Happy Birthday, Noe!

Today is the day that we celebrate Noe's Birthday. We're not positive about the exact date because we found her in our backyard when she was 4-5 days old.

Noe turns 6 today!

I still love looking at at her baby pictures from when we first found her. She was so cute!

6 years of Noe.

She'll be starting first grade this year ;)

Becoming "that" couple

When I put on my clothes today, I chose to wear my "Ohio" t-shirt, which I don't wear very often. It's the only brown t-shirt that I own. I put it on with a pair of light blue jeans.

As I'm putting my socks on, Dick walks into the bedroom wearing a brown t-shirt, with a light blue pair of jeans.
It's the only brown t-shirt that he owns.

oy.

Next thing you know, we'll be "that couple" wearing matching "Pluto" shirts at Disneyland. :)

Paranomia

Every once in a while, I go through a period when I wake up in the middle of the night, and can't go back to sleep.

This happened to me last night. I was awake from about 2:00-5:30.

I hate it when that happens. It generally wrecks me for the rest of the day.

It always reminds me of the song Paranomia by Max Headroom & The Art of Noise.

Ah yes... when's the last time you thought of that song?

It really doesn't help to have that song floating around in my head when I can't sleep.

Not very relaxing.

"How am I going to get to sleep?"



What ever happened to Max Headroom?
Where is he now?
Remember The "Max Headroom" TV series?

Bonus:
Color Guard Trivia!
Calling all guard geeks!
Yes, Philip, or Sis. This means you.

Warm Fuzzies

Most of you know that Dick plays his piano regularly, and I'm the lucky girl who gets to listen to him play and sing.

He usually plays jazz standards, but also mixes in show tunes, Beatles, Billy Joel, etc.,

This morning, he to played a song that makes me smile every time I hear it.

Every time he plays and sings "House at Pooh Corner", it makes me all warm and fuzzy :)

What is it about the song that I love so much? I didn't even know this song until Dick first played it for me many years ago.

I think it's because it reminds me that my husband actually had a childhood, a long, long time ago. He doesn't talk about his childhood often, and it makes me wonder what he was like as a little boy. At least, that's what I think about when I hear this song.

Or, it's just sweet to hear him sing a song about a little bear who has a honey jar stuck on his nose. :)

WebTrina

Back in the days of the dot-com boom heyday, Dick was a huge fan of WebVan. He would rave about the fact that he could order all
his groceries online, and schedule a delivery time that accommodated his schedule.

Sadly, we all remember the demise of webvan.com.

Lucky for Dick, I moved into his house shortly afterwards.

That's when we established: WebTrina.

"You don't need WebVan! You have WebTrina!"

Because I work from home, I have the luxury of setting my own schedule. I often run errands during the day, before Dick comes home. He hardly missed WebVan at all, because now he had the luxury of having WebTrina.

And so it has been for many years now. WebTrina has a longstanding reputation of quality service and products. Dick hasn't had a disappointing experience with WebTrina yet. (Except, perhaps, the time that he insisted that I return the bacon, because he deemed it "too lean".)

Dick has told his friends about WebTrina. They are all envious, and wish that they, too, could sign up for WebTrina. Actually, some of his friends have been able to take advantage of a limited amount of WebTrina Services:

Need something from Costco? Call WebTrina!

Have a question about the best prices in town? WebTrina, at your service!

Need transportation or hotel arrangements? WebTrina is here for you!

Need a new Xbox Game delivered to your Door? WebTrina will find it for you!

Best of all, we finally registered our own domain name: WebTrina.com.


WebTrina:At Your Service

Today is my Bloggiversary!

Hey! How about that? Three years of blogging.
Who would've thought I'd have so much to say, without ever really saying anything.

It all started here: my first post

It's quite obvious that I really enjoy blogging. I love having a record of my day-to-day events. Things that I would have completely forgotten about, if I hadn't written about them. (although, I suppose, some things are probably best left forgotten.) I also love having a way to keep up with my friends and family (and who knows who else), just as I keep up with those who also blog. I enjoy it because it occasionally provides an outlet of therapy for me. Sometimes, you just gotta get it out there for the universe to see! And finally, I've discovered that through the wonders of the internet, people will find my blog and will share amazing stories with me that I wouldn't have otherwise known!

