Ahh, what could be better.

The Cubs vs da Sox, at Comiskey.

High drama, boisterous fans.

Man, I wouldnt mind being in Chicago right now.

Of course, I wouldnt be able to get tickets, natch. :-/

Ah well.

Go Cubbies.

Virgo's and Capricorns are traditionally compatible.

My friend the Cappy and I have supported each other over the years primarily because we have the same Earth sign, business-oriented values.

However, while we might see things similiarly, our energies, the way we express them, are *definitely* different.

Im mister Take It Slow, she is Lets Get That Warehouse NOW.

I love her, admire her spunk and get-it-doneness, and even agree with her, but it gives me agita.

Still, Im proud of the energy she puts into everything.. and, especially now, I could use some of that energy.

Except Id be all stubborn and stuff telling her to slow down.
----
Next week's hororscope sez:

The sun backs Saturn in your work house. It's karma time. You're supposed to be transforming a ho-hum job into a high-profile, fame-and-fortune-type career.

Be strong, be firm and pick up those resolutions. It's not too late at all.

Yeah. Its not too late at all.


-------
This morn, one of the Berkeley Farmer's Market vendors came over, asked me to help him set up as his back was killing him.

I would done it for nothing, cept he dropped a few coins in my pocket.

I helped a few folk after that made a little more green.

Its funny with me. I will turn down thousands and yet I can be bought for coffee and donut money.

So I went for a coffee and donut at Au Coquelet.

Ok, a *decaf* mocha and a croissant.

Now, as good as it was, I felt kinda bad blowing that 5 bux. I coulda saved it and all. Used it for something better later.

Because now, the stakes are higher. Theres a lot that I want and need to do, and I definitely need as much capital as I can scrounge.

My ma was very good at that, making miracles happen on very little cash. Now Im starting to understand how she did it.

Live simply and cheaply.

Still... whats Latin for "Live for today"?

Just because Im being frugal, doesnt mean I shouldnt treat myself.

Occasionally.

Thats the difference.
--------------

Ive had a pretty good day so far.

Great weather, good people, starting to feel like part of the place.

Odd feeling though.

I like being the observer.

Not part of the scene.

This... is Berkeley.

"Nothing would jump off until we hit Berkeley. If we had a joint in Oakland, we wouldnt even light it up until we got to Berkeley. Berkeley was fun, man. "
- Rick.

Berkeley isnt as strange as it's often made out to be, but its kinda in its own time zone.

From the current issue of the Berkeley Daily Planet, the leading community paper.

Sex, Drugs And Bark Set For Berkeley Ballot

Berkeley voters will likely face landmark ballot initiatives that would make the city the friendliest place in California for medical cannabis users, sex workers and some trees.

This could be called fighting for Quality of Life issues.
---
I was explaining to someone yesterday why Im looking for a room in Oakland, not Berkeley. A good portion of the rooms for rent in Berkeley , reasonable rent category, were for women.

She didnt believe me.

From the classifieds:

Berkeley. 2 rooms available now ($515), ($445). Seeking lesbian or celibate straight women. No smokers/pets. 510-843-0680

Now, one of the great strengths of many of the folk in the Bay is their strong activist spirit and their willingness to volunteer...

MAKE TRADITIONAL
TIBETAN BOOKS
FOR WORLD PEACE

P/T & F/T Prepare Buddhist
Sutra books to offer as free
gifts to 1000?s of monks and
nuns who will be praying for World Peace at 10 day
ceremony in Bodh Gaya
India, in January 2005.

Qualify for Scholarships for yoga,
meditation classes & residential
internships.

Truly, the diversity of the place is pretty amazing, if one takes the time to check it out..

From the events calendar just for *today*:

Chinese Dragon Boat Festival at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center with refreshements and entertainment. 981-5190.

Remembering Homeless Youth at the Grove Street Park on the corner of Oregon and Martin Luther King Street from noon to 4 p.m. with food, games and entertainment.

Tilden Sunset Hike through southern Tilden Park with panoramic evening views from the Seaview trail. Meet at Inspiration Point at 6 p.m. with very warm, layered clothing, flashlight, snack to share. Sponsored by Solo Sierrans. 601-1211.

