18 November, 2008
Ed Jew STILL Doesn't Get It
Former San Francisco Supervisor (Sunset District) Ed Jew pleaded guilty about lying about where he lived while representing the Sunset District. For non-locals, he claimed to be living in the Sunset District when, in fact, he and his family lived in Burlingame, CA.
Jew had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges of bribery, extortion and mail fraud for shaking down several Asian-owned businesses in "his" district. For a guy who could potentially be doing a decade or so in prison, he seemed remarkably relaxed.
Well, maybe he harbors some regret:
Oh Ed, Ed, Ed. This isn't something that "happened", like an earthquake that strikes with no warning. YOU falsified information about where you lived so you could get yourself elected to the Board of Supervisors. And YOU are the one who shook down immigrant Chinese business owners in the district you were so anxious to
Gee, y'all say that like it's a bad thing!
Ah, well, I see Ed has studied the Textbook On Bullying: Threaten the kids in the school yard and take away their lunch money, then, when you get caught and face punishment, maintain that YOU are the victim.
Somebody call the whaaaaaaambulance!
Labels: in the news, personal responsibility, politics, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 12:33 PM ~~ 0 comments
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03 September, 2008
How I Spent My 15th Bay Area Anniversary
I spent it with friends doing some night shooting at the Sutro Baths. If you're unfamiliar with San Francisco history, the Sutro Baths is a fascinating place. It's interesting enough during the day but has a completely different character at night. And, as my friend Patrick pointed out, different still when you see long exposure night photographs of it. This particular shot was taken from the Cliff House. The rocks are lit by these enormous lights from the Cliff House and they are white because birds hang out there and, well, you know, do what birds do.
So. Fifteen years. I remember my first few hours in San Francisco so well. My friend and her daughter (who I also consider my friend, even if she is young enough to be my daughter) made the trip from Portland with me. We rolled into San Francisco around 11:00 p.m. and I managed to get myself lost in the Mission, trying to find my new flat.
"Pull the car over here and let's just look at the map." my friend urged.
My eyes darted around, taking in the landscape, my very tired brain processing this information so I could make a decision. I looked up at the street sign. "Julianna, I am not stopping this car on a street called SHOTwell!" Julianna sighed and I kept driving. I knew I was close. In fact, I was only a couple of blocks away, but I was turned around. After another 10 minutes or so, I found my street and my flat. I thought I had found a parking space, too, so I pulled over and we unloaded my Hyundai. We were nearly done when a woman pulled up and yelled at me for blocking her driveway. I apologized, said I was new in town and closed up my car to move it. She kept yelling at me the whole time. (For MONTHS after that, every time I walked my dogs by her car I tried to get Reggie to lift his leg on her tires but he wouldn't. Proving once again that, for a dog, he was a much better person than I.)
I did find a parking spot about a block away (I would soon learn that finding parking within a block of your home in San Francisco after 11:00 p.m. is a stroke of bloody good luck), locked up the car and took the last of my stuff to the flat.
When my friends and I went to the car to drive into downtown (yeah, I'd soon learn how foolhardy THAT was, too), my car had been broken into and I had a parking ticket. Luckily my car wasn't damaged and nothing was taken because there was nothing in it. And I learned about street cleaning days.
So in my first nine hours living in San Francisco I had been yelled at over a dubious driveway, been broken into, had my first parking ticket and my first meltdown trying to drive into downtown (not knowing my way around). By the time we got home that afternoon I was in tears wondering how I ever thought I could do this and I was *this close* to packing up the car and going right back to Portland. (I knew that most of the friends and family had figured I wouldn't last six months but I don't think any of them picked 24 hours for the pool.) My friends and my new roommate were so incredibly supportive, reassuring me it was just a rough first day and I'd be all right. But if I really wanted to go back to Portland, that would be okay, too.
I decided to stick it out a while longer. :-)
And I'm glad I did. Living in the Bay Area is not easy, especially if you don't have either 1) a high paying job, 2) several roommates or 3) a support system. There are days when trying to make a living here really kicks my ass and I wonder why I'm killing myself just trying to keep a roof over my head and gas in the car. Hardly a month goes by where I don't spend a day or two wondering if I'd be happier someplace else where the cost of living was a little more reasonable and the pace a little less hectic and the air and water a little cleaner.
But I can't quit this. Or this. And I can't think of a town with an eccentric quite as interesting as Frank Chu. I'd miss my adopted home town too much, too. And the weather here is as close to perfect as I've ever found and, most of all, I now have some really amazing friends here. Also, acquiring enough valium to make any move tolerable for me and the furkids would add several hundred dollars to the cost of the journey.
