Chinamouse House

WTF!!! Is this thing still on?!

2009-11-26T03:18:00.000-08:00

I nearly forgot about this blogger account after I succumbed to the siren song of Twitter even though my Twitter account connects to this page directly. I casually looked at my profile this evening and noticed, "What the fuck is this shit!" This blog will forever be my constant reminder that I tried to write random shit on a regular basis and then failed miserably.

Please don't jump to the conclusion that I'm posting this crappy submission and forever swearing off/touching or linking to this page again. I also won't make half-assed promises and say, "I'll be back to put up random photos of my life, folks". Rather, I'll leave the door ajar and hope that I remember to check in once in awhile and alert you to that fact I have yet to expire.

I've never been comfortable rambling on about things that only matter to me or require an argument written in an essay format. Writing was never my strong point and I hated doing the annual writing comprehension tests that were required by all primary school children. I believe it's why I prefer to communicate online through Twitter as most of my opinions fall within the 140 character limit and that there is only so many times I can say "shit" and "fuck" before I stop listening to myself. There's nothing wrong with writing a short novel about how you're cranky, you tits hurt or that Trader Joe's ran out of your favorite microwave dinner burrito, but I find the exercise to be tedious.

You are free to refer to this specific post if for some reason in the future I loose my mind and go on a linguistic rampage. Which I'm sure will happen when I get my grunders into a particularly aggressive twist.

Hugs and Kisses

Proposition 8 the Musical

2008-12-03T20:04:00.000-08:00

See more videos at Funny or Die

Space Olympics 3022

2008-09-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hmm, the 3022 Space Olympics sound not so good actually. But they can't enforce the curfew because there is no "light or sound" (excellent).

I also need to find time to update this freaking blog. So much stuff has been going on over here.

Mirror Image- Amy Adams & Kirsten Wiig

2008-04-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

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An SNL skit parodying "Sister Sister" style ABC sitcom featuring Amy Adams and cast member Kirsten Wiig (the latter which I love the most out of the current cast). This episode replayed last weekend and fueled my desire to find a version to embed in the blog for yours, and mostly my pleasure. This skit made me laugh so much I'm using "Ass right I am!" when being in the affirmative.

Poop n' Scoop Adventures

2008-04-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we were in Morgan Hill for the first year anniversary of the opening of Happy Dog Park. So I thought I would submit this fluff piece regarding an outing with our puppehs. It was a smallish local event mostly attended by Morgan Hill Dog Owners Group and their pooches. They held a raffle for the people and hosted a party for the dogs. There were probably about 200 dogs in attendance despite the first uncomfortably warm weather weekend of the year. We tried to invite other greyhounds to attend the event but Fisher was the only sighthound zipping around the park that day.

Waiting for the raffle to start

Hot dog is hot.

"Mmm, what do we have here?"

After the event I went to visit my folks for a quick nap and an early pizza dinner. Fisher was thoroughly exhausted after his busy day of running and butt sniffing; he donks out quickly at the house. We ended up talking about this and that; the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco and an impending Las Vegas road trip (that if I go I must go and investigate the Fresh n' Easy (Tescos) chain popping up and eventually be in the Bay Area in 2009).

"I is sleeping and ferocious beast. Leave me alone."

"Oh noes, you got my bad side!"

Taylor had joined in on the trip as well but since he has the most frightening case of anti-social behavior that probably should be addressed by Cesar Millan; he sat it out. He spent the time sitting under a tree with the boyfriend and watched the other dogs walk to and from the park. Even though he started out being difficult and charged at other curious pups he eventually calmed down and allowed others to walk past him without a freak out.

Until the next doggie-licious day out; peace!

Final Fantasy: Crisis Core Event

2008-04-19T22:24:00.001-07:00

On March 25, 2008 Square Enix released the PSP game prequel to the Final Fantasy 7 chapter in the Final Fantasy series. Causing the largest simultaneous global incident of flooded panties in the whole of fandom history (creaming more shorts than the fail boat that was Dirge of Cerebus). I spent my entire Tuesday standing in line with Taylor the grump-tastic terrier holding a place in line for the overly ecstatic boyfriend who had to spend his day at the office makin' monies.

I knew that the day was going to be a long and difficult one of waiting on the cold, windy, congested streets of San Francisco at Mission and 4th St. So armed with my purse and a small, cantankerous dog (no real planning was made really, I didn't even bring a chair) I watched the world go by between the hours of 12:30 PM to 6 PM.

This is our view for the rest of the day.

By the time I showed up around lunch time, the sidewalks were packed with convention goers from the Moscone Center looking for eats and coffee hits. There was about 40 people ahead of me who admitted to waiting outside the Metreon since 6 AM that morning (someone must have misread the Playstation announcement). A lot of tourists stared at the line making scrunched up faces as if they were walking past a group of lepers begging for change (some do not see the difference in regards to fandom).

This place is smelly and weird.

Taylor was well behaved for the most part. I am quite sure he was far more pleased to be sitting with me outside all day instead of at home in his smelly crate. He only freaked out a couple of times when he saw other dogs crossing the intersection 20 yards away. He's stupid that way.

Mmm, chinese food and hand held pot pies...

Besides my line neighbors I was subjected to the sign above (note: "The Cravery") that made me believe that hand held pot pies would lead to my salvation. Not only to fill my sour stomach that prevented me from eating a proper lunch but also to line my jacket for warmth against the cold winds that day. I was also developing a curiousity as to what exactly was an "IceBee".

This was what I was waiting for all day

A Sony employee came out to chat with the line as he helped the staff inside make sure these promo posters go up in the windows. He teased us about what to expect at the event and what happened at past Square Enix events at the Metreon. He was friendly and courteous and even said "Hi" to Taylor before telling us to "stay strong" and "hold on" for the home stretch to the event that evening."

About 30 minutes before the event

Around 5 PM, the boyfriend finally arrived to relieve me of my line duty so that I could "relieve" another matter that had been a"pressing issue" for the pass few hours. He was even so kind enough to bring along a can of Halo dog food picked up at the Whole Foods for the now VERY grumpy and hungry Taylor who had refused to eat breakfast that morning. I too was feeling pretty shitty at that point and needed something to boost my blood sugar levels. Thankfully there was a ice cream counter inside the Metreon :D.

We are Kotaku, we want to make a scene

So you may be asking yourself, with all that you had to put up with (smoke, traffic, fandom, sour stomach, a dog that doesn't share your enthusiasm) what did you get out of it ultimately? Since FF7 was the most loved (some may argue this) of all the Final Fantasy games; Square Enix tries to hold fan events to remind you, the fan why you still love this shit and also encourage sales. I was aware that I didn't have to wait all day for the game as there were quite a few people in line that had picked up a copy at Gamestop that morning. Sony enticed both the boyfriend and I to this event with the promise of a Shinra Power Company t-shirts and our own Shinra employee photo I.D. badge for only the first 100 people in line. And the possibility of winning even more shit in a raffle (the boyfriend did very well for himself and won a limited edition lithograph print).

You may also be asking were the fuck are the pictures of this kick ass shindig? Well, I'm sorry say that every time I pulled out the cybershot I was reminded that there was no picture taking with the animated arm flailing of Sony employees in my line of shot. Too bad I wasn't equipped with a tiny spy camera in my décolletage as there were very beautiful statues and concept art from the game development on display.

