The Pro Tour of SF

From: "Tim H"
To: "Joe Pennant"

I admire you for keeping on moving, most would get their legs and try to put down roots, especially after being in a shelter, though I guess you?ve always been restless.

Get on up. And then keep moving.

And in craigslist, under temporary sublets

$25 - TEMPORARY RESTING SPOT----1 Person
Reply to: Vinster_90731@yahoo.com
Date: 2004-07-01, 10:57AM PDT

So u stopping by the
Bay Area/San Francisco
area. At a run down
motel here, u pay
$45/$55 a nite.

At my pad u pay $25/nite
Provided is sleeping pad + blanket,
soap + towel,
kitchen/shower,
classic vhs films/internet, if u get bored

Also, we are in walking distance from
shopping center, postal office, library,
and bank. A 5 minute bus ride into SF

Current space for one available starting
July 1st (2 days min./ 5 days max)

Email: Vinster_90731@yahoo.com
Phone calls: 10-11pm only

Yup. Couch surfing at Vin's place is always an option, I guess. :-)

Mac Man

McClint: G5 Xserves
McClint: 2 words:
McClint: OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH YYEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHH
JPennant: heh. fewl.
McClint: they came in yesterday but i can't do anything but drool over them right now because they didnt put video cards in 'em
JPennant: LOL
JPennant: Your opinion might change when you actually *run* them :-)
McClint: i doubt it :-)
McClint: i've figured out the biggest gotchas that I've been plagued with over the past few years (http://homepage.mac.com/clintmcintosh/osxad/osxad.html) and this new hardware is gonna scream once i get it hooked up
JPennant: celebrate when yer done, son :-)
McClint: i plan on it
JPennant: heheh. gooood tech
McClint: i share with the class :-)
JPennant: hee

JPennant: so, theyre just sitting there?
McClint: for now
JPennant: heh
McClint: but they look pretty
JPennant: that counts for a lot *rolls eyes^ ;-)
McClint: hahaha

Mac people. The "oooh, pretty" factor is all important to them. :-)

Make sure you know the ass youre following

"Man, from behind, that girl looks like you."

*silence*, then a frosty:

"Who?"
"Her, over there."

More silence, a look at me, THAT look, then:

"Sometimes I just want to slap you upside your head."

Heheh.
--------
Riding the steep escalators out of the Berkeley BART station, you get a unique vantage of people from *cough* behind.

This morning, I stepped on, looked up and my prehistoric mind thought "Whoa, I know that ass."

The analytical brain kicked in to verify the identification.

"Nope, its not her. Its a nice one tho."

"Sure is, I'll continue to look just in case youre wrong." answered the prehistoric part of me.

Contrary to popular belief, I wont just follow any ass anywhere.

Visa, Mastercard or Love for the compliment?

The last two places Ive lived at and left this year, people have said "Its just not the same without you around here.."

I ask 'em "How?", and they invariably answer "Dunno, just not the same.. the atmosphere is different."

Im not sure how, but ok.

I guess I'll take it as a compliment.

When I worked @ TheStreet.com, and dragged my ass in late in the afternoon as usual, the tech and customer support bullpen would invariably get loud, to the point the director asking people to hush.

A coworker eventually told me it was all my fault.

"Why?", I asked Chandy (name drop intentional). He said that every time I came into work, it was usually a huge difference in atmosphere. Before, quiet .. minutes after my arrival.. noisy.

I read somewhere that a characteristic of folk born with Cancer rising, is that they adjust the ambient energy in an environment to one where *they* felt comfortable.

Not sure how that works, but ok.

I took that as a compliment.
---------
Gah.

Apart from my books, printer and mounted images, I aimed to have LESS stuff this time around.

I gave away shit. Sold more. To get to the point where I can carry around all my shit in two bags, laptop included.

Even so, I got soft, for my bag is killing my back now.

A lesson Ive apparently forgotten this year, having gotten soft sleeping in warm beds...

Ounces count.

I still have too much stuff.
------------
As I packed, one young man started rifling through my images.. and then asked The Question.

"Dude, did you buy these pictures to sell 'em?"

Along with "Hey Joe, Where you goin' with that gun in yer hand?", that statement is one I hear over and over, guaranteed to bug me. But since its nothing new anymore, I dont growl at folk anymore.

"I took them."
"Really?? You didnt buy them?"
"No. I took them. With a camera."
"Oh. These are good, like they came from a magazine."
"Thanks."
"I guess I gave you a sort of a compliment, huh?"
"I guess it is."

I'll take it as a compliment, Poo.

