A Perfect Day, Before the Inauguration

"No. No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until 'justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.'" ~ Martin Luther King, Jr., Washington D.C., 1963

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Today the Boy and I went to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Yerba Buena Gardens downtown.

Groups of people were there to read his inspirational quotes. Others were making rubbings of his words, tracing his thoughts onto paper.

It was a glorious day outside. We took the historic F-line street cars up and down Market Street. We love those fabulous old cars.

Char, I took this photo for you. ;-)


It's always fun just riding around and looking out the window. I liked capturing the street's reflections in my sunglasses.


And here's some good advice.

(I know, it's silly but I laughed so maybe you will too.)

We did go to Fisherman's Wharf..

... and splurged a little on some crab cocktails.

I really can't believe the weather here (don't be jealous, just come and visit).

But more than that, I can't believe what's happening tomorrow.

I'm just beyond excited. Beyond.

I'll be going to a simulcast of the inauguration being held outside City Hall. I'm looking forward to being back with a gigantic crowd of excited, happy people, just like on Election Night.

But before that happens, I have one last thing I have to do.

Throw a couple of shoes.

These look preppy enough, don't they?
Isn't this what someone from Kennebunkport might wear?

I know I throw like a girl, but maybe I'll get lucky tonight.

***

This is where I'll be in a little while:

Welcome to the first ever Potrero Hill Shoe Throwing Carnival. Come throw your old shoes at an effigy of George W. Bush. Donate to a good cause. Cleanse your soul from 8 years of carnage and stupidity. Put the wimpy Democrats on notice.

Let the shoes fly!

Bring a flash light. Bring shoes to throw. Wear a hood?

All shoes will be donated to an organization that distributes them to the needy in the US and worldwide.

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I'll let you know how it goes. I feel some real catharsis is going to happen tonight.

xoxo

ps.: If you wish you could be with us, throwing a shoe in very good company, I will happily envision you standing beside me, helping to guide my almost new Bass Weejun to the right place/face.

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UPDATE 10:22pm: The shoe throwing was really fun, mostly a neighborhood event. We paraded around the field with our shoes singing "Na Na Na, Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye!" Then the large Shrub was festooned with a garland of shoes while another fellow wearing a giant cardboard Bush head read some Bushisms aloud.

And then everyone started throwing shoes (although politely taking turns). I gave one of my loafers to Chipmonkey because she didn't have a shoe to throw. There was also a 21-shoe salute, at which time the Shrub's head started to separate from the body. A few more shoes and all that was left was part of a head. (A local news station was there. If there's any decent footage, I'll let you know.)

And then we went and had a whole mess of pizza. I have to admit it: it felt good to throw my loafer (I hit a knee). I don't know if throwing a shoe will restore our Constitution but knowing that I might never hear the word "nucular" again makes me almost giddy.

Excerpt from My First Press Junket

Okay, it's not the Frost/Nixon interview. But there's the Interview Me thingy going around Bloglandia right now, and when I saw there was an opportunity to be questioned by my blog crush, julochka, I thought now's the time, especially being on the Staycation and all.

Below are julochka's questions and my answers, and then at the end are the rules if you'd like to be the next Barbara Walters' special via me.

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julochka: if you could throw a shoe at anyone, who would it be and what kind of shoe would you throw?

You know, at first I thought this was going to be the easiest question to answer, and then I realized how many layers and options there might be. Also, I'm going to a Big Lebowski bowling birthday party soon, so bowling is on my mind right now, as well as what I'm going to wear. So I also keep thinking about rolling a bowling ball at someone. Anyway, back to your question.

First off, you have to decide what kind of shoe to use. Now I know in the past I mentioned a certain pair of stilletto heels that I would toss, but after really giving this some thought and thinking about the value and beauty of those shoes, I could never throw them. Anyone I would throw shoes at would merit an old pair of really stinky Keds that I had for a while that I wore without socks. They got pretty ripe. For extra impact, I'd probably load the Keds with some small rocks, and maybe even work a dog poo into the mix.

