So how was your Thanksgiving??

Amazing: Top 10 Sun Images from SOHO

Gross: Invasion of the Bodysnatchers [via Reecie]

Thankful.

I look back over the year, and I find that, as usual, I have a lot to be thankful for.

1) My niece.

2) The rest of my family. We've had quite a few ups and downs this year, but everyone is ok and healthy and moving in a forward direction with their lives.

3) My friends. Not so many ups and downs, but always there for each other. By the way, I'm moving next year - expect the evite soon.

4) My health. It was a resolution this year, and for the most part, I kept to it.

5) Our military and law enforcement personnel. I don't agree with the war, and I don't like our Commander in Chief, but how can you not respect people who volunteer to fight for what they believe in, and do it on your behalf?

6) Trader Joes. I've known of it for years, but only really discovered it this year. Where else can you get 3 weeks of relatively healthy food for $30??

7) My job. I fell into this one as I have fallen into so many others, but I think I'm going to like this one a lot longer than those others. It's a good company, treats its employees well, and gave me a job when so many others better qualified than I were without work. (And they let me leave 2 hours early yesterday!!)

8) Cheese. While it hasn't done my hips any favors, it has gotten me through quite a few "I don't want to cook, but I have to eat something" nights.

9) Airplanes. I've been to Texas 5 times this year to see friends and family, and Seattle once. I couldn't have done any of it without airplanes.

10) I think I mentioned my niece once before, but she deserves to be mentioned again.

What are you thankful for?

I get to leave work in 47 minutes!! Yay me.

In other news, Load Of Illegal Bologna Seized At Texas-Mexico Border [via Jon] Be 'ware of that bologna you buy - it could be illegal!!

So my week has been spectacularly unproductive, how 'bout yours? I should be cleaning and packing and getting ready to leave for Home from work tomorrow and be gone till Sunday, but no. I'm going to sit on my ass and watch some more LotR and knit a bit. And maybe read some more Le Mis. And buy a few birthday presents.

I'll pack in the morning. And cleaning? Hahahahahaha!

Oh, and this poor soul is chronicling life after being broken up with and then having to live with his ex till April because she won't move out. Sad, but so very funny. [via Evhead]

I'm going to see Sting in February!! Whew! After seeing BNL on Friday, I thought I wouldn't have tix for another show ever. Now I'm set for the next 3 months.

I went to the Conservatory of Flowers with Suzan today. See the pretty flowers.

So I wasn't blogging, but that doesn't mean I wasn't surfing. Some stuff I discovered this week:

The Drink-O-Meter Find out approximately what effect your consumption of alcohol has had on your life and what else you could have done with the money. Apparently, I rate as Mother Teresa, could have filled only 4.04 tubs, and bought .03 of a Ferrari.

Very funny: Utilikilts Mockumercials [via Kevin]

High School Girls Pummel Man Who Exposed Himself [via Hooey]

Turkey & Gravy flavored beverage, and the review

The Wonderful World of Biblical Puppets

A lesson for everyone: Words and Expressions Commonly Misused by Insipid Brothers-in-law. I'll have to make sure I'm never the insipid sister-in-law who misuses these terms.

I didn't get anything done regarding Christmas shopping, but I have started knitting a scarf, my first project. I also watched the new LotR, courtesy of Jessa. And I'm almost finished with Le Mis.

It's been a good week.

Going offline for the rest of the week.

Maybe. Maybe I'll be back before then.

This is more of a reminder to me to 'stay back!' should my resolve weaken, not so much for you, my loyal readers, and those looking for 'interesting porn', 'elite masters porn site', 'how to make a porn site', and 'stereotypes are a real time-saver'. I need a break to think about stuff, like what am I getting everyone for Christmas.

Last night I was listening to House of Blues Radio Hour on KFOG, and the sponsors during the first commercial break were (in this order): Trojan condoms and First Response pregnancy tests.

It's nice to see that those marketing folks have a sense of humor.

