The Fog

The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

This classic poem by Carl Sandburg could've been written during a visit to San Francisco. This fog, which provides a kind of natural air conditioning, is both a blessing and a curse.

It starts encroaching from the West around dusk and lingers until morning when the sun causes it to retreat back out to sea. But sometimes, the fog is so thick, the sun loses the battle, and the skies remain overcast all day ...or at least over most of the city. There are those parts of the city that [almost] always remain sunny and warm.

When the fog remains, it can chill the air significantly, and despite Mr. Bennett's refrain, "The morning fog may chill the air; I don't care....", it can be damned unpleasant, even cold. It was Mark Twain who said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Despite his apparent wit, these words sometimes rings so very true.

On one such day, while traversing the Golden Gate Bridge in a convertible -- (why the top was down on such a cold day, I don't know) -- I spontaneous took a snapshot of one of the bridges towers, which was almost completely obscured by the fog ...it was that thick. So, to the myriad photographic representation of this famous span, I add this interpretation [of the bridge that you don't see].

I'm sitting here at 9:00 am, looking out the window at this waging battle between the elements, and as I see tiny patches of blue, I suspect, today, the sun will emerge victorious, but as yet, it's still quite chilly.

In the meantime, however, there are those who, whatever the weather, don't let it affect their wardrobe choices. It's summer and [he's] determined to wear his t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops*, as he walks alongside someone wearing a hooded parka buttoned up to the neck.

*(This is one more thing that goes on my list of "pet peeves". Rubber flip-flops are just plain tacky! They were okay as beach ware, but now, they've made the crossover to acceptable casual ware, which only makes them look all the more tacky! And no, it doesn't matter if they are made of leather by Manolo Blahnik and cost $200.00, they're still tacky!)

Quote of the Week: "Ask yourself whether you're happy, and you cease to be so."

What Burns My Ass?

You want to know what burns my ass? A flame three feet high (ba-doomp boomp). But seriously, it really pisses me off at how the blog comments are being used for [aggressive advertising] ...blog spam, if you will.

It's nice to see that someone appreciates what you have to say ...enough to make a comment about it. But, the comments to my various posts (so far) have all been some generic platitude like, "awesome blog" or "I like your blog", and then they proceed to display a link back to [the commenter's] blog or some other site where somebody's trying to sell you something. I, now, make it a policy to immediately delete any comment that isn't directly relevant to the post in question.

And what's worse, so many of the blogs themselves are nothing more than commercial advertisements. As I cycle through the [recently published] blogs to see what other people are talking about, I find that 75% of the blogs are nothing more than pages full of links to various products and/or services.

Only occasionally do I run across one (of those that are in English) where someone is actually saying something, using the blog to enter his thoughts, feelings, and/or ideas. And if I'm really lucky, I'll stumble upon a blog where what's being said is of actual interest to me.

This is a supplement to my regular [weekly] entry; it was just something I had to get off my chest.

Addendum: (Aug. 20, '05) I originally made this post, in part, to lessen the "acridity" implied in deleting someone's comment. But then I thought, "Who am I really being concerned about?". The majority of these [questionable] comments are not being made by people at all, but by spam bots. DUH! Of course they are. Those little fuckers are everywhere, like roaches, and no matter what you do, they persist ...so I'll just keep deleting.

Addendum: (Aug. 26, '05) Thank you Blogger for instituting the "word verification" feature. That should take care of those damn bots.

Generational Attitudes

A few nights ago, I ate something that disagreed with me and I had to threw up. Funny thing about this is that I haven't "thrown up" since I was sixteen, (an inexperienced teenager experimenting with alcohol). -- This started me thinking about a new TV sitcom (Starved) I'd recently seen dealing with purging, and I wondered how anyone could deliberately do this. -- This started me thinking how crass it was to make a sitcom about eating disorders, which result from serious psychological problems and are hardly comic fodder. -- Then I thought how so much of our current culture, which is so highly influenced by the media, seems to have lost its sense of civility and decency, and its sense of what is and is not appropriate. Then I cringed as the thoughts "back in my day..." and "the kids today...", went through my mind. "I can't believe I just thought that. Damn, I'm gettin' old."

Mind you, I'm not a prude. I do enjoy raunchy, off-color, politically-incorrect humor. I even enjoy pornography; some of my interests could be deemed downright perverted. But there's the matter of propriety, a proper time and place. In today's culture, the salacious has become commonplace and a part of the daily vernacular ...while we simultaneously proclaim our "values". We accept young girls dressing and looking like sluts, and then (hypocritically) make a big todo over JJ's nipple. We allow our youth to be bombarded with a constant stream of intense sensory stimulation, and wonder why it's impossible for them to just "be still". We've exchanged class and style for crassness and vulgarity.

I know every generation has to "do it's own thing". I'm sure the previous generation thought the same things about us ...and the generation before that about them. And we thought we were being radical as we "rebelled" against the oppressive attitudes of the 50's ... with our beads, bellbottoms, big shoes, and brownies. Looking back, all that seems so tame by comparison.

