Blog Master G

Owning a home and getting older do funny things to you. For the first time yesterday, Jen and I went on an Oriental rug mission. After quickly realizing that the advertised BJ’s (Costco) sale was just a tad out of our price range (do people really pay $25,000 for something they will walk and spill shit on?), we headed for Huck Finn’s Warehouse to peruse rugs that cost less than our car.

What we found was quite a bit less than a luxury automobile, but it’s definitely a step up from the $29.99 Target rugs to which we’ve been accustomed all these years. It’s funny what a difference a rug makes.

For starters, we’ll be able to worry less about the hardwood that Stella loves to scratch (I swear she does so deliberately sometimes). But beyond that, it really transforms the room.

I still can’t get over what a difference it makes to walk into the liviing room. It really feels homier. As Jen put it last night, buying an Oriental rug is like buying artwork for your floor. You want it to look good, but you don’t want to go broke buying it.

I think we found a nice solution.

(Photos 1-3 by Jen. Photo 4 by Gabe.)

If a proud member of Bush’s own Axis of Evil endorses him, shouldn’t that be a wake-up call to anyone who thinks Bush is tough on terrorism?

Bush receives endorsement from Iran: “The head of Iran’s security council said Tuesday that the re-election of President Bush was in Tehran’s best interests, despite the administration’s axis of evil label, accusations that Iran harbors al-Qaida terrorists and threats of sanctions over the country’s nuclear ambitions.

“Historically, Democrats have harmed Iran more than Republicans, said Hasan Rowhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security decision-making body.”

(Thanks, Joe, for the heads-up.)

Last night Jen and I watched Super Size Me, which is basically the book version of Fast Food Nation. That is, by the end, even if you never eat fast food like us, you’re still feeling pretty disgusted by food in general and the American attitude toward food.

It was an excellent movie. The premise, of course, is that writer/director Morgan Spurlock goes on a 30-day McDonald’s-only fast food binge. Despite warnings from doctors around Day 21 to stop, he presses on. It’s very eye-opening what he experiences along the way: The expected weight gain (about a pound a day, so that he’s gained nearly 30 pounds by the end), liver problems (one doctor compares the damage he’s doing to his liver to what an alcoholic does to his), lethargy (no energy), and even emotional problems (he’s depressed unless he’s eating).

It’s always been obvious to me (and probably most people) that fast food is really, really bad for you. The only thing close to fast food that I’ll eat these days is a meatless burger from In-n-Out, which isn’t your typical fast food place anyway (family-owned, real meat, real potatoes, real wages). I don’t even remember the last time I ate at Burger King or McDonald’s, but it was probably when I worked at both places during high school.

I hate fast food and I think that Americans would be healthier and happier if they hated it, too. Supply and demand, people. Walk away and there won’t be 30,000 McDonald’s joints worldwide for you to visit.

(A revealing tangent: Two-plus years ago while in Venice, we watched with utter amazement while American after American piled into the McDonald’s there; how sad that there even is a McDonald’s in such a beautiful, unique city.)

Now, I’m normally not one to preach, but I will say this: I never eat fast food and I don’t exercise regularly (I do ride my bike, rollerblade, and run on occasion, and, of course, ski every winter), but my health is superb and I’m not overweight. Again, I’m not bragging about this; I’m just pointing out that maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the food I eat — or the food I don’t eat. Sure, I eat lots of pizza just like the next guy, but I do so in moderation.

The point is this: If you never eat fast food and eat everything else in moderation (don’t forget your fruits and vegetables), you can be healthy and fit with only occasional exercise. As this 90-year-old fitness guru (I forget his name; anyone know of whom I speak?) recently said, “If God didn’t make it, I don’t eat it … why the hell would you eat white bread when you could eat wholesome wheat bread.” Amen, brother.

As Jen aptly points out, however, we’re fortunate to have the time and the means to be able to eat the way we do. Were I a single mother with 3 kids and 2 jobs, I might not have the luxury. So in that regard, I am lucky.

Pass the fries.

Last night was a night like any other: I walked the dogs, mowed the lawn, enjoyed some wine, ate some pizza. And then I watched baseball history in the making as the Red Sox became the first team in history to come from a 0-3 game deficit and defeat the Yankees in the ALCS 10-3, putting them in the World Series for the first time since 1986.

The game was awesome. The Sox took charge from the very beginning and carefully controlled the game the whole way through. Johnny Damon redeemed himself by hitting a grand slam and a 2-run homer, much better than his 2-for-23 or so overall post-season performance. Derek Lowe held his own, throwing a commanding game through seven innings.

There wasn’t anything as unusual as ARod’s bitch-slap or the class-less throwing of balls onto the field by Yankees fans in Tuesday night’s game; there was just a sense of a driven team that came together as it aims to break an 86-year-old curse.

It’s a good time to have become a Sox fan.

Foulke the Yankees!