So I meant to make the Guacamole with Pear and Pomegranate Seeds today, but I forgot to buy the avocados. I suppose I'll be enjoying my pears and grapes and that pomagranate I bought today at the farmer's market on their own.

Focus has been a little difficult this weekend. Not sure why - too much sleep? That cough syrup has been very effective. I hope I find it (the focus), as we're heading right into the holiday season here. How in the world did we get so far into November so fast?

A funny from the weekend:
Mom Finds Out About Blog: "'Come to think of it, why do I sometimes write about what I ate for dinner?' Widmar asked." Ahem. Pomagranate seeds, anyone? [via Sarah]

Fun activities: Make new friends while painting! and Ault Dodgeball.

Today is Day 4 of Staying Home Sick. I'm much better today.

When I got my spiffy new computer, I spent a lot of time ripping my rather large cd collection, so that I could mix and match at my leisure. Then I downloaded iTunes because I heard it was the neatest digital jukebox ever (and it turns out that it really is that neat). It was then, while I was rating my music, that I found that many of the tracks I had blithely assumed were correctly named and copied were wrong. Either no name at all attached to them, or the wrong track name, etc.

So I've spent the last few days at home (sick!) re-ripping my entire music collection. It takes a lot longer when you have to verify every single track before you hit "Import."

In other news, I'm going to try this recipe this weekend: Guacamole with Pear and Pomegranate Seeds [via Maggie, 11/12/03]

Want to come over and try it?

I've been whiny lately, and it bothers me much more than it bothers you, trust me. So I'll condense the last couple of days' worth of complaining into one post and then I won't post again unless I have something funny to say:

I started getting sick on Sunday. I thought it was allergies. I went to work on Monday and then had insomnia Monday night. Actually, I was so congested, I just couldn't sleep. This was bad. I stayed home yesterday in a bad mood and watched movies. The cough started about 3 p.m. and has not quit since. Luckily, I remembered that I still have codeine cough syrup from my last bout, and as long as I don't talk, then I can do stuff other than operate heavy machinery without coughing. I'm home again today, and the doctor's office is closed on Wednesdays. Which means another day off work so that I can go see her tomorrow.

Other stuff: Alegria is pretty good. Go if you can. And check out Make-a-Flake (this refers to snowflakes, not people who flake - we don't need any more of them.) [via Kevin]

I hope you're happy and healthy.

From an email:

Where did you go to librarian school, do they teach the hair bun with the pencil, or is that a prerequisite?

Like "computer skills," they say it's a prereq, but when it comes right down to it, they'll accept you into the school anyway and offer special classes to those who are not sure how to achieve that prudish repressed old lady conservative look.

Monday Whine:

So I spent Friday night with two sick people, and it seems many others have been going through the fall/change o' seasons sniffles, and now I'm coming down with something icky. Don't worry, I'm taking my echinacea and vitamins and sleeping, but I feel like crap.

Well, if I don't make it through the week, I hope I can count on someone to act as my porn buddy. Not that I own any porn, but it would be nice to know someone would at least check.

You know, it would be a whole lot easier to do this "clean the whole apartment" thing if it wasn't absolutely beautiful outside.

It's been a weekend of performances: Friday night, Jish and May and I went to see Guster at the Warfield. If you like even one of their songs, you should go to see them, just to watch the drummer. He's amazing. I never thought bongos could played like that. Last night, Jessa and some friends and I went to see our friend Bill in Private Lives. It was an excellent script and excellent acting. You should see it too.

These were from Friday, but they're still funny:

Oh my god. I just found the funniest site. You have to read it when no one is around to listen to you cackle or to observe you wasting time. Very Important Things. [via RileyDog]

My favorites - so far - I'm not ... and Broke, forty, and alone ...

Other funny stuff ... Bathe Often [via Michael] (My favorite: Is your mind diseased?... .)

So I went out last night to meet someone for the first time. It was not a date. That said, I admit that I went not knowing what was going to happen. I couldn't get a good sense of what he looked like from his picture, and I had only a vague sense of his personality from the emails we'd exchanged. At best, I hoped for a new friend. At worst, a story to tell my girlfriends.

