The Centenial Post

Alright, it is my 100th post. And some of you thought it would never last.

I know it has been a while since I posted, so I have a lot to share.

First, we had an earthquake last night. I was sitting in a building committee meeting at the methodist church, the methodist church which is planning to do renovations, renovations which include seismic retrofitting. Yes that is right I was sitting in a building with a group of people who all knew that the building we were sitting in would not be able to withstand a major earthquake. The earthquake lasted longer than any that I have been in before. Probably 15 to 20 seconds. That is a long time in earthquake time. There appears to be no major damage. But I was particularly grateful, as all of you who are regular readers of this blog, that it was not in the middle of the night.

Second, I was recently in the Atlanta airport. I was standing at a urinal--this has nothing really to do with the rest of this story, but I like to set the scene. Anyway, I heard over the intercom "Flight such and such to Chicago Ohara airport is now boarding." Ohara? Chicago Ohara? The plane was not flying to Scarlette Ohara illegitimate sister, Chicago's house. Only in Atlanta.

I met with an account executive from Energy 92.7 today. This is a local radio station that plays mostly dance music. I refer to it as all-gay, all-time. He had seen our booth at the Castro Street Fair, a local neighborhood festival. He thought we would make good partners. We'll see if we actually advertise on the station, but my ego really gets the best of me. I want to become one of those radio preachers. Not like a televangelist, but instead one of those preachers who makes pithy statements on the radio. It makes me laugh to think about it. I've been practicing my radio voice.

I'm sure there are other thing to say about in this 100th post, but I can't remember what they are. i should have made notes.

Oh well. Until tomorrow, when it will just be post 101. Peace out.

Word

This is the 99th blog entry. That means the next one will be the 100th. I hope it is a good one. But for today, this is only the 99th. Today I baked a cake. I had some carrots left over from last week and I needed to do something with them. So I'm headed out to one of the gay's tonight and I decided to bake a carrot cake. Now here is my question: does it count as eating more vegetables if I bake them into a cake? I know it doesn't but I wish it did. While I baked my cake I listened to ABBA. I love ABBA. I mention this because on a blog I occasionally write on someone posted a video clip of ABBA from 1974. They were awesome even though a bit cheesey.

Today in my farm box I got bok choy, a pepper, some apples, green beans, salad greens, sweet potatoes (Does potato have an e in it? I am so Dan Quaye.) more carrots, and pistacios. Yay for pistacios. Apparently next week I can expect brocolli. How exciting is that?

For all of those out there with young children I read today on the internet that the Bumbo was recalled. The Bumbo is this foam seat for young babies. The child can sort of sit up. Well apparently there have been reports of children getting hurt on the chair, some even with fractured skulls. Now here is the thing. That is awful. Awful. However, the way they are getting hurt is that the chair was placed up on a table or a counter and then the child falls off not only the chair but the table/counter. Now I get it. I get why someone would put them up on a table or a counter. I also get how a parent could turn their backs for a minute and then the child fall. But can you really call it a recall when it is not based on the product but actually on human error? I mean there is nothing wrong with the Bumbo, the fault lies in the users of the Bumbo. Seriously, I think I just wrote that whole paragraph because I liked saying the word Bumbo. Bumbo. Bumbo. Bumbo.

I also like the word panacea. And persimmon. And now bok choy.

Alright, until number 100.

Peace out.

Mmm, fruit

Persimmons are tasty!

Off to choir practice.

Peace out.

Long day!

I hoped to post pictures from the CERT drill, but the disc that I was given with the pictures on it says that it is blank. I'll keep trying. I've seen a printed photo and it is pretty disturbing. I'll share it when I am able.

Today was a long day. Not a difficult day by any means but a long day. I got a haircut and a massage. I went to pilates. Then I also met with the pastor of the Methodist church to talk about Sunday's worship service. Then I went to the hospital to visit a parisioner who had a pacemaker installed today. She is going home tomorrow. Crazy, huh? Then I went to centering prayer tonight. So I was glad to get home when I did at 7:00.

I had left over pasta from my dinner last night. I went out with my friends Shannon and Sean and Karen and Robin to celebrate Shannon's birthday. We went to this great Italian restaurant. I had a spaghetti carbonara. It was very rich last night, but seriously even richer tonight. It seemed much oilier. But I didn't have to make it.

Shout out to my friends Mark and Mary Sue in San Diego. So far they are safe from the fires,but they are still affected by the event.

Alright, that's it. This is my only night at home this week. So I'm just going to eat ice cream and lay on the couch.

Peace out.

It's the Great Pumpkin Dixie

Here's a talkie blog. Enjoy!

