Blog Master G

First off, congrats to Jen on her first-ever blog post!

Last night after returning home from a night out in Saratoga with some new friends (whom we actually met thanks to my blog), Jen and I took the dogs for a walk. Little did we know that we would soon experience. The walk started out like any other. I was walking Stella, Jen was walking Happy. We began unsuspectingly up our street. Happy peed. Stella peed.

Then, just ahead, we saw it: The Attack Cat. Of course, we didn’t realize at first what this cat was capable of. Or the ferocity that instensely boiled within its little black-and-white cat body. Stella and Happy barked and lunged ahead. Attack Cat stood its ground, fur and tail flared toward the quiet upstate New York night sky. Mistaking this encounter for the typical dog-meets-cat scenario, we walked calmly into the street and continued our walk in the direction we had been going.

What happened next was mostly a blur. It was one of those moments when you wish more than anything you could have a video camera built-in to your eyes (ala Robocop or Terminator). And you just know you could win every America’s Funniest Home Video contest out there. But alas, the scene will simply have to live on forever in my mind’s eye.

Like a flash of lightning, Attack Cat had bolted into the street, fur on end, and was going at Happy. The cat was probably less than half Happy’s size, but looked strangely similar, given the same coloring. He hissed. He swatted. He circled. Jen and I laughed, holding back the dogs.

Before I knew it, Attack Cat, faster than a speeding bullet, had somehow traversed sideways across the street to where Stella and I were standing. And he was at it again: Hissing and swatting at the 70-pound mutt at the end of my leash. This was a cat with some serious balls. Or a death wish. Or perhaps he had just finally had it with retreating at the sight of dogs breeching his turf. And this was his stand. There in the darkness on this cold Saratoga night Attack Cat stood his ground.

In his mind, Attack Cat won the battle. Not wanting a dead cat (or wounded dogs) on our hands, we retreated, dragging the dogs back down the street — in the opposite direction. But not before Jen stood up for our team and yelled to Attack Cat that he didn’t own this street.

Attack Cat beware. Now it’s war.

Ralph is scheduled to appear on Meet the Press tomorrow morning to announce whether he will enter the presidential race as an Independent. Although I am holding on to a shred of hope that he won’t run, I fear the worst. Can you just hear the resounding white house high-fives once the announcement is made? Rove’s streaming tears of joy?

Please, if there are still a large number of ‘Unrepentant Nader voters’ out there from 2000, read this and give serious thought to what is best for our country. The author of this open letter to Nader says it best… while many of us agree that we should not be in a position of voting for the lesser of two evils, “Tweedle dee is still tweedle dee, but tweedle dum has turned into a global tyrant.”

I would love to be able to give Nader my vote, since his views best represent mine and that is the way democracy is supposed to work. But way too much is at stake in this election. Better for the far left to compromise on some issues than endure another 4 years of this short-sighted, irresponsible administration.

Finally. Jen and I have discovered a good Mexican place in Saratoga Springs. Leon’s Mexican Restaurant on Crescent Street knows good food. Run by jockey Filiberto Leon, the restaurant makes the best burrito in town. Of course, there are only three Mexican restaurants from which to choose and we’ve not yet been to the third (only the one that makes the biggest burrito I’ve ever experienced).

Still, we realized tonight that we hadn’t had good Mexican food in the seven weeks since we left San Francisco. So along with a good margarita and sangria, we were relaxed and delighted to have discovered this gem. All the ingredients were super-fresh and it really showed. The chips were homemade. The texture of the burrito actually reminded me of burritos made by Tommy’s on Geary in San Francisco. It’s great to have found a taste of home here in upstate New York.

In other news, I purchased a new winter coat today for the first time in…oh, about nine years.

I drove on a lake today. I didn’t know that was even possible. But when Jen and I took a drive around Lake Saratoga today (which reminds me a lot of Tahoe), we were amazed to see not just the ice fishermen out on the frozen water, but snow mobiles and trucks. Lots of trucks. Out in the middle of the lake. I’d never seen anything like it, so I just had to try it. It was actually quite the adrenaline rush, knowing we had nearly two tons of steel, humans, and dogs atop the frozen H20. We didn’t venture out too far. It was mainly for the story and the photo.

Along with lake driving, the past few days have been action-packed.

Tuesday night we saw Miracle, the new Disney movie about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s inspiring victory over the nearly unstoppable Russian team. Though I was alive when it happened, I admittedly don’t really remember it.

That inspired us to go on Thursday to the place where it all happened: Lake Placid, New York, just two hours north of us. Whiteface has been named the best ski resort in the East three years running. I can see why. The skiing was really good. With the highest peak and vertical drop in the area, I really enjoyed the long runs. At about 4,800 feet, the elevation doesn’t really compare to any of the mountains in Tahoe, but for this coast, it’s not bad. The tickets were a rip-off, though, at 60 bucks — even more than Squaw Valley, King of Tahoe Resorts, and Kirkwood, my other Northern California favorite.

