 shmeedie's logs
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Oaklog, I missed you - friday, september 11, 2009 - 01:57
I didn't realize it but now I do. Today I frittered most of the work day away and didn't visit Oaklog once! I'm going to get back in the swing of things, okay? Frittering is much more fun with you.
Vote with me - tuesday, november 04, 2008 - 09:18
This day has finally come. Riding my bike to the polling place where I'm working at 6am this morning, I cried a little at the rising sun. I don't think I've ever been so glad to see the dawn of a new day.
If you're still wondering about how to vote on anything, I finally finished my voter guide: http://www.theballot.org/2008/edie
Dog Surf-a-thon - thursday, september 11, 2008 - 12:55
Just a few highlights from the Del Mar Dog Surf-a-thon that just happened to be going on Sunday at the end of the beach where my family has a house. I have never seen so many dogs in one place before. In addition to those superstars in the water, there were hundreds of other ones playing around on the beach. So much fun!
The full set is on Flickr. Enjoy.
Tandem!
Worried this one was gonna drown, but its owner was on top of the situation.
Who'd have thought the Bernese would be one of the best of the day?
Stupid Olympic Commentator Comment - wednesday, august 20, 2008 - 22:13
In the interminable lead-up to a very short track and field race, some idiot commentator just said, "experience usually favors those who win."
great spam - tuesday, april 08, 2008 - 22:37
1. Think about your girlfriend
2. Look attached details
3. Visit our online store
4. Buy out goods
5. Profit? You ARE the BEST in BED!
Urban Jungle - monday, january 14, 2008 - 22:39
Biking down Telegraph at about 35th, I was about to pass this other biker when a rat came running across the road, straight into her wheel. It got worked through the spokes, came out the other side, jumped about 6 inches straight into the air, and then scampered away.
The girl totally didn't see it coming. Too late I said, "watch out for that rat!" but that just confused her. When I told her what happened, she just said, "it's been that kind of day." I laughed the whole way home.
Found! - wednesday, september 05, 2007 - 10:51
My uncle likes to say, "it's just too much car for one person."
Well thank goodness for that. Haven't picked it up yet, but apparently there's no major damage. Hooray!
Goodbye Scraper? - saturday, august 25, 2007 - 18:23
My beautiful ride, a.k.a. the Sex Machine, a white 1991 Buick LeSabre, owned by my grandfather and named by my uncle, was stolen from in front of my house sometime between Wednesday and Friday night. I don't even know when, cause I'm never home and I just noticed it was missing this morning.
It got stolen once before, on Christmas day. And by the time we noticed it was gone, it had already been found and towed in Stockton. So I just went and got it on Boxing Day (and learned that GMs of that era can be started with a screwdriver). I now remember that I was supposed to get a club after that happened...
I wish I had a picture to post here, but she looks like this, with a missing back hubcap and some dents around the wheel wells and headlights. Keep your eyes peeled, I'm still hoping it turns up.
Big Sur - monday, august 13, 2007 - 16:56
Turns out to be kind of a boring place. Breathtakingly beautiful, but boring. What is there to do but drive up and down the coast oohing and aahing? The only beach access we found was one tiny rocky cove in Limekiln State Park.
It might have helped if my companion and I had remembered to bring good hiking shoes, or felt like going hiking. Maybe my dissatisfaction is also related to the action-packed whitewater rafting trip I went on last weekend. And that I forgot my binoculars and bird books.
The most fun was Sunday, when we left Big Sur and went to the Monterey Aquarium, a proper beach, and an awesome old restaurant in Castroville. Best fried artichoke hearts ever.
Uh, magic? - sunday, may 20, 2007 - 23:22
At the end of an ad for the 11 oclock news:
"...and, the magic of video projection -- at 11."
I guess I shouldn't expect much when the top story on the news for a week solid are those fucking whales.
Uh oh - friday, march 09, 2007 - 16:52
I was just eating an apple while reading the Oaklog compliment-fest thread. I looked down at my apple to find mysterious black-grey flecks on the edge of the bite I just took.
What have I done? If I get explosive diarrhea at happy hour, we'll know why.
