike-messenger bar that has a huge backyard with picnic tables. We ordered most of our drinks successfully, although Roxanne’s request for a Malibu/Diet-Coke was rebuffed by the bartender (“I don’t have either one of those” he growled). Roxanne ended up with a margarita on the rocks instead. Eventually, our friends Paul, Dan, Newton and Rich all showed up to enjoy the sunshine and partake in a few drinks. Around 5 o’clock we left to catch a Muni back into our neighborhood. Once the train arrived, we packed on with the rest of the normal Friday commuters.
We met back up with the crew to go out to dinner at PJ’s, an Oyster Bar/Cajun joint in our neighborhood. It was a great meal that was enjoyed by most, with the exception of poor Roxanne. Unfortunately, the two Margaritas at the Zeitgeist had done her in. I didn’t really think about it when she was ordering, but the bartenders there mix a very strong drink, and everything is served in pint glasses there. As a result, Roxanne didn’t eat anything at her and Richard’s 5th year Anniversary Dinner, Diana and I felt terrible about it. After dinner, the group minus Roxanne met up with our friends Rich and Cat at the Dubliner for a nightcap.
Saturday 03/24/07
With Roxanne still out of commission from the Margaritas, the rest of us walked around the west portion of our neighborhood. We showed them all of the various restaurants and stores where we shop for our groceries, the highlight being the Sunset Super Market where we showed them the vats of live fish and buckets of live frogs. A clam even spat water out on Mom, which was funny. We picked up some crazy Japanese candy for our nieces and went back towards their flat.
Roxanne was back up and ready to go by the time we got back, what a champ! We headed to Union Square to catch a cable car ride up to Lombard Street. We walked down “The Crookedest Road” and made our way to North Beach. We had a nice Italian meal and then walked a couple of blocks over to China Town. It’s always amazing to be in Europe one block, then South Asia the next.
We caught a street car over to the piers and checked out the sea lions, then we headed a couple of piers over to queue up for our boat to Alcatraz. The day was rather gray and misty, so we didn’t sit up on the top deck, but still had a neat view for the 15 minute boat ride to the island. Since we were on the night-time tour, we had a free 45 minute audio tour. There were some legitimately creepy parts of the old prison, including the hospital and the hallway where the grenades had blown out pieces of the floor during an uprising. I still can’t believe that people had to actually serve out sentences there, talk about “Hard Time”.
We caught cabs back to our neighborhood and went to New Eritrea, a North African restaurant. Although reluctant at first, even Mom got into the idea of eating everything with our hands and using the flat bread/pancake pieces used for scooping up the various veggies and meats brought to us on a huge platter.
Sunday 03/25/07
We went over to the flat to pick up the group and then made our way to Darla’s for breakfast and Bloody Marys. We were delighted to be waited upon by Darla herself and had a delicious meal. After breakfast, we packed up the luggage in our car so they could be checked out on time, then hopped the Muni and went to Ocean Beach. The tide was really low that morning, so everyone had a good time picking up shells and sand dollars and watching the plovers dig up crabs.
We eventually made it back to our place and let Josie lick everyone until it was time to head off to the airport. Overall it was a successful visit that left very few casualties.
Thursday 03/22/07
I picked up Ed and Joyce along with their traveling companions, Richard and Roxanne at the SFO airport on Thursday afternoon. After wedging the luggage into my smallish automobile, we were on our way back towards the city, with my mother making gasping noises about my driving the majority of the way. I responded by making fun of her for wearing her San Francisco T-Shirt we had given her for X-mas.
We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and cruised into Sausalito in Marin County. We enjoyed a nice lunch at a little café and checked out the bay. Next we went up Highway 1 into the base of the Muir Woods. I had planned to take them to a nice lookout that was about ¼ mile off of a trailhead off of the highway, but was foiled by the cops. I had entered a closed section of the highway (road construction) and the officers were not amused at my ambitions to drive along that portion of the road. I pleaded ignorance and went back on my way sans any citations, which was nice.
Once back in the city, we took our visitors to their vacation residence. I had found the top floor of a flat a couple blocks from our place. It was a really nice two bedroom affair that had a working fireplace, a rather large television and stereo system, even laundry and a dishwasher. It kind of made our place look drab by comparison.
