My date with my cousin Nicole!

I did another cool, very San Francisco thing today (and with Nicole in tow! . . . easily one of my favorite people in the world)! We talked to each other the night before and were both pretty bummed about various things, not the least was that we have really been missing our loved ones. And so I suggested that we go to this thing that I'd discovered somehow. We ended having the funnest day walking around the city with a suitcase of free clothes and finding wonderful food on this wonderfully cool and mild day. =)

It was a clothing swap event. We showed up with a huge beach bag and a SUITCASE of our old clothes, paid the $5 entrance fee and started diving through piles of clothes on big tables. Each table had a crowd about 3 deep and it just seemed like an orgy of arms. Grabbing, pulling clothes out of the piles, eve flipping over entire piles of clothes to bring bottom dwellers to the surface. . . in other words, my idea of fashion heaven . . . it was awesome, better than Buffalo Exchange, easier than Ross or Big Lots and the thrift store. And it was all free! The crowd had a few older folks, but mostly SF hipsters. All the people who, as Nicole and I have, wholly embraced the idea of recycled clothing mostly through Buffalo Exchange and Crossroads. I felt like I was actually rummaging through my own closet at some points. I found pieces that seemed to be totally me, I didn't have to buy them or commit to them, and they didn't even all smell like cat pee! Although later, Nicole said she had, at one point, found the cat pee pile.

People tried on clothes everywhere, in front of mirrors, anywhere. Most women didn't really care about taking their shirts off, either. There were these two flamers. A lady was dumping yet another bag of clothing unto a pile, and instantly there was a shrill yell from one of the gays who had spotted a full slinky mermaid halter gown completely covered in blue sequins. He threw his arms straight up in the air so that his friend could pull the thing over his head, and over his clothing. Another lady came to their aid by adjusting the halter and making sure they properly laced the back. Even more than simply finding the gown itself, this guy was soooo amazed that the dress had yet another thing to zip or lace or tie. It was pure entertainment.

I think I came out with 4 great sweaters, a dress, 2 wool-y type skirts, an office-y blouse and a great black denim jacket. And they all actually fit me. HA! Also, our $5 admission came with a drink ticket for the bar, there was on site screen printing and tailoring, an awesome DJ named Poolboy and the remaining clothing went to charity. So why, do you ask, was this a very San Francisco thing to do? Well I'm thinking that - in truth - it's something that could really be done anywhere cuz it's the coolest event to organize. Win win for all involved. I think that every city should organize events like these, I'l be back in November for the next one!

We had taken BART and a 1 minute bus ride to get to the art space where the event had been held and since we had brought a roll-y suitcase it was easy to just walk about the Mission district afterwards. The Mission district is probably the coolest part of the city for me. It's not overly artsy or even overly hip and I always have fun when I go. It's full of book stores, seemingly all lined up in a row, the shopping is totally uniqu - whether it's vintage or new - and it's just such a diverse area. I think I saw a place serving food from Senegal! After hitting up the thrift store - which seems like something Nicole and I were born to do - we ended up at this cute little place called Wierd Fish, and had really great catfish sandwiches and sweet potato fries.

Another thing we rean into: a block party full of bikers celebrating a BIKE FILM FESTIVAL! Where else would there be a whole film festival about bikes.

the Cods!

Cody is definitely alot like me. I started writing this out, but I think I'm just gonna make a list of all our striking similarities. Lists are fun!

We are both very short.
We suffer sensitive, problematic skin.
We both have a shamefully terrible sense of smell. It's so bad that please don't tell hesitate to tell me if I smell because I usually can't smell myself.
Depending on who you ask, we're pretty lazy/sleepy/mellow.
We have wet noses.
We are easy to startle/scare.
overactive eye booger production
Depending on who you ask, we're pretty furry/hairy.



The only big opposite traits that I can think of right now is that I'm dark skinned with dark hair and he's cream colored (not white!) with just a few medium brown areas. Cody is not a big chatterbox like myself, and is indeed extremely shy.

So my point is that I was just tellin' Cody that he looks really nice today. Instead of responding, he continued to sniff out the debris on our concrete patio. Only after a good 15 minutes of this did he actually plop his end down and just stare upwards. It literally looks like he's just looking up at nothing with his tongue out . It really does look like "dumb dog" or just plain retarded behavior. But I have to say, that honestly, if I were a cute little white boy lhasa apso dog, I think I'd do the exact thing. All day. Except when I was napping, which is what I'd prolly be doing 75% of the time.

