San Francisco, Part One

In case you haven't seen David Letterman's Tribute to Paul Newman from 29 September 2008:



And this one that talks about his charity work:



They made me cry, but I'm a wuss.

As usual, it's taking me forever to write a post. I've been back from vacation almost two weeks (tomorrow night), but I came home sick and very tired. I had a great time in SF and Vegas, although I probably should have switched weeks as the weather was iffy my first few days in SF and it was FREEZING in Vegas. I packed for 90F since that's what was forecasted when I left. Not so much really. And SF had to have its stupid fog which is the reason I'm so prone to bronchitis in the first place. True San Franciscans love that fog. I hate it which definitely indicates that I was never a true San Franciscan.

Schneider pointed out to me last week that every time I travel I get bronchitis. And I agreed with him until I just looked at my calendar. Yes, I did have bronchitis in February, but it didn't happen until a good 2.5 weeks after I had gotten back from Vegas, so there goes that theory. My personal favorite theory is that my lungs suck canal water which is more appropriate than sucking rocks.

I, being completely addicted to yarn and having zero self control when it comes to yarn (and books and CDs and DVDs), should not have gone looking for yarn stores when I was in SF, but I did anyway. The very first full day I was there, in fact. I was heading out of the house on Thursday [I got in so late Tuesday night and then stayed up an additional few hours drinking wine with Suzy and talking and catching up that it was pretty late in the day (2:00-ish) when I finally got into the City on Wednesday] when I discovered that I didn't have a key to the apt. (I had one to the outside door), so I called Sal at work. In the end, his partner came home and we ended up going out to lunch at a vegan restaurant and then walking downtown to the yarn store on Sutter St. OMIGOD, this place was yarn nirvana. The yarns were incredible gorgeous in color and in texture. I was so mad at myself for going there as I did NOT need more yarn. And if you remember, I have ZERO self control, especially when it comes to gorgeous yarns.

They had this model prominently displayed and I had to have it (a tad overpriced I must say, pattern-wise) in this color (Color 09 of Tantra – just in case).

Right next to the Tantra yarn was Sylph which I had to have in color #14 (at least, I think that's the color – it's showing too red on my computer screen). I thought I behave myself pretty well considering I really wanted Kyoto in color #35

After I escaped from Pure Temptation aka Art Fibers, I called Soyon and left her a message saying "I've been really bad." She called me back and asked, "You were really bad? Or really mad?" "Really bad." "Were you just in a knitting store and bought yarn?" Ah, does she know me or what? So, I told her about the place and how they had a website which she immediately got on and I told her about Tantra and she asked, "How far are you from there?" "A few blocks," I replied, whereupon Sal's SO stopped dead, looked at me, and turned around to head back to the store. She wanted the Tantra in the yellow that the pattern is shown in (she can wear yellow, I can't unless I want to appear to be sans clothing). And then she wanted Tsuki (I was very proud of myself for not buying Tsuki for myself as I ADORE mohair) in a very light grey color. She cussed at me for calling her, but how could I not share such a fabulous yarn store with her? I'm very proud of myself for not buying more yarn when I went back the second time, especially Tsuki.

A week after I had been there, I got an e-mail saying they were closing their store and going to be a mail order business only. It's a bummer but understandable as I can't even begin to imagine what their rent in prime downtown SF must be. As nice as their website is, it doesn't do justice to the unbelievable sublimeness that is their yarns, as you can't feel them or really judge the colors properly. Sad.

Thursday night, we, of course, watched the vice presidential debate and played the drinking game. My aunt came by after work (she was leaving for Detroit early Saturday morning, so I wouldn't see her otherwise) and she watched it with us. Since she was driving, she drank iced hibiscus tea (yummy!), but I was worried she wasn't going to be able to make it home w/o peeing her pants with all that damned "change" and "maverick" –iness going on in the debate. I'm pretty sure we made up some rules as the debate progressed, but it was a good 3-4 weeks ago at this point and I don't remember what they were, although one of them might have been to drink whenever she would wink at the camera. Oy vey. That was freaking annoying.

There was a remarkable lack of true sightseeing happening in SF. I hung out with friends, ate at all new restaurants (except for Thai Stick because I had to have crispy crunchy tofu), although I did go to the brand new California Academy of Science with Knucklehead. It was very cool and while I didn't have the childhood memories she had, I did enjoy my time there.

