Kommute Archives for September and October, 2000
Archival Kwality Kommute Entries. Read through these to catch up, or waste time, or whatever!
I had more than my usual amount of work to deal with in September, so I took a hiatus from the kommute journal.

[ May 01 ] - [ April 01 ] - [ March 01 ] - [ February 01 ] - [ January 01 ]
[ December 00 ] - [ November 00 ] - [ October 00 ] - [ August 00 ]
[ July 00 ] - [ June 00 ] - [ May 00 ] - [ April 00 ] - [ Feb/March 00 ]

--- email for kamio ---
[ present ]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ map ]

spooky Tuesday, 10-31-00 boo!
<morning> SpooOOoooky! Yeah, yeah. It's Halloween, which should inspire all you krazy kids out there to go fuck shit up, or something. Whoa! Check out my early morning Potty Mouth! Sorry. I don't want to start this off on the wrong foot. You know, one thing about living in the city with all the cool kids and 20-somethings living their hip, urban lives is that kids never ever come trick-or-treating at Milkycat Headquarters. I miss that about suburban living, the bastions of little creeps hassling me for goodies. So I briefly considered dressing up in some small way, but then I decided I'd rather get ready quickly and play some more Monster Rancher. I made sure I was prepared to take tons of photos of all the groovy costumes I was sure to see, but, like, only 3 people even bothered. Damnit! I saw one woman wearing a really plasticky pink wig and I thought about running up to her and yelling "Poseur! Interloper! Usurper!" and all those other "er" words, but she got on another bus before I could even get close enough. Probably all I would have managed to do was take her damn photo, anyhow. I avoid confrontation. I didn't have to spend very much time at HAMSTOP since the buses are running all confused and slow. They run non-electric buses on the 24 route on Halloween because of all the crazy freaks down on Castro. I haven't decided whether or not I want to give a damn about Halloween yet. The Sausalito bus was Ultra-Super-Mega crowded and there was no sign of the weirdo. Too bad for him. I didn't get a good seat, so there's only one photo from that leg of my journey.

Monday, 10-30-00
<morning> I spent way too much time playing with my PlayStation this weekend. I am a geek. Dyed-in-the-wool. It's another rainy day, but I decided to be a rebel and not carry an umbrella, which turned out to be a reasonable decision. It drizzled a little bit while I was standing around at MEATSTOP, but nothing I couldn't handle. I'm a trooper. The skies are amazing right now, though. I played a couple of rounds of Monster Rancher before I left the house this morning, and that got me to the cafe a little later than usual. I got my Sumatra, but was disappointed to find that they were out of Hazelnut coffee to mix it with. Damn! As I left, a bus pulled up to MEATSTOP with about 90 people on board, and a whole pile of people tried to get on but were refused or something. The next bus took its sweet time, so I got to stand around with this sulky pseudo-goth girl. I glanced over at her after the bus had left, and she sort of rolled her eyes at me as if to say "Mondays, huh?" and I sort of half-smiled and turned away. I turned back and kind of blurted out "Yeah usually when the bus is that crowded there's another one right behind it, but Ohwell. Heh-heh." and she just stared at me, so I felt kind of foolish. She was neither amused nor edified by my kommuter insight. It started to rain kind of hard by the time the bus came, and we drove through a couple pockets of really heavy rain, but it wasn't raining at HAMSTOP. I doubt I'll ever see that weirdo geeky guy on the bus again. Tsk! That'll learn me to hesitate! So, Halloweeeeen is tomorrow. Eat some choncolate. EAT SOME PASTE. I'm grooving on this weather. It feels like fall. I woke up totally refreshed today on account of the clocks going back, oh glorious hour! Ok. I have a meeting coming up, so I should wrap this puppy up.

Friday, 10-27-00
<morning> I had a really busy day today so, well, these are the pictures from today's copacetic morning kommute. I promise to provide many far more scintillating accounts of my daily travails and whatever. I did get in to a conversation with a really funny crazy person who kept saying "Is the bus, the bus, the bus is cominGUH the bus is cominGUH cominGUH bus on the wayUH on the bus cominGUH" but I didn't get a chance to take his photo. He was pretty special!

