the hills ARE alive!

so... i haven't posted in a while, but i HAVE had lots to tell - FUN t-giving with adam and tracy and the fam here in piedmont, a wonderfully over-commericalized macy's t-giving day parade, and a few pies made by yours truly that were truly fabulous, if i do say so myself.

but all of this is overshadowed by last night's event - the SOUND OF MUSIC SING ALONG at the castro theater in san francisco. marta anderson, a friend of a friend who just moved here from boston, too (and just graduated from ksg), was organizing a gang to go.

they have this amazing organ that rises from the center of the stage, and when we arrived, the organist was plonking away at the overture. people in costumes - the chronically bowing "runner up" from the concert at the end of the film; a brown paper package tied up in string; tea with jam and bread. it was loads of fun. that was just the costume contest. then they started the movie, with subtitles for the songs. we belted with the nuns and cracked firecrackers when fraulein maria and the captain kissed. it was looooooads of fun. magical, even. people were yelling at the screen "don't go in there!" "kiss her!" "hurry up!" "steal the vase!"

ah.....this has to be an annual tradition.

sociology frat house

can't believe i haven't posted about this! last friday adam and i went to a dinner party at the sociology frat house - where i went to a party in oct and knew not a soul.

about 5 guys in the sociology phd program in berkeley live in this house (plus one girl - catherine, a journalism student at uc berkeley, who is awesome). they were having friends over and cooking an amazing, ginormous, organic and super healthy meal. so we arrived at about 6 and helped cook until about 8pm. when we all feasted.

during the meal, we had some music playing from nick's computer. and it was fun, so once the dinner was over, we turned it up. and some people started bobbing their heads to songs they liked. and some people got up and tapped their feet. and a couple of people started dancing. and the next thing i knew, we were doing a conga line around the dinner table to 'walk like an egyptian'. and then someone turned the lights out and someone else moved the table and chairs and it was a dance party. with about 12 people. nerdy people. seriously, everything from brittany spears to the talking heads to michael jackson.

what a fun night. a bunch of nerdy fun people who love to dance and were just enjoying themselves. i think the pivotal moment was when gabe, a usually quiet, 6 foot tall skinny kind of guy, burst into the room with bottle caps in his eye sockets, doing some kind of strange dance with his chest stuck out, hands on his hips, and legs kicking. it was so strange that we all burst out laughing and started dancing.

i seriously threw my back out doing the zombie dance from 'thriller'. but damn, it was a big hit.

while searching for a photo for the above comment (i googled "thriller dance zombie jackson"), i found this CRAZY site - http://www.tess-impersonates-mj.com/school.htm . this girl named tess in sweden apparently knows all of michael jackson's moves, and has videotaped herself in her living room giving an mj dance lesson...to the camera. it is so bizarre. but if you want to know what the thriller dance looks like, you can watch her "instructional" video. yikes. here is a picture of her:

Chez Tracy

Things have been pretty lively here! Marshall was in town for about 10 days, and my friend Adam (see pic) just moved in to the room next to mine downstairs. He needed a place to crash for a little while, so Tracy (super-generous Tracy) offered him a room. And even though she had a major cold, she set up and cleaned the room for his arrival!

Adam's a ph.d. student in sociology at uc berkeley (the one who introduced me to the sociology frat house - you know, the party i attended in oct where i knew literally no one). he's originally from cambridge, ma, which means i have another east coaster who will join me in nostalgia for new england autumn and who also enjoys feeling just a little superior to all these "californians". he also was a teaching fellow for marshall during spring 2004.

So, in addition to my previous buddy, Rudy (the family canine - see pic), I now have a new housemate, which is pretty cool.

