2009 in bills

As 2009 draws to a close, one more big-ticket item had to break on me. My camera, which took more than 4,000 shots in 3 years across 14 or so countries, busted its screen this weekend.

In a year of car towing, engine blowing, check frauding, punk jumping, root canaling, hard drive crashing, iPod dying and snail eating, a screen cracking was not a big deal when I heard it burst.

But maybe it's because also in this year I've been to Hawaii, Disneyland, Lake Tahoe, Hearst Castle, The Grand Canyon, Union Square, DC, Vegas twice, The Grand Del Mar, Muir Beach, Santa Cruz, Wente Vineyards, Dolores Park, Shaiya's engagement party, the nursery, my backyard, Golden Gate Park and three new years parties.

Happy Holiday Party

So last night was the office holiday party. Let me just say it was the biggest shitshow I've been to in a long while (including Athena's wedding, where JoNelle and I were the only ones to make scenes).

Various coworkers were out of it or belligerent, particularly at the after party, but I'll spare them by not mentioning any deets here.

I will however, as a service to myself, update my list of cars driven. Throughout the day I had 3-4 glasses of wine (it was a long day) so I became the designated driver and had the opportunity to drive the 2009 BMW, which was a manual that handled swimmingly, and the 2006* Subaru, which are both now listed below.

2008 Dodge Caliber (rental for work)*
2008 Mustang (rental)*
2009 Lincoln Towncar (rental for work)
1994 Saturn SL2 (my car)
2000 Ford Focus (Jeff's car)*
2000 Saturn SL2 (mom's car)*
1985 Ford F-150 (dad's truck)
1992 Saab 900 (mom's old car)*
1990 Taurus station wagon (mom's old car)
1983 BMW 318i (Athena's old car)
1996 Buick LeSaber (Grandma's car - I took my driver's test in this one)*
1995 Nissan Altima (Driver's training car)*

2006 Volkswagen Jetta (Narges' car)
2008 Saturn Astra (Jon's car)
2003 Saturn Ion (Jon's old car)
1985 Ford Bronco (Nick's car)
2005 Toyota Echo (Nick's old car)
2002 Saturn SL2 (Jessica's car)
1998 Honda Civic(Kate's car)*
2000 Saturn SL (Dana's old car)*
2006 Mazda 3 (Dana's Car)
1999 Nissan Maxima (Matt's (possibly old) car)*
2004 Nissan Sentra (Mary's car)
2009 BMW 328i (Melanie's car)
2006 Subaru Outback (Ginny's car)*

1993 Honda Elite 80 (My scooter)
2004 Suzuki SV-650 (Mike's bike)

U-Haul (small box) to LA - June 2006
U-Haul (medium box) to Bay Area - August 2007
U-Haul (F-150) to Woodbine St - June 2006
U-Haul (F-150) in LA - Summer 2008

2000 Ford Aerostar - New Flower Van*
1990 Ford Aerostar - Old Flower Van*
Long panel van - Rented flower Van

1995 Honda Elite 50 with a broken front shock (test drive)
1996 Saturn SL2, fuchsia (test drive)
1974 Ford Bronco, so cool but gas guzzly (test drive)

Sexpigeon has infected my thinking

One day, when I open the door to the office bathroom and the lights have been off due to inactivity, as they flicker on I know I will find a dead old man sitting on the toilet.

I'm always mentally prepared to check his pulse and dial 911 on my cell phone, but will I pull up his pants for him?

Where'd the poo go?

So a dog keeps shitting on the sidewalk in front of my building in the mornings. It's either the same dog or a different dog that is the same size and has a very similar diet/digestive system.

The owner of the dog did not pick it up (I know it's not a stray cause if it was, surely one of the craftier hobos in the neighborhood would have caught him and either tamed him or feasted upon him) and there are no dogs in sight as I walk to my car to head to work.

Then after work... it's gone. Did one of the crafty hobos make something out of it? There are no smears on the ground, and it wasn't in a place that would easily get stepped on (kind of by a tree).

Where's the poo going?

--

My life in dreams part II

My dad and I were walking around the corner from his house to the Boys Club. We had our shotguns (we don't own shotguns - or at least, we don't own two) and were going to some kind of gun show. I have always wanted to shoot a shotgun, preferably at a clay pigeon off the back of a huge ship or at a T-1000 in some kind of steel mill where I can melt him and not get sliced by his daggerhands. But I digress.

We were in the Boys Club gun show* when suddenly we weren't anymore. We were walking in the snow, down a long fairly flat slope in the mountains. My view was like a Lord of the Rings shot from a helicopter of us approaching the base camp. We were, I think, about to climb K2. In my dream version of K2, you can see Everest and really it didn't look that much taller than K2. Then from the top of Everest (I know I skipped a part, but what do you expect, I was asleep), all the other mountain tops didn't look that low beneath us.

I've done some Wikipedia-ing, and it's clear that I don't understand the concept of mountain prominence. Because apparently, Everest is entirely prominent, all the way down to sea level, which is 600 miles away. I would think "prominence" means how high up you are while on the top compared to your surroundings. For example, Lake Tahoe may be at 6,000 feet above sea level, but when you're sanding there, it looks like zero.

Based on my view from Everest this morning, it's prominence is more like 2,000 feet, and not 29,000. But maybe it was just cloudy this morning, so I couldn't see.

This is the north side of K2. I was on the south side, but this picture is cooler.