I didn't win anything at the raffle event but I was happy to end my day with my very own "gourmet hand held pot pie" eaten at home with a knife and fork.

Beer and Eggs

2008-04-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

Aww, man! I was so good this past March, making updates almost every few days. But it looks like I slipped up in the end and let weeks past without making an effort to post. But I have lots of things to share with you, so lets get on with it now.

A few weeks ago it was Easter weekend and my younger brother's 25th birthday. I spent most of Saturday brainstorming a good gift as it was a last minute decision to doing something funny instead of buying something typical at the local Sharper Image (I save that excuse for Christmas). I took note that our apartment complex held a mini Easter egg hunt for the little ones that live here. So I decided to make him an easter basket with beer, eggs and chocolate. Sounds yum, right?

Freshly boiled and dyed ("Chowder" inspired) sassy easter eggs

Some more sassy looking eggs prepared for my cousins.

The Easter beer and eggs basket

Havin' some mango n' fruit birthday cake at Krung Thai

The beer is the boyfriend's favorite local brew "Anchor Steam" that we had picked up the other day at BevMo and he swears by the stuff (it's also good stuff to cook with). The rest was either picked up at Target which was ground zero for Easter madness and home made goodies (I try to be crafty and imaginative). I spent Saturday afternoon boiling boring old eggs and transforming them into totally "kawaii" Chowder-style eggs. I painted their faces with non-toxic paint Sunday morning so as to NOT poison everyone that would eventually eat them.

Before leaving for easter dinner at Krung Thai in San Jose, we had to pick up 2 birthday cakes (one for my bro and one for my sister's bf who had his birthday that Friday) at my mom's newest favorite bakery Sheng Kee in Daly City. I must admit that the boyfriend and I have become smitten with their delicious cakes as well and attempt to sabotage others by trying to get them hooked on the "cakey" goodness. We arrived late to the party but had enough time to gorge on very good thai food, afterwards we all had a generous slice of the mango mousse cake my brother was given. Unfortunately, we were way too stuffed to try out the peach mousse (but you can see it near the upper left corner in the last pic). We presented my brother with his birthday present after the meal and I "think" he liked it. I'm not sure if he realized that he got another "beer" present from me, but at least he also got eggs and chocolate out of the deal.

And that's how I spent my Easter weekend. I hope you peeps had a good one.

Indoor Gardening Tips from a man who's very scared of them

2008-04-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

Christopher Walken hosted SNL 2 weeks ago and this gardener skit is still killing me. The fact that he's always looking out of the corner of his eyes (he's reading cue cards) makes this character appear insane but still have that lovable and approachable quality.

Also, there are googly eyed plants... GOOGLY EYES!

Beeper and the Electric Mayhem

2008-04-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm sorting through various pictures of the past couple of weeks to add to the blog. In the mean time please enjoy this walk down "The Muppet Show" memory lane featuring Beeper and The Electric Mayhem on back up. Enjoy!

Pardon Moi

2008-03-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

Dear transient reader,

I've been down with the sickies, the achies and the grumbles this week, updates are coming ahead. With pics! (not of me being sick, sorry)

An SNL Digital Short

2008-03-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

I'm the most open person you'll probably ever meet. But for some reason, I'm not cool with it either Andy. No, not at all.

Sweet rolls for your tum tum...

2008-03-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

*gasp* 2 posts in 1 day!

I made my first batch of homemade cinnamon rolls from an Alton Brown recipe. I was watching an episode of Good Eats (awesome show by the way) last month titled "House of the Rising Bun". Basically, teaching me a fool proof method of overnight risen dough. First of all I'm not a baker, I've found baking tedious and unnecessary. I prefer to leave it to the professionals as once the thing is baked you can't alter the ingredients. I studied the recipe for a while before attempting to make the cinnamon rolls as the directions require 2 days of prep time (and that's before putting it in the oven).

Fresh from the oven, cooling on the stove

Close-up of a GND (golden & delicious) unglazed roll.

At this point, I had to let the whole thing cool down to room temp (the boyfriend cried torture) before I attempt to glaze it with the cream cheese icing that was included in the cinnamon roll recipe. I turned them upside down so that I glazed the caramelized bottoms (that way there was only one messy side to tangle with).

Glazed cinnamon roll *drool*

Did someone sneeze on my roll? Or worse... D: ? As you can see the icing turned out a little runny but I purposefully added more cream cheese to the mixture.

Alton Brown's Good Eats show format has helped me better understand why I cook the way I do and introduced me to new ways of cooking. It's a fun and informative show done in a unique style that reminds me of my other favorite, Mythbusters. It can be found on the Food Network channel on most weeknights, which means there is a chance you might see Rachael Ray (you've been warned).

Recipe available here.

A happy St. Patrick's Day to you...

2008-03-17T14:37:00.000-07:00

One of the few videos that make me feel a little more dead inside. I was never able to get an explanation but I hope that this was all a well constructed prank. Please tell me it was just a joke.

Kitteh n' Puppeh

2008-03-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

Kitteh is sweet and innocent. Kitteh loves the internets. Kitteh has a friend named Puppeh on the internets. Puppeh has a link for Kitteh. Hilarity ensues.

Wonder Con 2008 in review

2008-03-06T23:43:00.000-08:00

The boyfriend and I decided to spend a rainy Saturday at Wonder Con, which is a tiny teaser to the summer mega-convention Comic-Con. This year it was held in downtown San Francisco at the Moscone Center. Wonder Con this year was crammed into the much smaller south building as the Game Developers Conference took up the north and west building the entire week. We arrived a little later than we had anticipated as a huge line had already formed for the on-site registration. I must admit that attending Wonder Con is not a must for us as we never know if we'll be able go until the week before. We can be there at a moments notice as we live less than 10 minutes from downtown San Francisco; but you can't just go to Comic-Con on a whim.

L to R Karl Cohen, Ralph Eggleston, Andrew Farago

The Cartoon Art Museum held a panel in honor of Mary Blair's legacy, the legendary Disney animation designer. Her work defined an era of design, form and color that we still see being used or influenced today. The panel is even now more poignant knowing about the impending fate of the "Its a small world" ride at Disneyland. The ride had been going through an 10 month renovation to deepen the moat the boats float on but the real tragedy is that the New Guinea rainforest portion of the ride will be replaced with a "Hooray for the USA" scene.

When Blair decided to step away from animation in her later years she created more illustrative pieces like the one above. This was probably created sometime in the 1970's when her work was being seen in the "Little Golden Book" series that are still available today for your children (and collectors like me). If you're interested in more of Mary Blair's work there is a wonderful collection being held at the Cartoon Art Museum at 655 Mission Street at New Montgomery in San Francisco.

Bionic Commander 2008

Immediately after the Mary Blair panel the Capcom group came straight from GDC to talk about the information they had shared with the media the other day. They shared the 2 new Bionic Commander games that were scheduled to be released later in the year. The first game unveiled was a revamp of the original Bionic Commander. I'll let the picture above tease you till the game comes out for PC. The other version is more of a Bionic Commander training game to get players to push their gameplay in the new game, it will be available for download for 360 and PS3 later in the year as well.