Always a good thing to have someone with whom you can eat Trix and watch the Daily Show. As we sit and read the New York Times and drink the Peet's coffee that Marshall left, we marvel at how good we have it. I am so lucky to have such generous friends in a strange, new place! Chez Tracy is a warm, comfortable home away from Wrentham.

and another thing about the stones

generous performers. i'm not sure a lot of performers are generous performers these days; especially in rock, especially among young bands. the hives kind of have it; that way of giving all of their energy to the audience. that way of engaging with the audience in a performance, rather than showing up and playing. it's a lost art. and it's something that audiences still appreciate, whether they know it or not.

the stones, baby.

sunday night, i went with tristen and ashby (who also went to smith) to the rolling stones. HOW COOL IS THAT?! the stones. they're still alive, they're still kicking (tho' my sneaking suspicion is that mick has a bum hip), and they put on a fabulous show.

we were pretty far away. actually, 90% of people there were pretty far away. the concert was at sbc park, the ballpark home to the sf giants. it's no fenway, but it was pretty nice. how big are the stones? everclear and metallica were the openers, and they had to introduce themselves to the audience. it's like opening for the beatles. except alive (sort of) and the bandmembers don't hate each other (kind of).

thank goodness tristen brought binoculars. and they did have some major screens showing the band up close.

keith richards, rotting tho' he may be, looked pretty bad ass up there...until he decided to "sing." which was really uncool. his voice was awful. and i think people tried to get into it. and sway. or something. but no dice. he was just plain bad. stick to the guitar, keith. your vocal chords (or what's left of them) can't handle the strain. neither can our ears.

mick was something else, though. strutting, and flailing and dancing onstage...just like you've always seen him do on tv. but he was right *there*. any other man dancing like and traipsing and flipping his wrists like that would be called gay and ridiculed by other artists. especially eminem. who would probably try to fight him. but not mick. he's just so....cool. how does he do that?

and the crowd was something else. men and women and children and grandparents. three generations of families. girls in tight jeans and women in waist-high velvet skirts. bikers and skaters and punks and dads and soccer moms. what a collection.

and then they played "painted black". my favorite stones song ever.

OH, YEAH, and during 'brown sugar', they played a video on the huge center screen that showed a king kong-sized naked black woman on a strip tease trip around the world. the woman, shot from the neck down, would glide up to various phallic world symbols (big ben, the eiffel tower, etc.), and begin her slow, undulating pole dance. it was very strange. and possibly offensive.

at least i got to see them before they dropped dead.

gargoyle for hire.

while looking for online job postings, i was checking tribe.net and clicked on the job category "*outrageous*"...because i was intrigued.

i found this listing, posted below, verbatim. it made me laugh. i almost want to hire him *just* to see if he'll show up.

Rate: (contract)
Type: Contract
City: SF Bay Area
As winter's deathly chill draws nigh, the desire for cozy fires in one's castle increases. This is the best time of year to enjoy a clean fireplace and chimney. When properly cleaned by an experienced leather wearing gargoyle, there will be less risk of fire and less airborn toxins to discourage your happyness. This is where I come in. I am the #1 Gargoyle Chimney Sweeper in the entire world. I will come to your house, clean your chimney and fireplace to satisfaction, and best of all, I provide the entertainment of watching a grey painted-leather wearing-masked-winged-gargoyle, capering about your roof.

Service costs $125 in San Francisco, slightly more for anywhere else in the Bay Area to cover transportation. Cleaning generally takes just over 1 hour.
Be the first one in your lineage to have your chimney serviced in such a manner!!!
Call or tribe me to get a quote or schedule a cleaning.

Shadow (415) 531-9201

high school

tonight i went with jesse to his friend's play at piedmont high school (see pic - program). she began writing it last year, and has worked on it since then - at a workshop with berkeley rep, and at a california summer arts institute (the same one jesse attended in l.a.).

it was great. called "high school in four letters" it consisted of a group of monologues framed by four letter titles "love" "girl" "dump" "life" "test" "hate" "safe" "home" "cute" and "talk". and i was sitting there watching and enjoying and laughing, and suddenly noticed the huge chasm between the me of today and the high school me. i'm much more adult than i am kid or young person or teenager. i remember being a teenager and having big ideas and big feelings and big words for all of it. and feeling like on one was listening.

and this play was kind of like that - kids bursting for life to start. feeling trapped by suburbia, and also hopeful for their own shot at adulthood. big ideas big emotions big hope. and i started thinking "they don't even know what the real world is like." or "please, this is nothing. wait until they have to work 40 hours a week."