In honor of this occasion, I thought I'd share my Top 5 Favorite Blog Posts. You know, the ones that I look back on, that always make me smile. :)

Trina's Top 5 Blog Posts

5. The Wonders of the Internet (this still amazes me)

4. Gay Boyfriend (Because I still think we can sell this concept)

3. The Proposal Story (because if I hadn't written about it here, I would have forgotten about all of the little details)

2. The Hooker Story (the story of when I was mistaken as a hooker in China)

and my number 1 favorite blog from the past 3 years...

1. Tales of the Cartoon Squash Baby! (Part 1 and Part 2) (Because this story is still so frickin' funny!)

Horray for Cousins Dinner!

See, I *told* you guys that it would be on the blog in the morning!



Last night, my sister and my 3 cousins came over for dinner.

We've been getting together for "Cousins Dinner" once or twice a year for several years now. It's a great tradition we have to get the 5 of us (with an occassional spouse, or S.O.) together for some quality cousins time.

I've always been quite amazed at how close the 5 of us are. There's a 16 year age-gap from the oldest to the youngest, but we all get along so well, and really enjoy each other's company. We're also very lucky that we all live in the Bay Area, and that we're able to see each other as often as we do. We often see each other at larger family gatherings, but it's special to all of us to see each other in a smaller/cousins only group.

I can't honestly remember when Cousins DInner started. I'm pretty sure my two youngest cousins, Kenneth & Cheri, were still in High School, maybe even younger.

Anyhow, I've always thought that this was such a wonderful tradition, and such a special relationship that we have. Everyone has such busy schedules these days, but I'm so glad that we are able to coordinate our calenders once or twice a year.

update

Bruce has just posted his (very funny) rendition of the evening on his blog. I may have beat him to the punch by posting before him, but he wins in the "witty" department! So funny (and more pictures, too!).

Failure

(just sent to me by Blane)

Now, I'm generally not one to comment on politics, but this is really funny...

1- Go to www.Google.com

2- Type in Failure

3- Look at the first listing and laugh at what comes up first

4- Tell other people before the people at Google Fix it

Oh, the irony.

I'm feeling better today. I'm still really tired, but at least I don't feel like my stomach is going to explode.

I thought I should take a shower, and go out for a quick errand, just to see how I would feel afterwards. Dick wanted to go to Best Buy to buy some Xbox accessories. Well, I'm never one to turn down a trip to Best Buy, so I thought that would do well for my errand of the day.

Before we left, I realized that it would be possible that my camera would be in from being repaired. I dug out my receipt, and figured I'd bring it to the store with me, and check when we got there. I mentioned this to Dick, and he suggested calling before we go (no standing in line). It sounded like a good idea, so I called, and lo, it wasn't in yet.

So I tucked my receipt away again in my files, and we went to Best Buy. After we gathered all of our Geek Goods, we walked past the Geek Squad area. Dick asked if we needed anything else, as we were on our way to check-out, and I replied, "You don't suppose my camera would be ready to pick up now, do you?". We laughed, knowing it wouldn't have come in within the last half hour since I called. We checked out, and went home.

Once we got home, I noticed we had a message on our phone.

A click of the button showed "Best Buy" in the caller ID.

No Way!

We laughed, and listened to the message.

It was the same guy whom I had talked with before, apologizing, and saying he didn't know how he missed it, but yes, my camera was in, and ready to be picked up.

LOL.

Unfortunately, I'm wiped out now, and don't think I have the energy to go out again.

Pretty funny, though.

I think i ate a bad bug...

Whenever our little cat, Noe, gets sick, we always assume that she must have eaten a bad bug. We occasionally witness her hunting down and catching little bugs and eating them before we are able to stop her. Usually this means that she'll have an upset tummy the next day, and we have the joys of "cleaning up" after her.

On that note, I think I may have ate a bad bug.

We had a great dinner with Omar & Lora last night - steak and lobster at a Japanese grill-it-yourself place in Menlo Park.