Pros and Cons - monday, january 29, 2007 - 23:47
I'm having a very hard time deciding whether or not to move. I'm hoping this exercise will help put it in perspective. Please put some advice on my thread!
Pros of my house now:
Cheap
Relatively spacious
Close to BART, work, park
Off street parking
Cozy and homey
Big back yard
Love the neighborhood, know my neighbors
Lots of closet and storage space
Nice layout
My room is huge
Cons of my house now:
Pretty run down
No dogs allowed, until today, when I told my landlord we might move and he finally said we could get a dog. But we'd have to pay for a gate if we want an enclosed back yard, which I feel would be necessary.
Landlord is an asshole slumlord
The big back yard is not enclosed, and is like a jungle. Gardening is a challenge
It's in Berkeley
Pros of new place:
Great landlords who live upstairs (lady works with Cory!)
New floors, paint
Enclosed back yard
With beautiful garden
Pet-friendly (landlords have dog already, they could play)
Grill and nice furniture outside
Nice big bathroom
Sunny
Bigger living room with space for dining room table (have none now)
It's in Oakland
Cons of new place:
More expensive (but still affordable)
Smaller bedrooms
No common closets
Worse neighborhood
Farther from work, BART, no park
Moving there would mean my roommate would have to take her cat back from her ex, which is a con for me, but a pro for her. I don't want the cat, and my mom is super-allergic. She lives close by and will be pissed if she can never visit.
Smaller in general
Barely any cabinet space in kitchen (but they might build more and put shelves up)
No off-street parking
We originally decided to look because our other roommates are moving, and we thought if we could find a place that was better than our current place where we could also have a dog, that it would be a good time to go. But now we've found this place which Kate thinks is definitely better, but I'm not sure it is. And we now have permission to get a dog here. I'm reluctant to move because I've lived here a while, I really like it, and I have a shit ton of furniture, books, and crap. So moving will be a real pain. The new place is nicer, but also smaller and more expensive, and I'm not sure it's worth the hassle.
We applied and they like us the best, but they're checking references for one other group, and we have to decide tomorrow night. Help!
Back That Ass Up - thursday, january 18, 2007 - 10:21
Horrible flyer, I know. But the party will be fun. This DJ is dope.
The details (cause I know they're barely legible) are:
Wednesday, January 24th at Club Anton from 8pm to midnight
428 3rd St. near J-Lo Square
Let me know if you want the evite.
When Netflix isn't fast enough - wednesday, january 03, 2007 - 00:55
I check my queue for inspiration and head to the video store. Today we got a little carried away:
A Fish Called Wanda
LA Story
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Midnight Run
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Working Girl
Mean Streets
My roommate Katrina has seen none of these movies, except maybe Roger Rabbit. The only ones I know very well are LA Story and Four Weddings and a Funeral.
On Wednesday, we'll get High Noon, In the Mood for Love, and the special edition of My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn's singing voice in the mail. None of my roommates have seen My Fair Lady before. It's going to be a fun week.
Strange Thief - thursday, december 07, 2006 - 12:13
So the only downside to my birthday party was that I my phone got stolen. Yesterday my Mom told me that she called it and someone picked up, but he seemed strange, so I called the phone. Here are a few highlights of our two conversations:
Shmeedie: All I really want is the numbers on the phone. There are 200 numbers on there. I mean you can keep the phone if I can just get the information off it.
Thief: I guess we're living in an information economy. If we were living in an industrial economy the phone would be more valuable to you.
Shmeedie: Whatever, I just want the numbers.
Thief: What's it worth to you?
Thief: I can't talk right now, I'm in the bathroom. . .
(we talk for a few minutes)
Thief: Look, I'm shaving and the water is getting cold. I have to go.
(I call back later and he picks up)
Thief: My wife thinks I could get in trouble by doing the right thing.
Shmeedie: I don't care about getting you in trouble. All I care about is getting those numbers off the phone. You could just drop it off someplace and I could pick it up, we don't have to meet.
Thief: Or I could sell it to a crackhead for $20.
Thief: What do you do?
Shmeedie: It doesn't matter what I do!
Thief: Are you a prostitute?
Shmeedie: No! Do I sound like a prostitute?
Thief: I don't know, what does a prostitute sound like?