when did that happen? when did i become the cynical adult? it's a struggle for me to shut my own mouth and listen to them. i want to keep talking and negating and frustrating them. and they just want to be heard. i remember being on the other end of that nonconversation. and i remember it being so frustrating. and i remember thinking that i would never be like that. that i would always understand and never underestimate or belittle or trivialize.

my brother's girlfriend's mom's great idea

this is the pic - i bought a frame at the antiques show on sun and put a metal screen in it, so i could hang all my fabulous earrings out. that was my brother's girlfriend's mom's idea. helmi (my bro's girlfriend) sells beautiful earrings that she makes out of stained glass. and when she goes to antique and crafts fairs, her mom made her screen-frames to exhibit her wares.

here's the rundown of the past few days:

mon: went to a kindergarten and first year class in sf to observe the julia morgan institute program - where teaching artists go into classrooms and work with teachers for 8 weeks to develop curriculum and a final student-created art project based on one model work of art that all students view (a performance or installation or something). anyway, it was really fun. and a little boy named avi said the best part of his day was meeting me. heheheh.

tue: definitely have a cold as a result of rolling around on the ground with a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds. but hung out with marshall ganz and then headed into sf to meet jennifer tuton, a fabulous jewelry designer whose necklaces i'm hopelessly addicted to. i'm helping her put some of her pieces together. so, at least i'm learning a trade!

weds: got a tour of the julia morgan center for the arts in berkeley, and then went with cycles of change on a bike ride with 10 6th graders all over the east bay. apparently, this was an uncharacteristic day. the kids were CRAZY. probably because it was a 1/2 day of school. we rode to lake merritt and rented boats and there was almost a fight with some kid from another group, and one kid got pissed and walked off and one kid broke his bike and it was crazy and fun. actually, it was really fun. and the kids are awesome.

so....i'm surprisingly busy...for someone without a job.

MG in da house

marshall's in town! which is very cool and also very strange. since he and my hostess tracy are what my mom would call "an item", he's staying here for a few days, so we're housemates. we vegged out in front of the tv today for a couple of hours watching 'the karate kid' (the original) and tony blair answering questions in the house of commons (so lively and very cool to see an articulate leader forced to hear and answer the opposition up close and in person. often hilarious).

last night we all went to see jesse perform in his hs play "the visit", a heavy but also funny and gripping play about revenge and morality in a small town in switzerland. jesse was hilarious, and the production was really well done..and very fun.
here's a pick of jesse, pre-show, with his aunt becky

today, i spent FIVE HOURS at the alameda county antiques fair. it was awesome. it took me three hours just to make it through the whole thing and then 2 more hours to make sure i didn't miss anything. some really cool stuf there. and vendors chatting with other vendors, playing music, singing. but as i was walking around, i realized that i have enough junk already (all of it at my parents' house) to furnish my own house. so my self-restraint was capitol, and i only bought two things. a red velvet dress and a picture frame. here's a pic of the fair - held the first sun of every month at the fmr alameda naval base.

tonight, went out to dinner with marshall and adam. and it was just really fun. EXCELLENT food at a little sicilian, family-owned restaurant in berkeley. and i couldn't have asked for better company. really, it was a lot of fun. now, off to sleep!

home.

went to look at an aptmt yesterday - tristen and rachel are looking for a roommate. great location, beautiful aptmt. two cats. damn! i'm allergic to cats. and they were looking for someone who wants a "home" not just a place to stay. that's what i want! darnit! it's hard to find homey homes in big cities. but i sat and chatted with them and their friends jeremy and sara. and we had a wonderful conversation that swayed from tom cruise and katie holmes to authors and books to "real genius", with val kilmer. it was great. i love being able to discuss celebrities seriously, as if i know them ("katie's clearly under his control" "tom is clearly gay.") i love finding people that i can have these conversations with. so, it was fun! but no apmt for jess.

today, while getting out of my car here in piedmont, an elderly couple stopped me. the woman saw my license plate and said "are you really from massachusetts?" "yup, i really am."