Friday night Karen and Joti came to town from Brooklyn to hang out for the night. We hit Professor Moriarty’s for drinks and appetizers, followed by dinner at the Saratoga Brew Pub. Good times. Jen made a delicious Valentine’s Day brunch for everyone Saturday morning.

Last night we hung out in Kinderhook with Jen’s parents. Karen and Joti came over later on, and we spent the evening talking about ghosts and the history of Columbia County.

This morning we had brunch at a place here in town that’s older than the country itself: The Olde Bryan Inn. That’s one of the things that’s really cool about living on this coast: The history. There’s simply so much more of it here than in California. For starters, we live in a building built in 1860 and can eat in Colonial buildings from 1773.

In recent weeks, Bush has finally begun to take the heat for some questionable service records during his time in the Texas National Guard in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Strangely, no one can remember where he was from May 1972 to May 1973 when he was supposed to be in Alabama. Funny that no one can vouch for the whereabouts of the then wild, partying, son-of-a-Congressman.

To counter the claims, Bush has ordered the release of a big stack of documents and has allowed reporters to browse through them in the White House. Here’s the part that cracks me up (my italics):

Hundreds of pages of documents — many of them duplicates — detailed Bush’s service in the Guard from 1968 until 1973.

As if to make the records visually more substantial, someone blatantly made copies of the records and included them in the same stack — probably so that reports would say “hundreds.” Still, there’s no accounting for that year when Bush seemed to vanish from service.

Wherever Bush was during that year, it certainly wasn’t Vietnam, where Democratic front-runner John Kerry actually was. I can’t wait for this fall’s debate between Kerry and the self-proclaimed “War President.” Add Gen. Wes Clark to the equation as a possible VP, and Bush is toast.

Just thirty minutes east of our new home is one of these. It’s a serval. And it rules. It didn’t seem to like new people, though, as the one we saw today hissed at me repeatedly from his run. Someone has one as a pet, and it was boarding at Safe Haven, a full-service boarding facility and farm. We were scoping it out for when Stella and Happy need a place to stay while we humans take trips.

Stella and Happy had never before seen so many exciting creatures in one place: A giant pig, a goat, horses, cats running free, guinea hens. They barely noticed the other dogs. They got a chance to run around one of the fenced-in areas of the farm, which, according to its owner, is much more exciting in the summer, when the pool is available for dog swimming, and the grounds are open for nature walks.

Safe Haven lives up to its name, and Stella and Happy gave it two paws up…or would that be four? Or eight?

(Photo courtesy of the Feline Conservation Center.)

I hope my recent rant on email and spam didn’t scare anyone away from emailing me or sharing Ofoto albums with me. Please don’t stop. Sometimes I just get caught up in the heat of the moment.

Yesterday Jen and I took our first trip to New York City since moving to Saratoga. We made it to our first stop in New Jersey to visit Jonty, Dina, and their adorable new baby (congrats!) in just over two hours.

From there, we were near Heather and Saahil’s place in Hoboken in no time (and looking for a place to park). I was amazed how fast the Path train got us across the river into Manhattan, where we met Karen and spent the next few hours wandering around.

After drinks at the Telehone Booth Bar & Grill, we enjoyed some much-needed Indian cuisine at Banjara in the East Village. There’s one Indian place in Saratoga, but Jen and I haven’t yet ventured there. Naan ‘n Curry in our old hood in San Francisco was the last time we enjoyed some curry lovin’.

I really enjoyed seeing our friends yesterday, and knowing how close we are to them and to the city. I also enjoyed coming home and not having to circle all night for a parking spot. It’s such a mental struggle to figure out where one is happiest: City or city in the country.

We have a bunch of other friends whom I would’ve liked to see yesterday, but it was such a quick trip for the day we just didn’t have the time. It’s an easy trip, though, so we’ll be back again soon.

See update to item 2 below.

I’ve been using the same primary, “for human eyes only” email address for nearly a year. I began using said address last March when I finally got fed up with an inundation of spam going to my previous address, which I’d been using all over the Web and with Web services for five years.

Over the past year, I’ve made a concentrated effort never to publish said address anywhere online or even to input it into any online forms (those private party forms like my own contact form excepted). I have another address for that purpose. I’ve tried to emphasize to everyone who has this address to use it wisely and not to type it into any forms (“email this link to a friend!”) or add it to any services (“keep track of all your friends’ birthdays here on our site so that we can keep all their email addresses on record and later sell them to spammers!”).

Today it happened: The first piece of spam in nearly a year slipped into my spam-free email account:

Date: Thu, 05 Feb 04 23:26:13 GMT
From: Estella Bullard
To: [SUPPRESSED]
Subject: Domain names only $5.95/year! mw k g h

I guarantee it’s not because I published my address online or used it in any Web services. And I fear that this is the beginning of the end for this email address. Spammers are like ants: There’s never just one. Estella’s going to tell her friends that she got a good one, and her pesky friends won’t be far behind.