Cash for kidneys and beans

tishdiablo: joey!
JPennant: tish!
tishdiablo: how are you?
JPennant: no worries :-)
JPennant: you?
tishdiablo: i'm doing good too... thanks
tishdiablo: anyways.. how's everything going? the pics?
JPennant: Im looking to raise cash now so that I can get a camera within the month
tishdiablo: ah
tishdiablo: how're you planning on raising cash? and how much do you need?
JPennant: get a job, sell a kidney :-)
tishdiablo: get a job.. but don't sell a kidney
tishdiablo: cuz nothing's worth your kidney
JPennant: meh
JPennant: :-)
tishdiablo: how much money do you need though?
JPennant: I need the camera more than the money
tishdiablo: yeah so how much is the camera?
JPennant: $400 range
JPennant: however
JPennant: cameras are coming down in price
JPennant: so, Id be able to get one for less
JPennant: say I bought it on ebay
tishdiablo: nice
JPennant: I dont care if last years model ;-)
tishdiablo: well.. where do you think you'll get a job.. i mean are you looking for a 9-5 (which isn't really you)
tishdiablo: you'd do so well in a bookstore :-) and you'd help people too
JPennant: LoL
JPennant: I once worked in a bookstore
tishdiablo: you did?!
tishdiablo: no way
JPennant: sure. that was on my list of things to do in my lifetime.
JPennant: I used to think I wanted to OWN a bookstore
JPennant: now, I realize that wasnt what I really wanted
JPennant: now I want to PRODUCE books
tishdiablo: hmmm
JPennant: so, the type of work Im looking for is related to that
tishdiablo: cool cool
JPennant: Im about to send off a resume to these guys

http://www.craigslist.org/sfc/csr/34993696.html

tishdiablo: wow this sounds really interesting
tishdiablo: and $13 an hour isn't bad at all
JPennant: specially if thats the kind of industry you want to learn from top to bottom
tishdiablo: true
JPennant: but, Im flexible
JPennant: Although THIS would be tres interesting ;-) http://www.craigslist.org/eby/trd/35251419.html
JPennant: cept my driving record is crap ;-)
tishdiablo: hehe
tishdiablo: well..
JPennant: no, seriously, as you said tho - 9 to 5 is not me
tishdiablo: yup. its so not you.. you need your freedom and time to be creative
JPennant: yep
tishdiablo: joey i've got to go to a meeting.. i'll see you later?
JPennant: yup
tishdiablo: you take care.. and be safe
JPennant: be good :-)
tishdiablo: hehe
tishdiablo: bye
JPennant: latah :-)

A) I like it when my friends are happy.

Makes me feel good.

So, I mailed out a few prints last week.

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 16:05:07 -0400
From: "S, Kate" kate_s@bigasscorporation.com
To: "Joe Pennant"
Subject: THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE PICTURES

Joe:

You are tooooooooooooooo sweet! I love love love the pictures...they're awesome!

How are you?

Let me know how you are doing.

B) I like it when friends make sure Im ok.

Makes me feel good.

Today's horrorscope sez:

This may be one of the best times of the year for you, but to make the most of it, you still have to overcome your tendency to fear the worst.

Your mind is a powerful tool and the way you think ultimately determines what kind of experiences you will encounter, so think only positive thoughts and positive things will happen more often than not.

The truth?

Im scared about the next step.

Like I was on the train headed to Berkeley a year and change ago.

Then as now, I had no resources to fall back on, to a place where I knew no one.

(Except that I DID see someone on that fateful train that day.. on the same car even. That mighta been a sign.)

It took awhile, and a radical shift in my lifestyle and thinking, to get to where I was fine.

People are telling me I'll like it.

Im respond that I will freeze my arse off.

They respond I should wear layers.

Heh. Anyway, Ive wanted to live there for a bit. Hang out.

Its just a tad scary.

"At 23, he's the only president I really remember, and his presidency shaped my generation."

Blair Call
paralegal, Berkeley Law Firm

Nope. Didnt go the requisite 10 blocks to go see Clinton sign his books at Cody's Book Store yesterday.

Just had other things to do at noon yesterday.

I heard tho, that it was the expected Carnival, with the unexpected being Clinton going out into the crowds on Telegraph Avenue, signing books.

I heard he even signed someone's Grateful Dead concert ticket, from last weeks concert.

I cannot verify that.

Many people said he looks taller in person.

Meh, I had things to do.

Plus I didnt have a camera.

Dear Abby,

What should I do?

Yesterday, while sitting with the Girl Im Dating, she checked her mail and upon seeing the Spam I Send With Love, she immediately deleted that mail.

My shock and horror knows no bounds.
It's as if she carelessly tossed away good shit that I picked and harvested myself.

Which is what I did.

Of course she did do the feminine 'awww' with the personal mail Ive sent and still has months of those in her mailbox, but the trauma of her deleting MY spam still haunts my tiny little mind.

Should I stay with her, as she obviously disrespects my spam, or is this a reason to go?

Yours

"Looking For a Reason"
Berkeley, CA

It's out in paperback.

Reading MoneyBall...

Maybe living in Berkeley and being married to MTV's Tabitha Sorenson has made Michael Lewis scarily profound.

The message Im getting from his tome:

Ask the right questions, quantify the answers.

Then the efficiencies will come.

As opposed to the other Micheal Lewis book (The New New Thing) where it showed me to keep groping for my dreams, and that its never too late.

Well, thas my take on it.

I firmly believe that some things come to you at the time you need it.

Had an epiphany of sorts today

I get motivated when Im pissed.

Then the confusion is gone from my mind, distractions dont faze me ... and things get done with a quickness.

Huh.

Im normally pretty laid back as it is, but nowadays Im finding myself viewing things with an equanimity that might suggest Im more matchure.. but seems to be hindering progress.

California is not helping.

Or it could be the depression Ive had from birth.

Hrm.

Lets see if I can conjure up a few appropriate Jedi mind trix...