Bomboville

playa dust

2006-09-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

they say the playa dust gets on everything, sticks to everything. i had nightmarish vision of this impending malady before we even got to the playa. but what i realized, as we approached black rock city, was that the playa dust signaled the very fact that we have arrived. that hellish place, crack-filled and dry lake bed, howling afternoon winds, it's so awful no living thing ever survives... i've never seen and ugly place look so beautiful.

i rode to the edge of the playa one afternoon, facing nothingness and imagined that i was there all alone. that afternoon-sun baked every moisture out of me and cast a long lost shadow that was half of me. i came, like most, to find the long lost version of myself. right there i began to realize that i came here not to find out who i was in the past, but to find who i am and who i can become.

but i am not alone. right behind me are a million lights, loud thumping music, insane art and tens of thousands of crazy and lovely people. i closed my eyes in hopes in imprisoning that curious dream.

there are a thousand of memories to write about, each of which cast a lingering smile. that memorable week spent with people i love. all my phenomenal friends who were in the same odyssey, who seeked and found whatever was unyielding and who i got to know their beautiful being. there are a few things that can describe the unfaltering and phenomenal energy that the whole place emmited, like one gigantic morphing and pulsating living thing... it was one of my most memorable experiences.

it is indeed true.. the playa dust does get into everything and sticks to everything. everyday i pick up something i own and remnants of the playa would float off... like some magic dust it would hypnotize me and electric memories would jolt me. i am sad at times because i miss it... but i hope to go back, to that ugly and god-forsaken dry lake bed... the most beautiful dusty place in the world.

Pool Night...

2006-05-25T16:12:00.000-07:00

We lost 6-9 to Skip's... but what the hell, it was fun.

The Town of Hercules votes against Wal-Mart...

2006-05-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

... using eminent domain.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/24/BAGM8J15531.DTL

Wal*Mart-> Bad for America -------- Hooray Hercules!!!

Spam

2006-05-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Looks like a slow day at work, I figured I'll do something productive and clean my email.

Spams of the day:

From Dwight Dunbar... We found company ready to EXPLODE!!
From Tangible Curtish... Melt away pounds with Hoodia
From Sistrunk Esmeralda... Ephedra for your weightloss
A joke from Tommy Fullove...
"Did you know it’s a sin for a woman to make coffee?Yup, it’s in the Bible. It says . . . “He-brews”."
From Roscoe Jewell... E'n'l'a'r'g'e your p''enis up to 10 cm or up to 4 inches!
From Duvall Benito... Dear Home Owner, Your credit doesn't matter to us!
From Louie Skaggs... LUXURY WATCHES - BUY YOUR OWN ROLEX FOR ONLY $219!
From Gloria Bedrauex... Icrease Your Sexual Desire and Sperm volume by 500%

I was thinking... what if they were all true?? I can look good, feel good, have a massive manhood and be rich all in one sitting.

ding...
Email from boss.... Hi Vic, Please update me with the status of xxxxxx project.

Should I tell him now that I'll be quitting soon since I'm setting up this former Nirubian strongman a US checking account and in return I'll get 10 percent of all his deposits which amounts to 2 million dollars... but on the meantime, I'll let him use my personal checking account or should I wait till I collect all that dough??? hmmm... choices choices...

Boozers, pirates and nudies... and the marathon they ran

2006-05-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

I thought it was some weird ass dream. A thunderous roar from somewhere not too distant waked Brandi, Iggy and me up. I thought that it couldn’t be real. What and who would make such a raucous on this holy Sunday morning at 9 A.M.. Iggy barked and ran like a mad-dog in the backyard, which was nothing new really. I soon realized it was bay-to-breakers marathon… and the marathon runners must’ve been done and then came the comical tail end. Brandi and I went to go watch the nudies, penguins, pirates and pirate ships, beer-filled grocery carts, tiki bars, nuns, cavemen/women, nurses, doctors… like Halloween in springtime... in the middle of the day... My favorite has to be the “delegation” from Marina, which is the yuppie district of San Francisco. A group of friends dressed in yuppie attire held a sign that says “Marina”. Someone yelled, “Marina go to hell.” On to which the reply was “You people scare me.”

Every year I have the same comment --- People who need to put on costumes are naked.

Here's something good from the news today...