Then I would hire a baseball pitcher (I don't know jack about baseball, so I'd have to do some research) to actually throw the shoe. Because if I were granted an opportunity such as this, with the way I'm liable to throw, I certainly don't want to miss my target.

I know now I'm supposed to pick one person to throw my rock laden stinky Ked at, but choosing just one thing is never something I can do. Keeping the list under 10 is a challenge.

High on the list, depending on availability, are: Jerry Fallwell (I know he's dead but I still despise him), Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, the two despotic cheerleaders from junior high school who were so incredibly cruel to me, and maybe Dick Cheney. I say maybe because I have this Big Lebowski scenario where at the end of the alley would be Cheney, The Shrub, Condoleeza, Rumsfeld, Gonzales-- who else am I forgetting here? How can I be drawing a total blank?-- and I'd get Jesus, the John Turturro character with his purple jumpsuit and his hairnet and his coke nail, to throw a perfect strike and nail all of those bastards. Whew, even in fantasy that feels good.

ps. If you want to throw a shoe at The Shrub (kind of old news now, but hey), you can do it virtually here at Sock and Awe. I am not very good yet, but I'll keep practicing.

julochka: you are a self-professed science girl...why didn't you study science-stuff and become a famous scientist?

This is an interesting question because I (again) have several answers. One being that when you're in college, you don't know what the hell you want to do. At least, I didn't for a couple of years. Luckily, I fell in love with printing and that gave me exposure to a variety of science courses that I was required to take, including materials sciences, physics, both kinds of chemistry, and biology. I think at the time I was so wanting to get out of college and start working that the thought of going for anything more than a BS was out of the question. I also gave myself short shrift... I'm a lot smarter than I gave myself credit for, and I just assumed that I couldn't handle the really hard classes. Or perhaps I didn't find the branch of science that really made me want to commit to it. Even today, I enjoy reading a book about quantum physics as much as I do about cell biology or even some of the social sciences.

That being said, there's a romance and a passion for scientific inquiry that anyone can have and I think that's what draws me to science because it is not only full of discovery and hard work and luck, but also training the mind to think and not live in a fairy tale. Science in its truest form is very democratic (I'm not talking about research institutes and the like), and for anyone to take an interest in the physical world around us should be applauded because there are certainly many more opportunities to live in fantasyland. I like to think of myself as a science appreciator, but back 100 years ago, it was not uncommon for many middle-class homes to own a microscope just for the fun of it. How many families today gather around a microscope after dinner, just to see what they might see?

Keep in mind that many people, not all classified as scientists, made amazing discoveries throughout their lives, including men like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, where science played a part of their naturally inquisitive minds. So perhaps there's hope for me yet.

julochka: what inspires you?

Ask me tomorrow. No, I'm kidding. But on any given day, the answer could be different. However, if I was to try to see a pattern in what I find inspiring, I think it's when a person can distill a feeling or experience into such a beautifully simple way that you're left in awe. For instance, there are sentences I've read by John Steinbeck, Anais Nin or Margaret Atwood that are so simply but perfectly crafted that I have to re-read them several times over because they amaze me with their truth.

Same thing with certain artists. Take for example Andy Goldsworthy. The things he can do with twigs or rocks or leaves are extraordinary. And you and I couldn't copy him in a million years.

I'm also very visual, so colors and visual textures make a big influence on me, and also the lack thereof. I am very influenced by certain kinds of music and instruments, especially the piano and the violin.

So I guess when I look back at my answer, it's Truth, Vision or Perception, and my eyes and ears. I'm sure there are more subtle influences I appreciate and find inspiration from, but this is what comes to mind today.

julochka: before you became tangobaby, had you had other dance lessons and so were, in general, coordinated enough to learn the tango?