Thursday, 10-26-00
<morning> I am pleased to report that I did not work until Midnight last night. I only worked until 4 pm but then I hung around work drinking beers and wasting time until 6. Hooray for short days! I'm still pretty exhausted, though. I got up early anyway. It's raining out, so I had to schlep my umbrella around with me. I very nearly went in to get a coffee, but then I remembered how awkward and messy that turned out to be lasterday and I thought better of it. Oh boy. I get all the coffee I can handle here at work anyhow, right? Ok, I have a lot of scary gnarly work stuff to do and so I'd better finish. The weirdo wasn't on the bus, I think he probably won't be around. Crap. cow orkers are lurking around my machine and looking over my shoulder and stuff. GAH. I get to debug today! Or something! I hate you! I love the rain, but it's way too cold out. I'm dumping piles of vitamins in to myself daily to avoid getting really sickly, drinking tea and stuff. I gotta go work now.

Wednesday, 10-25-00
<morning> My birthday kind of sucked thanks to my thankless JOB. I'm not going to go in to it or anything but let's just say I was stuck here dealing with scary badness until really really late. Nearly midnight! Believe it. Actually I'm kind of excited to be doing all this crazy stuff. It makes my job a lot more interesting. I haven't been bored for the past few days, that's for sure! Woop woop! I came in kind of late today, with the blessings of my supervisor, and new terrible badness was taking place. I got to spend 3 hours working on new dumb issues. And now more dumb issues. DUMB AND STUPID! :) I took kava kava this morning though, so I'm gliding through all these problems with a sappy grin. I can't really get in to the kommute today. It was raining, though, and I hate lugging an umbrella around. It throws off my ability to juggle my coffee and my camera. Grrr, grr. Once again I am working on the kommute. I keep getting interrupted by work, damnit! Ok. I don't want to tempt fate again, so I'll just talk about how beautiful the bay looks with blustery rainclouds and all that. Muni was crowded and I kept slipping around on the wet floor. Hazardous! There was an interesting crazy old guy on the Sausalito bus talking to himself, and several other imaginary people sitting around him. It was fun to watch him reassure his 'companions', he seemed to be trying to calm them down or something, and he said "It's all right, it's all right" and waved his hand dismissively. I kept catching him looking at me with this weird sly grin, and then he'd look away quickly. Crazy old guys are cool! Fun! The majority of today's photos are from HAMSTOP. Some links of interest: one, and two, and three

Tuesday, 10-24-00
<morning> Yeah so now it's actually my birthday. I am now actually 28. Woo! Huh. I'm in good spirits and all that. It's not an amazing day or anything, just a copacetic Tuesday. I got up early as usual, played some DiabloII and got ready simultaneously. I'm a superstar. Luckily, the angry girl wasn't working today so I got to interact with friendly happy Christian instead. Much nicer! I foolishly turned down a free croissant from Mister and Missus Pippilina Makrelmint, and then went to the cafe next door and bought one. What a maroon! So now I am enjoying a tasty but veryvery flat croissant. I spent a while waiting around at MEATSTOP, soaking up some "local color". The bus was kind of late. I took lots of surreptitious photos of everyone around me. I'm a freaky voyeur, like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window, only with purple hair, and a girl, and on the bus without a broken leg. It's a nice day, sunny, crisp. Not as clear as yesterday, but not too gucky either. I didn't spend more than 5 minutes at HAMSTOP, but they were Quality minutes. I am a little bit melancholy about my birthday, feeling a little self-pity or something, but nothing that can't be mended by some serious Sushi Boat action if you know what I mean. I looked around for the weirdo, but he wasn't around. No weirdo for me! I was going to kick the back of his seat and throw popcorn at him. Tonight I might even go to the TONGA ROOM and drink myself stupid with Rum-Based Fruity Concoctions. I wrote a while in my journal while on the bus, writing about my approach to art and photography and all this crap about isolating the banal, making the everyday monumental, all that garbage. Oh, art school.