Street Fighter 4

I admit that its been years since I've played an enjoyable Street Fighter game. But the new teaser trailer shown at Wonder Con has piqued my curiosity for the 2D fighter. There were more scenes of the newest character, Crimson Viper (if you haven't seen her yet she appears to be a tough yakuza bitch) who kicked Chun Li's ass in a trailer only shown at GDC. There were few in game shots and the ones I did get to see gives me the impression that Street Fighter 4 will be a beautiful game as well as entertaining.

C.H. Greenblatt talks about Chowder on Cartoon Network

Greenblatt opened his panel introducing a few members of the creative team responsible for bringing Chowder to television. He then opened the first 30 minutes to Q&A and I managed to get my question about Chowder's pants answered (He wears it on his head and he liked the way he looks with them up there). After the fandom we were treated to 2 new 11-minute episodes of Chowder. The first one involved "mood beans" and starred Endive and Panini, the second was about a day at the beach that never was starring Chowder's massive nipples and super expandable bladder.

First shot of the exhibition hall

Second shot of the exhibition hall.

The hall is much smaller than what we're used to. We were surprised to only find 3 booths selling DVD's (cons are the best time to buy kung fu movies). We did end up going home with a copy of "The Great Yokai War" (a children's fantasy movie) and some pencils from a raffle I won. We did manage to find a booth with bean bags to crash in for about 30 minutes. But other than that there was little else of notable value.

R2D2 being flanked by children

This cool looking R2D2 was being controlled by RC (I'm guessing) near the exhibition hall and escalators causing a big traffic jam.

Yoda statue

Seen at a booth on the exhibition floor. Every year I see more and more companies getting into the collectible vinyl industry. Small independents and big conglomerates go head to head attempting to entice the vinyl collector to go with the limited editon "My Little Pony" or the newest edition of Qee.

Gaia Online panel (bloated Kiki carcass near the end)

The day ended with a fandom panel with Gaia Online. It was probably the single most terrifying panel we attended... in the history of convention going. There is nothing more rabid and ferocious than screaming fangirls when the panel presentation set off the "special prize" alert during the panels powerpoint presentation of "behind-the-scenes" and "upcoming attractions".

We didn't score any fat "loots" but we did survive with our skins (and a little less of our hearing) intact.

Hope to see you at the next one,

Year of the Rat at the zoo...

2008-03-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

Note: this post is image intensive

The boyfriend had an old friend from SoCal come and visit us to meet some friends and spend a day with us 2 weeks ago. During this time of the Lunar New Year festivities in San Francisco, the zoo held a special day of events mainly for children. There was chinese food and beer offered and lots of arts and crafts along with stage performances of acrobats, jugglers and lion dancers. The weather was a bit unkind to us that day as brisk winds and cloudy skies kept us from warming up as we walked around. The zoo was pretty full of families, tourists and teenagers. But I did managed to get a few good photos despite the crowds.

"Long-necked sentry guard activated"

We first visited the the African animals section we missed last time. The zoo had been open for about an hour but the cold temperature kept these savannah critters sluggish and sleepy during our visit. We got to see one of the baby giraffes poke his head out from a grassy area that he had made his bed in. Giraffes are such striking looking creatures and they were interesting in that they showed as much interest in us and we in them. Starring straight at us with their heavily lashed eyes as they chewed their breakfast.

"Salads keep my girlish figure trim."

"Where's my Sunday paper, woman?"

Our next stop were the primates (specifically the gorillas), who every time I visited in the past were always pissed and throwing poo at asshats who think it's funny to yell at them. This morning the majority of the gorillas stayed in or near their bed area for the exception of the newest addition a young female who you can see eating breakfast two pictures above.

"Zzzzz...."

The red-ruffed lemurs were also snoozing it up in their treehouse playground (not seen the pic are the large radiating heaters keeping the lemurs warm). It may not look like it but the platforms the lemurs were on were very close to the viewing area we were on. When they did manage enough energy to lift their furry little heads they had bright, atomic yellow eyes that pierced straight through to your very soul.

"None shall pass..."

Just letting you know that the Big Cat area has been gated off from visitors while they make the necessary changes to the exhibits so that the Christmas day incident would not be repeated. The construction has the big cats going a little batty as we could hear them roaring in their smaller cages in the cat house. This also means that the animals that are located across from the big cats don't get any visitors. We peeked around some fencing and saw that at least they got to walk around their large viewing environment.

"Ready dude? Ready dude!"

The penguins were walking about their man-made island probably waiting for their appointed feeding time. They were the most active critters we had encountered so far that day as some had formed individual discussion groups and were getting into some intense debates (accented with lots of squawking and flailing of flippers). And some formed some swimming teams to scout out the perimeter of their exhibit to stare right back at the visitors who were making a hoopla about their cuteness.

"Please to be getting my good side."

This double-wattled cassowary has proven to be elusive on past visits as on sunny days he can be found in the far corner of his pen hiding behind the bushes. But the dark skies and cool weather brought him out in front of all the visitors, being very inquisitive and as photogenic as something with 2 wattles can be.

"Looky here Carl, the food givers."

The 2 beautiful carp seen above were very comfortable with coming to the surface of their pond and pleading visitors with their fishy eyes that they are in need of feed pellets. Unfortunately, the feed dispenser was empty so all I could offer was a my finger tips (I don't recommend doing that).

"Is that cheeseburger ovar thar?"

While visiting the prairie dogs again, I managed to get some shots of this dapper little fellow that had no fear of the giant visitors that loomed over him. He was transfixed on something outside of their environment that I could never figure out. The entire time he felt comfortable enough to ignore his surroundings, groom himself and eat some grass all while staring at something. There must have been some delicious looking pizza crust or popcorn on the ground.

Officiating over cutest tennis match ever.

The meerkats weren't very active that day but this guy was doing a great job of being a dutiful watch out for the rest of his little tribe. He's working hard on a Sunday.

*Insert obligatory ass joke here*

This little donkey loves snacks and a sign also informed us that he loves little fingers just as much. So with this bit of information it was entertaining to watch visitors try to hold their hands still with the treat and avoid having their fingers chomped on like pink fritos. The donkeys turned out to actually to be very sweet and avoided my hands for the most part. They didn't mind it so much when I petted them between the ears; it actually felt like petting a large broom.

*bleat* Why hello thar...

This little black goat wanted to try out my camera, he almost grabbed the wrist strap off of my wrist. Nimble little buggers...

"I am so cute and cuddly, hug me."

The last thing we got to see was the opening of the Animal Resource Center that afternoon. They gave us the opportunity to pet some of the more tame animals that the zoo interns work with everyday and do wildlife talks with at local schools. The second the doors opened the ARC was flooded with screaming children and their parents toting giant strollers that can hold 4 at time. If you look you'll see the same 2 pink sleeves appear in my photos as there were some children who's parents have given up in trying to control their compulsive animal rubbing (which is what they did).

" I don't want to be rubbed anymore, kthxbai."

The ferret was a wonderful little critter that was very inquisitive and licked my hand like a puppy. I managed to take this pic after the little kids ran off to molest a rabbit.