But where does it all end? Or will the pendulum start to swing the other way; will we end up moving toward an oppressive*, less-expressive society? Only to do the whole thing over again ...and again.

*(There're already signs of this -- our liberties being curtailed under the guise of "The Patriot Act"; "legislation to amend the constitution to prevent same-sex unions"; "the possibility of a reversal of Rowe vs. Wade" -- but those are topics for a whole 'nother blog.)

Quote of the Week: "Be careful in casting out your devils, 'lest you cast out the best part of you."

You Talkin' To Me?

I'm sharing the following anecdote which in retrospect is quite funny, but not so much at the time.

I'd finished running errands in downtown San Francisco and was waiting at the stop for the next street car. The various models of street cars, (from SF's past and from other parts of the country/world) have been restored, and are not intended for efficiency; they're a SF historical landmark. However, they comprise the "F" line which is the only transportation running down Market Street from where I was to where I wanted to go.

These cars were restored for authenticity, not necessarily comfort ...some are less comfortable than others. I especially dislike the "Peter Witt" car (modeled after a streetcar in Milan), which is especially uncomfortable. The seats are long wooded benches which run the length of either side of the car, causing the passenger to look, not out the window, or at the back of the person sitting in front of you, but right in the face of the passenger sitting opposite. After the intitial acknowledgement and smile, you're forced to play this little game of "where to focus your gaze" ...if you don't have something to read. So, when the guy sitting on my right started up a conversation, I was more than eager to engage him. The sporadic conversation itself consisted of just the exchange of simple pleasantries, nothing personal or specific.

In the meantime, there were two [young] girls sitting opposite me, nudging each other and giggling incessantly, while looking in my general direction. After awhile I began to feel uncomfortable as I realized that I was the source of their amusement. I continued making the occasional comment to the guy sitting next to me.

Then he got up to leave. I was puzzled that he was still talking, not to me, but to no one in particular. As he passed and I got a view of his right side, I was shocked to see the earpiece he was wearing, and cringed as I realized that he hadn't been speaking to me at all, but was engaged in a conversation on his cell phone. I also realized that the girls had obviously picked up on this scenario and found it most amusing. Not so much me. I felt very foolish; I immediately got off the streetcar ...several blocks before my intended stop.

At the time, I was so embarrassed, but looking back on the situation, I can now laugh. It was funny, as the giggling girls can attest.

Quote of the Week: "If you can't laugh at yourself, make fun of other people."

Pet Peeves

This is my initial posting to this blog. The name (which is a blatant rip-off from "The Fairly Odd Parents"), was changed to "Weekly", since "Daily" would be waaay too much of a commitment. At first I was reluctant to do this; I don't have any particular purpose in mind. But after perusing several of the blogs out there, I realize they range from the deeply profound to the absurdly idiotic. Some are just streams of consciousness. Blogging gives everyone a voice to say whatever they want. Ain't the internet great!

Don't get me wrong. I'm very opinionated and usually have something to say about everything ...whether I'm versed on the subject or not; I'm well acquainted with the taste of my foot. I'll probably voice a few of those opinions here. I'll start not so much with a rant, but with a list of [some of] my pet peeves, (not in any particular order of importance):

• Black guys with blond hair -- Black women can pull this off, but it looks ridiculous on guys.
• White guys with dreadlocks -- I'm not that crazy 'bout dreads anyway, but they do work in a cultural context. On White guys they just look silly.
• Adult men who wear short pants, wear backwards baseball caps, and/or ride skateboards. Talk about PP and the lost boys.
• People who talk on cells while they're walking down the street. Most of them can't walk and chew gum at the same time, let alone carry on a conversation and navigate through traffic.
• Being waited on by a clerk who insists on carrying on a full fledged conversation with a co-worker and regards your transaction as an interruption.
• Automated hierarchical phone menus ...especially when none of the options address your circumstance.
• People who don't pick up after their dogs.
• Parents who can't control their kid in public places.
• When they have every flavor on the shelves except the one you want.
• Women who bitch about the seat being left up. What? It's takes that much energy to put it down?
• People who [erroneously] say, "I could care less." or "...a myriad of..." Hrmph! And No!, I don't know what your saying.
• Unmuffled motorcycles that shatter the nighttime silence with a roar that lingers after the bike itself is many blocks away [doppler effect]. (...and I live around the corner from a Harley-Davidson shop.)
• Grocery baggers who place soft produce (pears, peaches, bananas, tomatoes, apples) on top of cans and other hard edged packages.
• Religious zealots who constantly quote scripture out of context.
• Anything about Paris Hilton. Now there's a perfect example of how you don't have to be poor to be White Trash.
• Cars that park in the driveway and completely block the sidewalk ...and don't get me started on car alarms.
• Oh yeah, George W.

I'm presenting this list with a pinch of humor, not intending to offend anyone, but to quote the Divine Miss M, "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke!"

I suspect this blog won't always be about me bitching about something. I plan to share some lighter thoughts, I just don't have any now.

Quote of the Week: "Use what you can and let the rest go by."