Monday, 10-23-00
<morning> One day until my birthday, kids! Still enough time to buy! Uh! I got up desperately early again, even though I'm feeling moderately sick. I keep thinking about getting up early enough to go out to breakfast before I head off on the bus, but that never really goes anywhere. I prefer the sleep. I was a little bit cashpoor this morning, so my first stop was the creepy Swipe ATM around the corner. I headed in to the cafe, ordered a large coffee, and paid with a $20 bill. The girl took my money and made a really sour pouty face at me and wrinkled up her nose and said "Oh, god! Don't you have any change?! NOBODY has CHANGE anymore! It's all twenties, twenties, twenties! Sheesh!" - I felt so bad that I gave her a huge tip and skulked away meekly. I love bitter, unfriendly service and will tip accordingly! While I was waiting around at MEATSTOP, this completely weird looking old man came shambling by, he was wearing a really bizarre straw hat, binoculars and an ill-fitting suit. He had a wastebasket full of random papers and objects on one of those old-lady shopping carts with wheels. I took a whole lot of pictures of this guy, believe you me. After a couple of minutes, a cheery looking old man approached holding an armload of political pamphlets. He offered me one, introducing himself as "Agar Jaicks, running for supervisor of district 5... This is district 5, you know." And then he moved on to talk with the weirdo with the straw hat. YAY POLITICS. (Vote Nader) After an uneventful stretch at HAMSTOP, I got on the Sausalito bus and the driver asked, with a great deal of sincerity, how I was doing. I said I was doing alright, and he said "Good, good. I'm doing alright, too." and I said, "That's really good to hear! Have a nice day!" I sort of scanned the bus looking for that weirdo boy but I didn't especially expect him to be there anyhow. I sat in the back seat next to a teenager guy, and when I started taking pictures, he got really interested in my camera, and asked to see some of my photos. I had to think fast because I had taken one of him! haha. He was impressed by my photos, saying "Do you take pictures of architecture, or what?" and I said "No, I just take photos of whatever is in front of me. Sometimes it's buildings, sometimes it's pigeons, sometimes it'll be people." The air is super clear today. I've been commuting since February and I have to say that I have never seen it as clear and crisp as it is today.

Friday, 10-20-00
<morning> Oh christ... 4 days til my birthday. Doomy doom. Gloomy gloom. I wish I didn't feel like my birthday has to be a big deal. It stresses me out. Turning 28 doesn't bother me all that much. It's not so different from 27. Watch out for me in 2 years, though, i'll be totally unhinged. This was another early morning. I was fully dressed and gussied up about 20 minutes earlier than normal, so I took the effort to put on eyeliner. Fancy! I am the city mouse, cousin. At the cafe, I was stuck behind a guy who had a white (p)leather jacket with "Punchy", the advertising icon for Hawaiian Punch, who, apparently, has 95% character awareness among children, and "Strong ethnic appeal," whatever that means. Anyhow I thought it was a pretty cool jacket. I bought a croissant to go with my Sumatra/Hazelnut coffee yum yum and I've just now finished eating it. Tremble with excitement at each and every mundane detail of my sad little life! Uhh... Speaking of sad, I saw the weird boy again last night on the bus, and I was totally conflicted! I couldn't think of a reasonable way to strike up a conversation with him. He was essentially asleep, which made things more difficult. I thought about tossing something at him, sticking my business card (with my home phone scrawled on the back) near him somehow, but it was just all too weird. I've only seen him on the bus on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I still got up earlier hoping that maybe i'd see him again. Pffff! The news claimed that there might be rain today, but it's all sunshiney here in Sausalito, though HAMSTOP was kind of overcast. Work is kind of poky today. I'm winning big points for coming in earlier than anyone else on my team. Squeak! Squeak!

Thursday, 10-19-00
<morning> I came in early today, but yesterday I didn't come in at all. I've got a cold or something and life is difficult. Whine whine whine. I considered staying home again today, but my job kind of severely discourages absences of more than one day, and staying home really didn't do much to make me feel any better yesterday, anyhow. I feel kind of spaced-out, like i'm on antihistamines. The only trouble is, i'm not. So the weirdo bell-jar feeling is somewhat alarming. When I went to the cafe, Christian was really bubbly and conversational, but moving my jaw was kind of too much effort, and my head kind of hurt so all I could really do was nod and laugh a bit in response to his insanely cheerful repartee. He was asking why I hadn't worn my Dukes of Hazzard shirt in a while, and that he'd actually stolen it at the party, which was a huge complicated ruse he'd come up with in order to get his hands on that shirt, yada yada, but I felt so awful that I think my reaction could be construed as negative. The meat market wasn't open yet when I got to MEATSTOP. No pig's feet for me! When I got to HAMSTOP, this one woman I have long conversations about the lateness of buses with was there, as well as this one bitter-looking hipster chick, who smiled at me when she caught my eye. I'm shy, so I immediately looked away, but I think she took it as coldness and I caught her sort of glowering at me. Some days it's difficult for me to smile and engage people. Those days are called weekdays. Ha-ha. I wound up having multiple bus-related chats with other folks waiting for the 50, regardless of my shyness. To my surprise, the weirdboy was already on the bus when I got on! What's up with that! I would have sat across from him, but there was some chunderhead already sitting in that seat, so I wound up sitting behind the chunderhead, emitting notice-meons at weirdboy's head. To no avail. I don't know how i'm supposed to get in to a conversation with him, he's always wearing headphones, and today he was reading something that looked like some kind of role-playing guide book thing as well. Troubling! I briefly thought about writing a note to him and sort of tossing it at him, but that's both creepy and childish. Pff. Sigh. Perhaps this situation will become easier as we get more familiar with each other through co-commuting. The fog was thick at the bridge, so there's no coda today.