"I don't run very fast actually, thx."

This little hedgehog was that days all around favorite, the boyfriend would love to have one. Like the ferret, the hedgehog is not a legal pet to own in the state of California (and Hawaii) due to bullshit paranoid legislature by policy makers that believe they would destroy the the delicate balance of California's wildlife.

Never mind the fact that the domesticated ferret and hedgehog would have as much chance of surviving the wilds as your more wild dwarf hamster. And unlike the more popular exotic pet the prairie dog, they have been found to not transmit diseases to their handlers. Despite their prickly appearance, the hedgehog felt softer than I had anticipated.

We managed to fit in more animals that day than the last time we visited. It will probably be a while till we visit again. Next time, we hope that the big cats will be in their exhibits. And if were lucky there will be some new kittens from the lions by this fall.

Cat of 1000 Faces- Episode 1

2008-03-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Howells brings us his super spy cat, Hugo. And his amazing ability to transform his appearance into incredibly convincing disguises.

Love and the island prison...

2008-03-03T01:56:00.000-08:00

Note: this post is image intensive

I mentioned in an earlier post that I spent this years Valentine's Day being tourists in San Francisco with the boyfriend (very romantic, eh?). This post I'll be sharing the pics I took that day while on Alcatraz island and provide the captions for your reading pleasure/displeasure (your pick).

Approaching the dock on Alcatraz onboard the Hornblower.

We arrived on the island at noon and were excited to start the tours. Since the night before, the bay area was being whipped by high winds that made the bay waters very choppy (we got a little sea sick waiting for the boat to leave Pier 33). It had been years since the boyfriend had been to Alcatraz and it was my first time. Stepping onto the island, I immediately felt the imposing nature of the decaying prison fortress grounds. The elements had reduced the exteriors of all the buildings to drab grey tones and sea water might have caused the rusty stains that were on every surface. Even in the middle of the day the place was kinda scary looking.

Finally got to see the graffiti from the occupation in real life.

There were indications all over the island of the Native American occupation in the 1970's. The NPS decided to keep all marks as it was a vital part of the history of Alcatraz. It was kinda fun trying to look for other evidence in the buildings.

This is our exterior grounds tour guide who's name I forgot. Sorry

He told us in excruciatingly detailed stories of how several prisoners tried to escape the "rock" via the waters of the San Francisco bay (in the way grandpas are known for). Most never made a clean break (i.e. caught and dragged back) and at least one escaped permanently (i.e. moved onto the next life). The building behind the guide was the wardens personal home which was burned down during the Native American occupation.

This tiny room was the only morgue on the island.

We were told that the prison was never filled to capacity and only a handful of deaths occurred during its operation. This quickly crumbling out house is where the deceased were received and prepared (cleaned, dressed, embalmed) before being shipped to the mainland and to its final destination (you can see my reflection as I took the pic forgetting to turn off the flash, oops!).

This is what a typical prison cell looked like.

The main prison building had 350 cells and at the most housed 302 inmates while in operation as a federal prison. You can see a small seat and a small table top in the right edge of the picture. And as you can see, you go bathroom right where you sleep. Its not as bad as the stripped down cell known as the "Oriental" were there was nothing but a hole in the ground for prisoners to go bathroom. The guards were the ones who chose if the prisoners "waste" was flushed down the hole. They were also not allowed any clothing or bedding; a bedroll was offered at night and was taken away at 6 AM. This punishment was only to be endured for 2 days maximum; supposedly the inmates feared this the most. (I'm starting to get that "icky" feeling in the pit of my tummy. The "rock" is starting to get to me)

This block contained the solitary confinement cells.

Interior shot of the solitary confinement cells.

In comparison to the regular cells, these cells were roomy. They were furnished with bedding, a toilet and sink but inmates had to endure it in complete darkness. Imagine having to endure that and comply with the prisons 24 hour silence rule they enforced during the early days. It will drive you insane.

One of only 4 cells that received the afternoon sun everyday.

We were told that these cells were the most highly desired as the lighting kept prisoners who lived in there happy and more content than any other. When the wind was right, the sounds of daily life in downtown San Francisco were carried straight into these cells as this part of the prison was directly across. On New Year's night the prisoners there would also be treated to the lights of the fireworks celebration that were at the piers. The lucky few would be treated to the sounds of parties, music and the laughter of women.

The view of the city from the prison wardens office and guards control room.

San Francisco was so close but yet so far away. Supposedly, no prisoners ever saw this view from the island. It would probably be one of the more cruelest punishments on Alcatraz. I don't know if I could bare it.

The painted plaster head of either Frank Morris or John Anglin.

View of the corridor between cells where the 1962 escapees entered.

4 inmates attempted to escape one evening after a year of preparations. Allen West, Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin managed to get materials to dig out the water damaged concrete around a vent located in their cell into an unguarded utility corridor (West was the only one to not leave his cell). They made dummy heads to stand in for them as they made their escape under the cover of night (did you see those plaster heads?). They made an inflatable raft out of raincoats. Supposedly they aimed for Angel Island but new research surfaced suggesting they actually made it to Marin. People have claimed to have been contacted by the Anglin brothers but Morris has never been heard from again. If anyone knows what happened or where they are there is still a $1 million award offered.

The kitchen knife cupboard to keep track of the knives.

The inmates had 20 minutes to eat their meals after they had time to clean themselves and their cells and after being counted. Afterwards they were marched out and given their days work assignments. This schedule was unrelenting, unforgivable and never changed the entire time the prison was active.

An unmarked military plane that circled the island while we were leaving.

So that was what we did for our super "romantic" day of fun. It may seem funny to you but we did enjoy this outing, we will be challenged to think of something quirky for next year. This Alcatraz trip was a serious goal for both of us after living in the San Francisco area for so long and not finding the right time to do it. On the way out we got a tin cup souvenir to take home as we saw the humor in the item.

At the conclusion of this post this also marks the end of our time traveling journey into my recent past. Now that we are all caught up it's time to move forward. Hopefully, I'll be more attentive to my blog and to your bloggy needs gentle reader. Thanks for the company, much appreciated.

Back to our regularly scheduled program,

A Christmas revival...

2008-03-02T23:30:00.000-08:00

Unlike Thanksgiving, (or as I like to call it the "food coma" holiday) the boyfriend and I try to be festive and celebrate the Christmas season. School normally got in the way of any Christmas activities and the only time I would be in the "spirit" would be December 25th (a few days after finals).

2007 was the year to put a little more effort in the end of the year holidays. Besides the San Francisco zoo trip we also watched the tree lighting ceremony at Union Square amidst hundreds of gathered Christmas shoppers. We decided to brave "Black Friday" and go shopping for Christmas tree ornaments for our freshly cut 5 ft tree that the boyfriend insisted on. Those who knew of our plans scoffed at the idea of buying a tree so early but we kept that sucker green up until we tossed it on the garbage pile on New Years Eve. It was definitely difficult trying to travel that day but we made good use of the BART.

Facing south towards Geary St. at Macy's before the tree lighting.

Shopping on one of the most competitive day of the year and really brings out the "awesome" in some people as we saw a lot of Christmas "cheer" in hand gestures and flung spittle. Even trying to take a peep at the Macy's holiday window display to see the adoptable kitties and puppies will earn you a few elbows to the face or smooshed toes.

