[ ed's journal oct.28.99 ]

[ j o u r n a l ]

The following online journal entries are from October 1999.

They are taken from email updates I sent to friends.

[ 1 0 . 2 8 . 9 9 ]

Thursday. 12:28 PM. The following is an email I sent to my friends:

Life in SF: version 9.71
Greetings everyone, all of my fans, and people who are probably annoyed that their mailbox gets full of my verbage:
Happy early Hallow's Eve everyone! The autumn is my favorite time of year ... though San Francisco's fall is like no fall I've witnessed. It's getting a little "chilly" now -- meaning the temperatures are around the low 50s at night. Though, today, I could see my breath getting off the bus this morning. The fall is supposed to be warm, according to the natives and the naturalized. It is definitely different than the East Coast. All of the trees here are green. Actually, they get greener as we move into the winter, which is our rainy season. Ahh, gotta love weather along the Pacific.
It's probably never going to drop below freezing or even close to freezing and people are already complaining how cold it is. Heh. I guess once I get used to the climate, I'll probably moan and groan, too.
I think I'll write about other topics of interest. And include my day to day stuff, of course:
REGIONALITY
Well, I've noticed that California surprises me every once in a while, especially when it comes to affirming its West Coast mystique. This is the only place where I've heard about my "Saturn return" (the 28 year cycle when Saturn returns to the same spot in the sky on the date of your birth) from more than a handful of people. Almost every street I've been on has a shop that sells flowers, fresh herbs, aromatherapy oils, organic treats, and natural supplements. it's all fine and good, of course.
I think I've mentioned some regional idioms before. I still refuse to use "hella" as an adverb. Though, I've been the recipient end of the word -- my hair has been "hella pretty" or "hella cool" or "hella nice." The versatile "flake" is popular here as well: "That guy is such a flake" or "I had a date but he flaked on me." And of course there is the ever popular "like" -- but since the 80s, that has spread everywhere. But, it's nice to know that it started in good ole Cali. And the following are favorites as well: "stoked," "killer," and "right on!" As well as "that's deep!" and if it's really deep it's "hella deep!"
The "only in SF" moments in my life are becoming fewer and far between. I guess I'm getting used to it.
EPICUREAN EXPERIMENTS
I am exploring the ways to lower my carbohydrate intake -- especially the starches and sugars. Of course, everything under the sun has carbs in it. I'm not trying the whole Adkins (sp?) diet -- to radical for me. But I know that when I eat too much starch, my body does not feel good. Too much insulin being pumped into my system. It has helped, actually. I try to eat more leafy veggies and more protein. I'm ventured into the whole tofu-based foods. They're pretty good, actually. Tofu hot dogs taste like hot dogs and are really low in calories and high in protein. The tofu ground "meat" is good in sauces and omelettes and such. (Much of this is spawned by watching Oprah one day and the show's topic was carbohydrate addiction and the physiological effects of carbohydrates/insulin and weight gain/loss.) I'm not into diets. But I'm finding, as my body gets older, that what I eat and drink really affects my mood, my productivity, and my general sense of health. I have also noticed that by cutting back on processed foods (like flour and sugar), I feel a little better as well. Interesting, huh?

[ 1 0 . 2 8 . 9 9 cont. ]

MAYORIAL MADNESS

San Francisco City's Mayorial Elections are coming up in November ... very soon in fact. And like the upcoming 2000 Presidential elections, there really isn't any clear, "good" choice. I know very little about SF politics, but from the few months that I've been here, I know that the mayorial race is a gruesome one. Willie Brown, the current mayor, is running for another term and is favored by a great many people -- the fervor (good and bad) around him reminds me of Marion Barry in DC. I'm not sure who I will vote for. My current leanings are toward Tom Ammiano, who currently sits on the Supervisor's Board, is openly gay, and a pretty left-wing guy. He's a write-in canditate. The mayorial race here has hit an all time low, I think. Current polls show that something like 40% of the voters are not voting because they feel there are no good canditates. Yikes. Sadly, as with most things, a lot of the election shenanigans boils down to one thing--MONEY. Oi vey.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Well, a few weeks ago, I experienced my first earthquake. It was only a couple of seconds long and was centered in the North Bay (north of SF). It measured only 4.2 on the Richter scale (basically nothing to wake up for). But I was watching TV and the whole apartment shook for a few moments. Like a big truck passing by but much stronger. It was actually really disturbing. Everyone I talked to was so desensitized to the whole matter. It really freaked me out. I don't like the fact that the one thing I count on to be stable likes to jump around every now and then. I'm over it now. I guess until the next one, I'll play it cool and practice running to doorways or hiding under big furniture.

THE FALL LINE-UP

Part of my fall regimen is the whole slew of new television shows this harvest. And you know me, I enjoy my TV. Actually, this is the most television I've watched in a really long time.

My faves of course are: Buffy (pretty good start, I think ... I like Willow's new haircut ... and the whole roommate from hell episode was just TOO funny) and Angel (s'okay ... 1st season is always a bit lame for any show ... plus Glenn Quinn, the Irish half-demon, is so cute). My curiosity is piqued with Angel -- every episode so far has played heavily on Angel's sexuality -- he is handsome, well dressed, moody, sensitive. Gay jokes are made all the time ... not exactly for BIG laughs, either ... it's strange. He is hypermasculine (big bad demon) but he has a soul -- I love the whole feminized masculinity thing. Not to mention that Angel has lived a long time and has sired many vampires (including male ones) -- a part of the whole vampire mythology that has always been very homoerotic. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out -- if it does to any degree.

I've been taping Dawson's Creek (cause I want to see what they do with Jack's character ... IF they do anything with him at all ... and how's joining the football team for recuperation by the masculine, heterosexual norm? Though Jack's conversation with his father after his father comes to try to get him to move back home is pretty good). I've also been watching Roswell, which for a new show is pretty decent I think; a cross between Buffy, Dawson's Creek, and X Files ... I enjoy it ... and the cast is decent (cute people, of course ... though the main lead female isn't typically stunning ... and I think that's very interesting).

Other than those shows, I've really haven't bitten into the major network stuff. I watched the first episode of Kevin Williamson's Wasteland ... but wasn't terribly impressed. Another gay character that leads a horribly "sexual identity" dysfunctional and single life. And I'm finishing up the whole Real World in Hawaii thing -- sorely, sorely, sorely disappointed these days. I always have such optimism for the program. But much has changed since the 4th cast. Ah well.

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