?A Night of Ferocious Joy,? a film of the first concert against the war with Ozomatli, Blackalicious, Dilated Peoples, Mystic, Saul Williams, Jerry Quickley, Hassan Hakmoun, Pan Afrikan People?s Arkestra. At 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall in Oakland at 390 27th St. Cost is $5-$15, and helps send youth and activists to the Republican National Convention Protest in NYC. 601-8000.
bayarea.notinourname.net

Queerosity Celebrating LGBTQ youth with spoken word and open mic, from 6 to 10 p.m. at SMAAC Youth Center, 1608 Webster St. at 16th, Oakland. Sponsored by Youth Speaks and the Sexual Minority Alliance of Alameda County. www.smaacyouthcenter.org

Shabbat Potluck Share the joy of Shabbat at a festive Shabbat potluck for singles, ages 30 through 40, at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center. Please RSVP to 839-2900, ext. 208.

An interesting place, indeed.

Cool in its own way tho.

Just tying up a few loose ends

Fulfilling promises, answering long dormant mails, clearing out my address books, things like that.

Dont know why, but it feels important that I do.

Just cant have the loose ends lying about. Impedes progress.
---------
The last few days Ive sent out prints to those Ive promised, most of them from the exhibition.

It felt nice doing that.

Now, to sell them.

I *really* feel ambivalent about selling prints, but Im gonna get over myself.

Mira tells me the story of when she first arrived in San Francisco, she took a CD of her art to Kinko's, printed out a bunch prints and sold them on the street.

She said she averaged about $400 a week.

Im starting to wonder if I have the balls to get that going...

Excerpts from this afternoon's reading:

Tricianna.. who REALLY should write more often for those of us who enjoy her silky prose.

Now, if you've lived in NY for any space of time, only one word would suffice for any and each of the squares littered around Manhattan: crowded. Union Square on a sunny Friday afternoon was no different. There were people just walking, some just sitting, some just standing & waiting to be seen. Stand still for a minute. The whole city may not pass you by, but it sure feels darn close.

And..

While .... on the corner of B'way and 14th, I wish I had a camera. My mind was snapping images left and right; of girls in brightly printed skirts, of children with sloping ice cream cones, of couples strolling like the world belonged to nobody but them alone.

Man. Buttery.

And then there is Marn, eh.. who has been having computer problems:

Insert image of middle-aged woman rocking back and forth, mumbling gibberish. An ancient set of original DOS 2.1 diskettes are clutched in her hand, a reminder of simpler days.

Duuuude - ette. DOS 2.1? Much respect. I didnt geek out until DOS 4.

Dell cases are somewhat tricky to open. She futzed with it a bit. "I have the owner's manual," I mentioned casually as she wrestled with the intricacies of the case. She waved me off.

Geeks do not need manuals.

Mostly.

Unless they're wrestling with a Dell case.

Score: Dell 1, Geek 0.

Whoo doggie! I remember my first Dell server case!!
*kneeslap*
And I did RTFM. Eventually. 2 hours later.

Anyhoo, about cats:

Earlier in the day I was outside on the back deck hanging clothes when Norma ran up the fire escape with a present in her mouth, mewling with obvious pride.

She dropped it at my feet. "That's a beautiful dead thing Normie," I told her. Her tail shot up in the air, a sign of kitty happiness. She looked up at me. Clearly she wanted to hear more. I examined her dead thing, a creature of the rodential ilk.

Really, it's hard to know what to say to a cat sometimes.

I *know*. They just look at me like Im just effin *daft* when I do it.

Of course, creatures other than cats oft look at me that way when I talk ..

Clinton is coming to Berkeley

That has a nice ring to it, somehow..

-- At noon June 29 at Cody's Books, 2454 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley.

Tickets are available with purchase of a copy of "My Life" beginning Tuesday. Call (510) 845-7852.

These are strictly book signings; Clinton will not read from the book or take questions. He will not personalize his inscriptions and will not sign any other books or memorabilia.

This being Berkeley:

- There will be protesters.

Some will be strangely garbed, others will be there for the attention.

- There will be art.

This *is* Berkeley, dude. EVERYBODY is an artist here.

There will be art.

- The Berkeley Police Department, assisted by the California Highway Patrol will have Telegraph Avenue blocked and will be out in force.