The crowds at Union Square that year was intense as everyone tried to fit (i.e. shove) into one square block in downtown San Francisco. City notables showed up to help entertain the crowd (the fire chief, the cast of "Jersey Boys", San Francisco Boys Choir and Santa Claus). What was kinda neat was PG&E trying to promote the use of LED lights that season and what better way to show how well it looked than have the Union Square tree be lit with thousands of LED's.

I think I was pushed when I took this. D:

The weekend before Christmas the boyfriend and I made sure to go to the last day of the Great Dickens Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace. Nothing was better than to experience the holidays with Dickensian characters that were happy to survive another day in Victorian London (in the era of "consumption"). We partook in the huge variety of Victorian refreshments and street foods: meat pies, bangers, candied nuts, puddings and 4 o'clock tea time (and we just saw the new Sweeney Todd the other night).

"Some nuts, good sir?"

This woman made delicious cinnamon candied almonds that were so popular that a line remained while she made each fresh batch of nuts.

This little fellow (named Professor Phineas J. Flockmocker III F.H.S.G) was a part of the new Jules Verne themed troupe that joined the Dickens fair this past year. The Legion Fantastique members talked about and displayed their wonderful steampunk inventions that will hopefully, "CHANGE THE WORLD!". They were wonderful, energetic characters and if I ever break down and cosplay at the Dickens Fair it would be most likely a Jules Verne character.

"Powered by STEAM!"

These seductive ladies of song were the girls of Mad Sal's Dockside Alehouse who sang saucy songs to everyones delight. If you treat them very well you maybe rewarded with a tantalizing flash of a petticoat. Salacious!

"We'll sing songs about butts, dicks, boobs and vaginas!"

Another fun part of the Dickens Fair was to witness well known Dickens characters come to life and play their roles as you walk around the fair (in some scenes it becomes very interactive). It was really entertaining to follow the actors as the played out their story over time at different locations; we managed to catch parts of "The Adventures of Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol".

"Don't patronize me, bro."

At the end of the day I managed to get a pair of pirate socks from the "Pirate Cove" (pic is from a Northern California pirate festival, not from the Dickens fair). They turned out to be very scratchy but I still love them.

Not pictured: the red/black ones I bought

We were exhausted by the time we left but we had A LOT of fun and will return in 2008; despite this party poopers efforts. We will return!

Prudey McPrudenstein proselytizing

A day at the zoo...

2008-02-29T13:40:00.000-08:00

Note: this post is image intensive

On December 9, 2007, the boyfriend and I decided to spend our Sunday at the San Francisco Zoo. This was 2 weeks before the infamous Tatiana the Tiger incident on Christmas day. Just to bring you up to date, that was the day that 3 ass hats decided it would be a good idea to taunt a full-grown, female tiger in heat for shits and giggles. They were "pwned" to say the least.

"RIP Tatiana, you died doing what you loved."

It was about 10:30 AM and the schedule showed that we were just on time for the bears to receive their Christmas gift of fresh fish released into their habitat pools. I managed to get a shot of one of the sister bears snacking on a fish she had been stalking for 20 minutes. The habitat that the 2 Grizzly sisters were in that day was a new installation that the other bears would share in cycles to offer a more stimulating environment than their old concrete exhibit. Giving them new challenges and exercise that they would normally get in the wild (since they were abandoned as cubs by their mother, they would have never survived infancy in the wild).

"Nom, nom, nom..."

In an adjacent exhibit there were 2 polar bear siblings that were meandering about after receiving their meals.

"We're still hungry."

We entered an humid, toasty environment that featured critters commonly found in the Amazon forest. There were tiny peep birds and large parrots, a green anaconda (that always hides), and giant arowana fish. Then there was this guy just waiting for us to stick our arms in the water.

"Oh hai, I can has your arm?"

Near the Lemur Cafe in the center of the zoo had the flamingo exhibit right next to an open air eating area. Presumably to taunt the flamingos with sights and sounds of pizza, burgers, fries and beer. They were very calm and did not startle easily to the squeals and screams of pointing

crotch fruit who tried to reach and grab a spindly leg.

"Ready for a game of croquet!"

Since it was Christmas time the zoo gets into the holiday season by offering a real ice skating rink (not that slippery plastic soap surface) and a small herd of reindeer to the delight of the boyfriend. They were very cute in person and their fur was very warm. They never once looked up at us as they were too busy keeping the ever persistent grass from growing back.

"Nom, nom nom x2 ..."

From the reindeer pen we entered the children's zoo area, the part of the zoo were one can get much closer to the animals (for grabbin') and raise our chances of being bitten, pooped and peed on. We tried in vain to get some shots of the snuggable Prairie Dogs but try as we might we were not prepared to deal with such quick rodents. I had a lot of pictures of smudges if you were curious. Instead, we visited their more laid back neighbors, the Meerkats. The weather that day was very nice so the Meerkats were taking advantage of day by recharging their solar-paneled bellies.

"Wanna get my back?" *offers suntan oil*

Right next to the Animal Resource Center (were talks and demos happen) was the birds of prey exhibit. We spied this intimidating looking Golden Eagle that was over 40 lbs. Obviously, he was not part of the petting zoo.

"PET ME!!!"

The children's zoo was surprisingly not filled with raving children but quite a few teenagers and giggly adults. There were 2 barns filled with farmyard animals; llamas, lambs, goats, chickens, donkeys, pigs, turkeys and ducks. This was the part of the zoo that attracted me more than any other part since I could get right up to the animals and take these pictures (also did not grow up on a farm). I took a lot but I'll just show a few since once you've seen a goat you've seen them all (also almost all were pregnant so I have a lot of pics of bloated goats).

"Hug and kiss me please."

"Please to be leaving me alone, my feelings are hurt."

"Ivory and eeeh-bony!!!" *sing-song*

The last stop for the day (since we have other things to do that day) was the big cat house were they were going to have a public feeding of the tigers and lions. This is one of the last pictures of Tatiana alive before the incident. We were told that a male Lion was too agitated to eat because his mate was in heat and so he was compelled to keep an eye on her. We were also told that Tatiana was specially excited since she was going into heat as well. She was very entertaining to watch, what with her jumping about in her feeding cage, playing with a box on a rope and visibly relishing her meal. The male tigers ate and looked as if they could care less that there was a "hot" lady tiger in the next cage or the people outside going "Oooh" and "Aaah".

"Too excited to pay attention to you."

"Like I care..."

"Mmm, fud."

"No more fud?"

We purposefully choose to see only half of the zoo so that we could come back and maybe see a pregnant big cat. Sadly, we will never get to see Tatiana's kittens but did return in February for the "Year of the Rat" festivities (will post more pics of that visit). This is the last shot of the zoo trip; a view of the African animals exhibit with the giraffe house in the background (a little baby giraffe was just born there this week). We'll be back again soon (probably not during the tourist season).

"Y'all come back real soon y'hear?"

Snack Attack!!!

2008-02-28T14:13:00.000-08:00

Just taking a break from this time travelin' journey to share a little snack with you.

