A New Hope

I have to admit that I have become tired of the campaign that seems without end. The primaries started so long ago and the race between Clinton and Obama was so exhausting that I didn't think I would have the energy to put up with the final stretch of the race between the two final contenders. But after seeing Barack Obama's acceptance speech tonight, I have renewed hope, inspiration, and belief that this country can be turned around. The word change may seem overused after all this time, but I think Obama truly does represent that possibility for change. Watching him up on that stage, he definitely looked presidential and I could easily imagine him as our commander in chief. I really don't want another old white guy in the oval office; we've had a good long run of those and it would be great to have someone that represents the diversity that we have in this country. This is our chance to move forward and I don't want us to miss it.

Oakland Pelican

I was riding from home to the bank this afternoon and came across a group of people watching a pelican that was perched on some guy's car.




I wish I had gotten video of this thing it did a couple times. It opened its mouth very wide and then pushed his neck up through the bottom portion of his beak. It looked like he was going to turn himself inside out.




Everyone was waiting for animal control and then this guy showed up in a Toyota 4-Runner. He let the police know he was with a bird rescue group and then in one swift movement he grabbed the pelican by the beak and neck with a hand towel. Then he put the pelican in a box and off they went.

Tomato Sauce Canning

Joy, Vero, and I went up to Eatwell Farm today to cook and can tomato sauce. The tomatoes were all seconds so instead of all of them going to waste, the farm invites all its members up to the farm to make tomato sauce. All you have to do is bring your cooking supplies. The farm was providing all the tomatoes as well as onions, peppers, basil, and various other things. They were also making Bloody Marys with the fresh tomatoes.

We arrived about eleven in the morning and didn't finish until four in the afternoon. Then we had to come home and process all the jars we had filled with tomato sauce. So we're still sitting here waiting for the remaining jars to finish processing. Click on any of the photos to see them all.

Man on Wire

I just saw Man on Wire tonight. Spectacular. The documentary was so well done and Philippe Petit's descriptions were so energetic, that I could feel every emotion: the thrill, the fear, the nervousness. It was filmed like a bank heist, which it sort of was; the preparation was so similar with everything that had to be done to make it work. I'm so glad he did it when he did. Who knows if it could have been executed later as security got tighter, and now, of course, it's impossible.

Giants vs. Dodgers

Vero and I went to see the Giants play the Dodgers last night, a gift from a contractor client of mine. I grew up a Dodgers fan but now that I've been in this area so long, I didn't know who to root for. Actually, I don't feel loyalty to any team so end up rooting for whoever is losing, which was the Giants last night...6-2.

Our seats were on the lower deck and far enough back that the upper deck limited the view to mostly just the field; fly balls went out of sight. The stadium now has large LCD TVs hanging so that you can see what's happening but I found that they have a way of drawing your eyes so much that I ended up watching those more than the live game. I might as well have been in a sports bar at that point. And it was strange because there was a one-second delay on the TV so I would hear the baseball hitting the catcher's mitt while still seeing the pitcher about to throw the ball.

We left the game an inning early since it didn't look like there would be much of a comeback and we were really cold. It's the beginning of August and we were wearing jackets, scarves, and mittens and still shivering! Ahhh, San Francisco.

Road to Five on the Spire

I recently created another blog to document a goal that I'm working towards. It's been mostly theory until now, but lately I've been putting in the time and the research so I'm trying to make it a reality. The basic goal is to juggle five clubs while walking a highline, a slackline set between two points high above the ground. The ultimate goal would be to do it in a famous highlining spot such as the Lost Arrow Spire in Yosemite but we'll see how it goes.

I'm a little nervous about voicing such a feat but by putting it out in the world it feels more real. I have yet to even try highlining and my juggling skills will need a lot of work to make them reliable enough for such an attempt but that's all part of the training. The blog is for tracking my training progress and sharing it with those interested. Check it out here: Road to Five on the Spire.