I have to say that if it weren't for tango, I probably wouldn't be dancing at all. Keep in mind that just because you can do ballet, it doesn't mean you can tango. Tango is a partner dance (obviously) but being comfortable with someone in your very personal space is a uniquely different kind of partner dance, even amongst the other ballroom dances. When you watch people dance Argentine tango, like in my little video, keep in mind that it's completely improvised and all of your clues you read from your partner. With tango, you quite often never know what will happen next.

That being said, I am the world's worst bellydancer and the saddest looking ballerina you've ever seen. I am definitely all about dressing up, so it's hard not to fall in love with bellydancing because the costumes are so awesome and when you have a pile of coin belts and finger cymbals and veils draped about your bedroom, you feel like Bathsheba. And the music just makes you want to move. But the difficult part about bellydancing is that people will be watching you at some point. That was what killed me. I'll never be able to perform, and with bellydance, even if you are just dancing in class, there comes a time where it's just you and the mirror and someone else's eyes. I couldn't do it. Somehow the tango doesn't affect me that way. Or I just took to it so easily. I never had a really difficult time with tango.

And ballet is just plain hard. I'm a baby. So is flamenco. Wow! I'm really bad at a lot of dances.

The only other thing that I kind of sucked at but enjoyed a lot was fencing. I do hope to get back to fencing someday so I can live out some of my little Errol Flynn daydreams (except we'd be fighting Basil Rathbone together if I was Maid Marian). The fun part about fencing is that when your arms and thighs are covered with little dark perfectly round bruises, you can look in the mirror and say, Yeah, I got those in a duel. It just makes it hard to wear short-sleeved tops.

julochka: if you were going to run away to somewhere in the world, where would it be?

I think it's not so much as a matter of where, but where and when. For instance, I would give a major body part to have been able to travel the Orient Express in the years between the world wars. Or to have taken a steam ship from New York to Europe during the same time. Or to have traveled through Africa or Arabia with Sir Richard Burton. Or the Silk Road. I am very intrigued by places where the East and West intersect. That's why Venice was so incredible last year for me.

I would also have loved to see the Earthrise from an Apollo mission. I wouldn't have minded not getting to do the moon landing, but to see the earth from space has to be one of the most amazing trips a human being can take. *sigh*

As far as destinations today, it's tough. I think I'm such a dreamer that if given the opportunity, I'd probably give almost any place a shot. I always have my passport on me, just in case. ;-)


But Turkey (anywhere in the Baltics actually), Morocco, Russia, Spain, back to Italy... anyplace there's a gypsy encampment... see, here I go again. Maybe I should think about taking up bellydancing again.

Thanks, julochka! That was fun!

***

Here's "The Rules."

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Thanks, and I'll try to do my best Barbara Walters impression ever.

***

portrait of a Gypsy Woman by Nikolai Yaroshenko.
image of Earthrise from LIFE Magazine.

Let Them Eat Cake

I think we all know by now that Marie Antoinette never said those words. (In fact, these words were spoken four years before Marie even married the Dauphin of France, when she was only 10 years old, still living in Austria. But the press dug it up later in 1789 and attributed it to her, and obviously got a lot of people whipped up about it.)

I did not go to see The Hounds last night. (Sorry Hounds! Sorry Ms. Red Shoes!) I feel like I'm on the verge of getting a cold so I thought to play it safe. I got some Nasi Goreng to eat (which is Indonesian fried rice and I don't know what the secret ingredient in it that makes it so addictive, but it's got me hooked) while I sat on the sofa in my jammies, watching something pretty and mindless: Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola.

When the movie got to my favorite scene, I could not help thinking, "Hey, it's the Neiman Marcus of pre-revolutionary France!" (This is undoubtedly the best scene in the movie.)



It occurs to me that Sarah Palin may become the Marie Antoinette of the 2008 election if the Republican ticket loses, and not by her own doing. It occurs to me that as her poll numbers are falling, even among the people who are supposed to like her, that Palin will become the sacrificial lamb of the upper echelons of the Republican party.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't like her (and I don't think that's a secret). I'm not going into the reasons why because if you read this blog, then you already know. However, I feel sorry for her in that she has been put in a position that has spiraled out of control, the flap about the wardrobe from Neiman's just being the latest snafu.