Tuesday, 10-17-00
<morning> 1 week til my birthday, and it's the eleventh anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Nyeah and i'm pissed off! I got up extra early again today because I am pathetic, and I had an early meeting to attend, and I was thinking maybe I would see that boy. My haüsmate pippilina called me just after i'd gotten out of my shower asking if I could stay home to wait for the freaks to come install our DSL, but but but I couldn't. I suck! So I ran out the door at 8:31, and in to the cafe. There wasn't a line or anything, which is always good. When I got up to the counter, Christian asked what I wanted and said "Well, i mean, now i've been in your kitchen!" (he showed up at the party, see photo below) and I told him that "the photo I took of you came out great, really gory!" and he said that he forgot how he looked and was wondering why so many people were staring at him as he walked down the street. He handed me my cup and my croissant, and I headed over to milk and sugar my coffee and Britney Spears started playing on the radio and I was kind of baffled. He walked up behind me and said "Look out, it's your favorite!" and I said "Uhh is this BRITNEY?" and he said "Yeah, you know it baby!" and I said something about this being the first time I'd heard it in the 'real world', and Christian said "You mean aside from on your personal stereo, next to your bed!?" - ha. haha. It was funny. So I made it to MEATSTOP in time for the 24, and made it to HAMSTOP about 20 minutes before the 9'oclock bus. I finished my coffee and waited. I wrote a letter to a friend and waited. I sat on my ass and waited. The damned bus never came! So I wound up wandering around HAMSTOP for 50 minutes! No lie! It sucked. I actually wrote down the phone number under the "We hope you enjoyed your ride, let us know" message and i'm planning on giving them some guff. I didn't see the weird boy and I got a bunch of crap because I was late for my meeting. Lots of photos today, though. buh!

Monday, 10-16-00
<morning> Another early morning commute for me. No sign of the weird boy, though. I had a great weekend though! I feel refreshed. The party was fantastic, it was huge and messy. Yay! It's a nice day today, sunny and stuff. When I went to the cafe to buy my morning coffee, I didn't recognize any of the people behind the counter - weird! I keep surprising myself with my ability to wake up and get dressed quickly, but it's kind of hard to keep myself awake towards the end of the day. I'm one of the injured! I got a spy cam from my mom for my upcoming birthday (8 days away - shriek!) and I've taken a bunch of crazy little pixelated greyscale images but I don't have any way to download them! Blast! I still prefer the image quality of the Olympus digital camera, but I will certainly have to somehow incorporate this little number in to my surreptitious photographic activities. I've managed to figure out how to take photos with it, how to view the photos and finally, how to set the date & time. Hmmm. My hair is purplefresh and people are complimentary. Again with the bindi, oy! Nothing terribly impressive or memorable happened to me, or near me this morning. There was one kid on Muni who sat near me discussing the merits of my neighborhood, talking about how you can smell the Barbeque cooking for a 5-block radius in the afternoon, saying "I love this neighborhood, man, but d'you ever go to the Upper Haight? Man, it's wack up there!" and so on. Kids say the darndest things! Uh. Yes. Monday.