When Dick and I were driving home, I realized that I was "very uncomfortable" from dinner. You know the feeling - like you simply ate too much. (and yes, I ate a lot, but I didn't think I ate THAT much) I figured I'd go home, go to bed, wake up and feel better.

Yep, that didn't happen. I still felt pretty bad this morning when I woke up after sleeping in past 10:00. My abdomen felt swollen, and was tender on the lower right side. Dick was worried that it may be early signs of appendicitis, so we looked it up on webmd. I didn't think it was that serious, so we decided to wait it out to see if it ever got worse.

Well, it never got worse, but it didn't really improve all day. I ended up sleeping most of the day (except for the 2 times that I woke up to blog - priorities!). I ate an apricot this morning, and had a cup of soup in the late afternoon. I ate not because I was hungry, but more because I realized I should put something in my system.

Luckily, we didn't have many plans this weekend, but I'm bummed because we had tickets to see "A Chorus Line" tonight. I was still planning to go as late as this afternoon, but Dick cautioned me that I shouldn't go since I've been in bed all day, and haven't had anything to eat. Dick isn't feeling too hot either, so he offered to stay home with me, and we sent Christopher off to see the show by himself. I hope he likes it!

I'm starting to feel a little better now - certainly no worse than I have all day, so I don't think that it's anything serious. On the plus side, I've been cuddling with my kitties in bed all day, so we've all enjoyed that.

Treadmill Choreography!

My friend, Sheri, just sent this to me.

You really must watch it. It will make you laugh.
(almost as much as the Two Chinese Boys lip-synching to The Backstreet Boys.)

Perhaps this is the beginning of a new wave of dance choreography? Competitive Cheer Leading? A new color guard prop?

I have to admit, I've always been intimidated by the treadmill. I've never actually used one. I'm fearful that I'd pull a George Jetson by accident... and then I'd just feel stupid.

Another Treena

On my birthday in 2004, I wrote a blog explaining how my parents came up with and decided on my name. I thought it was a pretty funny story; One that I assumed was unique to me and my parents.

Imagine my surprise when I received this email this morning:

Hi there Trina,
Just read your blog about how your mum named you.
Funny thing is my mum was going to call me "Dimity" but in March 1969 my dad was watching the same show that you mentioned your mum was watching, my dad liked the name "Treena" so hence that is what I am called. What a funny thing nearly a year later your mum called you "Trina".
Just thought you would like to know the coincidence.
Treena

Isn't that terrific?! There's another Treena out there whose parents named her after watching The Galloping Gourmet! My parents will surely be as amazed as I was. This Treena even has the exact same spelling as The Galloping Gourmet's Wife, Treena.

It's a fairly unusual name, and I've only met a few Trina/Treenas during my life, and usually they use it as a nickname for "Katrina".

I wrote another blog post in October, 2003 about the "other" Trina Chow that I know of who lives in Southern California. (Another amazing story)

I love the web. I've been on the internet for more than 11 years now, and I've been able to collect such amazing assortment of stories since then! You just never know who/what else is out there!

I ♥ my MINI!

After owning my MINI for more than 2.5 years, I'm still in love with it. It literally makes me happy every time I drive it :)

Here's a cool article about driving and parking MINIs in San Francisco from sfgate.

"One Grumpy Trina"

...not really. I'm actually fine, thank you. I had a nice day.

I'm actually referring to Dick's new title of his blog. I think it has a nice ring to it. Don't you?

And while we're talking about Windows Live Spaces (we were, weren't we?) I just had the worst experience trying to leave a comment on Dick's blog.

I mean, really: I had to sign in using my Windows Live Passport. It took me forever to figure out how to do it, and frankly, it didn't help that the last screen that it gave me said that Windows Live was supported by my browser. (I run Safari on my Mac as my default browser) I should also mention that his blog doesn't even render correctly on my Mac. So then, I had to log onto my PC, just to leave a flippin comment!

Dick tells me that one of the reasons why he doesn't update his blog is because the Windows Live Spaces app is so painful to use. I have to agree, and that's only from my experience of trying to leave a comment.