I wonder why it is that someone in the McCain campaign did not evaluate the potential devastation that such expenditures could incite if word got out. I mean, it's not like the press didn't go insane over John Edward's DNC-funded $400 haircut for more than a few days ("It is the haircut that will not die. He can spin it, he can gel it, he can mousse it. But it is not going away").

In fact, they went bonkers and the haircut is credited with helping to bring down his candidacy. Anne Coulter called Edwards a "faggot" and Rush Limbaugh asked if Edwards "would be our first female president."

So given the quite recent history of what happens regarding the press when they find out about expenditures deemed inherently and dangerously mockable, did someone in the McCain campaign stop for a moment to wonder if this Palin wardrobe shopping spree might not be a huge problem? It's not like she came up to them and demanded almost $200K for hair and makeup services. Someone came to her and decided what to do.

Especially when their whole raison d'etre is to ingratiate themselves with the average, everyday hard-working folks of America. It's the hypocrisy of it that keeps fueling the fire. Average everyday Americans know you don't have to spend $150,000 to look put together. Don't they realize that people are truly freaking out over losing their homes and their entire retirement savings and their 401Ks and they're worried that they can't even afford clothes for themselves right now? Just like most people realize that Cindy McCain is not your typical "small business owner." LMAO!

I don't blame Palin for it, I feel sorry for her. But this just highlights the judgment of the people at the top...is anyone up there thinking at all about how they might be perceived? That we're all not really so very stupid? And this is the part I think I've been trying to get to... I want Sarah Palin to be examined, taken to task and made accountable for the things that really matter: her association with the Alaskan Independence Party, her vindictiveness against her enemies in the Alaskan political scene, her fraudlent expenditures and expenses, her extremist religious views. This wardrobe story is a non-story, albeit a fun one and great for making a mockery of, but it's still a smokescreen. We must ask ourselves, why is it that the media will devote so much attention to this, a minor bit of sensationalism, when it should have been addressing the deeper and more serious issues since August? If she's to be sent home in defeat, I want it to be for the real issues, not for a closet full of expensive clothing that might not have had much to do with her.

They're going to throw Sarah and her nice clothes under the bus when the Straight Talk Express finally crashes. And by they, I mean her own party. John and Cindy will go back to their eight homes and live life like normal ("But, look, I've a wonderful life. I have to go back and live in Arizona"), but the little princess that they plucked from the hinterlands will go home in tatters. They'll blame her that she was too new and inexperienced (that's already happening) and that she was too divisive. But they picked her for all of those reasons. They wanted a pit bull.

But they'll write history to show they didn't. And everyone will just remember the clothes. And that's the problem.

***

Sometimes it takes history several generations to fess up about what the other side of the story might be. It would be interesting to know how Palin's selection for the VP slot actually came to be, but that probably won't happen till long after you and I are gone.

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"It is quite certain that in seeing the people who treat us so well despite their own misfortune, we are more obliged than ever to work hard for their happiness." ~ Marie Antoinette

But looking at the larger picture, if it wasn't for Marie Antoinette and the fall of the Ancien Regime, the Revolution and the Terror, then we wouldn't have the principles and the base of thought that is the foundation of our own democracy (not to mention the resources. We would have never achieved freedom from British rule if not directly aided by French money and troops).

Perhaps in hindsight, Palin might be one of those figures that brings about a new era of history in our country, even as she is thrown to the wolves. Only time will tell.

ps. If you really want to learn more about Marie Antoinette, don't watch that Sofia Coppola movie. It's a chick flick/music video. But you can watch a fantastic documentary and also read Antonia Fraser's book. Both are imminently fascinating and approachable.

pps. What you really don't know is that the BEST thing at Neiman Marcus are the Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies. I kid you not. These are the BEST cookies you will ever eat IN YOUR LIFE. Hear me now. And they only cost $2.50! Which means that if you have $150,000 and can't find any clothes you like at Neiman's, you can buy 60,000 cookies instead.