That night the six of us went out to dinner to Jimi-san’s Japanese Restaurant. We enjoyed several different appetizers and rolls, and everyone was very game about trying new things. My mom even used chopsticks and was close to mastering them by the end of the evening. Jimi-san hooked us up with free desserts at the end of the meal, he’s the best. The evening was capped off by a drink at the second oldest bar in SF, the Little Shamrock.
Friday 03/23/07
The six of us headed over to Golden Gate Park and went to the Japanese Tea Gardens. It was really beautiful in the gardens, with some excellent water features, bridges, blossoming cherry trees and Zen gardens. After that, we headed across the street to the arboretum and checked out some of the foliage there.
Our zeal for plants satiated, we caught the Muni to the Upper Haight Neighborhood. Mom was amazed that someone was actually driving the train, I’m not sure if she thought it was controlled by robots or something else. We checked out some of the shops and took some pictures at the ever-famous Haight-Ashbury crossing. Mom and Dad picked up some Haight-Ashbury hoodies and then mailed them to themselves so they needn’t tote them around the rest of the day.
We dined at a brew-pub called Magnolia for lunch. My father completed what I’d term “The Big Lebowski”, by tasting every single type of beer available in the establishment by consuming not one but two sampler trays of 2.5 oz. beers. Richard also got the new nickname of “Oysterhead”, named after the Stout that was being served at the Magnolia (Richard’s surname is Stout).
Once lunch was completed we took a bus down to the Mission area and wandered around a bit. It was OK, although Mom thought that the Ice Cream Cart Vendors were fanciful homeless people (very confusing logic from Mom here, too much to get into detail). Around 2:30 we headed over to the Zeitgeist, a killer biker/bike-messenger bar that has a huge backyard with picnic tables. We ordered most of our drinks successfully, although Roxanne’s request for a Malibu/Diet-Coke was rebuffed by the bartender (“I don’t have either one of those” he growled). Roxanne ended up with a margarita on the rocks instead. Eventually, our friends Paul, Dan, Newton and Rich all showed up to enjoy the sunshine and partake in a few drinks. Around 5 o’clock we left to catch a Muni back into our neighborhood. Once the train arrived, we packed on with the rest of the normal Friday commuters.
We met back up with the crew to go out to dinner at PJ’s, an Oyster Bar/Cajun joint in our neighborhood. It was a great meal that was enjoyed by most, with the exception of poor Roxanne. Unfortunately, the two Margaritas at the Zeitgeist had done her in. I didn’t really think about it when she was ordering, but the bartenders there mix a very strong drink, and everything is served in pint glasses there. As a result, Roxanne didn’t eat anything at her and Richard’s 5th year Anniversary Dinner, Diana and I felt terrible about it. After dinner, the group minus Roxanne met up with our friends Rich and Cat at the Dubliner for a nightcap.
Saturday 03/24/07
With Roxanne still out of commission from the Margaritas, the rest of us walked around the west portion of our neighborhood. We showed them all of the various restaurants and stores where we shop for our groceries, the highlight being the Sunset Super Market where we showed them the vats of live fish and buckets of live frogs. A clam even spat water out on Mom, which was funny. We picked up some crazy Japanese candy for our nieces and went back towards their flat.
Roxanne was back up and ready to go by the time we got back, what a champ! We headed to Union Square to catch a cable car ride up to Lombard Street. We walked down “The Crookedest Road” and made our way to North Beach. We had a nice Italian meal and then walked a couple of blocks over to China Town. It’s always amazing to be in Europe one block, then South Asia the next.
We caught a street car over to the piers and checked out the sea lions, then we headed a couple of piers over to queue up for our boat to Alcatraz. The day was rather gray and misty, so we didn’t sit up on the top deck, but still had a neat view for the 15 minute boat ride to the island. Since we were on the night-time tour, we had a free 45 minute audio tour. There were some legitimately creepy parts of the old prison, including the hospital and the hallway where the grenades had blown out pieces of the floor during an uprising. I still can’t believe that people had to actually serve out sentences there, talk about “Hard Time”.
