Here's a great clip from Current TV about drunken make outs and ensuing text flirting strategies:

http://current.com/items/88906818_texting_your_way_to_love

Good thing my parents are using unpaid child labor to help cleanup after Hurricane Ike!

My parents in Houston, finally went back to their house after Ike went through, and the situation down there is pretty sticky. Luckily no one I know was harmed, and everyone seems to have escaped with on "minor" damage, but its still been a traumatic experience.

The gutter were ripped off the roof, trees were torn up, the fences in the back yard were all knocked down, and some how the pressure of the storm caused the windows to leak and soak a couple of the rooms.

The real problem is that over 4 million people are without electricity, the grocery stores are overwhelmed, and theres not much gas to go around. Crazy how much can change in your quality of life in 12 hours.

If you want to donate to those less fortunate than my folks, please check out:

RedCross
http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ggl_main&s_subsrc=DonateToRedCross&s_src=F7FWE001&gclid=CNi80Iu95pUCFQv7agodd34LfA

The Greater Houston Community Foundation
http://www.ghcf.org/

Its kind of depressing, but when you leave NYC and move to a new place, NYC is everywhere.

The most homesick I've been since I left (only half a lie) was watching an Acura TSX commercial, only to realize it was dumbest idea ever because why would you ever want to drive in the city.

Anyway, this comercial had the BQE, the east village, all places a miss :-(
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What a great lazy day. Started off with football, and reading on the back porch only to get motivated for some biking.

I swapped out my handle bars and cog for something more conducive to hills, then I went on to get a new helmut and a smaller lock. (When Nates bike got stolen, they got my lock) Rumor has it, these SF thugs don't require the hundred pound chain lock needed for NYC!

If that wasn't productive enough, I went on to make Chicken with Olives, Raisins and Spanish Rice. Not too shabby. It came out a solid but a bit sweet, so next time I'll ease up on the raisins.

http://tinyurl.com/5m2ykf
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Late night movies, marching bands, and hula hoops are just some of the things you'll find in this hill of a park.

Todays flavor was a christian blues rock band hoping saturday park goers would just give Jesus a shot.

Don't think he put a dent in the sinning.
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[late night delirious endorsement]

One of my biggest fears of moving to San Francisco was having to drive a car again. I hate cars, I hate traffic, and I hate any time spent on the road.....unless it gives me the opportunity to listen to NPR.

Yes, I'm a big dork. I love Nina Totenburg for making legal affairs dialogue so exciting, and I gotta get my Talk of the Nation, but I got completely caught off guard earlier tonight by a guy I don't usually get to listen to while on the road, Ira Glass. Well, it wasn't Ira glass, but it was This American Life, and it was someone else (Lisa Pollak) narrating on the show that had the same rythm and delivery as Ira usually does (I watched a lot of episodes in the Showtime show).

Point being, I'm driving back from Oakland, and I tune into the show about a Iraq War Veteran coming back to the US and having to face his fear of Iraqis/Muslims. I was immediately thrown into full contact reality as an American soldier openly talks about the way the war changed him, and how he's dealing with it as a civilian. I was literally sitting between him and his enemy as he faces a group of people that he has been conditioned to hate. Powerful stuff.

As if that wasn't enough, the next piece in the episode takes it up a notch and throws you into a montage of minds that are facing their inner demons. Real people dealing with eating disorders, drug addictions, compulsive behavior, etc sharing the voice that talks them in to all kinds of trouble. Act Two ends with the question, "Do you feel like the voice is winning"? To which one of the people responds "Yes, I think I'm in some serious trouble, to be honest." On the air, she realizes she's loosing the battle with herself.

I almost had to stop the car because so much of my day is so impersonal, and frankly much of my life is. Its easy to coast by on superficial interactions with people not having to get your hands dirty in their emotions, or sometimes you just don't get exposed to this level of conflict. I personally have never faced conflict like this, and it really took me out of my shoes for a second to see some of the incredibly tough situations people are dealt every day, and what thoughts are going through their minds as it happens.

Well, This American Life put me right in the trenches for a couple of minutes and it was an experience like no other. Something you rarely ever see on TV, and just doesn't have the same impact in a book.

Please check it out:
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=340

So when I moved to New York, there definitely a settling in period. At times I would look around and be surprised to be in such an exciting new place.

With San Fran, I wasn't sure I would get there, but its just been more subtle or at the top of a hill (or building).

It catches you off guard, but every once and a while you realize you're surrounded on all side by water. Crossing the bay bridge coming back from Oakland last weekend was surreal.

A couple of days ago I was jogging through my neighborhood, and all of a sudden I looked up and I ccould see right past the Mission to the water.

And finally, this afternoon at the UCSF gym on the top floor I looked up to see a boat floating between two building and thought to myself "its kinda nice to be in SF."
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All I have to say, is if you havn't been to the Gers in the south of France, get there soon. Preferably on a motorcycle.

Lots of sun flowers, hills, champagne, and never ending food. The people are all smart and smiley like my man Fredo here on the left.

Looking forward to the Girl Talk concert in NYC Nov 16th!
Just bought a few too many, so I guess there will be room for more.


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