A few days ago I baked my first batch of soft pretzels. I was dismayed that the ready to use mix that we bought from Williams-Sonoma wasn't as tasty and delicious as they said it would be. The mix was entirely too sweet and the gluten never formed properly (after so much kneading) so that I could roll long thin ropes to make the knots.

So I went and searched on Food Network's website for a simple pretzel recipe and found a really good Alton Brown version. Let this be known that I am not a baker, baking bread is a different beast in comparison to making cookies or cakes. And much more complicated than making making vindaloo.

The baking soda bath ensured that the pretzels browned evenly but the egg wash made it crispy and shiny. The pretzels turned out really great and was worth the effort. I'll make sure to make these again. They taste great with spicy mustard. See?

Halloween Revisited Part: Deux

2008-02-26T18:20:00.000-08:00

*phew* I'm getting winded from all this traveling. I don't know about you but I'm gonna need a break soon.

The last bit of our Halloween was one of the most fun events we did during this holiday. We had volunteered our Sunday to help host the booth for our greyhound rescue group at the 2007 Pet Pride Day. Pride Day is basically a Halloween event for rescue groups and the San Francisco Animal Control. We got to hang out with our group coordinator, Candy and her husband, The Eriksens, the family who adopted Fisher to us a year ago and some new adopters whose names are escaping me right now. If you look close you can see pumpkin covered treat bags with biscuits I baked the night before.

For the past 4 years we always attended with our dog Taylor dressed as one of his favorite foods (pumpkin, fish, lamb, etc) that year we brought back the fish costume and entered him in the contest. That year was Fisher's first Pride Day so he didn't dress up, as he was relegated to booth greeter to get him accustomed to large groups of dogs and people.

That was him before he was "shamed" publicly. When it came time to call out the short list of costumed dogs, Taylor was chosen to walk onstage in his "Catch of the Day" outfit. There were lots of really well-made and clever costumes. And every year there is always a bias in judging in favor of small dogs (since Taylor is 14 lbs. we always thought he could be a serious contender, but 4 years running...).

There was this guy who had his poodle mix play as his mop (clever). A woman had her 3 chihuahuas dressed up as a meal of 3 lobsters (very cute). There is one chihuahua, Martini that has beaten us for the past 2 years. Last year she won over everyone dressed up as a tiny Playboy bunny with a tiny red wig and a tiny martini with a teeny olive tied to her back (so cute I puke). This year she decides to shut us out with a stunning Marie Antoinette costume (if you look close her cheeks are blushed, Kawaii!)

Every year we end up posing for pet fashion bloggers (a lot of them are from Japanese magazines, what's up with that). And this year wasn't any different with people asking to take pics of the dogs (makes us feel like we're at some kind of con). The day ran long with all the events and demos that were being held. By the end of the day the dogs were tired and cranky (especially Fisher who basically had enough of the whole thing and wanted to flop on his bed at home). We went home with another loss under our belt but felt good about helping out our rescue group and maybe finding homes for more greyhounds.

Can't wait for this years Pet Pride Day. I think Taylor should go as a piece of chocolate or a steak. What do you think?

Halloween Revisited

2008-02-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

I don't know how you feel about this but Halloween around our place is celebrated more than any other commercial holiday. Its the only holiday that I can think of that requires having fun and scaring the crap out of kids. We start early every year with Halloween festivities in early or mid September with putting up crazy crap on our walls. As October 31st nears, we spend our weekends attending Halloween events, haunted houses, pumpkin patches and corn mazes. Halloween time is the most enjoyable, worthwhile holiday, devoid of all the religious trappings burdening the other end of the year festivities (I don't care what you pagans say, we don't do those things anymore).

First thing is first, we needed to make our house spooky to set the mood and theme (but mostly to keep Halloween-haters out). I have a lot of fun designing decor for our deck, windows and front door in easy to acquire materials (burlap, black plastic lining, colored string lights, miles of tape and twine, paint, etc). This year I went with a simple, distressed haunted house look covered in tattered fabric and natural looking decaying detritus and finished with creepy blood red lighting. Since our apartment is located right next to the open parking area we received a lot of enthusiastic compliments from passersbys and neighbors.

Now that we had set the mood the first thing to do was our Halloween tradition of going to Pirates of Emerson in Fremont. This year we shared the experience with friends that had never been. We were pretty excited since this was the first year the Emerson people invited other haunt groups to hold their own individual haunted houses. The pirate boat was spending 2007 in Santa Cruz but the Fremont site expanded the underwater adventure and brought back the Bilge Rat maze with more seizure-tronic action. Understandably, it would be difficult to take pictures while a chainsaw wielding maniac chases you down a blackened hallway towards a cluster of flesh hungry zombies. But after catching my breath I did manage to take a few poorly lit shots of the entrance.

"The Asylum" was a horrifying hospital haunt straight out of the Silent Hill video game series. Towards the end was a very convincing wheelchair guy that rams you into a terrifying morgue area where bodies in clear plastic bags hung from the ceiling and writhe while you try to push your way out. "Heartstoppers" had an apparent wild west theme with the entrance but once you got through the saloon doors the haunt kicks it up to high gear and you enter a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" nightmare. "Leatherface" forced us into a large inflatable, black nylon sphincter that we had to push through into a pitch black hallway only to be prodded by what I assume is the worst thing in hell, clowns. Who then shoved us into a bar filled with abusive 18th century, drunken cowboys. The "Densmore Manor" attraction had no backstory but we were told we were late for dinner. It was a horrifying run through a old mansion that I would describe as a smash-up of "Carrie, The Exorcist and The Devil's Rejects". The last haunt "Rebel Yell" was the worst in my opinion because it made no sense to me. I didn't run but walked through what looked like a Southern plantation mansion in where the inhabitants were doing weird scientific experiments to each other. The night ended with a visit to this little caravan which held a little gypsy woman who would read your "fortune" and offer a future "warning" which was "shocking" to say the least. A night at Pirates of Emerson was definitely worth $20.

The next weekend we went pumpkin hunting which would eventually become Powerset jack-o-lanterns. We took Fisher out with us to pick the perfect pumpkins. And from the look of the gourds that day we had our work cut out for us.

Later on that week the pumpkins were cut, cored and gouged out for the enjoyment of the boyfriends company. (I baked the seeds with spices for the whole office to share) They lasted a little less than a week, the offices were kept too warm on the weekend for their liking. I don't have any pics of them becoming pumpkin puddles, it was too sad.

I'm going to cut this post here and write about the last part of our Halloween festivities in a bit.

See you after the break.

Comic-Con redux

2008-02-25T01:35:00.000-08:00

Wondercon 2008 detoured me this weekend from completing this post. The weather made travel interesting this weekend; and when I mean interesting I mean "damp and windy". Let's go back now and look at last summers Comic-Con and see what the way-back machine has for us.

Looking at my collection of pictures reminded me of why I had so little photos of the con. Delta saw fit to crush my camera in their haphazard baggage handling, leaving it inoperable for the weekend. Since I had left the camera in the care of the boyfriend he decided to buy me another one at the local Best Buy. We got a nice discount since it was open stock but we didn't find out until the next day that the package of extras didn't contain the battery recharger. So needless to say this was a poorly recorded Comic-Con trip.