I think this lack of expectation is something I need to cultivate when going into new experiences, as I had one of the best evenings I've had in a long time. When I showed up, it was raining, so I wasn't wearing my glasses, and I accidentally? met someone at the door who I ended up talking to for 20 minutes before going in to find the one I'd come to meet. And then I met the one I'd arranged to meet, and we had a very nice evening. He says I'm a good listener.

Nothing romantic has come of the evening (I'm saying this for those of you who insist that I'm doing this to find a partner and that it was a date), but I had a really good time. I connected with not one, but two people, and it was nice that they seemed to find me worth talking to as well.

I managed to leave my book at the cafe where we ended the evening, and I had to go back tonight to get it. And I stayed and had a cup of tea and read my book and watched the people - customers and employees - do their thing. I've never done that before ... it is a time of beginnings, apparently.

I had a good day, how 'bout you?

Voicemail, folks. Get it. Having to keep trying to connect because the line is busy every time I try to return your call is a pain in the ass.

Also a pain in the ass: authorities and large companies taking over spontaneous events to make them 'safer' and more vanilla than that white guy in the Greek Wedding movie, charging admission all the while. Read Philo's account of Halloween in the Castro this year.

My peevish stage is over, as I now know what the end of world will look like. [via Dave] [if you watch this at work, make sure you're using headphones]

Pet Peeve O' the Morning:

When people you don't like wear perfume that you do like, and then wear so much of it that it nauseates you.

What's irritating you this morning?

Speaking of sunsets, this was an especially beautiful evening - it got better and better after the sun had sunk beneath the horizon.

Not much to say for myself today, except that I think my PG&E bill will be rather high this month. Damn it's cold.

Oh, and I watched a movie with Jane last night, in which one of the main themes was the idea that you become a better person if you can contemplate one beautiful thing a day. I'm probably dooming my endeavor by mentioning it, but I've started going to the beach on a regular basis to do just that. It's easier than going to the gym and using the membership I'm paying for and have yet to take advantage of.

The benefit of the time change and shorter days is that I can do this and still go out later on since the show is over by 5:30. In the summer, going to watch the sunset until 8:30 or 9:00 meant that was all I was doing that night. The benefit of the cold weather? No fog. Daly City isn't looking quite so bad right now.

Interesting links:

Anna Kournikova decides to change careers [via Sarah]

Asperger Syndrome - the official name for what many people in this area seem to suffer from (myself included, on occasion) [via Bryan]

Rannie's new project: The Weekender: Share your photo, your story, and your weekend.

Whatever happened to getting together at the drop of a hat? To dropping in on friends and not getting that "what the hell are you doing here and when will you be leaving" stare as you're sitting in their living room?

I make it sound as though all my friends need a week's notice before hanging out, or they don't appreciate my company. This isn't the case at all, but you can tell by how people act when they want to drop in on you and don't that it's because they don't appreciate the practice.

I appreciate it. I know I live outside the City limits, but I have the Target(s), the Home Depot (evil, but people still go there), a BART station, and the beach ... if you're in the area, give me a call. If I'm home, I'd love for you to come over and have some cookies and hang out.

Jane and I have been doing a lot of the dropping in and planning at the last minute this weekend, and it's been very enjoyable. Even Jish liked it when we dropped in on him. The key is to not have already overplanned your life. It makes for unexpected good times.

Fort Point, last month. Lots of similar-looking pics of the GGB, Fort Point, fog and the city. Oh, and there's a bird in there, and some moldy pilings. It was an extremely pleasant afternoon.

Oh. My. God. Someone put their Christmas tree up today.

On another note, I went to a housewarming party with Jessa last night, and reconnected with some people I have regreted losing touch with. But that's not what this is about. One of the other guests had gotten lost on his way to the party and ended up turning around on a street where he noticed a slight spelling error ...

Image one
Image two
Image three
Image four
(all are the same picture, slightly different)

This was at the corner of Alma and Rinconada, btw.