Long story short, I offered to leave $50 in cash at the Missouri and have the guy leave the phone there with a bartender and take the money, but he still won't do it. He said that he was worried an exchange like that would be illegal! I said, "isn't it illegal that you have my phone?" I think he just enjoyed messing with me. He was asking my age, where I live, what I do. . . he said that if I'm not a cop, I should consider a career in law-enforcement because I'm very "security-minded." Dude was crazy, but mostly just a jerk.
So I just got a new phone -- mine was eligible for an upgrade anyway. But getting those 200+ numbers back is going to be a bitch.
Ongoing birthday happiness - friday, december 01, 2006 - 16:05
Today I got to work a little late dressed a little more casually than usual, to find that my boss is working from home. Then a friend took me out to a long birthday lunch, and we had a good time. Walking back, I ran into an old friend I haven't seen since high school, and she's coming to my birthday party.
Also, I have a new roommate who is great, and that rare experience of coming back from a long vacation and actually being refreshed and happy to resume work and life.
The nice thing about celebrating one's birthday after (or before) the actual day, is that it draws out that birthday feeling over several days, instead of shooting the celebratory wad all at once.
Much-needed vacation - thursday, november 16, 2006 - 16:13
I'm headed to New York City tomorrow morning for 12 days. I'll miss the Heroes thread, all the political threads, and the Missouri while I'm gone. Happy Thanksgiving, Oaklog.
Oh, and when I get back: birthday party at the Missouri on Saturday Dec. 2!
clinic defense - friday, november 10, 2006 - 13:21
This morning I volunteered for the first time as an escort at a family planning clinic. Before I heard about this, I never imagined that there were pro-life fanatics harrassing women on their way to get an abortion IN OAKLAND.
The escorts work in pairs. We show up in the morning and wait for the antis to arrive. Sometimes they don't show up, but today they did. Two young people with pamphlets of misinformation and big laminated signs with pictures of fetuses photoshopped to look all cute. Our job is to minimize contact between them and the women coming in, and defend the choice of the clients from the fanaticism of the antis there.
This felt like a damn good way to spend my morning. At one point, the antis saw a woman approaching before we did. She was alone, and although we tried to block their signs, the young woman burst into tears when she saw the pictures, and one anti was yelling, "Choose life! Your daughter will thank you!" Those words and the images on the sign may haunt that woman for years. Having an abortion is hard enough without a bunch of bullshit. It made me realize what would happen if we weren't there, and how important this work is.
The escort group I'm a part of needs help. If anyone wants to volunteer even one morning a month, please email me. They provide training, and it is a great group of men and women who do this. We especially need people of color. Since most of the women who come to the clinics are not white, it would be good if less of the escorts were old affluent white women.
It's a bird, it's a plane. . . - wednesday, july 05, 2006 - 08:49
I'm in Seattle, staying with my brother. He called me a few minutes after he just walked out the door to go to work:
Nat: Are we still planning to see Superman tonight?
Shmeedie: Yes.
Nat: I just realized I'm wearing a red shirt and blue jeans. I'm not even sure I'm willing to go into the theatre dressed like this.
Shmeedie: That's your problem.
Nat: Well, it's your problem too because we'll be walking in together.
Shmeedie: Mmm.
Nat: Would you go into my closet and grab another tshirt? I'll find a phone booth to change in before the movie.
Another fabulous event - friday, june 30, 2006 - 14:52
From the East Bay Young Democrats!
Viagra for the Voting Booth: How to Cure Electile Dysfunction
Do you want to get money out of politics and vote for candidates you believe in?
After watching “The Big Buy,” you really will. See just how impotent the system can get, then hear from leaders who are making democracy virile again, and learn what to do locally.
6:00: "The Big Buy: Tom Delay’s Stolen Congress"
7:30: Q&A with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, sponsor of the California Clean Money Act
And Nicholas Heidorn, Oakland Instant Runoff Voting Coalition
Tuesday, July 11
6:00-8:30pm at the Humanist Hall
390 27th St. in Oakland btw Broadway and Telegraph
(wheelchair accessible from 28th St.)
$5 donation, free for members, pizza for $3
Come early to eat, stay late to party!
(Social afterwards at Luka’s at 2221 Broadway
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