catch up potpourri

I've been avoiding the computer. My fingers and wrists are acting up again. Nothing serious, just a little numbness and stiffness due to my horrific ergonomic set-up both at home and work and the fact that I never really did learn to type properly. Hmm, that's 11 years of incorrect form on an almost daily basis. That can't be good. Right now I'm sitting on a comforter to try to raise myself up a bit, but it's a fluffy comforter and I am sinking down into it pretty far. Now lamenting I didn't buy a deeply discounted Aeron chair when my former employer Scient shut its San Francisco headquarters in 2001 and liquidated all its top-of-the-line dot-com era office accoutrements.

On Saturday night I danced like a fiend with Mattia, Michelle and my roommate Amy at Burning Solstinox. "The Saturday night halfway between burns, when we are equally distant from two burns and farthest away from any." Chillout tents, art installations, hoola-hoopers, faux fur and fuzzy coats, friendly interactions and wacky, wonderful individuality and creativity coalesced to produce that comfy, playful, open playa vibe that left me feeling like I was halfway home.

After giving my neighbors a free show for the last week, I bought curtains for my new room. I went ahead and got a shared storage unit with Amy, and aside from the couple of boxes stacked in the corner of my room, I am pretty settled in. I'm loving life in the big city and am relishing being able to leave my 1991 Honda Civic with its dents, cracked windshield and sagging bumper parked, and walk places for a change. One caveat: unless I want to go to the poorhouse, I must learn to be mindful of the posted parking regulations. Ranging from rush hour towaway zones to street cleaning zones to "2-hour parking 9 AM - 9 PM Monday through Saturday, except vehicles with Area S Permits," this city is full of ways for drivers to carelessly indebt themselves to the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic. Don't get me started on the fun involved in parallel parking on the left-hand side of a busy one-way street during rush hour.

Yesterday I got out to enjoy the early spring warmth and walked to Union Square to freshen up my wardrobe for spring. Usually, I shop like a man. I know what I want, I go to the store, I buy it. Sure, for big ticket items and things that come in a variety of colors or designs, I may hem and haw a little but cut me some slack, I'm a Gemini. Yesterday I shopped like a woman, or really more like a high-school girl, and spent three hours combing the racks at the new Forever 21 on Powell Street. This place is the ultimate outlet for "now" clothing that's designed and priced to fall apart in five washings, which is no problem since by the time they do, they're out of fashion anyway. There's been a Forever 21 in the little mall near my sister's house for years, but they've hit the big time and recently opened huge, multi-level stores in New York City and San Francisco. I imagine the styles currently adorning the mannequins bear a striking resemblance to what they must've stocked in 1984 when the company, then called Fashion 21, opened its doors in Los Angeles. I can't believe I am living through my first decade resurgence.

Walking down Market Street, I saw an ad for Bud's new beer with caffeine, ginseng and guarana extract. According to Anheuser-Busch's press release it's a "distinctive new product for contemporary adults who are looking for the latest beverage to keep up with their highly social and fast-paced lifestyles." We all know what that means. Just for fun, I Googled the properties of Ginseng and was immediately invited to peruse some Penis Enlargement Articles. Go on, down a few of these babies and let the good times roll!

Last night I watched a wonderful Icelandic film entitled Noi (Noi Albinoi) about a brilliant but bored 17 year-old-boy who dreams of departing his barren, isolated fjord and, when not gazing longingly at scenes of palm tree-lined beaches through his ViewMaster, concocts various clumsy attempts to escape with his hot girlfriend Iris. Aside from being beautifully shot and directed, it's fresh, honest, human, tragic, and laugh out loud hilarious. Go get it.