Friday, 10-13-00
<morning> 11 days until mah birthday and yes, it is Friday the Thirteenth! Big Deal! I guess the moon is also full. So far, my luck has only been slightly bad. See, I wound up deciding to come in early in hopes of seeing that guy again. Tsk, tsk. I saw him last night on the bus back in to San Francisco, and I sat near him kind of hoping to get an opportunity to strike up a conversation with him. He was mostly sleeping and wearing his headphones and ignoring everything, though, and I couldn't think of a good opening line anyhow, so nothing came of it. When he got off the bus, we made brief eye contact. I thought that I would try once more, offering him an invite to the big dumb party we're throwing tomorrow night at the Milkycat Compound. But!@ I failed. It was a beautiful morning just the same. The sun seemed especially bright, and people were happy. The girl at the cafe commented on my rose perfume, saying that it was like a treat to smell me, and that it brightened her whole day! Hot damn! There was so much sunshine today, everything seemed to be overflowing with light, almost too shiny to look at. Muni was crowded but uneventful. When I come in this early, I get to encounter all the kids going to school. When I come in a half hour later, I mostly encounter elderly folks. Odd. There was this middle-aged hispanic guy on the Sausalito bus, I've seen him a couple of times before, and he always leers at me and waggles his eyebrows and says hello in this really creepy manner. I'm more disturbed than flattered by that kind of approach. I am in good spirits today. Maybe because it's Friday? Because it's Payday? Because it's Friday the 13th, a Full Moon and also Payday? Yeah, that's it. Pff. On my way in to work, I stopped at the market and got a croissant, some bubble gum (bubblicious watermelon) and some chocolate mints for my cow orkers. I am nice! NICE! I'm hoping to see that boy again tonight to invite him to the pahty. Cross your collective fingers for me huh?

Thursday, 10-12-00
<morning> ugh, 12 days until my birthday, dear readers. October is a weird month. A transitional month when I invariably start to realize that the year is almost up, that I didn't make a costume for halloween (an annual tradition!) and that yes, I am another year older. I didn't leave as early as yesterday, though I almost was tempted to do so. I went to the cafe and the guy who took my order was the owner, and he's always really aggressively cheerful so I mentioned it to him when he asked how I was, and he said that he was always cheerful because of happy customers like me! I am an antidepressant. Muni came along about 10 minutes after I started waiting at MEATSTOP, and while I was sipping my coffee and spacing out a bit, a big huge truck passed by and the driver honked his obnoxiously loud air horn and waved spasmodically at me. I kind of nodded at him, but then he continued waving at me after he passed, craning around to look at me through his rear window, so I decided that it would be safer if I just waved back. What's the deal with guys like that always checking me out? They're always these intimidating blue-collar types, I mean, they're nice and all, waving and smiling, but it's still weird. My coffee was good. I realized a little bit too late that my camera batteries were pretty low, so I was a little bit more hesitant than usual about snapping random photos of everything and everyone. I did take a few on my evening commute yesterday and I snapped a few more today. This cool tourist couple got on to the Sausalito bus at HAMSTOP, they wanted to walk across the Golden Gate bridge, and they were really pleasant and really excited and they talked animatedly with the driver about everything. It's a nice day today, no rain in sight. It's still a little cloudy, but I like clouds. I wore a bindi again today. When I got to my office, one of the front doors was boarded up - apparently someone smashed the door and grabbed a couple of machines last night. Weird!

Wednesday, 10-11-00
<morning> 13 days until my birthday, kidney beans! A second day of getting in early. I must confess that my intentions are not entirely altruistic. I had ulterior motives. For one thing, any change in the kommute routine is refreshing, and aside from that... I was kind of hoping to see that guy again, maybe even say hello this time. Pff. I'm a feeb, I admit it! It was still sort of raining when I left the house (at 8:20!!) but not really enough to make me consider lugging my umbrella along again. I didn't end up using it at all yesterday, I schlepped it around like a cursed albatross of over-preparedness. So I left the house this morning all efficient and peppy, and I headed in to the cafe and wound up with this slow (and by slow I mean retarded) woman in my way, she took forever dispensing her coffee, and then she got in my way again for the whole sugar and cream thing, too. I did eventually get my coffee and my cream and sugar, though I did snap a couple of photos of her. And I'd do the same for any other cretin who gets in between me and my precious caffeine, you bet your bippy! There were entertaining people at MEATSTOP, a dancy little spaz of a kid with a pokemon umbrella who kept saying "It's not raining! It's not raining!" when clearly, it was raining. It wasn't really rain, it was just sprinkling. Muni was late, and there were 3 buses stacked up. I took the second one. HAMSTOP was populated by all kinds of weirdos. Cowboys, even! Some new faces, fresh blood on the earlier bus, to be sure, but no sign of the cool guy from yesterday. Bummer, huh? Some feebs sat behind me and struck up a fascinating conversation about their exciting lives as assistant managers in some kind of retail. They were complaining about cow orkers and about having to go on some kind of lame manager's retreat. Ha! I mock their pain. Enjoy these fine images!

