Total Eclipse of the Sun

(i just couldn't resist that title). last night (early this morning), tristen and i trekked to the exploratorium (sf's science museum) for a night of eclipse-themed events and a live webcast from turkey where some nerdy scientists were eagerly anticipating TOTALITY. that's what they call it when the moon totally eclipses the sun - totality. which always makes me giggle just a little.

we were joined by about a thousand kids. they were way more prepared than we were. sleeping bags! pillows! i would have paid cash for either of these things by 2am. if it hadn't been for the free Peet's coffee, i wouldn't have made it.

it was a LOOOOONG night. the eclipse happened at 2:54am PST (what is that? almost 1pm turkey time? ha- turkey time). we got there at 9pm. so we had 5 hours to kill. the museum was exciting, and they also had some brazilian dancing (we took a free lesson!) and capoeira (reeeeally exciting brazilian combat/dance....so hard to explain). and they had some turkish folk dancing. for those of you who don't know, turkish folk dancing consists of step-touching and occasionally stomping to zither music, and then pantomiming life on the farm - milking cows, churning butter, sowing crops, reaping crops, wiping brows, drinking water. i'm serious. these were actual dance moves.

when we had seen all the dancing, played all the mankala, marbled two pieces of paper, made a sun catcher, made two patterned cloths, and touched all the crazy science exhibits, we laid down on the stage with some other folks and drowsily watched the scientists in turkey explain the phenomenon we were about to see.

the scientists were very excited.

i'm not kidding. one of them - a gentleman - was a little ill-at ease in front of the camera - just a little nervous. he kept nodding in agreement whenever his co-host said something like "now, the sun will be eclipsed by the moon." (nod) "the sun has sunspots" (nod, nod). He had white hair in a ponytail and was tall, lanky and white with glasses. definitely a berkeley resident. so was the really nerdy bald guy with the mustache who mc'ed the evening at the exploratorium. at the end of the capoeira performance, his snappy comment was "wow. that was amazing. don't mess with brazilians." (ha, ha).

but the quote of the night goes to the second scientist stationed in turkey. she was very at ease with the cameras and looked a little like my mom (tortoiseshell glasses, capris, short brown hair). we were looking at some of the sunspots on the surface of the sun as it was being eclipsed (with about 15 minutes to go), and she was unable to contain her excitement.

"Wow," she said. "This is fantastic. We are going to have such a good time during totality."

"How Not to Drive" By: The State of California

Ever since I moved here, I've noticed a creeping tension in my shoulders that tightens every time i get behind the wheel. i go to change lanes, and my neck goes taut. I merge to an off ramp, and my heart skips a beat.

WHY? I've been wondering this. Why? I'm from the East Coast, where driving's said to be tougher. I cut my teeth driving in Boston of all places, where offensive driving is the best defense and the one with the crappier, bigger car always wins. I'm a masshole - we are the worst drivers in the country next to rhode islanders (and if you've ever been cut off by a beat-up van with "ocean state" plates, you know what i mean).

But here i'm getting nervous behind the wheel. WHY?

I'll tell you why. Because in Boston, we may cut you off with inches to spare. We may beep our horns and swear repeatedly in the comfort of our cars. We might drive too close to you, or *speed up* to keep you from merging into our lane. But we always know where your car is at any given moment. We know about the kid on the sidewalk, the car two feet behind and the car three inches in front, and we know that we have enough speed and room to merge into that lane.

here's the difference: PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA HAVE NO IDEA.

why?

BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION. they have no idea where you are. they don't care. they'll merge into another lane without bothering to look over their shoulder. they'll decide at the last minute to turn right into the gas station and not notice your little car. they'll merge into another lane without noticing that you're RIGHT NEXT TO THEM.

and now i'm starting to notice all of the dented cars on the road. seriously. dented fenders, bumpers - on some really nice cars, too. we may have our crappy cars in boston, but if we get a dent, insurance picks that up and we get it fixed. there is no reason to drive around with a dented car. but here they can't fix them fast enough. because some spaced-out idiot is going to come zooming down the ramp onto the freeway and not notice the dutifully signalling and over-the-shoulder-looking masshole turning toward the off ramp.

a most excellent movie

on the recommendation of a co-worker here in sf, i rented "next stop wonderland" a little film made in 1997, set in Boston, and starring Hope Davis (with a couple of brilliant appearances by Philip Seymour Hoffman).

what a cute movie. seriously. it was like seeing a good film and remembering what it feels like to see a good film. all the music is brazilian bossa nova. the sights are familiar but not in a gooey nostalgic kind of way. it's just a movie that takes place in boston. many scenes shot at the burren in davis sq. (one of my favorite places).