she was from sterling, ma (near worcester), and boy did she sound like it. it was like home, hearing that accent again in common conversation. and just like you can take home for granted, because it is so much a part of you, i almost didn't notice how warm it felt to hear her dropped "r"s. then it hit me - what's different about her voice? oh, yeah, she sounds like every elementary school teacher i ever had. the ones who said "bubblah" and "idear" and "hon." i'm surprised she wasn't named "gayle". they're always named "gayle."

anyway, she lives in my neighborhood, and left saying "it's good to have another yankee here!" she and her husband chahlie trotted away. i think i made her day. my license plate did, anyway (she moved here in the 60s, after working at harvard for 2 years. isn't that nuts?!?!? *i* just worked at harvard!)

oh, yeah, and i knit now. made it through smith without ever learning, but now i'm a knitting maniac. you're all getting scaraves for christmas! (it's all i know how to knit - here's a pic).

so. i went to the chiropractor yesterday.

this chiropractor was recommended to me by my chiro in cambridge. so i figured it would be a good place to go - my back has been lousy since driving for 3 weeks from boston. so, i'm talking to this new chiro who just moved to sf with her husband (they moved from boston, where she used to practice with my cambridge chiro - follow me?).

so, i asked her where she was originally from, and she said "i'm from toronto, but my husband's from massachusetts." and i started to get that ringing in my ears i always get just before a synchronicitous moment happens. me, casually "oh? where in massachusetts?"

chiro: "he's from wrentham." (my hometown!!)

me: "get out. who are you married to?!"

chiro: "zach green."

me: "oh, my gosh! i know him! we played soccer together"

zach green was this guy a year older than me, and pretty big, with a deep voice before anyone else had a deep voice. he was kind of a "dude guy", for those of you who know what that means. we played soccer together when we were in elementary school. i kind of hated him.

so, he came in later and said hi. and i asked him if he really remembered me, or was just being polite. and he said "of course i remember you, we played soccer together!" (hm.....i'm not entirely convinced, to be honest. since i had just told his wife that a few minutes earlier). we chatted, and he's looking for pats fans around here, so we talked sports (the great equalizer). it was all very weird. but my back feels soooo much better!

more bikesn' halloween

we got TP'd! caitlin's friend lizzo toiletpapered our house on sat. night. and then left cookies.

it was about the nicest act of vandalism i've ever witnessed. lizzo's mom called later to make sure they hadn't tp'd the halloween lights, because she didn't want the house to burn down. ha! lovely concerned parent. here's a pic of the house.

tracy had a super halloween celebration last night - pies and apple crisp (my personal favorite) and plenty of decorations, including a cauldron overflowing with dry ice steam. very cool. i work studied at namaste yoga in rockridge last night, so i missed most of the festivities, but made it home just in time to watch 'laguna beach' with caitlin (it's "her show"). ugh. i honestly can't stand any of the teens on that show (all rich, entitled, hopelessly beautiful and not at all awkward like high schoolers should be), but i also can't look away. i spend the entire episode on the couch exclaiming "ugh!" "ew!" "i hate them!" but just can't stop.

i also spent some time yesterday volunteering for cycles of change - an org that runs programs at various schools in the east bay. they take kids out on bike rides all over the city. the kids get to work on an old, donated bike during the course and at the end, they've earned the bike with their own hard work in mechanics class, so they get to keep it. the program also has its own fleet of bikes that kids can take out for longer rides. so, by the end of the program, kids have a) earned a bike b) learned how to fix a bike, c) gotten out of their neighborhoods to see some of the amazing public parks around here d) learned all the safe biking roads in their city. it's pretty amazing. and they operate mainly on volunteer and underpaid staff hours (gregg lavender, who heads 3 programs in the area, gets paid for 25 hpweek, but routinely works almost twice that). i offered to volunteer for them, writing and such, and i'm going to buy two bikes from them. i sat there for a few hours while gregg and michel worked on several bikes for me to try. i got a great deal on two - one road bike that i'll fix up a little myself (er....once i learn how to) and one hybrid bike that'll be ready to go. and all the money goes to the org. you can check it out at www.cyclesofchange.org. very cool.