Some things I should have mentioned:
The Birthday – A few weeks ago I had a birthday gathering. I invited everyone to join me on the SF Ghost Hunt walking tour. It was fun. And ridiculous. Who doesn’t like their history full of gimmicks. Tales of Flora wandering California Street dressed all in white, Gertrude who haunts men into apologizing to their weary wives, Mary Pleasant, the Voodoo Queen of SF, and other murdered and tormented former residents of the mansions in Pacific Heights. Twenty two pals showed up for the tour, not quite as many as the night tour of Alcatraz I roped them into for my bday a couple years ago, but we all had a great time wandering around and ghosting it up before heading to a bar to have foofy drinks and beers.
The Teeth – A couple weeks ago I finally went in to have some exciting dental work done! Gum grafts. I can see that my new smile will look ever so much nicer, however, ew. They rip some skin off the roof of your mouth and sew it onto your receding gums. Yes, I got second and third opinions (at least 4 dentist types have told me to have this done over the last 10 years), and no it is not because I brush too hard, or floss too much. We can thank my 2 years of braces for this enjoyable surgical pleasure. After they sew the tissue into its new home, and stitch up the roof of your mouth, you get to go home and eat soft foods for a week or two. Luckily almost every suggested food is dairy related, which is pretty special for someone who is lactose intolerant. The porridge setting on the ole fuzzy rice maker machine was perfect. Throw in some overcooked veggies, and you’re in the mush. Two weeks later and I’m still a little swollen and irritated, but can almost chew on the left side again. The good news? I get to do this all over again on the other side of my mouth next year when the insurance calendar rolls over! Joy! But at least my teeth wont fall out. Or will they? Who can say.
The Heat – Oh my god it is hot in my apartment. It was 94 in my place at 7pm last Saturday in the midst of the “California Heat Wave of 06” and when I came home again at 10pm? It was still over 80. Don’t get me wrong, I love the heat, but I’ve got no airflow and after a few days of sweaty, heavy air you just need to sleep someplace with a gentle breeze. Luckily, this was possible and I was saved from permanent crankiness. The home made sorbet isn’t hurting either. Of course, now the fog is back and it’ll probably be freezing again any minute.
The Movie – My friend Jaynee talked me into joining her for http://www.cinemasports.com last Sunday in the park. You meet in the morning, are given 3 mystery ingredients that must be in your movie, and you have 10 hours to film, edit, and turn the thing in to the organizers to be shown that evening. The mystery ingredients were a Freudian slip, a kiss, and a Yiddish/Jewish word. Extra credit was given for incorporating a metaphor for the situation in the middle east as the screening was in the middle of the Jewish Film Fest. We had two actors, an assistant director/editor, and a producer/director. They screened them at the Castro Theater and it was pretty fun to see myself up on the big screen. It turned out Ok, I don’t know that we were one of the top or anything, but it was good enough so that I wasn’t too embarrassed to be seen after it showed. So you know, not bad. They’re supposed to put all of them up on their site but Jaynee put ours up on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj0nFoMGXW4
I’ve been making sorbet for the last few weeks. They’re getting better, or at least more interesting, over time.
Pluot – Came out too icy and too tart.
Nectarine Vanilla – Perfectly creamy, vanilla simple syrup worked great, sweet and soft and delicious.
Rubyred Grapefruit Fennel – Sweet but tart, just a bit of fennel, everyone’s favorite so far.
Fig – Black Mission Figs I think they were. It came out weird. Good, but weird. I should have put basil in it.
Next? I dunno, someone should send me some suggestions.
Yesterday I had a migraine. It felt like the world was trying to kill me. But in a subtle way. Like the world was a 12 yr old boy and his mom told him to clean his room, but he knew there would be no specific punishment if he didn’t, so he just shoved a few things under the bed. The world was trying to kill me like that. Indifferently, and without much effort. And also, a bird shat on my head. That’s not a metaphor - a dirty pigeon shat on me.
OK, SO.... I went to Paris the other week to visit Aimee and Herf. When I got there, it was hot. And humid. I caught the Air France bus and met Aimee at the Arc de Triomphe and we walked the last couple of blocks to their apartment. Another pal came too, so we took off to the Musee d’Orsay and walked all over town. We all went to St. Chappelle and Notre Dame together on Thurs before jumping on the train to Amsterdam where we met yet more pals.
A few of us went to the Van Gogh Museum which was pretty nice, and Aimee and I went off to the Rijksmuseum, which was even better. There’s a Peter Greenaway exhibit called Nightwatching. If you happen to be in Amsterdam anytime soon, I suggest checking it out. A room full of flat screens showing a video montage about the Nightwatch and the meaning behind it. After watching you head into the room where the Nightwatch is hung. It’s nice, you feel all arty, and then they tell you to shut up and sit down. Then the really interesting stuff happens. They project light on the painting and it comes to life. Totally impressive.
We of course also stopped by the Anne Frank House and had some good meals and general pal hangout.
Then it was back to Paris. One fantastically tipsy night we all tromped over to the Eiffel Tower around midnight. I had my fun haggling experience, talking a guy down from $12 to $2 for a dum light up Eiffel Tower, and we all rode up in the elevator. Another day we tromped off to Versailles. There were many fun dinners, glasses of wine, cups of coffee, fresh baguettes, World Cup matches and more.
Then I came home on some terrible plane flights and got an intense muscle spasm. Ah well. A week of fun for the small price of a week of pain. What can you do.