The lesson here, my friends and readers, is simple: We can help each other fight spam by using one another’s email addresses wisely. If there’s a link you want to send me, great. That’s why the computer gods invented copy and paste. If you want to remember my birthday, write it down or make a note to yourself in the wonderful invention called Yahoo Calendar. (But remember to use an address at which you don’t mind getting spam when you sign up with Yahoo.)

If we all follow these few rules of email etiquette, the Internet world can be a more pleasant place:

1. Maintain two email addresses for yourself: One where you will expect to get spam and can use freely online, and one that you can enjoy without the clutter.
2. Respect your friends’ private addresses. I don’t use your address online, so please don’t use mine. Update: Certain services, like Ofoto, excepted. I trust Ofoto and have been using the service for years. I also realize you can’t really copy and paste URLs from Ofoto albums, so please share away!
3. Think of your private email address as your mailing address. Would you write down my home address on a slip of paper and hand it to a stranger on the street?

This week’s Newsweek cover story What Went Wrong depicts Bush and his Cabinet, along with the quote from former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay: “We were all wrong.”

To some of us, this is no surprise. Of course there were never any weapons of mass destruction. Bush and his Cabinet misled the American people. The weapons were the reason we were given that Saddam was such an imminent threat, right?

In any case, I’m glad to see that this issue is finally making big headlines and that maybe someone will have to take some accountability.

The timing is good, too, since we’re right in the middle of the Democratic primaries and this issue will no doubt be center stage come the presidential election when the pressure is put on Bush.

So far, John Kerry is the front-runner, having won five states last night. John Edwards won South Carolina, Wesley Clark won Oklahoma, Howard Dean has yet to win any state, and Joe Lieberman finally dropped out last night.

At first, I was leaning toward Dean. Lately, though, I’ve been seeing the appeal of Kerry and even more so Clark. What I like about both Kerry and Clark, of course, is that they’re military veterans. In this day and age — when soldiers are dying in Iraq, national security is such a hot topic, and 80 percent of Bush’s State of the Union speech was about these issues (and, oddly, steroids) — who better to have going against Bush, who has no military background? I look forward to that debate.

Kerry is against gay marriage, takes money from special interests like telecommunications, voted in support of the Iraq war, and has a questionable record in the Senate. Despite this — because he is more moderate — he may indeed stand the best chance against Bush. He appeals to all Democrats, including swing voters, who will no doubt determine the ultimate outcome of the battle against Bush. The biggest theme of importance to Democratic voters these days is electability: Who will stand the best chance against Bush, whose approval ratings have slipped below 50 percent?

Clark, on the other hand, is more in line with my personal beliefs: He supports gay marriage, is anti-war, anti-draft (since he’s been there and has actually seen how horrible war is), anti-Patriot Act, pro-environment, and the like. Michael Moore has an excellent endorsement of Clark. The other thing I really like about Clark is that he’s published all his personal, financial, and military documents online. He has nothing to hide. It’s rare that one can say that about a politician.

Clark’s critics will be quick to point out that he has no experience in public office. As previously mentioned, we are living in a time when military force and national security are the issues of the day. Since the President of the United States is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who’s better suited for that role than someone who is a four-star general and spent more than thirty years serving his country? What sense does it make to have politicians who have never been in battle being in charge of the military?

Come March 2 when the Democratic primary hits New York, I’m still undecided as to who will have my vote, but I’m sure the field will have narrowed even more by then. And whoever ends up with the nomination and eventually the Presidency will be a welcome relief over Bush, who’s created a record deficit, lost three million American jobs, contributed to the destruction of our environment, pandered to special interests, and gone to war based on lies.

Lobster-crab corn chowder. Actual chunks of lobster, not the kind from a can or even processed. One dollar per half-cup. All you can eat. Jen and I shared three of Brindisi’s winning chowder at our first Saratoga Chowderfest on Saturday. The restaurant that was the buzz of downtown was not officially announced the winner (so far as I can tell), but there’s no doubt in my mind that it earned its third consecutive victory.

Of the seventeen area restaurants participating in this year’s competition, we went to five of them. We wanted to sample more, but felt like a sixth type of chowder would push us over the top. After five-and-a-half half-cups, our hearts were racing and we were feeling a bit chowder-dazed — like the tryptophan effect from eating too much turkey.

Along with Brindisi’s (also the location of a wine tasting class we’re taking later this week), we sampled chowder from Bailey’s Cafe, The Stadium (a sports bar where we went again Sunday night to watch the first half of the Super Bowl), Scallion’s (where I ate a solo lunch when I first visited Saratoga), and Lillian’s.

The chowder was all very different and all very good. The only questionable cup of chowder was that from Lillian’s, which served a Caribbean variety filled with too-chewy conch. After Brindisi’s, my favorite was from The Stadium, whose chowder was the most traditional New England style: Thick white seafood. The next night at the Super Bowl, I made the mistake of ordering a chicken pasta that was terrible.

Though we didn’t turn in our ballots or purchase the official event sweatshirt, Chowderfest ’04 was a great way to explore the neighborhood restaurants and begin to feel like members of this unique community.