Massive Head Wound Dixie

So I was a victim today. I showed up at the Community Emergency Response Training drill that my friend Sean was running. He bought makeup that included latex wounds. I had a hole in my cheek and then a large wound on my neck. Then I was given instruction. I was going to be at a house about three blocks away from where the drill would begin. And when the team arrived I was to be unconcious and then come to and tell them the last thing I remember was being hit on the head and then lose conciousness again. First problem, I was hit on the head but I had a gash in my neck and a hole in my cheek. But whatever. So I layed around for a while. Where Sean told me to lie down was in a shaded area. And eventually it got cold. So I stood up in the sun and just waited to see the team walking down the road. They were in flourescent vests so they wouldn't be too difficult to see. Well when I saw them coming I went back and laid down. About that time the mail carrier showed up. I was right next to the mailbox. So I had to look up and tell her what I was doing. She said "Oh is that why all the fire engines are around. I was grabbing for my cell phone." She was about to call 911. Then the team walked up. I had my eyes closed. One of the member comes up to me and I give my line and I lose conciousness again. At that point they are supposed to get me on a stretcher and carry me the three blocks back. Well first of all they were having a hard time getting the stretcher together. Then I was sort of in a doorway so they were trying to figure out how to get me on the stretcher. They decided they would roll me over. Well they did alright except for the neck. The guy held it but then they realized that they were not going to be able to just roll me onto the stretcher, so they turned me back on my back and the guy just let go of my neck. If I had a real neck injury I would have then had a broken neck. So they have to pick me up by my legs and my shoulders. They did alright but it just made me laugh. Then when I was finally on the stretcher they started carrying. Oh I almost forgot at first they weren't going to strap me down to the stretcher. Fortunately they thought better of that idea. So they tied me down and then began carrying me down the street. All the while my eyes are closed. And then they kept having to put me down because one of the women kept getting winded. And they would change sides. At one point I was slanted. See good thing they had me strapped in. Then finally they had to call for help because the woman couldn't carry me any further. I heard her saying she had been on disability all year. Hello, then why in the world is she being trained emergency response. She is going to be the person who will be rescued. (That was rude. I know.) Well anyway then they get me back to the site. And they keep saying I'm the happiest dead person they had ever seen. And I kept saying I'm not dead just unconscious. And the guy failed to tell them about the fact that I had been conscious and had been hit on the head. I'm sure they did fine but seriously if there is an earthquake I hope I'm not in Colma--that's where I was today.
I did get free pizza though and the firefighters were hot.
So that's it I have to write a sermon now. Until tomorrow.

Peace out!

Hanging out in Clark's pants

Honestly, I'm not the person who encourages conversations with strangers. This might be the reason why I'm still single, but that's me. However, yesterday I went to lunch at my favorite little diner down the street from my house. I sat at the counter as I usually do, and almost immediately the woman sitting two seats over from began talking with me. Now technically she was almost directly across from me because the seat between us was actually on the curve of the counter. She was this little old lady and she did not stop talking. At one point I started to look down at the journal that I was going to read, but decided I was just going to sit and listen to this woman. I was guessing that she was lonely and so it didn't cost me anything to listen to her. But seriously she did not stop talking. I couldn't hear all of what she was saying. But she was talking a lot about books. She asked me if I had been to our new library. But I hadn't because it only just opened and as you know I've been sick. She was excited to be going to the library which is in the same block as the diner, but thought it was unfortunately the library didn't have a fireplace. Her version of heaven was a library full of books with a fireplace. She actually told me this. And she told me about all these pleasant memories she had throughout her life. And then the best parts were that she kept saying that she was interrupting my lunch but then she didn't stop talking. She was done eating when I arrived but didn't leave until right before I did. The other great thing was that she completely stole the menu. I saw her tuck it right into her bag. And then she headed off to the library. And I went on my way. I don't even know what to make of this experience. I'm just noticing it and hope that I have other experiences similar to it.
Went to Borders today looking for a book for my sermon on Sunday. I looked the book up on the internet to see if this Borders had it and the website said that it did. I also was going to buy a book my friend Clark had been talking about. But I couldn't remember what the name of the book was. So I called him on his cell phone. I think he answered the phone but I think he was trying to turn it off because he was engaged in some business conversation. But the thing is he didn't turn off the phone, instead he answered it. But I'm assuming that the phone stayed in either a bag or his pants. Because I could hear a muffled version of his conversation. Not enough that is was some violation of some confidentiality, just enough to know that I was hearing a conversation. It was also weird to think that I was hearing this from inside his pants. Finally I just turned off the phone. Then I got to the Borders and they didn't the book I was looking for for my sermon. So I the trip was sort of a bust. But then I ended up buying three other books. Doh!
So there you have it. I'm headed off to have dinner at a friends house. Then tomorrow I'm most likely going to participate in a Community Emergency Response Training. I'm going to be a victim. My friend Sean is a firefighter and he asked me to volunteer. To which I asked will there be food and he said yes. I think basically all I have to do is lye around and play dead. I'll let you know.
Peace out!