Handy city info for your address 2010

I was checking to confirm who my city supervisor is when I found this handy dandy service from the San Francisco government. Just type in your address (or a cross street) and you'll find out

• Your parcel information (block & lot, zoning, lot area)
• Elected officials with links to their home pages (Board of Supervisors, U.S. House of Representatives, State Senate, State Assembly, BART Board of Directors)
• Street information with – woo hoo! – street sweeping info for both sides of your block
• Nearest school and public library

Hooray for public information!

Recently enjoyed podcasts 2010

Since I no longer have a commute or do so much plane travel, I am not consuming podcasts at the same rate as I used to, but they are great while I do dishes or vacuum. I also use them to induce happy calm on bus rides with irritating fellow passengers.

Here's what's stuck out for me lately among my subscriptions.

Productivity:

"Goal Setting" from David Allen Company

Science:

"Olduvai Stone Chopping Tool" from the British Museum and BBC's brilliant 'A History of the World in 100 Objects' series. This stuff just gives me chills, even more so since I've actually stood at the lip of the gorge (on my 2005 trip to Africa). We all come from this heritage.

A bunch from 60 Second Science:
"Monkeys Hate Others' Bonuses, Too"
"Count On Steves to Defend Darwin"
"Earths Common as Dirt"
"Money Can Buy Happiness Sometimes"
"Waking in the Dark: Daylight Saving Time"
"Heart Keeps Pumping Out New Cells"
"Breathing Easy Thanks To Great Oxidation Event"
"Iron Will to Live for Antarctic Microbes"
"Monkey Drives Dinosaur Game Extinct"
"Elderly Who Forget Age Remember Better"
"Bad Mileage Driving Tips"
"Rain Zone Moving North"
"Profanity Bleeps Physical Pain"
"Cat Call Coerces Can Opening"
"What's Behind Birthers' Obama Belief"
"Hot Rocks Were Technology Revolution"
"Gene Therapy Cures Color-Blind Monkeys"
"Salty Origins for Early Earth Biomolecules"
"Teen Inventors Fight Tinnitus"
"Pill May Change Attraction"
"Wind Farmers Go to School on Fish"
"Black Hole Quasar Building Galaxy"
"Caffeine Merely Masks Alcohol's Effect"
"If Time Flew, You Had Fun"
"Lighter Drinks Avoid Heavy Head" (Or just try smaller, better drinks, mm?)
"Gunfight Tip: Faster to Draw Second"
"Ancient East Asian Found in Roman Empire"

Cocktails:

"Traveling Mixologists Rock Paris, episode II" from OhGo.sh

Happy listening!

June 2010 California and San Francisco elections slate 2010

Hi gang,

As is becoming a tradition here are my picks for tomorrow's voting.

Governor - Jerry Brown ✓
Best positioned to be highly effective and not morally repugnant.

Lieutenant Governor - Gavin Newsom ✓
We may not agree on every single thing, but I do like Newsom generally and I think he's been good for San Francisco. Also, integrity; I'll be drawing that little black line next to his name thinking of February 2004.

Secretary of State - Debra Bowen ✓
She's been doing fine all the years I've been voting for her.

Controller - John Chiang ✓
Another repeat vote.

Treasurer - Bill Lockyer ✓
Another repeat vote.

Attorney General - Chris Kelly
Tough one, but I like Kelly's ability to understand newer tech-related crimes. My second choice would be Kamala Harris ✓, but I'd prefer someone without such a heavy load of political baggage.

Insurance Commissioner - Dave Jones ✓
Another repeat vote.

Member, State Board of Equalization - Betty T. Yee ✓
Another repeat vote.

United States Senator - Barbara Boxer ✓
With pleasure.

United States Representative - Nancy Pelosi ✓
Stay on target.

Member, State Assembly - Tom Ammiano ✓
With pride.

Democratic County Central Committee, Assembly District 13 - Carole Migden ✓ and Scott Wiener ✓ definitely, then let's fill in with Debra Walker ✓, Eric Quezada ✓, Kim-Shree Maufas, Robert Haaland ✓, Joe Julian, Alix Rosenthal ✓, Michael Goldstein ✓, David Campos ✓, David Chiu ✓, Rafael Mandelman ✓

State Superintendent of Public Instruction - Tom Torlakson
Having to hold my nose to get past the tacky mailing I got from his campaign, but his endorsements and statements make him the candidate I would otherwise choose. Still, ugh, that horrible gambling your children's future theme. Hope he has better communication advice henceforth.

