Such a GOOD weekend! 2005

Creatively productive day Friday. That Certain Someone picked me up after work. Dinner at Citrus Club on Haight. Sitting in bed surfing the web. Spooning.

Farmers' Market at the Ferry Building Friday morning. Aidells Maple & Smoked Bacon sausage sandwich with Seeds & Suds mustard. Fresh snap peas. Tasting cheeses and balsamic vinegars. Selecting and eating Recchiuti chocolates - Peanut Butter Puck, Honeycomb Malt, special of the day (Fleur de Sel caramel topped with pecan encased in bittersweet chocolate; simply fucking incredible. One of the top ten chocolate experiences of my life.), Fleur De Sel, Cardamom Nougat, Tarragon Grapefruit, Bergamot Tea - on a bench looking out at the bay. Sailboats. Clouds. Sunshine. The Bay Bridge. Yerba Buena Island.

Walking up Sacramento to Mason and down to Geary. Buying tickets at the Curren for "I Am My Own Wife" (about which more in a couple weeks no doubt). And then seeing Kung Fu Hustle at the Metreon.

Stop what you are doing now and go see Kung Fu Hustle. It's got more life and fun and excitement in it than the last 10 American films I've seen. If I could pre-order the DVD today, I would, and I'll definitely be seeing this one at least twice in the theater.

Grinning like maniacs. A Manhattan and a cheese plate at The View atop the Marriot Hotel looking at, well, the view. Trying to figure out what was going on at the ice rink. Walking across Yerba Buena Gardens to find it was a demonstration game of sled hockey. Very cool. Chatting briefly with a player as he got back into his wheelchair. Coming home and watching the original Star Wars "A New Hope" (laser disc version, not this bullshit "Greedo shoots first" crap).

Sleeping in. Languid lazing around. Puttering around the house. Soup for dinner. The win-win debate: movie or play a game?

I blame James 2004

I didn't go out this evening, though I was in the mood to. You see, I was in the mood to go out with other people and the other people didn't materialize magically to whisk me away to fun.

So instead I ate a burrito and read weblogs. I thought I take a shower & go to bed early right after I checked in with James. Ha. As if.

He linked to The Online Film Critics Society's Top 100 Overlooked Films of the 1990s. Now it's an hour and a half past the time I'd go to bed if I wanted 8 hours sleep and I have 428 movies in my Netflix queue.

And I want some popcorn.

Magic 2004

Because I worked a while on one of my sick days and came in early this morning, I felt no guilt about leaving work at 3pm and heading straight to the movie theater to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

It was wonderful. I wanted to go back in and watch it again. It's my favorite of the books and so I would have been quite disappointed if they'd done a drab job, but it's the best of the films yet. Beautifully realized, particularly in the treatment of time. Sign me up to watch everything Alfonso Cuarón ever directs.

So, who wants to go see it tomorrow or Sunday? Or perhaps and Sunday?

Toes still tapping, mouth still smiling 2004

Go see Les Triplettes de Belleville. It is so good. So weird. So wonderful.

(Lance, if you haven't gone yet, I'm dragging you down to the theater).

He most definitely did. 2004

I saw Star Wars 10 or 11 times in 1977. Han shot Greedo dead under the table without warning and Luke was definitely in love with Leia. I think the big reason Lucas doesn't want to release the original is that it shows he didn't have the whole story in mind from the very beginning.

The Day Is Finally Here 2003

I've been waiting for this day for 3 years or so. Today I get to see Peter Jackson's Return of the King. I know it will be the best of the trilogy. I know my expectations are very high. I know I won't be disappointed.

And I know I'm going to like the extended version even better - just one more year to wait for it!

It's 11am. I got up around 9:30 - hooray for a vacation day and making up for lost sleep - and I have a few hours to spend before the film. Gonna go buy some new eyeglasses. Maybe do a little holiday shopping.

Is it 3pm yet? No? How about now?

Recommended Viewing 2001

The American Astronaut opens this Friday at the Lumiere Theatre in San Francisco and I strongly encourage you to go. It is strange and wonderful.

"Written, directed, and starring Cory McAbee of The Billy Nayer Show, this space western musical uses flinty black-and-white photography, rugged Lo-Fi sets and the spirit of the final frontier to bring the film, set in the dirty, isolated vastness of outer space, to life. ... The film features an original soundtrack by the The Billy Nayer Show." [source]

I was excited to learn that there will be an opening night party at the Edinburgh Castle (950 Geary, near Larkin) at around 9pm. See you there!

Ahh, my favorite show... 2001

Happiness is goofy movies & dressing up in costumes 2001

Thanks to my totally awesome pal Kristin, you get to see the silliness I engaged in last Thursday.

Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back was goofy fun and we all had a great time. To our amusement, the ladies in the Japanese restaurant next to the theater were unfazed by our outfits when we went there after the movie. I guess they're just typical blasé San Franciscan waitresses.

Ahhh, now I feel better. 2001

I slept 8 or more hours for the past two nights and what a difference that makes! Last night I watched Cast Away and enjoyed it. Then I watched a lot of the extra features on the DVD (interview with Tom Hanks, interviews with survival consultants, "making of" special, and a documentary about the volleyball who plays a key role in the film - now the rest of you really want to see it, eh?). I slept until I felt like getting up and then had a light breakfast and read How To Become CEO - which I highly recommend to anyone seeking to succeed in any position at work.

Next on my list is re-reading How to Think Like a Ceo: The 22 Vital Traits You Need to Be the Person at the Top. Now you might assume I'm trying to be a CEO, but actually I'm trying to make the transition from thinking like a detail worker to thinking like a director. I enjoy detail, so it's very easy for me to get sucked into the little picture. If I'm going to progress in my career, I need to delegate more and focus on larger goals. I need to switch from "how can I get the IF statement in this PHP page to parse correctly" to "is this project on time and under budget?" It's hard because I do like coding, but I also enjoy directing projects and I do want to advance. I'm not motivated by money, but I am coming to realize that money and seniority provide the flexibility to get what does motivate me: exciting work, the opportunity to travel, the resources to buy land near my parents' place in Mendecino. It's an odd transition.

Sorry I haven't written much lately. 2001

I've been spending time thinking and hanging out with friends away from the computer. It's a seasonal thing since this is my favorite time of year and I love being outside enjoying it.

And what's been on my mind?

• Who I am,
• where to walk next in San Francisco,
• when will I hear back from New Riders about my book proposal,
• work,
• family
• and, since seeing Gods & Monsters, Brendan Fraser's mouth.

There are many fans of the delectable Mr. Fraser, but I reveal my androgyne tastes when I tell you that this is one of my favorite pictures of him:

And now it's time to go to work, but it's Friday and tonight I'll be seeing my friends (speaking of cute) Bill & JessaJune performing in A Midsummer Night's Dream in San Jose. Tomorrow? Tomorrow I'm thinking about staying home, watching movies and recharging my mental batteries.

Bacon Numbers 2000

A couple of friends have told me they enjoyed Hollow Man. That reminded me of the joy that is The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia. My co-worker, Mark Bakalor, has a Bacon Number of 3, therefore, if you accept the premise that interface design is close enough to working on a movie together, I have a Bacon Number of 4. Unless someone else I've worked with has a higher number than Mark...

Everyone is right. 1999

American Beauty is the best movie this year. Go see it. Don't find out anything about it, just go.