mi causa es su causa

How badly do I want this Matt Diffee t-shirt?
Badly.

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"There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are the links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite." ~ Abraham Lincoln

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"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to continually be part of unanimity." ~ Christopher Morley

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"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted." ~ Bertrand Russell

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Tomorrow some lovely FOTs (Friends of Tangobaby) are turning out for a little celebration.

A picnic in the park to meet K and the kids, eat some sandwiches, play on the swings and just hang out with a little family that is long overdue in the Friend Department.

Of course it's foggy, windy and freezing cold today (yet another summer day in San Francisco!) but, sunshine or not, we're off to picnic on Sunday.

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The title of this post, a riff on mi casa es su casa and a nod to one of the greatest scenes in Pulp Fiction (not that I'm at the Eric Stoltz level of dress and/or coolness), is because while I realize that not everything I care about or think about is required reading or pondering by anyone else, for those who choose to take up my causes once in a while, unasked-- just jumping in and saying, What can I do?... those people make me so glad to know that I'm not kicking around in a vacuum.

Looking back on this holiday in years to come, I'll remember this particular Memorial Day weekend also as a group of strangers who became friends because they wanted to serve another, just by being kind.

Twenty Years of Trouble

Last night The Boy and I went to see a friend of his, Lloyd Dangle, give a presentation at the Cartoon Art Museum. (Yes, it has been a week full of art. We are very fancy this week.)

The Boy introduced me to the comic strip Troubletown a couple of years ago, and I've been laughing (and cringing inside because it's painfully true) at this comic strip ever since.

Most of you are very, very familiar with cartoonist Lloyd Dangle's work, even if you don't know his name. If you've ever felt under the weather and picked up a package of Airborne at the drug store, Lloyd is the guy who drew the art for the packaging, with the sick people and the little crazy germs. (Personally, I think the art is the best thing about the product, since it certainly hasn't ever kept me from catching a cold.)

Anyway, Lloyd is a really cool guy, kinda quiet and maybe a little shy, but he's got a wicked sense of humor and tells it like it is. His comic strip Troubletown is twenty years old this year, and if our politics keep on going the way they are, Lloyd will never run out of things to draw.

Lloyd gave a presentation about himself and his work, where I learned a lot about:

a. Michigan (I did not know that it is called The Mitten! How cute! I guess that lack of geographic awareness is part of what happens when you grow up in California, in addition to not knowing what snow is).

b. Why Ronald Reagan may not have been the president many fondly remember now. But how Bush will keep artists working for decades to come.

c. What to do when crazy people send you mail that looks like it could be a bomb.

and d. How to draw a cartoon likeness of John McCain. (It involves a potato. I am not going to give away the secret...you'll have to learn for yourself on the tutorial on his blog.)

Aside from all of that knowledge, I also got my own copy of his newest book, Troubletown Told You So: Comics that Could've Saved Us from This Mess, which is amazingly prophetic yet hilarious. Not only do I have the book, but it is autographed, bears not one, not two, but three anniversary stickers that proclaim "Cartoons that Kick Ass," and it is signed to his Core Fan, which I now apparently am.

I don't know what responsibilities lie in being someone's Core Fan but I am going to find out and then do my darnedest to live up to my new role.

(So start reading Troubletown and buy a book. Especially if you are from The Mitten.)

Laughing Hard at The Purple Onion

I was going to call this post "Laughing My Ass Off at The Purple Onion," but then I thought that didn't sound very ladylike. But "Laughing Hard at The Purple Onion" isn't a very good title either because it just sounds like I was laughing at an onion that happened to be purple. Like I'm losing my mind in the produce section.

So I may re-title this post at some point in the future when I can say what I really mean.

What I really did mean to say is that:

1. I went to a comedy club in North Beach on Friday night (yes, back so soon) called The Purple Onion.
2. While I was at the comedy club, I laughed so hard that had I still been sick with the most recent cold, I probably would have coughed up a lung. (That is meant as a total compliment to the performers. I laughed really hard.)

The Purple Onion is one of those classic places where some really great comedy talent has taken the stage (Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Richard Pryor, Mort Sahl) and when you walk down those crazy, narrow stairs to enter the club (I worry a little about the 2-drink minimum and going up the even crazier staircase to the ladies' room--someone is going to break an ankle there), you feel like maybe this is what it would be like to go to The Cavern Club, where the Beatles first played.

This club has some serious historic atmosphere. You can feel it coming out of the brick walls and low ceiling overhead (how charming to be in an old unreinforced brick basement in Earthquake City.)

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Anyhoo, we went to see Dan Piraro, the creator of the comic Bizarro (and a subject of one of my favorite posts, The Food Baby). He's a syndicated cartoonist and I'm sure you've seen his work unless you have no sense of humor or you live in a place where the local newspaper has banned his work. He's incredibly warped, sarcastic and funny as hell, and he even finds the time to be a vegan and an animal-rights activist (although as a devoted carnivore, I will keep that information to myself).

The comic who opened for him, a local guy named Johnny Steele, was hilarious-- especially if you have grown up or lived in the Bay Area for a while.

The clip below is a mini-documentary about Dan and his art and his comedy. You can see parts of his previous show, some of the material he also used in this one. The best part of the night was when he read his hate mail to us, but unfortunately we don't get to see that on the clip. But you should watch it anyway--it's a cool little video. And if you think you'd like to see him, get on his mailing list.





Picture of The Purple Onion was something I should have taken myself if I had a proper camera, but instead I got it off of flickr from someone named Sophiesunset.

The Food Baby

The Boy has a friend named Dan who publishes a funny cartoon called Bizarro.

Last week he was telling me about one cartoon in particular that made him crack up. I don't have it here so you'll have to imagine it from the description.

Two women are sitting and talking. One woman has a pregnant belly. The other woman says to her friend: "Congratulations! When is the baby due?"

And the other woman says, patting her tummy, "Oh, I'm not pregnant. I just had lunch. This is my food baby."

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Let's just say we had some nice Food Babies at our house yesterday on Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to give mine up for adoption today.

For those of you who don't spend enough time on the internet already, here is another fun place to hang out (if you like to cook): The epicurious video website!

PS. I'm never organized enough to brine my turkey ahead of time, but this is the first year I injected it with butter, broth and spices...and let's just say this turkey was my best so far. Plus, you get to use this gigantic stainless steel syringe and you look like a crazy veterinarian. It's fun!