Book Review: The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold

I worked at Borders for more than a year and I worked the boring ass registers, usually at night whic was always slow. I leaned there with my chin in my hand staring at the shelves actually wishing that I could help customers in their purchases. It's purely insane, but I think that's what happens anytime you place someone in any kind of confinement. The thing is that if I wasn't a register girl, I would have constant actual contact with the books themselves.

All lunacy aside, one book that I stared at the entire time was this one, cuz it was literally on the number one shelf in the front of the store for a good two years or so. It sounded interesting and got good critical reviews despite its sucess with the bookish Oprah-watching housewife types. So, I REALLY didn't wanna jump on the bandwagon and read it. But at the same time I would open it and try. But I just didn't get into it.

Last week or so, I was reading a friend's blog and she talked about reading the book and how it was so affecting that she found herself driving to work in complete tears. From then on an invisible seed had been planted. I went to the library the other day to pay my fines ($2.75! Man.) and suddenly remembered the book.

I read it in three nights. Sebold's voice is entirely unique. Never seen it before ever. I think that being allowed into the vision and point of view of another person is probably one of the awesomest feelings ever. I think that's what it is to be in love, actually. Get in someone's skin, sit in a recliner in a little theatre located behind their eye sockets, and just watch. Not judge, not worry, not affect. Just experience someone who is so not you.

Sebold allows this on two levels. She sets you up in the front row seat right next to Susie the murdered and raped 14 year old while she watches her former world from Heaven. But she also delivers this language that is new, original, totally fresh and yet entirely accessible. At 3am. In bed. From a free city library borrow.

Her characters are completely amazing individuals, but not unreal or impossible. The way she wrote the book, from Suzie's viewpoint, was definitely some work on her part. And she pulls it off. What I really enjoyed is the way she would sneak in these little pieces of info - I call them " 'omg, are you serious?' mystery info nuggets". She would just be writing a scene, and at an unsuspecting moment she'd just add in a little sentence. And ofcourse, since the story revolves around the grief of the family and the Susie's unsolved case, their are moment of utter thrill as the reader joins the characters in their search for understanding, motive and the killer himself. The sentences feel like when you've been looking for something non-urgent for a while, and it's not really a big deal to find it now or later, but when you do find it your like, 'Man, now I can do this, and this and that, cuz I finally found this thing that I've been inactively searching for for a while'. So, the nuggets definitely keep you reading and sometimes they even make you say, 'omg' out loud.



As always, if you read the first few pages and hate it, then don't force the feeling. Just cuz I thought it was a total modern classic, don't mean anything if it really ain't your thing. Either way, truly a great story, even if your mom thinks so too.

My idea of a short blog

Haven't been in the blogging mood in a while. . . I actually got tired of writing all my thoughts out cuz it made me think about things too much, and I already do that. I'm, like, sick of my own opinion. Very wierd feeling

So I thought I'd do little blogs to start off. Here goes.

I borrowed the 2 disc Pan's Labyrinth DVD from John's Dad cuz John bought the movie only DVD of the movie. I'm kind of a person who will love watching "Making of-" featurettes more than movies. John and I are very different that way. I will watch a movie, a movie from my top ten list, like twice. And I'll be good. It'll leave its impression on me and I need nothing more. But John actually watches movies over and over and over. He'll just throw on Pirates of the Caribbean during dinner. And then it eats up 3 hours of my time, I look up and it's time to sleep. And I feel dumb cuz I've already seen the movie and could've had that 3 hours back. Not that Pirates isn't a total classic. It is. I just hate getting sucked into any task lasting 3 hours.

Anyways, that was prolly just the first digression. So, yeah, the Pans Labyrinth special edition DVD is one of the best I've seen in a long time. Not only were there awesome Pale Man and Faun design/makeup/prosthetic featurettes, they had included a Charlie Rose interview with Del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron and Inarritu!!!

And it was the most watchable, intellectual yet fun yet stimulating discussion about film/storytelling/art I've heard since being in my lit classes in college. Man. Seriously. Good.

I also really liked the interactive thing that allowed the viewer to go through Guillermo Del Toro's notebook. You click on certain things and it leads to even more mini vids on how the movie makes us say, 'Wow that was a really good movie'.