Paul Newman & September Books and Movies

I'm outta here tomorrow right after work and I'll be gone for two weeks. Woohoo!!!

Books

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich - 310 pages - As you obviously tell, this was the fourteenth installment in Ms. Evanovich's Stephanie Plum's hapless bounty hunter series. While they are enjoyable, I have reached the point of being somewhat annoyed by how hapless Stephanie is. I had announced before I read it that if another of her cars gets blown up I was done with the series. For the record, her POS car did not get blown up in this book.

Phantom Prey by John Sandford - 373 pages - While this is the 18th in Mr. Sandford's Prey series, it has not reached the formulaic point of Ms. Evanovich's. This one was particularly interesting because Lucas Davenport has to venture into the "goth" world. I kind of object to the impression the world has of "goths," since it's not all dark and evil. Mr. Sandford handled it with a light hand and that was nice. I will always recommend a John Sandford book as he's a very good writer.

The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan by Christina Lamb - 339 pages - This is a book that ranks up there with Three Cups of Tea which I told you all last December that you should read...in fact, that everybody should read. This is another of those. Ms. Lamb writes about her affection (my word) for Afghanistan gleaned from her years as a foreign correspondent starting from when she rode with the mujaheddin against the Soviets until she went back after the fall of the Taliban. The Sewing Circles of Herat refers to the way the women in Herat taught the girls in that city under the Taliban under the guise of sewing circles. Instead of sewing they were being taught literature, etc., but if the Taliban were making the rounds, they had a little boy playing in the street watching who would run in when danger was near and the books would go into hiding and a makeshift sewing project would come out. Please read this book (and Three Cups of Tea).

Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Sean Hannity, Toby Keith, and Beef Jerky by John Moe - 313 pages - This book was not as funny as Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly, but it was darn amusing, especially his footnotes. By the end of the book, he had discovered a bit of man-love for Richard Nixon, but still didn't love George W. Bush. The stories of his 4-year-old Sierra Club member son were very cute. I definitely recommend it.

Book of the Month: The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan by Christina Lamb (but you all knew that, didn't you?)


Movies

I See A Dark Stranger 1946 (TCM) - Not enough reviews at rottentomato.com for a percentage - This movie portrayed a young Deborah Kerr who was raised by an Irish father who hated the British to the point where during WWII she went to London to join the IRA, but was rebuffed as there was a truce (I guess) on. But she ends up recruited by the Germans. Watch the movie to see how it all ends up. You can't go wrong with Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard.

Escape to Witch Mountain 1974/5 (TCM) 67% - I was flipping channels last Sunday (9/21) and found this. I hadn't seen it in a very long time, but always loved it, so I took the opportunity to do so. You've all seen it, you all know the story - and if you don't you're probably young. ;-) I thought it was interesting that supposedly some movie studio is going to make a new version of this movie but are going to call it Race to Witch Mountain or something like that. I'm not betting money on me bothering. I object to studios just regurgitating the same movies all over again. It's been done. Find something else to do.

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep 2007 (N) 73% - I loved this movie, but I've always been a sucker for the mystery of the Loch Ness monster. I like to believe that it exists. I have no idea why the mystery enthralls me so, but it does, so there ya go. This was a cute movie.

Movie of the Month: The Water Horse

I'm sure you've all heard by now that Paul Newman died this weekend. Although I was expecting it, I wasn't really prepared for it, as I was hoping that him going home to die of cancer was untrue. He was 83 and while a former co-worker thought he was a "minor" actor, we all know better. I shall treasure my exceptionally cool jacket signed by PLN (on the orange vertical stripe) at Road America a couple of years ago. I shall also treasure this picture. I did not take it and I don't know who did or I'd give him/her credit. All I know is that it shows how much TFG wanted PLN at his shitty May race that he didn't stop PLN from wearing his ORANGE (which kind of clashes with the Icky Racing League's red/white/blue colors) Champ Car Championship hat while at that shitty May race.



Here is the article about Paul Newman that you probably didn't see, as it's all racing related. You all know about his movies, so I'm here to broaden your horizons.

God speed, Mr. Newman. All Champ Car fans everywhere thank you for years of complete support. I'm just sorry you had to see the demise of Champ Car, the racing series you loved. I shall never forget your Daytona 24 Hour GT class win in the Nobody's Fool Mustang in 1995 at the age of 70. You will be missed.