...oh, and it doesn't read HTML.

So, what I was trying to leave as a comment on his post is:

I ♥ my Dick!

I even have the shirt to prove it!

"Say it Loud, and Say it Proud!"

Maybe I'll put it on, and run around the house in it.
That should cheer him up! :)

Castro Neighborhood Walking Tour

What a nice way to start a weekend!

Yesterday evening, one of my neighbors invited me to join them in a Castro Neighborhood Walking Tour. My neighbors arrange a tour group each year as part of a fund raiser for the Law School where one of them teaches. They found out yesterday that two people had bailed out, and they had two open slots in their group. I love this kind of thing, so I jumped at the opportunity.

The tour was led by Kathy of Cruisin the Castro. It was a very nice walking tour that lasted about 2 hours, plus we had lunch together at Firewood Cafe. We met at the Gay Pride flag pole at Market & Castro at 10:00, and I got home just before 2:00.

I really enjoyed the tour, and even learned a little bit more about the history of our neighborhood. As you all know, Dick and I love to walk around our neighborhood and the city during the weekends. It was great to learn a few new things that I can now share with visiting family and friends.


Pink Triangle Park & Memorial

Today was the first time that I've ever gone to the Pink Triangle Park and Memorial. I have always noticed it from afar, but I'm embarrassed to say that I've never walked through it. It is so well done. I'm really glad that I've finally learned more about it.

One of my favorite parts of today was it was the first chance I've had to spend quality time with my neighbors, Clay & Michael. I've known them both for the 8 years that we've been neighbors, but we've never had a chance to spend much time together. We usually bump into each other on the street or within the neighborhood, and will have a nice chat to catch up.


Clay and Michael - together 41 years, and counting...

Clay & Michael bought their house in 1975. I think it's fascinating to think of all of the history of this neighborhood that they've witnessed first hand: they gave me their account of the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and how it affected so many people on our block alone, let alone the entire neighborhood. They also discussed the assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. I could listen to them talk for hours on end.

My favorite thing about Clay and Michael: as of August 1st, they've been together for 41 years. That's so amazing to me. I know of so few couples, gay or straight, who have been together for so many years. What an inspiration.

A Day with Kimi and her Boys :)

I was going to write a nice long blog about the wonderful day that I had today with Kimi and her two boys.

...but I just checked her blog, and I see that she beat me to it! (and what a nice synopsis it is!)

We had such a marvelous day! We packed a picnic lunch, and we walked over to Dolores Park. It was busier than I expected it to be on a Friday afternoon - there was a large group of High School kids participating in what seemed to be some kind of team-building picnic. There were also a few classes of elementary-aged kids playing in the playground area. Kimi and the boys said they enjoyed all the company, so it worked out well!

Daniel and Matteo had a GREAT time running around the very cool jungle-gym (complete with at least 3 slides). Kimi did an impressive job of swinging across the Monkey Rings. That's something I was never able to do as a kid, so I decided not to embarrass myself by trying today! Daniel and Matteo also had a LOT of fun rolling down the great hills on the North side of the park. It was really fun to watch them.

After a couple of hours at the park, we decided to head back home. Daniel had noticed my Star Wars Monopoly game earlier, and had already asked if we could play it a little during the afternoon. I was so excited to find someone who would play it with me! We get along splendidly :) Matteo and Kimi busied themselves with my colorforms set.

After a little while, I popped on Star Wars: Episode IV. The boys sat to watch that, while Kimi and I found some time to catch up. It was SOOOOO nice. I really love spending time with her and her family. I told my sister afterwards that Kimi is one of my friends who "grounds me" whenever I see her. It's such a nice thing.

Kimi and I don't see each other nearly as often as we should. I'm hoping that we're able to change that very soon. We all enjoy our visits with each other so much. I'm looking forward to seeing all of them again - hopefully within a few short weeks!

Mostly Cool, but just a little bit Cheesy...

My trusty-rusty vTech multi-handset cord system has been dying a slow death lately. I've had it for more than 4 years now, so I'm okay with that....

I figured it was time to get a new system, plus it enabled us to upgrade to a new 5.8Ghz!

