so.... oh, gosh, before i backtrack to china town, i have to tell you all that WE WON! WE WON!!! OUR FLOAT WON!!!! ok, second... BUT - i don't think they ever had a second place before this year, and it was close enough with the !@#$ mardi-gras, patriotic, love-our-soldiers (really good) float that ALWAYS wins that they had an applause off, and we came in second by a narrow margin! YAY! ellie grinned and had her pic snapped while she accepted the 25$ prize for "Surfin' Safari"! we did joe's landrover up with waves (made of tissue and wrapping paper that i cut) and ocean creatures at the bottom, and animal print covers on the rollbars; we blew up a GIANT rhino photo at kinkos and put him in some jams that i made and ellie colored, and joe made a sheet metal stand thing and then put him on his surfboard on top of the 'rover. we also had a life-sized giraffe head and neck on a stick that we stuck out the window. we had streamers and giant red, white and blue pinwheel wheel covers, and i made a sign for the wheelcover at the back that said "surfin' safari" (ellie and joe are going to laminate it and hang it in their garden. i must say, it is sharp!) we also had throws, candy and toys (safari animals and beach erasers, etc...) and we dressed in hawaiian shirts, bush hats, and r,w&b leis and blared surf-music. we rocked b!@#h socks!!! it was SO much fun!* the people with the REALLY fancy float came up and thanked us for FINALLY giving them a run for their money. they really were pleased. they even asked if we could all take our pics together, flashing our winnings. :)
we also played in the san jose fireman's free shower while kids and adults ran and squealed and got soaked, we ate hot dogs, lolled on the grass, met the neighbors and petted all the dogs. the park was full of happy kids and pretty people, and WE WON! WE WON! WE WON! :D
afterwards we came back and jumped in the pool, napped in the sun, threw some burgers and stuff on the grill... joe and shawn went biking, ellie and i napped on. tonight we'll go downtown to watch the fireworks, and tomorrow, it's monterey.
i am having an unBELIEvably good time. like the BrAndi wedding weekend, it's just been golden. seeing bryan** last night was a bit intimidating before i got there, but then he and sarah made me feel instantly comfortable. she and i dished the girl-dirt on his ex, he let me tell a few mildly emabarassing high school/college tales on him, and then after she left, bryan and i drank a few, and realized that despite ALL the water under the bridge, some things never change. (he's put in a vote for half moon bay, too. :)
ok. i have been on here a bit and the daylight's a-wastin'. :) fear not, i will torture y'all with my fantastic tale of my day in chinatown and down at the wharf ere long. :) i PROMISE you it's not a day that i'll soon forget.
much love,
-sam lee
*i'm genuinely sorry that i had to leave so early, bryan, i could have EASILY stayed up all night and b.s.'ed and drank and caught up with you and sarah and y'all's little m.e.s.s., but as you can see - it was worth it! my little bro shawn rolled in not an hour after you dropped me off and i haven't seen him in EIGHT years... thanks again. we shall NOT wait so long for the next time... :D
**bryan was one of my best friends back in my early days at hnc. during my earliest days at hnc, he was my ONLY friend. i hadn't seen him in maybe, 15 years until last night, when i also got to meet his beatiful and veryvery cool wife and smiley binky baby 'mayzee elizabeth seven supak'. whatta name! whatta binky!
Friday, July 04, 2003
Thursday, July 03, 2003
well, i didn't stay... but i think i COULD. *sigh...* :)
for all my expectations, you'd think it would be easy for me to be disappointed, but the universe is continually like a sweet grandmother, who, when i am sincere and simple in my desires, turns and opens up her purse full of coins and sweets to me. she was very generous in her gifts to me yesterday.
we drove in, stopped at emperor norton's grave on the way. wandering through this big sunny cemetary, full of stones that looked like asian art unto themselves was such a strangely lovely and surreal experience. the "sunshine garden" at woodlawn is mostly asian families, whose tombstones are as elaborate and beautiful as everything else they do. seeing row upon row of stones carved with chinese letters, all simple colors, red, white, black, grey, and always happy smiling photos of the people there. it did not seem, well, grave at all. it seemed to make you understand the whole idea of "monument".