Boy, 7, swims from Alcatraz to SF

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/22/MNGLTJ04AG3.DTL

"A 7-year-old boy has become one of the youngest people to swim the cold, swift waters between Alcatraz Island and San Francisco, completing the 1.4-mile distance in 47 minutes.
...Braxton Bilbrey could be the youngest ever to accomplish it. "

Hooray to Braxton Bilbrey, a second-grader from Glendale Arizona!!!

bike to work day....

2006-05-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was bike to work day. I should have, but I woke up too late. I got to work and I couldn't find parking. I guess no one knew.

Iggy pooped

2006-05-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

Iggy’s been enjoying the lucky-weather-streak we’ve been having. Today he seems to ask me if he can stay out longer or if he can have a pool in the backyard, even those mini-kid ones that you fill with a garden hose. He’s sleeping right now and I wonder what he’s dreaming about. Maybe that pool… or the cat… or that bone that he won’t give up.

fire in the sky

2006-05-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Kaboom fest was last Saturday. A thousand colors exploded into wonderful images in the dark and fog-less sky. I brought my camera to take pictures, but Brandi suggested that perhaps it’s best just to soak in the moment.

It was the perfect place, perfect night, and perfect company to soak in the moment… tru dat.

picture by sdmphotography.... i heart sf

Pool night

2006-05-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

It was a warm San Francisco evening. The sky turned majestic orange as the sun set. As it often does now, maybe there is something with the warm air that that torches the early evening sky or maybe something with my hyperactive imagination. My rose colored glasses foresaw a festive result to last night’s pool match. How bad could it be, I thought. We beat this team 12-3 the last time we played and this time we’re playing on our turf.

We started off one player short. I begged and bribed Christine to show up. Two beers was the bribe, Amstel Light… ordering them made me cringe.

I was talking to someone before the matches about how our team controlled its own destiny. I hear this in SportsCenter a lot in reference to a team that necessitates winning the rest of its games. My thought was when we win all our remaining three games we’ll be in first place. But I was told by beer buddy that fate had been pre-determined and we’ll just have to play it out.

Hallelujah.

But I don’t buy that crap. You see, I’m an Epicurean. To believe in fate would be to the worst kind of slavery. Hogwash, I say. I believe in working hard and with a bit of good luck should make for positive results. I gave him a jovial toast, “to fate”… with a wink.

I walked away to watch my teammates play as I reached into my pocket to rub my good-luck coin. We won, again by 12-3, as fate would have it.

good night...

Tonight... on ABC

2006-05-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

WTF!!!!! David Blaine: Drowned Alive
http://abc.go.com/specials/davidblaine.html

Two hour special for David Blaine to hold his breath for 9 minutes...

Kill your TV.

Izu, Eco and their son Timber

2006-05-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

I was having the grandest time at my old roommate Izu’s birthday party when an inner voice told me that perhaps it was time to go home. Home was a mere two blocks away but it may very well be in Alcatraz if Brandi and I decided to stick a little longer.

Brandi and I got to the party earlier that night and it seemed the magic brownie had started to cast its wicked spell to a few revelers. The Masonic Pixie had been busy sowing its magic dust and all were giddy as six year olds waiting for Christmas morning. “Are you there yet?” and “How long does it take?” were the standard questions.

Izu was having the merriest time. Her closest and dearest friends were all there and her most treasured gift was an extremely adorable 1-year-old Dachshund named Timber. Timber has the most expressive eyes that seem to be yearning for affection. Izu has wanted to have a dog for as long as I can remember… now she has Timber… most likely not the first Hippie Dachshund but will be the most profound.

Here's a funny conversation... Izu and Eco were sitting on floor and between them was Timber.

Izu: I'm your mother (pointing to herself) and this is your father (pointing to Eco).
Eco: (chuckles)
Izu: So you're our son
Eco: (laughs)
Izu: But I guess you knew that.

Nostalgia hit as soon as we started walking up Masonic. I do walk up this street from time to time but no longer to go home. 1313 Masonic is on the third and top floor of this wonderful Edwardian flat. “Please Remove Shoes” was the sign at the bottom of the thirty-seven steps. Thirty-seven… Mere thirty-seven on most days but agonizing thirty-seven on bang-out nights and some days too. On the 30th step you are welcomed by an Eco drawing. The drawing is that of a tiny cross inside a heart enveloped by a star. On top of the drawing are the words “Love Heals”.

