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July 28, 2006
Tell me a story
On Monday night Pam, Jodie and I went to Porchlight's 4th Anniversary Storytacular at the Swedish American Hall. Porchlight is a monthly storytelling series -- people (writers, artists, chefs, tow truck drivers, forensic scientists, lawyers, strippers, etc.) get on stage and tell a story on a pre-selected theme, for 10 mins. each. No notes allowed! It's pretty much a live, less polished "This American Life" episode. I've gone a handful of times over the years, and it's inevitably uneven -- the bad performers are hard to sit through, but the good ones are so good you don't want them to stop.
At this show (topic: Busted!) the best stories were by a writer whose personal connections to both a porn star and Kofi Annan got him out of trouble with police during a meth raid, a bus driver who was hired to pick up The Rolling Stones from the Oakland Airport on a bus she didn't know how to drive, and a comedian who once played Scattergories with John Lithgow. He is a cheater! You heard it here first.
Posted by emily at 8:54 PM | Comments (1)
July 25, 2006
Hella yeah!
Like so many excellent ideas, the plan for last Saturday's party was born at steak club. The conversation, as I dimly recall, went pretty much like this:
James and John: Some of our neighbors are fighting the proposed helipad on the roof of SF General Hospital.
The rest of us: They suck! Helicopters are cool.
Everyone: We should have a party.
Unlike almost every other excellent idea to come out of steak club, this one was actually executed. David G. (July steak club celebrity guest and MOST BACON co-founder) threw together a kick-ass flyer and James and John opened their house and garden to the coolest Mission residents we have e-mail addresses for. Turnout was great, the weather was unbelievable, and kind guests brought absinthe, brownies, and sparklers to share.
Post-BBQ Steve, James, John, Hunter, Charles, Sister Farrah and I brought the party to Underground SF, a divey gay bar in Lower Haight, and danced (to bad 80's music, my favorite kind!) until closing time.
Posted by emily at 12:06 PM | Comments (2)
July 21, 2006
Reader of the week. Okay, month. Okay, year.
Last week my cousin Ryan and his 11-year old daughter Ella came to visit. Ella is funny and smart and Isabel adores her. I love her too, but the reason she is ROTWOMOY is because it turns out this very website is her homepage! Really, I had no idea. That is dedication, people. What have you done for me lately?
Posted by emily at 3:06 PM | Comments (2)
July 19, 2006
The party so nice, they named it twice
Ted S. has taken on many projects over the years I've known him -- recent ones include turning his mountain cabin into a weekend beach cabana, playing the guitar for one or two theme bands, and leading a rogue crew of Abe Lincolns through the Mission.
He is currently channelling his considerable energies into a group he founded last fall, the San Francisco Party Party. Part political rabble-rousing and part clearing house for all the fun things to do in this city, Ted (with the help of Jen P. and others) has cultivated a gang of devoted PP members that could just be a force to be reckoned with. Read the platform here, consult the calendar to fill up yours, and get on the mailing list so you won't miss a thing.
Posted by emily at 12:50 PM | Comments (1)
July 17, 2006
Dear Diary:
On Saturday night Jen P., Pam, Thom, Ted S., Leah and I went to the Make-Out Room to see the latest incarnation of Mortified. It's an occasional series of live readings -- people in their 20s and 30s get on stage and read from their teenage journals. Much hilarity ensues! Saturday's entries recounted experiments with sex, drugs, love, religion, new wave music, hacky sacks and poetry -- lots of poetry. There was even a Bad Teen Poetry Slam, with verses so pretentious, so heartfelt, and so bad, that they were very, very good.
Yesterday Ted convened much of the same group for a "good beer/bad movie" night. As it turns out, no amount of pitchers at Zeitgeist could have prepared us for the wholly unamusing "Nacho Libre." Consider yourself warned! Would not even be a good idea for a rental. Maybe if there was a nuclear war and only one movie survived. Maybe.
Posted by emily at 12:03 PM | Comments (3)
July 14, 2006
Wanna make $14 the hard way?
Last night's movie in Dolores Park was "Caddyshack." I've been a little embarrassed that I had never seen this classic comedy before, and my expectations were high. Too high, as it turns out -- there many good moments in this movie, but it was no "Airplane!" -- not even close. Still, I was basking in the warm(ish) weather and fine company.
All standards will go out the window for next month's movie: Xanadu (Aug. 10).
Posted by emily at 5:02 PM
July 12, 2006
World Cup
I jumped onto the World Cup bandwagon at the last possible moment -- Sunday morning's championship match, shown on a giant screen in Dolores Park. Where I grew up playing soccer was practically mandatory, but I haven't thought much about it since middle school. Luckily Jen and Jodie were around to instruct me on the the finer points of the game -- including penalty cards, offsides and head butts. Also, which teams have the cutest players.
Any excuse to hang out in the sun with friends is okay with me, but I'm fine with not thinking about soccer again for another four years (at least).
Posted by emily at 4:41 PM | Comments (1)
July 10, 2006
Much ado about mulching
On Saturday Ed, Emma, Jen, Jodie, Keith, Leah, Michael, Pam, Suzanne, Ted, Teri, Yumi and I made the trek to Mt. Tam to help Chris G. get the house he's building ready for sale. The big project of the day was mulch, and lots of it! The second biggest project was lunch, and happily there was lots of that too.
Posted by emily at 12:43 PM