Tuesday, 10-10-00
<morning> 14 days until my birthday, yuck! I'm wearing a bindi today. Several people have commented on it. Zuper! It's a rainy grey kind of day, so I had to carry my umbrella with me. Because, were I to leave it at home, I would get caught in a huge monsoon-like downpour on my way home. It happens almost without fail. So it throws me off a little bit, another bulky thing to lug around. Another weird thing was me leaving the house about 45 minutes early. Weird! I got my coffee along with other people who have Real Jobs, and I opted for Sumatra and a tasty, albeit messy, Sticky Bun. When I got to MEATSTOP, the Meat Market wasn't even open. I watched the guys come and unlock the big heavy security door. How exciting! HAMSTOP wasn't very interesting. I mostly just sat there making a big mess of eating my ooey-gooey Sticky Bun (there were apples in it this time). When the Sausalito bus came, it was pretty full. I took the backseat by the window on the right side. A really intriguing guy got on the bus at the next stop past mine, and I immediately had this urge to talk to him, and then he wound up sitting across from me on the back seat. Of course I was too shy and aloof to say anything, though. He put on headphones and kind of kept to himself, as well, barely even glancing around. Maybe I should try taking this earlier bus, see if he's on it every day? Maybe I'll come up with some dastardly plan for interacting with him. Probably not, though. Last week, on my evening kommute, I wound up sitting at the bus stop with one of the hipster geeks from so long ago, and we didn't even acknowledge each other. It's part of the unwritten commute code. Grey days like these are not very good for photography, and besides, I was juggling my coffee, my bag and my umbrella. Too many things! I like dramatic clouds and today had plenty of them. I read a little more Cruddy and snapped only a couple of pictures.

Friday, 10-06-00
<morning> 18 days until my birthday, munchkins! That picture of the cat is still up in the cafe (see below) and it is still not Bela. My coffee was much tastier today. I chose Brazilian, which is a slightly lighter roast than my usual Sumatran. Here is a list of the caffeine content of different beans and blends, if you care. I wound up working on some stuff instead of getting dressed right away this morning, and actually sent in some mail saying that I would be a little bit late, but I wound up getting ready and out the door a lot faster than I thought. As it turns out, I got in at the normal time, and what's more, I was earlier than the rest of my slacker cow orkers. I got my coffee situation dealt with right quickly, and got to MEATSTOP just in time to catch muni. My time at HAMSTOP was brief, giving me barely enough time to chug my coffee. I was taking some photos, but then I saw that same woman who keeps catching me, and I shame-facedly tucked my camera in to my bag. I guess I like the illusion of anonymity, or the delusion, or something... When my bus finally showed up, there was nobody else on board. Just the driver and me and a whole bunch of empty seats. Creepy. Lots of people got on after I did, the same people I see from day to day. The funny thing is that they all started sitting in a cluster around my seat at first, choosing the window seats on the right-hand side of the bus, on account of they afford the choicest view of the bridge and the bay. Clearly these are all seasoned, hard-core commuters. I tip my hat to them! At one of the stops just before mine here in Sausalito, a woman talked to the driver and then ran off and in to a cafe, and came back a couple of minutes later with a couple of cups of coffee, and the driver was totally down with it, making everyone just kind of sit there and wait for 5 minutes. I'm listening to one of the greatest albums ever, Rembrandt Pussyhorse / Cream Corn from the Socket of David by the Butthole Surfers. It is beautiful.

Thursday, 10-05-00
<morning> Counting down... 19 more shopping days until my Birthday. You bastards has best to get out there and buy embarrassingly luxurious gifts! Today's random link: the Smoove B archive, baby. And, as always, Jerkcity. I'm having bad beginnings to my morning commutes lately. Today's badness was primarily centered around terrible coffee and late, crowded buses. Usually the coffee is really good, fresh and tasty but today it was stale, bitter and sludgelike. The cafe was really crowded with hipster types. While I add cream and sugar to my coffee, I entertain myself by reading the bulletin board, and today I noticed a polaroid of a cat sitting on a blue blanket looking almost exactly like one of the cats I live with (Bela), and written below: "FOUND at Hayes and Broderick 9/29" with a phone number. The image wasn't really in focus, so I stared at it for a long time, the resemblance was uncanny but then I realized that Bela was at home, licking his crusty butt as I left the house. Silly me! The 24 took forever to show up, so I had plenty of time to sip my awful coffee and soak up the splendor of MEATSTOP. A bus eventually showed up, sardine-can crammed full, and a second bus was following closely behind. I thought I was being sneaky and avoiding the crowds by waiting for the second bus, but lo and behold, the second bus was just as crowded as the first. I would up sitting next to a friendly person, swapping horror stories of missed buses and 45-minute waits. I was only at HAMSTOP for a couple of minutes, and the bus situation there was dire as well. There were about 40 people waiting at the stop for the 38, which is completely weird! Crazy day, crazy day. Work is still hectic. I'm really looking forward to a 3-day weekend. And finally, SAVE LOCAL MUSIC.