As we mingled amongst the crowd one thing was apparent. This was pixie-land and there was nothing normal about it. I got to think that perhaps in the whole world, you would not be able to hear the same conversation. I found Eco in the living room. He gave me a hug as if I was his son returning from a long journey. He kissed my cheek and said, “Welcome home.”

Home… is where the heart is. Eco and Izu provided that home and I am truly thankful that they gave me a fabulous glimpse of a true and honest love and friendship. I guess, as you journey along you will have and find many homes. Home is where the heart is and it is where you feel… at peace.

At the end of the night Brandi and I walked down the same thirty-seven steps giggling and laughing about the entire nights event. They probably weren’t that funny at all for I can't even remember what we were laughing about... but the hearty laughs I do remember. We walked down Haight Street holding hands, I gave my pretty girl a kiss on the cheek and we headed to our home.

Iggy got skillz

2006-05-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

Iggy received his diploma for Basic Obedience Class today. He's on the road to higher education! Good job Iggy! Go conquer the world! The world is your oyster!

When we got home, he ate his diploma.

iggy contemplating his future

whiskey the crazy glue and i am a fizzed out soda

2006-05-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

I don’t like Thursdays much. It is such a difficult and challenging day because Wednesday evenings are pool night. On a side note, I have to say that these ass-cracks need to go out of fashion. I mean, some are nice, some are foul, but lately there’s more foul than nice. I guess that’s what happens to fashion. Fashionistas experiments then the sheeples follow. Looks good on the fashionistas, but lame on the sheeples. Ahh.. those asses crack a thousand ways I suppose… but they never crack a smile. I suppose I can stop hanging out at places where ass-cracks are abundant. But what do I on pool nights???

Speaking of which, our pool team won last night!!! Woohoo.. Murio’s rock. Josh cleaned out 3-0 and he even let me use his pool-stick Michelle. Yes, he has a name for his pool-stick. The other stick’s name is Six Flags, so I hear. Josh was walking on air, grinning from ear to ear for he was da man of the night. His play probably saved our season. Go Josh!!!

The problem with winning though is that we celebrate too much. Eck.. and it was a Wednesday. And yesterday was Rich’s birthday, the El Capitan’s 50th. So, we had a Jameson for winning and a Jameson for the birthday. And another Jameson just because we like Jameson and another because bartender AJ likes Jameson too. Jameson gave AJ a hug and a kiss when he left for the night... which made us wonder a bit.

That’s why I don’t like Thursdays very much.

and Kobe and Lakers sucks!!!

moy higante torta man-wich

2006-05-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

I had this gigantic torta sandwich today. A torta is a Mexican rendition of a hoagie. A hoagie, of course, is a giant sandwich. But this one is HUGE! It's burrito huge, it's like it-can-feed-three-people huge. I had the Milanesa, which is the breaded steak. I ordered it without tomatoes because I don't like tomatoes and without jalepenos. The last time I had a sandwich with jalopenos I sweated like I ran a marathon. I phoned in my order at Gallardo's next door, went to pick it up and I got there just in time to watch the cook put my torta together. I was thinking, maybe they need more bread for this thing. I mean, they stacked this torta with heaps of Milanesa. Then I thought, maybe after they use more bread for this torta they need to find more people to eat it.

It was good though.

Primero De Mayo

2006-05-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

I need to learn the Spanish version of the American Anthem. Yesterday was "A Day Without Immigrants" day. Somehow I missed myself. Now I know what its like to have a day without me!

But on a serious note... good job on Bush Co on politicizing this issue. Why are we talking about it now??? Because it is a wedge issue and it obviously divides this country. Funny, I always thought that leaders are meant to unite us. Shame on the president for politicizing this issue. While he’s at it, he could rename all the States, after all only Washington has a truly American name. How about all the major American cities? Again, only Washington D.C. has a truly patriotic name. Let’s start with the town next to his Crawford ranch Waco (from the Indian Tribe Huecos) and his home state of Texas (Spanish for Friend). Lets call it, Village Missing Idiot. If the INS really wants to deport people they couldn't just have rounded up everyone in the rallies. Out of the million people that showed up I would bet that at least half are illegal immigrants. Since we've solved all other problems we'll tackle this since the illegal immigrants are syphoning all the resources and wonderful jobs that are meant for hard-working Americans.