among the chinese families were also small groups of russians, italians, jewish folks, hispanics, and europeans. not a "smith" or a "jones" to be seen though.
we wandered, following a map i'd found, looking, commenting, and then ellen (who is THE navigator* - she found EVERYTHING we were looking for AND silk hangings of jet li! :) yelled "I FOUND IT!" she had first found the empresses grave, the first baron's was right beside, and emperor norton's was there behind them. we knew we had the right place without a doubt from the very odd collection of little offerings there. i drew 'death' and wrote a little thank you for inspiring weirdos the world over. took some pics of the other love offerings. joe did a grave rubbing on the back of my map (that's my bro :) and lit a stick of incense he'd pirated (ditto last parenthetical statement)
and then we headed into the city...
to be continued!
-s
*joe said he was the pilot and i was the flight engineer. :)
for all my expectations, you'd think it would be easy for me to be disappointed, but the universe is continually like a sweet grandmother, who, when i am sincere and simple in my desires, turns and opens up her purse full of coins and sweets to me. she was very generous in her gifts to me yesterday.
we drove in, stopped at emperor norton's grave on the way. wandering through this big sunny cemetary, full of stones that looked like asian art unto themselves was such a strangely lovely and surreal experience. the "sunshine garden" at woodlawn is mostly asian families, whose tombstones are as elaborate and beautiful as everything else they do. seeing row upon row of stones carved with chinese letters, all simple colors, red, white, black, grey, and always happy smiling photos of the people there. it did not seem, well, grave at all. it seemed to make you understand the whole idea of "monument".
among the chinese families were also small groups of russians, italians, jewish folks, hispanics, and europeans. not a "smith" or a "jones" to be seen though.
we wandered, following a map i'd found, looking, commenting, and then ellen (who is THE navigator* - she found EVERYTHING we were looking for AND silk hangings of jet li! :) yelled "I FOUND IT!" she had first found the empresses grave, the first baron's was right beside, and emperor norton's was there behind them. we knew we had the right place without a doubt from the very odd collection of little offerings there. i drew 'death' and wrote a little thank you for inspiring weirdos the world over. took some pics of the other love offerings. joe did a grave rubbing on the back of my map (that's my bro :) and lit a stick of incense he'd pirated (ditto last parenthetical statement)
and then we headed into the city...
to be continued!
-s
*joe said he was the pilot and i was the flight engineer. :)
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
all hail google. here is the official site for the new guinea sculpture garden, with lots of pictures, and the story of it's creation. the pictures cannot do the strange magical aura of this small park justice, but what the photos of the art can't convey, the photos of the artists can. i do really hope that the picture of these wizened and exotic men in, yes, las vegas, is somewhere on the site. ellie made a very apt statement when she said that taking these native artists fron the villages of papua into las vegas was a cruel thing to do, but it does make for a very interesting snapshot.
btw, joe found a crow feather in the middle of the glade and gave it to me, and later, there was a Miracle of the Tiki God in the back yard while i was swimming alone... oooOooOoooOOoEeeeeEEEeeeeeooOOoOOoo... i found a drowned honeybee, and when i pulled it out the water, it wiggled a little. i tried for an hour to revive it, put it on a bloom, in the sun, blew on it to dry it, but if i left it alone too long, it sopped breathing. finally, the sun was goig down, and i thought it wouldn't make it, so i put the bloom between the feet of them main tiki god - joe and ellie got them from an artist they know in hawaii - and got in the hot tub. i started thinking about that garden, and feeling kind of haunted - not bad, just more than the usual amount of thaums* in the air, and so i slipped back into the pool to have alast look at the bee. as i arrived, he walked to the edge of the tiki's toes (he had not oved on his own the entire time, and had stopped breathing when i out him there, i thought to die) and fell off onto his back. i turned him over, he climbed back up the base to the big toe, vibrated like mad, and flew off. he circled the tiki (god mauna, joe says) circled the pool, and then flew off, literally into the sunset.