I did some comparison shopping at Best Buy, Costco, and Amazon, and ended up finding this phone for a pretty good deal at amazon.

The key factor was that it has 4 handset. I know that may sound excessive, but that's how many phone units we use in our house: 2 upstairs, and 2 downstairs. We only have telephone jacks upstairs, so it's very useful to have the option of plugging the other handsets downstairs in regular power outlets.

This phone has really great functions, but the one that sold us is the "phone book sharing" feature that allows you to share all or some of your phone book entries from one handset to the others. This means that you only have to go through the process of entering your names and numbers into one handset!

Another really cool feature that I didn't know about until the phone was shipped today is that you can use an online service to type your names and numbers into your computer, and have them automatically downloaded into your phone. That's Cool! It's so much easier to type names and numbers on a keyboard, rather than plugging them in one-by-one on the telephone keypad.

So, we go to this site. We're all excited. We create a login. We enter all of our names and numbers. We press the "Save our Numbers" button.

...and then it asks for payment...

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, it is a pretty helpful service.

But, it turns out that they charge $9.98 for a four-month subscription, which is then auto-renewed! Is it me, or does that sounds steep? Plus, i hate "auto renew". AND you don't see the charge anywhere until after you enter all of your names and numbers in, OR you happen to click on the FAQ and read all the way down to #7.

We were trying to decide whether or not to pay these guys, or bite the bullet and just enter in our information manually. Curiosity got the best of us, and we ended up paying. The geeks in us wanted to see how the whole thing works.

We paid, we downloaded, and voila: our contacts were all in our phone! It was pretty cool. I appreciate having it as an option. I don't see a need to continue our service after the first 4 months, but it was cool to have the info plugged into our phone automatically. I put a note in my calendar to cancel our subscription in 3.5 months.

The saga continues...

Well, I did manage to bring my camera into Best Buy today, and it did cooperate with me. The guy at the Geek Squad counter was able to witness the camera's bad behavior firsthand. He said that it was something that could be repaired, so I had to send it in, and wait about 2 weeks for it to come back.

I hate being without a camera, so I'm now charging the battery for our trusty-rusty old Canon PowerShot S100. We've had that camera for almost 6 years, and it still works! (I don't use the viewfinder anymore, because it sucks up the battery power too much)

Here's hoping I get a fully-functioning camera in a couple of weeks!

My Camera is mocking me

We bought a Canon SD400 Digital ELPH camera about a year ago. We bought it from Best Buy, and also paid for the extended 4 year warranty. I figure the extra warranty is usually worth it for portable electronics.

Well, we were right to buy the warranty. Earlier this year, around April, the camera started to really act up. It wouldn't always turn on, it would turn off while trying to take a picture. It acted as if the battery were dead or dying, eventhough it had just been charged. I also have an extra battery, and the camera acts up, with whichever battery it is using.

The problems became worse when we went to Shanghai/Tokyo. The camera would only take pictures intermittently, and kept turning itself off.

About a month ago, I brought the camera, along with my warranty information to Best Buy. They looked up my warranty info, and said that yes, indeed, I was covered. I'm eligible for a new camera. I just had to show them how the camera wasn't working. Well, that's the trick, now isn't it? Of course, on this day, I stood at the counter for 30 minutes, taking pictures, and turning my camera off and on.

...and it worked just fine.

Soon afterwards, we went to Hawaii, and sure enough, it acted up again. This is becoming very frustrating.

This weekend, I brought the camera to Megan's Baby Shower, and it was back to it's old ways.
Last night, it was acting up while I was trying to take a picture of my dinner.

I have some time off this afternoon, so I figured, "Great! I'll bring my camera back into Best Buy to exchange it for a new one!"

Right before I was about to leave, I thought I'd better try it out to see if it was working or not.

(you can see this one coming, right?)

Yep, it's working perfectly again.

My camera is mocking me.
This is going to drive me crazy.

Tonight's Dinner & Dessert

Because it's all about food

I have to say that I'm quite proud of myself! I managed to try a new recipe tonight (from one of my favorite restaurants) and it turned out great!


ohhhh! presentation, and everything!