Someone will act up, and then accuse the BPD of excessive force after they act up, of that you can be sure.

- There will be much love for Clinton.

Well, mostly, I guess - as some people wont like him for this or that reason.

The republicans, in the minority, will be mostly well-mannered.

But yeah, they love the guy here.

- It should be a helluva show.

Celebrities are in Berkeley alla da time.. but this one should be good.

Going George? ;-)
---------
I wonder how long it'll be before signed copies of his book will appear for sale on Craigslist?

And Ebay?

And I wonder how much?

I'll put the opening bids at $65-$100.

Fiscal fitness, dude

My fiscal philosophy for much of my adult life.. "No money? Ok, make more money."

Then I stopped working.

A sure sign of poverty is having your girlfriend and friends always having to pick up the tab.

Guh.

Eventually, I became afraid of money. Not phobic about the stuff, just afraid of not using it properly.

Its not as if I was ever a flagrant spendthrift. I got value for what I spent.

But the biggest regret Ive had was to bemoan "I wish I had used the money I had *properly*".

Now, Im determined to do exactly that from now on.

JPennant: so, the word for this phase of my life
JPennant: "fiscal discipline"
JPennant: learning how to budget money and use resources
McClint: that's every stage of my life :-)
JPennant: *pshaah* youre a cappy. Its genetic.
McClint: AND Scottish
JPennant: oh lord, yes :-)
JPennant: the scottish national poem
JPennant: "can ye lend me a fiver til tuesday"
McClint: heheh
JPennant: (monty python)
McClint: :-)
McClint: Scots refuse to spend money.
JPennant: "NEVER buy retail, bubbulah"
McClint: hehehe

And much, much more.

I missed the bus, so I have time to ramble

From my Morning Marn(tm):

My own experience has been that if you're blessed enough to have Jewish friends, you're pretty much guaranteed the chance to eat your weight in fresh and/or smoked salmon any time they include you in a family celebration.


I love salmon.


Not that I want to denigrate other sects, but frankly, my experience to date has been that they are not so generous with the salmon. Oh, your Christians will give you nibbles of salmon diluted with mayonnaise and shoved into one of those dainty little crustless sandwiches, but slabs of actual fresh salmon?


Pfffffffffft.

Hey Marn, Im witcha on the love of salmon.

Smoked salmon, salmon and buttah, salmon and bagels, grilled salmon and couscous, salmon cocktails...

That brings to mind something, mmm, weird about some folk out here in da West.

They HATE salmon.

Well, not *hate* hate, but more on the order of "We're having liver *salmon*???"

As you would put it, Marn...

You can well imagine my consternation.

Right on.

Out east, salmon is an expensive delicacy, where the smoked salmon is oft scottish or canadian in origin and fresh salmon is priced like gold, and you gotta helicopter to remote places to catch it yourself.

So, the natives going *ewwwww, salmon AGAIN???*, just blows my tiny lil mind.

Me? I aint jewish, but I can schnak on smoked salmon ferever and ever, amen.

Another diff between the west and east coasts.
--------
My father (and mother) have beautiful penmanship, writing with great flourishes and loops.

In fact, my signature is actually a derivative of my father's as he used to practice his signature almost daily.

We have the same name.

I still sign my name with his distinctive loop on the P and the last letter of our surname, except I leave out the long, dramatically continuous line that would cap the beginning "J" and cross the loop of "T" at the end.

I just cant be bothered.

Laziness is what makes it my own.

Lately, Ive been practicing writing my signature the same way a prospective bride would write her future name.

Everyone buying my prints have been asking for me to sign them. I didnt wanna because I didnt like how my signature looks.

This is how I realized, (as with other thngs Ive discovered growing older), there was a reason my dad did this. He wanted it to look 'just so".


When I sign my prints, I also want my signature to look 'just so', which is why I found myself practicing my signature the past few days.

Until it was 'just so'.

Now, Im proud to sign my prints.
---------
Fred weighs in on the "which island?" Hawai'i issue..

The big island is far and way the most wonderful place.

Maui is for drunk fratboys and honeymooners.
Oahu is for japanese tourists shopping.
Kauai is rainy and outback.


besides, Pele (the goddess not the soccer player) is resident on the big island.

.

Wait, what IS the Big Island called?