Mike Benedetto sums up best my thoughts on why Kerry’s having mentioned Mary Cheney in the final debate wasn’t a big deal until the Cheneys made an issue of the “bad man” who stated the facts in a respectful way:

“Why are they angry? Because it is a political liability to have a gay daughter when they have no choice but to endorse anti-gay rhetoric. They can’t be angry at her — publicly, at least — so they’re angry at Kerry, who has done nothing more than quietly point out that their own lives contradict the policies they endorse. What nerve.

“They may not be able to be openly, overtly proud of their daughter, but they should at least be able to feign nonchalance about this issue for her sake. I don’t know whether it’s worse to think that they might really still feel such ambivalence, or that this ‘how dare you point out our family’s shameful secret’ line may be a put-on.

“Of course, I don’t give a shit about Mary Cheney. For all intents and purposes outside American politics, her family’s money has bought her heterosexuality — she will never be discriminated against in jobs or housing, she will never lose an inheritance or custody dispute, and she will never be the victim of a hate crime (unless she loves the bar scene and doesn’t bother with security). And when a person has everything she needs, she isn’t quite so interested in taking care of everyone else, is she? Hence, not a word on the subject from her.”

Read Mike’s full post.

Watching the longest post-season baseball game in history last night, I really found myself enjoying it. It’s been many years since I’ve really followed a professional sport closely — I usually tune in only when the Giants or 49ers are in their respective championships — but this year I’ve found myself becoming a Boston Red Sox fan. Ditto for Jen.

And we have Justin to blame.

Our friend Justin is a diehard Sox fan. He saw the final regular season game against the Yankees this season, and sat front row in the Green Monster. I’m beginning to see the appeal.

Of course, there’s the mystery of the team: The Curse of the Bambino, which has prevented the Sox from winning a World Series since 1918, when Babe Ruth was traded to the Yanks. But the appeal of the team is more than that.

The Red Sox are the underdogs; they’re the working man’s team who plays hard, then inevitably blows it at season’s end. It’s frustrating and hard work cheering for the Sox, but it’s oh-so satisfying when they pull ahead in the bottom of the 9th and win it with a homer in the 12th. Or when they do pretty much the same thing, but in 14 innings, like they did last night.

We’ll see what happens in tonight’s game, which could send the Yankees to the World Series or could put the Sox in the record books for making what’s got to be one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Either way, it’s exciting.

As for those Yankees, you might think that, as a New Yorker, I’d be a fan, so what gives? Sure, I’ve been to some games at Yankee Stadium in my day, but the Yankees are such an easy team to like. They always win. They buy the best players.

It’s time for someone else to share the love and win the Series.

The fan base in this part of New York — 3 hours from New York City and 3 hours from Boston — seems to be evenly split between the Sox and the Yanks, but somehow we’ve managed to find ourselves surrounded by Sox fans. Not only Justin, but Sarah, Joe, Ken… the list goes on. Thanks, guys, for sucking us in and showing us the joy of rooting for this oh-so frustrating and nail-biting team.

Foulke the Yankees!

Nearly a month ago, the Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 showed a Bush lead of 273-255 over Kerry.

Not that I’ve put much weight in polling all along, but I’d just like to point out for the record that the map currently shows Kerry polling ahead, 257-247. Good news indeed.

Hopefully this will put skeptics like my wife a bit at ease in these final weeks before November 2.

In related news, the New York Times has officially endorsed Kerry. Check out this excerpt: “We have specific fears about what would happen in a second Bush term, particularly regarding the Supreme Court. The record so far gives us plenty of cause for worry. Thanks to Mr. Bush, Jay Bybee, the author of an infamous Justice Department memo justifying the use of torture as an interrogation technique, is now a federal appeals court judge. Another Bush selection, J. Leon Holmes, a federal judge in Arkansas, has written that wives must be subordinate to their husbands and compared abortion rights activists to Nazis.”

This weekend I partied with friends, new and old. When the Red Sox were rained out, we revamped the Foulke the Yankees site with photos and song. We played into the night. Team F the Yankees… fuck yeah!

This weekend we implemented the finishing blueline edits into 100 Faces of Marin. It is now final.

This weekend I ripped out the tomato plant from our yard. I raked. Then Jen and I planted our first plant together. Our roots are now symbolically here.

This weekend I posted photos from my SF trip last week online.

This weekend I organized and centralized on one computer all 5.92 GB of 6,605 digital photos from our collection, July 1999 through present. I installed Picasa to organize all the photos. It is better than I would have guessed. (Thanks, Jonty.)

This weekend we ate greasy dinners at the Parting Glass.

This weekend we laughed our asses off at Team America: World Police.

This weekend I installed Gaim, which plays nicely with @mac.com addresses and seems to be much better than Trillian. (Thanks, Ben.)

I’m too tired to write as detailed a recap of this most recent SF trip as I did for the last one, but suffice it to say that I had a kick-ass time with everyone, and was there October 9th through the 13th. The pictures can tell the rest of the story.

View all SF Trip II 2004 photos