Every time we visit San Diego we always enjoy ourselves with the various side trips and destinations in the city and beyond. Tijuana is only a 10 minute drive south and open 24 hours for all your pharmaceutical needs. Coronado island has a spooky hotel and unique shopping. Old Town has bangin' authentic mexican restaurants. The weather during the summer in SoCal is usually undesirable to those that are accustomed to the foggy, windy summers of the San Francisco bay. But San Diego is unusual in that it tends to receive cool off-shore winds instead of broil in the convection that is the Santa Ana winds (but it's definitely humid).

We traveled on the first day of the con and didn't arrive until late so our plans to check in and grab badges did not happen. In fact the only thing we could tolerate was to get to our hotel and have dinner at "The Old Spaghetti Factory" in San Marcos (meaning we missed the awesome "Indiana Jones" panel in which Steven Spielberg and the whole cast showed up). We started early Friday morning to make up for lost time after grabbing a free breakfast of bagels and cheese. The traffic to downtown San Diego on a work day is brutal so we relied on the quirky trolly system to get around the city. Getting out of the trolly we spied the totally packed entrance of the convention center and heard grumbles that registration had already sold out Friday and Saturday tickets and had to turn away onsite registration attendees. It was surprising to hear that the con would reach maximum capacity so quickly (need to register early folks).

Now, some people may argue with me on this but I believe the point of Comic-con is to see and meet the entertainment industry players and producers. So much information is gathered in the crazy fan fueled weekend that movies, TV shows, animation and print media can be made or broken based on audience (the paying public) opinion (your money). You, the con attendee payed so much money to get to the convention (flight, hotel, car, parking, food) it kills me to hear that some spend their entire time in the exhibit hall (not to say the hall isn't the shit, there are some awesome booths waiting for you to walk by so they could throw shit at you!). Needless to say, the majority of our time is spent in the hard to get into panels.

On Friday, we managed to get into several big panels and get some pics. The first one was Laurel K. Hamilton which was honestly the only way we'd be able to attend the American Dad panel afterwards (Comic-Con purposefully schedules non-relating panels to follow one another to make sure that people don't do what we do). At least I read her books so that we were there for a legitimate reason. She didn't have much planned in terms of material to talk about so opened the entire hour for Q&A. You can most assuredly rely on the stupidity of fans to make sure juicy literary details are destroyed or ignored for the sake of fandom wank. LKH was a good sport and admitted to Comic-Con being her first big public appearance and spent the entire hour pacing back and forth furtively as she was lobbed question after question about Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard. I found her mannerisms and the way she talks a little off putting (a lot of "bark" type comments and talking out of the corner of her mouth). But I still enjoy her Anita Blake series (besides the fact that it is one big "Mary Sue" storyline) and still believe that her best work was done in the earlier volumes. And to those naysayers who have a problem with Anita; LKH says it best, "Get the fuck out".

The American Dad panel was great because the boyfriend and I scuttled up the front to get a great view of the entire cast who ended up doing a table read of an episode that aired this past fall before the WGA strike. Since we've been to the con for a few years now we always make sure to attend any panel Seth McFarlane appears in (1. he's a funny guy 2. his voice is deliciously creamy). We also managed to get into the Family Guy panel on Saturday but no photography was allowed because they showed the then unaired "Star Wars" parody "Blue Harvest" episode.

The last panel of the day was one of the hardest to get into. Kevin Smith was already talking about his newest side project by the time we were able to get a seat in the ginormous Hall H. We got to see the premiere episode of "Reaper" and were teased with info about the 2 scripts he was working on at the time, "Zack and Miri make a Porno"(which finally started filming) and "Redstate"(a zombie flick). The panel closed with asinine fan questions and Kevin heckling them back to their respective seats.

Saturday is the most event intensive days with absolutely no chance of getting into the exhibit hall. All day we tried getting into the Heros and The Simpsons panel but room squatters kept people from getting any seats. After a 2 hour wait in an endless line we were able to get into the Futurama panel at which the entire cast did a 10-minute table read of the new episode that was released on DVD this past fall (also included an accidental run in with Seth Rogen and the cast of "Superbad"). Again no pics were allowed to be taken so don't ask.

Later that afternoon we managed to get great seats for the Rifftrax panel at which we got a chance see peeks into the new "Film Crew" straight to DVD riffs of cruddy old movies. There was a short Q&A at which the fans asked questions mainly about their MST3K days. Mike, Kevin and Bill were great in person and were kind enough to spend time with the fans after their panel.

Saturday night was going to be our last night in San Diego so it was our only chance to be tourists. We went and had dinner at the little bar/restaurant that appears in Top Gun, Kansas City Barbecue. It was a small place with all kinds of crazy military crap and bras tack onto every surface. The barbecue chicken was really good but I loved their onion rings. In case you were wondering the bathroom was clean and had an amusing condom dispenser you can spy down below.

Another Comic-Con had came and went and we miss it already. Despite the difficulty in traveling, headaches from dangerously low blood sugar, and getting around the body-packed convention center it was an experience we would never pass up. In fact we are set and ready for 2008 and can't wait to start that crazy week of ultimate fandom. If you decide to go this year, you'll know where to find me (in line for that fucking Heros panel).

See you in San Diego everyone! I've been missing you.

All stops between San Francisco to San Diego

2008-02-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

Before we disembark on our little memory trip I thought I should quickly introduce some of the players I may mention along the way. That way I won't have to deal with the handful of "Who dat?" and "Who you talkin' 'bout?".

I'll start with the boyfriend, with whom I live with and share the duvet with if I am so inclined. You can visit him on his uber-techy tumblr blog. He means the world to me and I love him bunches.

That's him trying to read in peace while I shove a camera in his face on our last return trip from San Diego. (Update: he's gotten rid of the "goat" and is trying to rock the "stache" until March)

The other 2 entities that may show up are our snorglly dogs Taylor and Fisher. They are both rescues with special medical needs easily taken care of with the miracle of modern medicine.

Taylor is a 13-year old JRT, ranch dog that has been living with Dave before I was ever around. He has a tendency to get out right ornery when he sees strange dogs or off leashed dogs due to being not properly socialized and being just an old cranky dog. He doesn't enjoy long walks like he used to and is actually solar powered (on the few sunny days we get a year you may find him belly-up soaking up rays).

That's him about 2 years ago when he was a full time Mog Dog (Dave's old company), he's happily retired now with his biscuit pension.

The latest addition to our home is Fisher, a rescued racing greyhound. We've had him for over a year but he's 3 years old, originally from Colorado and adopted from Bay Area rescue group GSGA. He is almost the exact opposite in terms of personality from Taylor. Fisher is a lover of all things (dogs, cats, children, adults, and even you!) People always ask if he likes to run due to the assumption that greyhounds are hyper. But due to their highly specialized body chemistry they can be in top racing form without any training. In fact he spends almost as much time sleeping as an elderly dog. But because he's still young he has a lot of energy to expend but all he really needs is a 5 minute game of chase.

That's him in the foreground standing in the lake in Marin with another rescue greyhound starring at model RC boats.