:)
i am going to buy a mini bottle of kahlua for old mauna out there. :)
so, we went to dinner after tennis and swim. "wasabi" was the place. mmmm.
and then home and harry potter and sleep.
today is CHINA TOWN!!!!! and also the asian art museum. it's new. joe said we'll stay late in the city and have dinner, so it should be a great day. i think we'll stop in at the cemetary at colma on the way, and visit emperor norton's grave.
well, i need to get dressed. early start on the day.
i will tell about our parade theme on the next episode of
SAM LOVELACE, INTREPID TRAVELER!
p.s. if i don't come back from china town, divide up my stuff and feed the dog. maybe you'll see me in a chop socky flick someday... ;)
*ask a pratchett fan.
btw, joe found a crow feather in the middle of the glade and gave it to me, and later, there was a Miracle of the Tiki God in the back yard while i was swimming alone... oooOooOoooOOoEeeeeEEEeeeeeooOOoOOoo... i found a drowned honeybee, and when i pulled it out the water, it wiggled a little. i tried for an hour to revive it, put it on a bloom, in the sun, blew on it to dry it, but if i left it alone too long, it sopped breathing. finally, the sun was goig down, and i thought it wouldn't make it, so i put the bloom between the feet of them main tiki god - joe and ellie got them from an artist they know in hawaii - and got in the hot tub. i started thinking about that garden, and feeling kind of haunted - not bad, just more than the usual amount of thaums* in the air, and so i slipped back into the pool to have alast look at the bee. as i arrived, he walked to the edge of the tiki's toes (he had not oved on his own the entire time, and had stopped breathing when i out him there, i thought to die) and fell off onto his back. i turned him over, he climbed back up the base to the big toe, vibrated like mad, and flew off. he circled the tiki (god mauna, joe says) circled the pool, and then flew off, literally into the sunset.
:)
i am going to buy a mini bottle of kahlua for old mauna out there. :)
so, we went to dinner after tennis and swim. "wasabi" was the place. mmmm.
and then home and harry potter and sleep.
today is CHINA TOWN!!!!! and also the asian art museum. it's new. joe said we'll stay late in the city and have dinner, so it should be a great day. i think we'll stop in at the cemetary at colma on the way, and visit emperor norton's grave.
well, i need to get dressed. early start on the day.
i will tell about our parade theme on the next episode of
SAM LOVELACE, INTREPID TRAVELER!
p.s. if i don't come back from china town, divide up my stuff and feed the dog. maybe you'll see me in a chop socky flick someday... ;)
*ask a pratchett fan.
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
well, today (so far) i've been treated to a long drive that wandered through the golden hills and redwood forest, down to the pacific ocean, 'pescadero', to be precise. i waded in tide pools and molested starfish, there were anemonemonenemes and little crabs and sea urchins and teeny fish, and the backdrop to all of this, the rushing sea on a gorgeous clear day - there was fog, but it was held back in a giant wall, miles out to shore, as if it was waiting for its cue... there was an isle of cormorants, joe and i clambered over rocks and looked at every little thing. strange flowers are blooming everywhere, bright colors, red, orange, yellow, gold, and odd new smells, manzanita, jasmine, eucalyptus, redwood and strong salt sea. it is a kind of heaven. to see both mountains AND open skies, rolling hills AND ocean, giant trees in deep dark quiet grottoes and huge golden meadows, all in one hour's journey. i filled my pockets with pretty stones and shells and bits of driftwood, and my head and heart with memories, and then we headed on to half moon bay - a little town that looks sculpted, terra cotta, lemon trees, and pretty shops. it also hosts the pumpkin festival every year! :) the oean, moons, and pumpkins - oh, and the terra cotta is all pink or periwinkle, and there are little mosaics on the park walls, btw... sounds like a place i could fit in...