We caught cabs back to our neighborhood and went to New Eritrea, a North African restaurant. Although reluctant at first, even Mom got into the idea of eating everything with our hands and using the flat bread/pancake pieces used for scooping up the various veggies and meats brought to us on a huge platter.
Sunday 03/25/07
We went over to the flat to pick up the group and then made our way to Darla’s for breakfast and Bloody Marys. We were delighted to be waited upon by Darla herself and had a delicious meal. After breakfast, we packed up the luggage in our car so they could be checked out on time, then hopped the Muni and went to Ocean Beach. The tide was really low that morning, so everyone had a good time picking up shells and sand dollars and watching the plovers dig up crabs.
We eventually made it back to our place and let Josie lick everyone until it was time to head off to the airport. Overall it was a successful visit that left very few casualties.
Monday, March 12, 2007
I Have a Meeting with “The Bobs”
Last week I rolled into work on a Monday morning to discover a 8.5 x 11 announcement sitting on my desk. It turned out we were having a Casual Week. Since I didn’t get the handout the week previous, I was not able to inflict upon my co-workers one of my numerous Hawaiian shirts. Bummer.
Tuesday was Retro or Plaid Day. I wore a nice long-sleeved number that had a feeling of the 70’s about it. There were numerous tie-dye shirts abound, including a couple that were probably a couple of sizes too small for the individuals who chose to wear them.
Wednesday was Denim Day. People were very excited to wear their blue jeans to work. I showed my appreciation by wearing my jet-black Carhardt’s.
Thursday was Americana Day. I did not partake in this particular dress-up day. There was an elderly gentleman that had a great stars and bars shirt that would have made any Texan proud.
Friday was Sports Day. I happily wore my TC style Twins cap all day, mostly twisted off to the side or backwards. There were lots of A’s uniforms and caps that day, and a few NASCAR fan(atics) showed their awesome love of corporate logos.
What was the occasion for this celebration? I have no idea. The sheet said it was a “Casual for a Cause Week”. There were no sign-up sheets for donations, no emails about helping out the elderly, no one coming around trying to support the arts, nothing. I did get a free lunch out of it on Wednesday, which was nice.
Take care,
jeremy
Tuesday was Retro or Plaid Day. I wore a nice long-sleeved number that had a feeling of the 70’s about it. There were numerous tie-dye shirts abound, including a couple that were probably a couple of sizes too small for the individuals who chose to wear them.
Wednesday was Denim Day. People were very excited to wear their blue jeans to work. I showed my appreciation by wearing my jet-black Carhardt’s.
Thursday was Americana Day. I did not partake in this particular dress-up day. There was an elderly gentleman that had a great stars and bars shirt that would have made any Texan proud.
Friday was Sports Day. I happily wore my TC style Twins cap all day, mostly twisted off to the side or backwards. There were lots of A’s uniforms and caps that day, and a few NASCAR fan(atics) showed their awesome love of corporate logos.
What was the occasion for this celebration? I have no idea. The sheet said it was a “Casual for a Cause Week”. There were no sign-up sheets for donations, no emails about helping out the elderly, no one coming around trying to support the arts, nothing. I did get a free lunch out of it on Wednesday, which was nice.
Take care,
jeremy
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Good God, This is Going to be Awful
I arrived home last week to find a package from someplace in the state of Washington. My friend Doug just moved there to take a Professor job, but the name on the package said “Arthur Blumpkins”, or something of that ilk. Not knowing a Mr. Blumpkins, I was curious as to what was inside.
I tear open the package and find a catalog, a travel pack of facial tissue with a Hula Girl on it, and two boxes of mints. The mints, however, are Uncle Oinker’s Savory Bacon Mints. I check out the delivery paper and in the comments it simply states, “Mmm, Bacon”. Immediately, I knew this was my X-mas present from Ken.
I am now going to attempt to taste these mints, and give you my running commentary as I go. Ugh.
The 0.7 oz metal tin is adorned with whom I can only assume is Uncle Oinker himself. He looks slightly surprised, and is wearing a 50’s style fishing hat. Looks pretty good for a pig.