These 3 dudes are the center of my life, i'll talk about other people or animals in the future when the need arises. Now that that is out of the way lets be on our way. We'll be stopping briefly at:

- Comic-Con 2007

- Halloween 2007

- San Francisco Zoo (pre-Tatiana incident)

- Christmas 2007

- Alcatraz Island 2008

Our first stop approaches...

Time Machine of Lurve...

2008-02-13T01:15:00.000-08:00

I hope to all that come here (all 2 or 3 of you) that you've had a wonderful V-Day this week or to the rest of you a kick-ass Thursday.

I am fully aware of the nefarious intentions of the manufactured greeting card "industry" but dammit I love my holidays. Although I am a steadfast believer that one really should show love and appreciation to those who are important in our lives everyday not just once a year. The boyfriend and I have been together happily for almost 7 years but make an effort to celebrate VD in our own way. Flowers, cards and chocolate are rarely bought and given but rather we indulge in a day of fun activities we would both enjoy.

This year we spent the day together being San Francisco tourists. After having a quick breakfast snack at Starbucks we drove to Pier 39. I convinced the boyfriend to finally visit the temporary location of Musee Mecanique at Pier 45 and be terrified of the gigantic, looming "Laughing Sal" automaton near the entrance. I had not been at the Musee in years and there were some new stereograph machines I had not seen before. But the fact that some machines now demand 50¢ kept us from depleting our laundry money. If any of you are interested on peeping at salacious, turn-of-the-century girlie pics I encourage you to find "Naughty Marietta"; it's totally worth it's 25¢ of old-timey porn. After the Musee, we headed to Pier 33 to the Hornblower Cruises to spend the day on Alcatraz Island. It was apparent that the romantic lure of the decaying island prison was evident as our boat was filled with other couples eager to hear gruesome prison life stories from grizzled old men. There was a lot of walking around since we choose to take the storytelling tour of the outside grounds and the audio walking tour of the prison interior. There is way to much to tell right now but I did managed to get a few good pics of the tours. When we had our fill of prison life we decided to go "make a break for it" to Pier 39 for a late quick lunch before heading home. I was thankful that there was decent calamari and chips for a good price at "Chowders" and Dave was satisfied with chili in a bread bowl at "Boudin".

We spent the rest of the day with our dogs at home avoiding the dinner madness at the restaurants and made a meal for ourselves. Including a deliciously, cute heart-shaped sourdough round (it made a great garlic bread) bought at previously mentioned "Boudin" bakery.

Besides, VD festivities I wanted to inform you handful of readers that I finally got around to uploading a crap load of pics from the past year. Pictures that I should of blogged about but didn't because of this or that; which explains the title of this particular post.

The "mouse house" will be on a journey of sorts. A time traveling journey in the next week or so as we go back into mid 2007 and visit events that I meant to share with you in the first place. So sit back and relax gentle reader as we travel... back to the future, dun, dun, ddduuuunnnn! (*snort*).

shuff, shuff, shhuuuffff (the sound of a upside-down rice bowl moving on the ground)

Doggie Traction

2008-02-09T17:34:00.000-08:00

How has your weekend fared so far dear reader?

This is our first weekend in a while that we have had pleasant, warm and dry weather. I love the rain but sometimes I would like to go out and not have soggy socks. Yet so far I haven't had a chance to enjoy the good weather.

Our little dog Taylor has been difficult the past 48 hours; to be fair it's not his fault. Sometime Friday morning, he woke up with the stiffest neck and the grumpiest attitude to date (he is a JRT after all). He was shaking, whimpering and shrunk away from having his collar put on for his morning contributions to the landscaping. After a quick emergency trip to his vet we were turned away due to their full schedule of appointments. We had to wait till the evening, making sure he stayed warm, calm and sleepy we finally were able to get an appointment at Linda Mar. We learn that his stiff body posture was due to a pinched nerve in his neck that keeps him from being able to turn to the left.

Currently he's doped up on anti-inflammatory, pain killers and sedatives to keep him from being active and injure himself more. He also gets to have a yummy meal of homemade porridge and baby food (pampered baby). In a way its rather relaxing to have him asleep for most of the day, the house is definitely much quieter.

We hope he has a good and quick recovery since this month is packed with events such as Valentines Day (dur), Chinese New Year Parade and Wonder Con. And various animal rescue events around the Bay Area.

Let's do this again soon,

From out of the shadows...

2008-02-07T01:33:00.000-08:00

*Tah-dah* (makes slightly awkward entrance)

I'm back! Mainly to apologize for my lack of postings and general neglect of my stupid Blog.

"I apologize"

I've devoted myself mainly to Twitter because I wouldn't have to commit to a well thought out, succinct or coherent blog post. I've found out that I can state my opinion in less than 200 characters per post. And I've found that strangely satisfying. And it has been apparent that some people delight in reading small snippets of my wild and woolly adventures... in the bathroom.

But, I'm drifting from the original intent of this post. I felt I should come back and occasionally type things out in fully fleshed out paragraphs with punctuation, indents and capital letters. If I don't actually practice what is quickly disappearing from age-addled brain; it will all wither away and be carried off on the cruel winds of time.

I've also found it amusing that my post from last fall generally applies to all our recent weather woes (that's how long I've been gone). I'm sure it will apply as we continue to weather our monsoon season.

Rain rain go away...

2007-10-12T16:38:00.000-07:00

So its been raining all day today, which is a good thing. In comparison to past years storms we are having a little drought here in Northern California. It did rain a little bit last week but today the rain was hard and steady. Which makes walking the dogs and doing normal activities difficult as the damp enviroment tends to make the dogs into dainty princesses (Oh its too wet to go pee pee here, make it dry for me! *whine*)

During a little break in the general wettening I was able to drag out Fisher, the greyhound who is a little more pouty about wet ground than Taylor the JRT. As we rounded a corner towards our parking garage we stumbled into a moat that appeared between the hour Dave left for work and 4 PM. There was a supervisor lady that barked orders to a man in hip waders to pull branches out of the drain in the center of the parking garages. He managed to tug a few out but the parking moat remained. Obviously the clog was much worse than they assessed so they packed up and left. I continued on my walk with Fisher to coax him to go "potty". I returned to the parking garages to take this snap shot of everyones water logged parking spaces that also contain storage closets :(.

If you look closely at the bottom of the picture that there is a line of filth that tells us that the water went up to were the cone is located.

"Bleck!"

2007-10-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Reader,

I've tried blogging on other sites like myspace, cyworld, and facebook. They have their pros and cons but none of them seem to inspire the need to blog. So I'll try out blogger and see where this relationship will take us. When time comes to part and go our separate ways, lets not shed a tear and maybe we can just be friends.

I'll start with the introductions:

I'm a 27 year old, freelance graphic illustrator living in the San Francisco Bay Area. I live in an apartment with the boyfriend and 2 dogs and 2 hamsters. I love movies, music, astronomy, comics, dogs, art, cooking, video games, gadgets, DIY and all things cute and cuddly.

I also like to walk on the beach with my dogs, window shop, finding new tools, trying out new recipes, helping out my dog rescue group and having fun at street festivals.

Because I have some strong views on the matter; I will not talk about politics and religion. But I will post farked up articles, videos and pictures.

Let's hope for the best,