*Please note the Boys Club doesn't actually have gun shows.
--

Red Book Chronicles

Earlier this year I was helping my mom convert my childhood room into a library. We were going through a bunch of her art projects, scraps and notes when we re-found the legendary shopping list. It was for groceries, but right at the bottom, scrawled in her familiar hand writing, were the words "static electricity." No one knows why it was, nor are we surprised that it was on her list. Also lost to time is whether she indeed got her static electricity on.

But I make lists too. I have a little book, which I got on one of Andy and my strolls up Polk in the first few days of this year. It's nearly full now, and it's great fun going through it.

Similar to my Overheard Poetry (which seems to have been rejected by The Paris Review) some of the entries would make for great poetry readings, but all paint a kind of vague picture of what I did in the past yearish.

The Red Book Chronicles: Zac's 2009 in notes (How You Measure A Year In the Life) Annotated version -- denotes a page break

1/31/09
Walk up Polk
Bell Tower Bar ->Looks awesome (Written the day I got the booklet. I would later go there, try escargot, and have a horrible allergic reaction)

"The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde"
-By Merlin Holland

"Interpreter of Maladies"
-By Jhumpa Lahiri

"Special Topics in Calamity Physics"
-Marisha Pessi

--
COD: WAW
Jitterbug
W
Tamales
Laundry
Anita
Swim
Run
Sam Adams Beer

Black Silicone
Shampoo
Cleaner of some kind
Cash
--
Alamoana plate lunch

--
Books
Snorkely
Blank CDS
(The above list was a to-get from parent's house)

Books
CDs
sunglasses
camera
charger
ipods
cord for comp
west wing
--
Olives
tomatoes
cucumber
club soda
vodka
mint + lemon?
hummus + pita
Pasta
sauce
lettuce


Lost
HIMYM
FNL
Everything... (is Illuminated, film)
30 Rock
--
(Narges' handwriting)
King of Thai
2850 Sacramento
Sac & Divis

1911 filmore
btw bush & pine
SpQR

--
Chabot Golf
12:57 PM
$78
EF9460D0

May 9
10-9pm
Luggagestargallery.org

Ellis
TL Nat'l Forrest

--
Sheepdip
-Scotch

9 21
LACK


Soda
Chips/salsa
Doritos (I needed two kinds of chips, clearly)
Rolls
Tomatoes
Pickles
Meat
Lettuce
Frozen Food
Hummus
Pita
Stir Fry
Sweet + Sour
Pot Stickers

--
West Wing Lounge

Nickle Creek

Moss Beach Distillery
140 Beach Way
L on Cypress
L at airport
R at marine
L at Beach
5:45

--

"The Only problem is, I think she's in love with me."
-"No, it takes 3 times." (Nick, then Mike)

The Palace Hotel
2 New Montgomery St
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM

ABM Exploring the Digital Revolution

Main St Station Casino

--
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was a long story."
-Nick, abou this ripped pants in Vegas



--
(The following are two opposing pages that are great next to each other)

National Air Races in Reno in Sept? "Salma Hayek Deserves her boobs." -Andy Brett Dennan "San Francisco"

Beans Lettuce Milk Eggs Raisins 747 Gayley apt 208 "You Have Wit and Word and Worth"

--

Papolote
Fulton & Masonic

Cline Mourvedre
with For Mike

Ft Mason Center
Building C
Room 205
--
"A Nap short of perfect."
-NZ, post
half marathon


pinenuts
jam
garlic
bread
G turkey
tamato
pickle
pita
tea for work
parsley


--
1968
Front Door

Pavilion Stacking wine rack (check mark)

BB + The Bop Guns

Sept 4
--
2008 Dodge Caliber

Calistoga Ranch

Calistoa hotel -
outdoor showers!
--
Belique
Pots + Pans

Tux Group #
2402346

Men's Warehouse
Before 11th

Blk K Cole
--
Twisted Merlot
Gnarly Vines Zin
181
Joel Gott Sauvingon Blanc ->Grapefruit
--
Mayer Hawthorne
"Album of the Year"

To do Thurs 10/22
email tony to ask about lastID tag
newsletter
santa fe email
write blogs
personal statement

Fri Morn Call Luc
Colin info from luc
Survey monkey

--

Yak Wellington
(III?)

"Mortified"
The Makeout Room
Diaries read as performance art

Postage Stamp Planes

--
A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline

Finos in the Andrews Hotel

(Yes, this is how it ends... for now)
--

Subject: Turducken this year?

Email from me to Mom:
I will buy this. Or at least, throw some coin down on it. TURDUCKEN!!!

"Approximately 18-20 pounds and will feed 18-22 people full with some leftovers. Each Turducken comes with a electric thermometer and alarm probe in the center of the duck breast (the very center of the Turducken), directions on how to cook it will also be provided. The Turducken comes on a bed of root vegetables with assorted herbs in a roasting pan ready to cook.

The Turducken is stuffed with a duck inside a chicken inside a turkey, all never frozen and free range. The birds will be stuffed with a chicken and duck sausage cornbread stuffing.

Each bird is $250 and we require a 50% deposit via paypal to process your order."

I'm down to get vetoed, but this comes from a very reputable butcher. it's not like the KFC experiment of 2004.

Email response from Adam (who was CC'd)
Uuuhhhhh

Email response from Mom
Why, just last night I was discussing a free-range organic turkey for this year. The subject of Turducken never came up. While I am open to new ideas and am loathe to shoot something down that I have never tried, (hence the KFC turkey), I feel that I must kindly decline the generous offer or Turducken.

I will, as form of consolation consider a duck, alongside the turkey, or, duck for Christmas dinner, or a rubber duck swimming in gravy. Turkey gravy.

I applaud your sense of adventure.

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