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This is the other good scene (the sex scene) from the film but it has nothing to do with the Republicans. I just put it in here in case you're tired of history.



Fabulous shoe photo from this blog. Did you know the shoes in the movie were designed by Manolo Blahnik? I didn't!!! No wonder they're so gorgeous!!!

UPDATE 8:11am: I am an effin' prophet: "These people are going to try and shred her after the campaign to divert blame from themselves," said a McCain insider, referring to McCain's chief strategist, Steve Schmidt, and to Nicolle Wallace, a former Bush aide who has taken a lead role in Palin's campaign." You can read the rest here.

But I said it first! You saw me do it.

Weekend Update

No wonder I get tired on Mondays.

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Saturday: One of my favorite views of San Francisco.

Because when I see this sight above, it means I'm sitting on my favorite stool in one of my favorite places in the Haight, looking out the window, and waiting for this...

A bratwurst with onions and a cream soda from Rosamunde's in the Lower Haight. (Next to this heaven, this grilled goodness is probably one of my other very favorite things in town.)

Yes, it is that good.

That was part of my reward for a four-hour walk in the Haight and through Golden Gate park (getting photos for a next book, of course.)

And then back home to meet The Boy in time to get to the 2008 California State Yo Yo Championships at the Exploratorium...

Let's just say that Championship level yo-yo-ing is very entertaining and certainly holds your attention. (If you want to get an idea of how fun, check this out. We saw this kid--he won last year.)

And then whizzing across town to catch a baseball game: the SF Giants vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates (we won), and a second bratwurst (this one with sauerkraut).

Jose Feliciano sang the National Anthem (which was wayyyyy cool and we were so thrilled and it's a very beautiful version--see clip below) and some little Boy Scouts got the game going.




(I am very proud of this photograph of the ballpark at sunset, btw.)

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And then the next day:

To stumble upon this place (part of the next day's photo walk), in a store where I have no place being and should never return to. I was too overwhelmed to buy anything. I feel like I have dodged a bullet.


And then a walk along the Embarcadero, taking more photos.


Just another day...

Then, meeting up with The Boy (again)...

...who drove us to an for-sale/open house of a famous rock star he happens to know.

Downstairs in the room off the music recording studio, I found a folder that had some paperwork in it, so I pretended like I was a CIA operative and took this photo so you would know I was not making this up.

***

Sadly, the only thing left undone was to attend the Lebowski Fest 2008, but there's really only so much a person can realistically cram into a weekend.

That's okay. I'll just watch my favorite scene from the film a few times and that will be enough. Hope your weekend was mighty fine!

I'm going to collapse now. Nitey nite.


Hotel California - For more of the funniest videos, click here

A Cool $10 Mil and 2K in LA

I know I said I would stop with the politics (and I will), but this post made me really happy.

I've never been much of a fan of LA (I know, I know, my Northern California roots are showing), except for a place that makes the best sushi I've ever had, Remix Vintage Shoes, and when my sister lived there (and we would bust a gusset on all that sushi).

I hope this is a sign of more good things to come. Way to go, Culver City!

Sushi, shoes and kick-ass volunteerism--now that's a post! (Pats self on back.)

le plus beau du quartier

This post will hopefully make up for the deviant one that precedes it.

For those of you who couldn't make it to the party, I thought you might like a little peek into our day with Little Curly Girl.

We had a grand time.

See for yourself.

Happy happy.

***

Miss Fabulous in the garden.


Our new friend "Puss"


Auntie Tangobaby kicks off her shoes...


And someone else puts them on!
Looks like Option 3 is a go!

And here's the MTV version, with a little diva action in the middle.