This evening, I prepared a lovely Blackened Ahi with Soy mustard Sauce. I got the recipe from one of my favorite restaurants, Roy's. For those of you keeping track, you may recall that the Blackened Ahi is one-third of my favorite meals of all time.

So yes, I blackened, then seared the ahi. But, even more impressive, is that I made the two sauces: a soy-mustard sauce, and a Beurre Blanc sauce. These may be the first two sauces I've ever really made! (now you're beginning to understand why this was such a big deal!) Now all I have to do is learn to make the Butterfish, and Roy's Chocolate Souffle!

I had to skip the garnish, because I knew that our local grocery store wouldn't have a few of the ingredients. Perhaps next time....

and to top it off...

For dessert, Christopher took the extra heavy whipping cream that I had bought, and whipped it up. We plopped a HUGE amount on top of the brownies from last night.


That's Christopher's brownie in the foreground.... and yes, that's whipped cream, NOT ice-cream!

Dick enjoyed a few Rice Krispy Treats for his dessert, and shared a bit with Marcel. Marcel LOVES Rice Krispy Treats. We occasionally give him a bite or two, because it's so dang funny watching him take a bite, and chew, chew, chew....


Marcel, taking a bite out of a Rice Krispy Treat

Snack Time!

Last night, I made Rice Krispy Treats and a batch of brownies for dessert.

Christopher and I had a chocolate craving (hence, the brownies) and Dick really wanted Rice Krispy Treats (one of the few desserts that he actually enjoys).

Today, I had quite a plethora of choices for my afternoon snack:

brownies, rice krispy treats, and some green grapes that I had just picked up from Costco this afternoon.

the winner?

(you may be surprised! I know I was!)

Yep, the green grapes won out!

What a shocker! Although I do love those green grapes :)

International Calling Codes Site

This is a handy site!

http://www.countrycallingcodes.com.

Another ecommerce site

I just launched my second e-commerce site of the year. Yay!

Check it out: www.sigidesign.com. Once you arrive to their site, click the "View Products" section to go to the store.

This was actually for a client that I've had for several years. They've been with me since 2000, but we didn't have ecommerce on our site. We've been working on putting together an ecommerce site with almost 200 products on it. They are jewelry designers who specialize in creating animal-shaped jewelry. They make designs for almost every breed of dog, and plenty of other animals, too!

Tales of the City

This blog post was originally written last Wednesday, July 26th. I had to wait until now to post it because I needed to wait until Dick's father received his surprise gift in the mail.

What a nice afternoon I just had. i'm going to write this now, before I forget the details, but I can't actually post it for a few days. There's a surprise in here that I don't want to ruin!



A couple of days ago, my friend Philip told me that Armistead Maupin was going to be appearing at Cody's Bookstore in Union Square. Armistead Maupin is the local (and very talented) writer who wrote the Tales of the City series, as well as Maybe the Moon and The Night Listener.

Reading Tales of the City should be prerequisite reading for anyone who loves San Francisco. It's a classic. It also involves two neighborhoods that I've lived in SF - Nob Hill and The Castro. The characters in it are just like people you know, or have met here in SF. There have been 3 mini-series that have shown on PBS and Showtime starring Laura Linney, and Olympia Dukakis, among others.

The first year that I moved to SF, my friend Andrew gave me a copy of Tales of the City. It was like the Welcome Guide to San Francisco. I loved it instantly, and quickly devoured the other 5 books in the series. I also read Maybe the Moon and The Night Listener when it was released in 2000.

In 1999, my friends Philip and Al and I went to see a special production of "Tales of the City" by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. During the production, Armistead Maupin read segments of the book, while the chorus sang songs that related to the story. The most moving reading was when Maupin read "Letter to Mama", in which one of the main characters, Michael Tolliver (aka Michael Mouse) writes a letter to his family in Florida, coming out to them. Hearing the letter read in Maupin's own voice was incredibly amazing - it's very personal to him, because he had come out to his own family in North Carolina with this same letter.

Anyhow, when I heard that Armistead Maupin was going to be appearing for a reading and book signing this week, I just had to squeeze it into my schedule. There aren't many "celebrities" in the world that I would like to meet, but he's definately one of them.