So I think I'll stick it out a while longer. :-)
(edited to fix some glaring typos 'n' stuff)
Labels: friendship, furkids, grace, gratitude, San Francisco, Why it is
~~ victoria on 2:54 PM ~~ 0 comments
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10 April, 2008
San Francisco Olympic Torch Relay Prologue
I'll have more on this most surreal day later.
edit: I'm too wiped out to write more on this, other than WTF were they thinking allowing China to put a bunch of loose cannons ninja paramilitary officers in track suits out there as "flame attendants"? All it took was one torch bearer, Majora Carter, pulling a Tibet flag from her sleeve during her run for these "flame attendants" to descend upon her, tossing her out of the run, leaving it for the SF Police to shove her into the crowd on the sidelines. And WTF didn't the police defend her right to express her opinion? She, evidently, earned the same right as the others to participate in the torch relay. Tenuous as it is, thanks to the current American regime, we still have the right to dissenting opinions. And don't get me started on how the Olympics shouldn't be politicized: They have been for decades, if not millenia.
Of course, there is so much WTF surrounding these Olympics, starting with why the IOC even allowed China to host, given not just their horrendous record on human rights, but their pollution.
Anyway, my set of the "prologue" to the torch relay that kinda-sorta was is, as always, on Flickr. And many more photos from the event can be found there, too.
Labels: in the news, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 7:04 AM ~~ 0 comments
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07 November, 2007
Bay Bridge-1, Container Ship-0
Yeesh!
It was very foggy this morning; I could barely see across the estuary. A huge construction barge went by but I could barely make out the shape of it and it was only a few yards away! I think we were still in the estuary when this accident happened but we were only a few minutes behind. Of course, even if I wasn't thoroughly focused on working on my NaNo novel, it would have been too foggy to really see anything (I didn't hear any "buzz" about it on the ferry).
They're trying to clean up the fuel that spilled and I hope they're able to do it quickly because I'm worried about the birds and seals and other marine life.
Labels: eeek, ferry commuting, in the news, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 7:15 PM ~~ 0 comments
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14 June, 2007
Hey! You! In The Prius! Yeah, YOU!
Bravo you, in your Prius, all saving the environment and shit. It's great that you and your fellow hybrid vehicle drivers get stickers to use the carpool lane, even if it's just you, the driver, in your vehicle*.
However, I am fairly certain that the Department of Transportation (or the DMV or whoever sends out the stickers) does not issue stickers to hybrid drivers allowing them to RUN THE FUCKING STOP SIGNS.
Asshat.
(*Though I would think that, if hybrid drivers were really all THAT concerned with helping protect the environment they would eschew the sticker and head straight over to the bus stops and BART stations and, you know, ACTUALLY PICK UP PEOPLE AND CARPOOL. Yeah, I know, that's just crazy-talk.)
Labels: gah, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 10:54 PM ~~ 0 comments
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08 June, 2007
Goodness! It's Been A While Since I've Mentioned That...
I love my commute!
it's a bird! it's a plane! it's a...
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
cross-posted on VisualCues (with a larger-sized photo).
Labels: ferry commuting, gratitude, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 10:39 PM ~~ 0 comments
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08 May, 2007
Have I mentioned lately...
Sunset: 8 May, 2007
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
...that I LOVE my commute!
Labels: extraordinaryness, ferry commuting, photography, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 10:22 PM ~~ 0 comments
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07 May, 2007
I LOVE my commute!!!
Today was perfect. 80+ degrees (it was in the high 70's at 8:00 a.m. this morning!), sipping an icy drink on the back of the ferry with the bay breeze cooling me off. And YAY the pelicans are back!
Best. Commute. In. The. WORLD.
Labels: ferry commuting, gratitude, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 7:11 PM ~~ 0 comments
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22 March, 2007
WTF? It's not even EASTER yet!!!
WTF? It's not even EASTER yet!!!
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
It's bad enough that people leave their Christmas crap up well into the new year (I once had a neighbour who kept the tree up into JUNE, the lights would come off when the tree became a fire hazard, then ornaments as the branches snapped off. By June, it was just the trunk of the tree standing in the window. shudder). And it's bad enough that we get bombarded with Christmas BEFORE HALLOWEEN.
Putting up Christmas decorations BEFORE IT'S EVEN FRIGGIN EASTER goes way beyond the pale.
Bah! Humbug!
Labels: ranting, San Francisco
~~ victoria on 11:03 PM ~~ 0 comments
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28 November, 2006
Bay Bridge?
Anyone out there know what the deal was with the Bay Bridge last night? When I was on the ferry, I saw that the lights were totally out on most of the span (the lights were on at the Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco anchorages). It looked damn spooky!
Labels: San Francisco
~~ victoria on 7:18 AM ~~ 0 comments
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