Judge of the Superior Court, Seat 6 - Linda Colfax ✓
Wavering towards Harry Dorfman, but fell on this side of the line.

Judge of the Superior Court, Seat 15 - Michael Nava ✓
Great endorsements.

State Propositions:

13 - YES ✓
Seismic retrofitting. Yes.

14 - NO
Reduces diversity of election choices.

15 - YES
Reducing the power of special interest and lobbyists in elections is good.

16 - NO ✓
Apparently the PG in PG&E stands for Power Grab.

17 - NO ✓
Another corporate pushed initiative that isn't in consumers' best interests and it penalizes those who take time off from being drivers. That's an environmentally responsible position we should be rewarding, not punishing!

Local ballot measures:

A (School Facilities Special Tax) - YES ✓.
It does not raise taxes but preserves an existing, very low tax which is dedicated to school safety. Remember those pictures of collapsed schools after disasters elsewhere in the world? Let's not do that to our and our neighbor's kids, okay?

B (Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond) - YES ✓.
We are going to have a massive quake here in SF, sooner or later, but probably sooner. If going through Neighborhood Emergency Response Team training taught me anything it's that our current fire and police services are already stretched thin and need all the support we can give them in helping to keep us safe after disaster. (Side note: His arguments against measure B are a very powerful illustration of the way Chris Daly blockades positive action while holding out for a perfect but unlikely solution and thus repeatedly reminds me to support more effective politicians. Yes, we need more than measure B, but that is no reason not to take this vital step to preserve our city's support structures in a disaster. Results count. If you disagree with my assessment, Mr. Daly, you can come talk to me about it Saturday at Disaster Operations class at the SFFD Division of Training.)

C (Film Commission) - YES.
The arguments against were utterly unconvincing and this does sound like it will both streamline the process, bringing a relatively green business activity into the city, and create more professional representation in these decisions. Note: I live around the corner from a frequent filming location.

D (Retirement Benefit Costs) - YES ✓.
A sensible adjustment to our city pension system.

E (Budget Line Item for Police Department Security for City Officials and Dignitaries) - YES ✓.
Increased budgetary transparency without increased costs. I like that.

F (Renter's Financial Hardship Applications) - YES.
I can usually tell what proposition or measure will likely help the disenfranchised the most by the number of glossy flyers I get in the mail opposed to it and the ratio of FUD to facts in them. Landlords raise rents on vacant units anyhow, regardless of whether this passes, and they are already carefully scrutinizing tenants' ability to pay. As for the "a tenant whose income dropped from $250K to $200K could apply for hardship" complaint, by my reading that only would be true if the rent was over 33% of their new income.
Sigh. Money talks.

G (Transbay Transit Center) - YES ✓.
Wow. Check out the sample ballot book for the most incoherent argument against a measure I have ever seen in my life. Holy cow. In this case I am with Chris Daly and many, many others in supporting this measure. Keep our transit together!

a writing fragment from tonight 2010

“‘Jacked into your deck?’ That’s one-damn-thing-after-another thinking, Grandpa.” Snorting at me, she shakes her head, crossing the street with one thumb flying over the screen in her hand, the earbud near me dangling, bouncing against the strap of her messenger bag.

She’s not a messenger. Doesn’t even ride a bike. But everyone’s got one. And they’re all hooked to the Net 24/7.

Used to say 24/7/365 back in the day, but no one thinks in timescales that long anymore. Or that short. Kids today get millennia in a way we never did. Decades later and they’re walking like Egyptians, carefully placing their feet so as not to disturb the seventh seventh generation on.

My mind flinches at the mashup, but kohl eyes under Iroquois feathers wouldn’t ruffle this year’s class. Mudbloods and mongrels now, not monoculture.

Healthier for it too. In a world that changes this fast, xenophilia is a survival trait. You can see her kind know it too. They glide around the slow-movers, eyes and text flitting away from each stasis-symbol to each other, noting impending obsolescence.

Is she just dumpster-diving me? Eh, probably. And do I mind? No. Might as well get repurposed.

2010

The kind of notes I leave for myself sometimes:
"monkey PJs" "causative pajamas" "theater imagination trigger"