He has been making a lot of public appearances lately because he is promoting the movie "The Night Listener" (based off his novel) that is coming to theaters in early August.

He read a few excerpts from his book, and then chatted with the audience for about an hour. I'm guessing that having a "home crowd" was nice for him (he lives in San Francisco) and that he wasn't in as much of a rush as he might otherwise be. After the talk, he offered to sign copies of his books.

I brought the first edition (paperback) book that Andrew had given me 10 years ago. I thought that would be a great piece to have signed.

When I arrived at the bookstore, I also bought a copy of The Night Listener for Dick's Dad, Richard.

This is a really neat story...

It turns out that Dick's father was the Principal at the Junior High School that Armistead Maupin attended in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dick's father remembers Armistead Maupin as a student, and has followed his career as a successful author. Dick's father had asked me years ago if I was a fan of the Tales of the City series, and I told him that I was! Once, when he came out to SF to visit, I took him on a "Tales of the City Driving Tour"! We visited many of the local stores, buildings, and haunts of the Tales of the City characters.

When I found out that Armistead Maupin was doing a book signing, it occurred to me that it would be very nice to have him sign a book for Dick's Father, and to tell him the story.

When I had my books signed by him today, I told him, "My Father-in-Law was your Jr High School Principal in Raleigh!"

He asked what his name was, and I told him "Richard Craddock".

He immediately exclaimed, "Oh! Mr. Craddock!"

(I'm not sure if he really remembered him or not, but he certainly was convincing!)

When I gave him the copy of the book to sign, he wrote:

For Mr. Craddock, with happy memories.



I told Dick what I had done as soon as I got home. He was so excited about it. We both think that this is something that Dick's father will really love.

(plus, it makes me all warm and fuzzy, just thinking about it)

update: August 3, 2006

I just received an email from Dick's father that he received the book in the mail today.

Here's what he had to say:

Trina,
Thanks so much for the book! (It arrived in today's mail.) I'm delighted
that you were able to speak with Armistead Maupin -- and have him autograph
the book for me. I'll read it as soon as I finish the book I'm currently
reading.

One minor point: I taught Armistead at Daniels Junior High in Raleigh --
taught him 9th grade English. I was not principal there. After 5 years of
teaching at the junior high level, I did become the principal of Aldert Root
Elementary School (also in Raleigh). But it was during my teaching phase
that I had Armistead in a class -- not when I was a principal.

I hope his "remembering" me was genuine. He was in one of the best classes
I ever had -- a class with lots of unusually capable students. One female
in that class became an attorney -- and became the chief legal counsel for
UNC. Another was in an off-broadway production.

Again, thanks for much. I really appreciate the gift -- but especially your
remembering me to Armistead. And I think it's great that you got a picture
of the two of you! Wonderful!

Best wishes!
Richard


Ah! Too bad Dick and I had our facts wrong! Oh well, he seemed to have been pleased with the gift nonetheless :)

Donating Blood

I just returned from my 6th time of donating blood in the last 9 months. I started in November of last year, and have been going every two months or so ever since. (you are not allowed to donate more than once every two months)

It's been a really great experience so far, and I'm quite pleased that I've continued to go. I feel like it's something that I can do that really may make a difference. I'm a type B+, which is one of the more rare blood types. Out of 100 donors, only 8 are B+. Hmmm, now that I look at this chart of bloodtypes, I see that the only people who can receive type B+, are other B+, and AB+ (who can receive any type of blood). Now I'm not feeling so helpful. Oh well. Some other type B+ person out there will surely need my type B+ blood! :)

When I went in for my appointment today, I was surprised by an extra goodie: a coupon for a free pint of Haagan Dazs Ice Cream!

Bonus!

That was a cool surprise. (no pun intended).

Usually, I'm happy to get my little glass of OJ and a free doughnut afterwards. (Secretly, I use my bi-monthly blood donating appointment as an excuse to eat a donut every two months :)

Hmmm... I was planning to work out this afternoon after donating blood, but it just occured to me that that may not be the brightest idea that I've ever had. Guess I'll just sit at my computer (get more work down) and let that doughnut make it's way down to my hips.