*sigh*
from there, we headed on to lunch with ellie. we had a great lunch - and DESERT FEST! and then i perused the rodin garden and THE NEW GUINEA SCULPTURE GARDEN (both on the stanford campus. GORGEOUS.) i will tell all about the new guinea sculpture garden later, it deserves a rant of it's own. i will include the other mystical details of the day, too. :)
oh - and we have a theme for our parade float!
details to come soon!
much love,
-sambolina of the rocks
*sigh*
from there, we headed on to lunch with ellie. we had a great lunch - and DESERT FEST! and then i perused the rodin garden and THE NEW GUINEA SCULPTURE GARDEN (both on the stanford campus. GORGEOUS.) i will tell all about the new guinea sculpture garden later, it deserves a rant of it's own. i will include the other mystical details of the day, too. :)
oh - and we have a theme for our parade float!
details to come soon!
much love,
-sambolina of the rocks
Monday, June 30, 2003
i made it! i'm here in sunny california! and it really is sunny (and about 75 degrees!) there are palm trees EVERYWHERE, and sexy cholos in nice old cars... :D yay, ME! i've only been here at joe and ellies' for minutes, and joe's already firing up the grill, ellie has given me the tour, and then shown me to her office so i could post a quickie. life is good.
the flight was -eventful. just as we were preparing to board flight attempt #1 (at o'hare. me and o'hare seem to have issues...) they announced that there was a leak around the door, thus possible AIR PRESSURE PROBLEMS (!). I announced that i had duct tape in my bag, but they switched our flight ANYway. we boarded our next flight, those of us going to san jose as well as some folks continuing on to (*sigh*) maui... then after we were all boarded, they figured out that the plane we were on wouldn't MAKE IT ACROSS THE PACIFIC (!!!) so we had to switch AGAIN. no one lost their temper, heck, most of 'em were headed to hawaii, anyway. what's another couple of hours. we joked and laughed and massaged each other at brookstone. they also gave us a free movie on our third and final flight, so i got to see "daredevil" for free*.
so, i'm here now. safe and sound. my brother is plotting our adventures for the week, his gorgeous wife has granted me the honor of figuring out how to decorate joe's antique landrover for the 4th of july parade in their neighborhood...
and now it's just about time for dinner, a little soak in the hot tub, a dip in the pool and a beer.
did i say life was good?
much love,
-sam the tourist
*which was the only way i was willing to see it, so, nice. :) btw. it was actually pretty good. i just HATE the fact that ben !@#$ affleck is SO !@#$ hot. it makes it REALLY hard to hate him as much as i do, sometimes.
the flight was -eventful. just as we were preparing to board flight attempt #1 (at o'hare. me and o'hare seem to have issues...) they announced that there was a leak around the door, thus possible AIR PRESSURE PROBLEMS (!). I announced that i had duct tape in my bag, but they switched our flight ANYway. we boarded our next flight, those of us going to san jose as well as some folks continuing on to (*sigh*) maui... then after we were all boarded, they figured out that the plane we were on wouldn't MAKE IT ACROSS THE PACIFIC (!!!) so we had to switch AGAIN. no one lost their temper, heck, most of 'em were headed to hawaii, anyway. what's another couple of hours. we joked and laughed and massaged each other at brookstone. they also gave us a free movie on our third and final flight, so i got to see "daredevil" for free*.
so, i'm here now. safe and sound. my brother is plotting our adventures for the week, his gorgeous wife has granted me the honor of figuring out how to decorate joe's antique landrover for the 4th of july parade in their neighborhood...
and now it's just about time for dinner, a little soak in the hot tub, a dip in the pool and a beer.
did i say life was good?
much love,
-sam the tourist
*which was the only way i was willing to see it, so, nice. :) btw. it was actually pretty good. i just HATE the fact that ben !@#$ affleck is SO !@#$ hot. it makes it REALLY hard to hate him as much as i do, sometimes.