Wednesday, 10-04-00
<morning> Wednesday is Bagel Day. Today's kommute started out kind of jumbled and confused. UPS came to the door as I was getting dressed, so I had to dive in to my clothes and run to the door. The UPS guy kept ringing the bell like crazy, and my housemates were getting a little irate. He smiled and said good morning and said "This one's for you!" -- I'm still surprised that we get our UPS deliveries from the same person and that he knows who I am. So I opened my package to find my new Tony Millionaire Sock Monkey book thing along with another thick comic collection. Happy day! I like new books. I've also been completely and utterly sucked in to CRUDDY by Lynda Barry, which just completely blows my mind as it rocks my world. So I finished getting ready, chatted a bit with pippilippiflippipippilina and scooted out the door and immediately took a less-than-graceful trip, fumbled and regained my composure only to flop down on my butt a second time, all with an amused audience of folks waiting at the bus stop. One guy asked if I was alright, and I nodded as I was getting up and dusting myself off. He said "It's always so embarrassing when that happens!" - Yeah gee huh! So then I realized that I needed to have cash money to pay for the bus, and what's more, I needed an obscure quantity of cash, namely $6.70. So, instead of hassling the poor kids at the cafe with my tragedy, I headed to the ATM machine and then to the market. I bought a coffee type beverage and a red bull, and got an adequate amount of change for my needs. There was a blind woman waiting at MEATSTOP, and as the bus was pulling up, she asked me if she was at the correct stop for the 24, and whether or not she would be able to get to Palou, which is at the extreme end of the route in the opposite direction. She pointed in the direction of the other bus stop and I felt like I should help her across the street, and I almost did, but she didn't ask me to help nor indicate a need for assistance, and the bus was about to pull away, so I sort of left this blind woman with as much information as I could, and jumped on to the bus. I feel like a heel about that, since I could have easily waited for the next bus. Nothing very interesting happened at HAMSTOP aside from a lot of jackhammer noise and freezing my ass off. The rest of the kommute was decent.

Tuesday, 10-03-00
<morning> The executives are standing near my desk discussing "questionable" content and imagery, and they keep mentioning the word "porn wacker". Yikes. Today's kommute was not so bad. I went to get my coffee and stepped out at just the moment the light was changing and my bus was a block away, a happy coincidence. As I pulled out my September bus pass, I suddenly realized that it was October, and I asked a woman waiting nearby at MEATSTOP what the date was, and she looked confused, and told me "Nono, this is the 24, Di-veez-a-der-o. 24," stating the name and route number of the bus. I repeated the question, "Is today's date October 3rd, or 4th?" and she laughed and said "No speak English! Sorry!" and I sort of reassured myself that it was indeed the 3rd, and my bus pass was still valid. Just barely. I got to spend a good long time contemplating freaks at HAMSTOP. I got caught trying to snap photos by the same woman who caught me yesterday, she smiled and waved. I watched a kid tagging a bus window and I tried to take his photo but I failed! damn! There's a lot of construction going on along Geary, they're digging a trench in the middle of the right-hand lane. Everything is slow. The bus was more crowded today than yesterday and there were more Germans on board. In Swedish, the word for 'rabbit' is 'neener'. I have just gotten word of this, and felt that it was necessary to pass it on to you. My beloved readers. I'd best rush to post this thing, I have a meeting in a couple of minutes. How ultra. How proto. Pictures follow:

Monday, 10-02-00
<morning> I woke up before my alarm went off this morning. That always gives me this bittersweet feeling of quasi-victory. Like, "Woo! Check me out, I rule! I just lost 40 minutes I could have spent sleeping... uh." So, I went to the cafe, and the guy who works there passed me a cup for my large coffee with this big toothy grin. He's always really friendly. Perhaps a little *too* friendly, if you catch my meaning. Um. So I got a coffee and a sticky bun, and then I asked the guy if he could give me five $1 bills instead of a $5 and he was more than happy to oblige, commenting that people used to always ask for quarters, but nobody did anymore since nothing costs less than a dollar these days. So there were a lot of people waiting at MEATSTOP, so I knew that the bus was running late. I didn't see one coming, so I decided to try eating my sticky bun. I made a huge mess of gooey stuff and looked a bit foolish, but it was really a tasty thing, this sticky bun. It had cranberries in it. I think they should consider changing the name to "messy and sticky bun" though. I watched a woman clip her fingernails for a little while until the bus came. That's just nasty, dag nabbit. I almost got caught snapping someone's photo at HAMSTOP, but I wound up having a detailed conversation with her about digital cameras. I got the impression that I was talking too much, boring her with the details. I do that when I get nervous. The Sausalito bus was very nearly empty when I got on. It's weird how much the number of passengers will vary from day to day.

Friday, 09-29-00
<morning> Oh what a long, dark, busy month it's been. But lo, I have returned to my slackful, loathsome habits now that my evil corporate masters have been appeased. Ok, so I lie. I still have a tremendous amount of work to do, and should obviously be working on that, but damnit, my love for you, the kommute reader, is all that matters, Baby. Awwww yeah. So, let's see. A lot of crazy shit is happening. My kommute will soon be significantly longer, as my office is moving North from Sausalito to fabulous San Rafael. I've also heard a startling rumor that the bus I take from SF to Sausalito/San Rafael might be discontinued, or at the very least, rerouted. Fuck! I protest! Lately, it seems like forces are conspiring to make my life more difficult and annoying in little ways. I haven't felt rested in a long time. Things are still hectic and busy at work, but at least it seems like it's better in contrast to how gnarly it's been. Sigh. I miss being willfully lazy. I'm a little rusty on this whole kommute thing, but I promise i'll get up to speed in the weeks ahead. I've noticed a startling abundance of wacky elderly Russian people on my kommute, especially around the medical offices which flank HAMSTOP. I haven't come to any sort of conclusion regarding this observation yet. I noticed a while back that Santa's House is no longer for sale, and I guess that means that it must have been sold. It remains unoccupied and unchanged. I've stopped noting down the numbers of the buses I ride, though I am now very aware of them. It just seems like a crazyperson kind of thing to do, and i'm not *that* crazy (yet).

Monday Tuesday, 09-05-00 I saw a dead pigeon laying on top of one of the bus shelters this morning. It was just laying on its back with its little pigeon toes pointing to the sky and nobody beneath the shelter knew that it was there. My coffee-buying experience went without a hitch. I was a little discombobulated, but I managed to make my bus. Got in to work a little bit late, but I think i'm alright. I don't have much to add, really. There was an interesting woman at HAMSTOP, she immediately commented on my shoes, of all things, even though these boots are extra thrashed and scuffed up and should probably be burned. On the Sausalito bus, number 1177, the window I wound up sitting next to was kind of broken and weird, but it made for some interesting photographic effects, as you will see, below. On Friday evening, my bus was number 1419.

Friday, 09-01-00
<morning> Crap! It's September! Already! It's raining to mark the occasion, as well. Ho-hum. I like the rain. I slept in an extra hour today, and it turned out alright. I replaced the batteries in my beloved camera and started snapping images with wild abandon, mostly at HAMSTOP. I opted to leave my umbrella at home after a few moments' indecision, as it wasn't raining too hard. Just enough to leave little droplets on my glasses and screw up my hair. I was a little bit early at HAMSTOP, so I had plenty of time to take photos and get damp. Last night's bus was number 1323, and this morning's bus was number 1148. Glean whatever knowledge you can from that information. I wore my hair up in a ponytail, and people have been asking me if I got my hair cut since I got in to the office. I really do need a hair cut, though. Definitely. I'm trying to think of interesting things to do this weekend. Getting a tattoo, a couple of piercings, getting a haircut, going out of town, something. Maybe i'll just drink a lot of liquor. Yay! Liquor! The rain made my commute pretty mellow, actually. There were only 5 other people on the Sausalito bus. It's going to be nice having a 3-day weekend. Even though i'm not in school anymore or anything, the end of summer still seems like a big deal. I feel like I have to do something really whiz-bang to make it seem more meaningful, even though there's essentially no difference in my routine with regard to season. Pff!

[ latest entries ]