Earthquake!

Did you feel the earthquake just now?

Here's some info I just found:

An earthquake occurred at 8:08:12 PM (PDT) on Wednesday, August 2, 2006.
The magnitude ? (not yet determined) event occurred 5 km (3 miles) W of Glen Ellen, CA.
The hypocentral depth is 9 km ( 6 miles).

We definitely felt it here. Not too big, but something that would be big enough to wake you up.

update:

A light earthquake occurred at 8:08:12 PM (PDT) on Wednesday, August 2, 2006.
The magnitude 4.4 event occurred 5 km (3 miles) W of Glen Ellen, CA.
The hypocentral depth is 9 km ( 6 miles).

Bad Day for a MUNI Ride

You know, you live in the City, you try to do the right thing.... you take public transportation when you can....

...and usually that's okay.

But not today.

Dick had a dentist appointment late this morning in Union Square. I like to keep him company at any of his doctor/dentist appointments.

We left the house in plenty of time (40 minutes before his appointment), planning to take MUNI from Castro to Powell Street. Ordinarily, this would have been more than enough time. We walked down to the Castro MUNI station, only to be turned away.

A Guard at the station informed us that a train had derailed, and that all service was closed down.

Well, we're pretty MUNI savvy, so we head across the street to try to catch the F Train (which goes down Market Street). We missed the light at the intersection, so we missed that train. Drat.

Then we find out that MUNI is running shuttle busses above ground to help make up for the problems underground. Again, we miss the light at the intersection (going back) and again, we miss the shuttle. Double Drat.

By this time, we have about 20 minutes to make it downtown, so we hail a cab. This of course, completely defeats our intentions of taking public transportation in the first place. Had we known, we would have taken Dick's Vespa instead. The streets are crazy today - traffic, blockades, emergency vehicles... It takes us 15 minutes to make it downtown.

We made it to Dick's appointment in time, and hoped that the MUNI service would have been restored by the time we were done. No luck.

This time, we were able to catch the "F" train, and head back home. According to Christopher, the "F" stands for "Ferries, Fish and Fags". (The F Train goes from the Castro down to the Ferry Building, and along the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf) I've only taken the F Train once before (a much slower alternative from the MUNI underground) but I do have to say that it was a very pleasant ride. The old streetcars are so cool.

By this time, it's lunchtime, so Dick and I decided to hop off the F Train at Church Street, and we went to The Woodhouse Fish Co. for a delicious lunch. (you should check it out)

After lunch, we walked the rest of the way home. When we passed by Market/Castro we saw a very long line of people waiting for buses/shuttles. It seems as if MUNI will be out of commission for quite a while.

Museum Disaster

This is bad.

It seems as if a security dog that was working at a museum went on a rampage and destroyed many of the dolls on exhibit. (this includes a Teddy Bear once owned by Elvis, valued at $75,000.)

As someone who has loaned an item or two to museums before, I'm appalled that something like this could even happened. I looked at one of the photos of the exhibit (post dog tantrum) and I'm wondering why the items weren't more carefully displayed. Shouldn't they have all been sealed in display cabinets, anyhow?


BAD Dog!
Actually, when you look at the photo, wouldn't you say it looks more like a Toy Store than a museum anyhow? I don't think I would have lent anything valuable to this museum.

My friend, Andrew, is going to be appalled by this. He has currated a few museum shows with his Raggedy Ann collection, and is absolutely meticulous about the display and safety of the items. I can't imagine how upset the owners of those loaned items must be!

Sing Us a Song, You're the Piano Man...

At this very moment, I'm listening to my husband play and sing songs from "A Chorus Line" on his piano downstairs.

Yes, you read that right: my straight husband is belting out "What I did for Love", and "One", among others.

You've gotta love that. Or, at least, I sure do :)

We're going to try to see the new production of "A Chorus Line" while it's showing here this month.

Okay, now he's singing/playing "Beauty School Dropout" from Grease.

I can't make this stuff up!
(and he'll probably make me take this blog post down!)