I work in the Mission district - the gentrified Hispanic neighborhood of San Francisco. I sometimes would go pick up a burrito on the corner of 18th and Folsom. Around the corner from there, a group of Hispanic men would be huddled under a tree waiting for passing trucks. As one would stop in front of the group, they would raise their hands and wave as if they're refugees awaiting a ride out of starved state. They are not starved though... they look strong and able. The man in the truck picked up three men and off they went to a job. I later found out that these men could be hired for as little as $20 dollars a day for whatever labor work you have such as moving furniture, paint a basement or weed out the backyard.

Some American dream, eh....

Good-bye Kellie - from the closet american idol fan

2006-04-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

Ah, I guess the American public isn't easily fooled after all. Oh Kellie, we can tell you've been playing that "dumb" role all this time. But you're not funny anymore, so you needed to go. It was painful to watch your last performance and I must say it was very dull. You were supposed to sing a love-song and it seemed to me that you haven't been in love. I didn't sense the passion, it felt like you had an uninspired heart.

Good-bye Kellie and good luck to all your future Hollywood endeavors.

Leprechauns

2006-04-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

On our way back from Gualala, we saw the end of a double rainbow. I mean, I've never seen the end of a rainbow much less two rainbows. I thought there might be a leprechaun party over the end of the rainbow, you know, with a pot of gold. But since there were two rainbows then maybe I thought we'd find two pots of gold. Then I thought, maybe this is really one of a kind and we'd find lots and lots of pots of gold. To my dismay there weren't any. We only found sheeps.

Brandi took this lovely picture and I showed it off at work.

My cube neighbor Maria informed me though that this picture is actually not of two rainbows but of one rainbow - and the other one was its reflection. Note the color scheme is reverse on the weaker one. Thanks a lot Maria. I can't wait to pop one of your bubbles. She then asked, "you weren't expecting to find a pot of gold were you?"

Enchanted Garden

2006-04-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

Iggy killed the backyard. Then, the non-stop rain fed the unwanted weeds and now has taken over the backyard. The once lush grass lawn is now a mudpit. I'm going to try to fix it though. I plan to find my hybernated green thumb and do a makeover with a budget of... hmmmm... I say 300 of rent deductable dollars. I'll give myself 2-3 months.

This is the "before" picture. Actually, this is the now picture.

Note the white-trash-ish ladder and the folding chair doubling as Iggy fence. The once beautiful lemon tree that fell victim to the non-stop rain, the once blossoming bougainvillea that now looks like an ungroomed and balding old man and the runaway bamboo shoots that looks like unkept eyebrows. And the perpetrator... Iggster. There are many treasures in there - the rose bushes, birds of paradise, rosemary, mexican sage, fragrant jasmine and plenty of other forgotten but not dead adorable plants.

This is what I envision the backyard to be when I'm done, taken from Sunset Magazine.

Wish me luck! Here's crossing my green thumbs.

Free!!!

2006-04-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Brandi and I saw this "free toilet" on the side of the road on route 1 on our way to Gualala. I mean, obviously someone had a pretty funny sense of humor. Who would pick-up such a gross thing. Anyway, I had to make a U-turn and come back to take the picture. She said, I can always take the picture the next day.

The next day, the "free toilet" was gone.

Apollo

2006-04-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Apollo (aka the Sun God),

Give us five days of these and I promise to slay all the weeds in my backyard. .. and the slugs.

This weeks weather

2006-04-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Weather for San Francisco, CA

Mon 60° 47°

Tue 64° 48°

Wed 66° 49°

Thu 64° 50°

I almost cried when I saw the Google weather forecast for the week. Hooray sunshine! Saying "partly cloudy" brings so much hope. Hello pastey-white legs!!!

Us

2006-04-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is Brandi and I. Brandi has the most beautiful eyes. This picture was taken in Yosemite Valley while we were trying to nap in the middle of the valley. If you listen closely, you can hear the stream. I'm just kidding. It was a river.

This is Brandi. See those eyes?

Our Home

2006-04-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

This is our home. In the Haight/Ashbury district in San Francisco.

Iggy

2006-04-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

This is Iggy. He loves cheese. He loves to chase squirrels and birds. He's my best pal.

He hangs out in Upper Haight, Panhandle, Buena Vista Park, Corona Heights and Baker Beach. He doesn't answer to Lassie.

Underwear

2006-04-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this is selling well...

catchy picture though.

Mr. Watson, come here

2006-04-14T12:42:00.000-07:00