If you're looking for a good movie, or a sweet romantic comedy, i highly recommend this one. rent it TODAY!

parents gone, but a good trip for all.

so sad. but we had such a lovely time. mom and dad came over last night to hang with the powell-baldridges and adam (oh, and me). it was so much fun! we had dessert and laughed and told jokes and chilled out. very fun. unfortunately, i forgot to take pictures. but i did manage to remember my camera on tues night when we had dinner with marit. unfortunately (again), the pics won't upload. hopefully i'll get it up soon.

i'm so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life.

my parents are cute.

really, anyone who sees them thinks this. "oh, jess, your parents are so cute."

and sometimes it's too much, even for us - the two products of john and pam's cuteness. even (especially) my brother and i get just a little sick of it - the hand holding; the kissing in the kitchen; the romantic dinners together. i mean, for crying out loud, you guys are old. and you're our parents. geez.

but the other day my mom said something that made me smile. we were in the kitchen in tracy's house, packing some sandwiches for the ride to tahoe, and dad and jesse were in the other room watching an episode of seinfeld. dad's signature laugh lilted into our earshot. "a-HUh-huh-huh-huh!" (it sounds something like that). I smiled to myself to hear dad's familiar laugh from the other room of my california home.

"One of my greatest pleasures in life," my mom said.

"Hunh?" I asked.

"It's one of my greatest pleasures in life," she said. "Just being in the other room and hearing him laughing."

i'll only write it once. but, man, we should all be so lucky to have a love like that.

My parents are here! My parents are here!

I picked mom and dad up at the airport on sat, and i was just vibrating with excitement. coudn't wait. i craned my neck to see them coming out of the terminal. i stood ahead of all the other families in the airport, so i would be the first one they saw as they walked out. and after all the other sleepy boston passengers, i finally saw them - holding hands and walking toward me - dad, easygoing-ly and mom energetically. i had intended to hug both of them at the same time, but mom grabbed me and i hugged her 5' frame as if i hadn't seen her in years (really, it had been only 2 months - since jan). then i hugged dad (of course). and we all headed off for a day of ca. adventure.

of course, it's unseasonably cold here - in fact, it's been colder here than in boston and nyc, if you can believe that. people here are freaking out - they just don't know how to handle it. it started snowing on the golden gate bridge the other day and caused at 25 car pile up.

we drove up to muir woods to see the redwoods and had a lovely hike in sweet scented california air. then spent a lovely dinner at my favorite restaurant - a cote!

yesterday we had brunch with tracy and caitlin. my two families combined! it was so much fun!!!! today we head to tahoe - it'll be very busy, but i think a very fun week of mele fun!

crazy drunk running dogs

(the race begins)

on saturday, i finished up some work early enough to catch the tail (har -har) end of the Urban Iditarod. Now, I have been wanting to take part in this event ever since i arrived in sf and Jess H. told me all about it. apparently about 12 years ago, some friends decided to found an event based on the great alaskan dogsled race, the iditarod (which takes place on the same day as its urban incarnation).
(the race runs)

they decreed that all participants should dress as dogs of various themes and run in teams, toting a sled (read: shopping cart) full of provisions (read: beer). ever since, the urban iditarod has been confusing the hell out of tourists in san francisco once a year. the iditarod begins in the mission and runs about 3.5 miles to fisherman's wharf (ghiradelli square, to be exact), where dogs stand around, drink beer, listen to music, and basically have a party.

(and runs)

i caught up with the gang at mile 3 - perfect timing! we ran to the end and had a grand old party. our team was "barkback mountain" -hence the cowboy theme. Jeremy was our sheep. Jess is wearing the daringly high-waisted levi's and purple cowboy jersey. our cart featured a painted mountain and a sign that said "i just don't know how to quit you, dawg!"

(barkback sheep and cowgirl)

some teams were less dog-themed: there was a jamaican bobsled team, the ghostbusters, and some guys draped in the brazilian flag (though they clearly weren't brazilian). some were definitely aiming for a canine theme - the dogters fed ailing runners beer through an iv bag; the dalmations dressed as dogs/firemen and annointed their cart with a fire truck facade.

(me'n'ashby - just to prove i was actually there)
all in all, it was a fun day. and i was drunk by 3pm. loads of fun. (and of course i met a million massholes - we likes our beer and silliness). ashby, jess's roommate and fellow smithie, was also there square dancing her heart out with a bunch of other drunk dogs. man, this was a fun day. Unfortuantely.....


(aftermath) the aftermath was a little ugly.

lovely start to the day

as i was driving through rush hour traffic this morning, approaching the bay bridge to get to sf from the east bay (yes, i'm a commutah these days), i slowed down as i approached the toll booth (at a crawl). i dutifully handed the attendant my 3 dollars. but he told me to keep it, and pointed at the car ahead of me.

"He paid for you," he said.

"Really? He did?!" I said in a high-pitched, almost disbelieving but definitely delighted voice.

"Yep. You're a lucky lady today!"

I love being a lucky lady. What a great way to kick start my day and end the work week!

Some "weather"

you know you're living in a mild climate when "bad weather" (rain, wind, hail, snow, etc.) is described as just "weather".

Seriously. i was watching the news yesterday, and there were some scattered thunderstorms in the bay. the weatherperson said that we were having "some weather" over in the east bay.

"and we'll have a little bit of weather throughout the start of this week."

um.....correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't weather an "all the time" kind of thing? like, air or molecules or skin. or earth.

i guess when you live in a place that is used to beautiful weather that never really disrupts anyone's day, any aberration is "weather" and doesn't need an adjective?

in any case, despite the "weather", i stopped at an overlook on tuesday (on my way from my chiropractor's in marin cty to my office in sf, i have to take the gg bridge). it was windy and beautiful and fun. if only i'd had someone to take my picture....