The backside of the tin has some delicious looking bacon in the background. Let’s see here, the Ingredient Statement is as follows: DEXTROSE, CORN SYRUP, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, BACON & MINT FLAVORS, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, MALTODEXTRIN. This is apparently made in China, which makes sense, I suppose. I can also call a number to get the Nutritional Information. I’d rather not.
I am tearing off the protective plastic wrap. Ahhhh! An odor of bacon-like substance has permeated the room. It sort of smells like the fetal pigs we dissected in Biology class. I don’t see formaldehyde on the ingredient list. This is not going to be good.
I’m having a hard time opening this. It appears that there is a fine film of bacon grease on the tin. It’s either that or my body is going into self-defense mode and making me sweat through my fingers so as to not be able to open the tin and consume what is inside.
OK, got it open. It’s full of about 50 little white “mints”. The smell is getting worse.
ARRRRGH! It started off minty, but now is giving a pervasive rancid bacon flavor mixed with peppermint. This is terrible. I really think that Magnesium Stearate is a secret code word for formaldehyde. What the hell am I gonna do with two boxes of these things?
Do I dare chew it? I don’t want to have it in my mouth much longer, but will chewing it make it worse? I’m so conflicted.
Oh dear God! I shouldn’t have chewed it. Now I have formaldehyde powder stuck in my teeth.
I just downed half a bottle of Grain Belt to see if it helped. It didn’t.
Josie is whining. Maybe I should see if she wants one.
She spit it out at first, but now she is smelling around looking for more. Maybe they’ll be a doggie version of after-dinner mints.
Damn it! I just belched and it tasted like them. This is going to be a long night.
I feel as if I’m losing vision in my right eye. I better go seek medical treatment.
Thanks for the gift Ken.
I tear open the package and find a catalog, a travel pack of facial tissue with a Hula Girl on it, and two boxes of mints. The mints, however, are Uncle Oinker’s Savory Bacon Mints. I check out the delivery paper and in the comments it simply states, “Mmm, Bacon”. Immediately, I knew this was my X-mas present from Ken.
I am now going to attempt to taste these mints, and give you my running commentary as I go. Ugh.
The 0.7 oz metal tin is adorned with whom I can only assume is Uncle Oinker himself. He looks slightly surprised, and is wearing a 50’s style fishing hat. Looks pretty good for a pig.
The backside of the tin has some delicious looking bacon in the background. Let’s see here, the Ingredient Statement is as follows: DEXTROSE, CORN SYRUP, MAGNESIUM STEARATE, BACON & MINT FLAVORS, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, MALTODEXTRIN. This is apparently made in China, which makes sense, I suppose. I can also call a number to get the Nutritional Information. I’d rather not.
I am tearing off the protective plastic wrap. Ahhhh! An odor of bacon-like substance has permeated the room. It sort of smells like the fetal pigs we dissected in Biology class. I don’t see formaldehyde on the ingredient list. This is not going to be good.
I’m having a hard time opening this. It appears that there is a fine film of bacon grease on the tin. It’s either that or my body is going into self-defense mode and making me sweat through my fingers so as to not be able to open the tin and consume what is inside.
OK, got it open. It’s full of about 50 little white “mints”. The smell is getting worse.
ARRRRGH! It started off minty, but now is giving a pervasive rancid bacon flavor mixed with peppermint. This is terrible. I really think that Magnesium Stearate is a secret code word for formaldehyde. What the hell am I gonna do with two boxes of these things?
Do I dare chew it? I don’t want to have it in my mouth much longer, but will chewing it make it worse? I’m so conflicted.
Oh dear God! I shouldn’t have chewed it. Now I have formaldehyde powder stuck in my teeth.
I just downed half a bottle of Grain Belt to see if it helped. It didn’t.
Josie is whining. Maybe I should see if she wants one.
She spit it out at first, but now she is smelling around looking for more. Maybe they’ll be a doggie version of after-dinner mints.
Damn it! I just belched and it tasted like them. This is going to be a long night.
I feel as if I’m losing vision in my right eye. I better go seek medical treatment.
Thanks for the gift Ken.
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