So it looks like the Boy and I are going to try and drive to Las Vegas to volunteer for the Obama campaign. We're both terrified of talking to strangers, but damn, suddenly we're feeling all called to action. We've just got to see if we can make the finances work. Anybody want to come along?

We've had an abnormal number of warm, lovely, actual summer-type days this summer. Very odd. Clearly, the bizarre, global warming doom weather that makes every other place horrible makes SF lovely.

Am currently enjoying the lovely breeze through the window and drinking a Pimm's and Reed's ginger ale. Things are basically not so bad.

Today, we got a piece of mail from a wine store addressed to: Martha and Steve Smith. Heh.

Oh, the Red Sox. Oh, baseball.

These playoffs have just been astounding. NL, AL, everything. But the Sox, God, the Sox!!!

Plus, the Yankees basically got beat by a swarm of gnats tonight. Really. I'm swoony.

To quote 90s hip hop:

Its friday night, and I feel all right
The party is here on the west side
So I reach for my 40 and I turn it up

-I love Give Me My Remote (the new site I'm writing for). The editor is way more responsive and enthusiastic about my column, and I'm actually getting comments! Not tons yet, but some, and good feedback is always so lovely for one's self esteem.

-Been have a rough period. The ute, she is in open revolt. I started doing something called the Miracle Ball Method to help with my sciatic pain and it really helps. It's also proving useful for fighting said ute rebellion. Google it; it's wierd, but wonderful. You lay on these little inflatable balls in specific ways and breathe a lot and the muscles just relax. It sounds like quackery but works like a dream. Even weirder, I first read about it via Wil Wheaton, of all things.

-My mom is coming to visit! She'd hoped to be here last weekend, but my brother got an infection in his vas defrens (no, they don't know why, no, it doesn't make sense how you get an infected testicle). We're gonna do mucho wedding planning. Am awfully excited.

-Am very low the last few days. Mopey. A grumplepuss. Sad, useless wretched.

-Am working on liking tofu better. Any healthy protein source I can buy for $1 at the produce market where I do most of my shopping is a worth learning to like. The results are mixed. Here is what I classically don't like about tofu: spongy soft texture, utter distressing blandness, vague odor of old socks/wet dog. I pressed the tofu to absorb water, marinated it in soy sauce and Chinese rice wine, coated it in my all purpose stir fry meat coating (cornstarch, flour, and sesame oil. It browns like a dream.), sauteed it in my case iron skillet and mixed it with noodles, green beans, scallions, and spicy peanut sauce. It was. . . okay. It certainly minimized the unpleasant texture and introduced lots of other bold flavors. It helped with the socks/dog smell a little. Alas, it didn't totally get rid of any of those problems. The work continues.

-I get why ghost riding the whip is so dangerous. Every time some idiot teenager gets their skull crushed doing it, it seems like the biggest imaginable waste. Alas, I gotta admit, it does look pretty damn cool.

For dinner, I'm doing a sort of thing with chunks of new potato fried in olive oil, bacon, sauteed spinach, and either fried or poached eggs. I am already girding my loins for the sight of runny yolk sliding down through a pile of wilted spinach. But I shall not falter, I shall not flinch. I shall probably drink half a bottle of sauvignon blanc as preparation, but I will not flinch.

List of food I used to hate but that I made myself eat and now enjoy (foods I now particularly love are starred):

chickpeas
tomatoes*
oysters*
olives*
rare ground beef*
avocados*
cantaloupe*
caraway seeds
un-fried squid (bodies)
bell peppers*
various forms of liver mushed into pate*
spicy food*
cooked cauliflower
sweetbreads
very sharp blue cheese*
anything anise flavored* (expect liquorice. I don't like liquorice even though I love anise)
anchovies (and these I love in certain contexts)
Chinese food in general; anything fried and dipped in sauce in particular (I'm still a little sensitive about this, but what I love, I really love, and even the smell used to make me gag)

Foods I used to hate and have made great strides on and that I can now eat and even enjoy, but that still sometimes skeeve me:

eggs (especially runny; my great nemesis. I eat 700% more eggs than I did four years ago, but there is still work to be done. I will conquer you someday, cursed ovum!)
livers not mushed into pate
squid tentacles (fried or un-fried)
eggplant (if not in babaganoush or parmesan form)
tofu (I can eat it, I just don't like it)

Foods upon which I have made little progress:

kidneys, hearts, intestines, spleens, tongue, brains, fish heads, pig's feet, blood, and coxcombs (although if Fergus Henderson or Chris Costentino wants to serve me any or all of these things, I would happily chow down; perhaps it is a question of context).
raw shrimp

And, the big food that I cannot seem to conquer:

Seaweed in general, and the nori on the outside of sushi rolls in particular. That texture, the way you can't really chew it up. It just makes me shudder. I keep eating the damn stuff, figuring if I can teach myself to like my hamburgers bloody, I can conquer freakin' nori, but god, trying to chew and swallow a piece of California roll makes me gag violently every time.

As I'm certain has been previously mentioned, the Boy and I are just nuts over Mayo wines (these guys: http://www.mayofamilywinery.com/ ). The winery is small and cool and their wines are just faboo. It's our favoritest Sonoma destination, and we're there quite a bit.

In the two years we've been hanging out at their tasting and reserve rooms, we've become rather well known. Last night was the twice yearly pickup party for club members. You go up, eat nibbles, taste and taste, and pick up your six bottle shipment. We always have a lovely time, but last night was a particular blast. When we got there, Rich, our favorite tasting room guy, was so excited to see us that he ran out from the behind the counter, squeezed through the 75 or 100 people packing the room, and ran over to hug us. Later we saw Jeffery (the president) who poured us numerous generous pours of Viognier (with which we are obssessed) and discussed the new champagne they're debuting with an oyster party on June 3. The label just has an "M" on it; I told him I was reserving the right to say it stood for Martha.

We hung out late, chatting with Rich and Courtney (our second favorite tasting room person) tasting and tasting and tasting (often along with Rich and Courtney) and making a joke out of the classic 3/4 tasting room pour. On his way out, Jeffery stopped over to say goodnight and to gently distract one of the other counter ladies from the drunks she was humoring and make her get us our shipment. We said our goodbyes and left. When we carried our box out in the parking lot, a car pulled up next to us and rolled down the window. Jeffery called out,

"Hey Martha, whatcha stealing?"

"Anything I can get my hands on!"

The long (and utterly pointless short of it is) that I never feel quite so cool and special as when I'm there. To get the VIP treatment, to have other (older, richer) people look at us and making obvious "Well, who the hell are they?" faces is pretty awesome. I've spent a lot of my life feeling less than, so to feel like an utter godd-ess for a few hours is a lovely thing. I've been threatening (and plan to soon) show up during the week at the tasting room with delicious snacks paired with some of our favorite Mayo wines. It's the least I can do considering the innumerable free drunks I've gotten on there over the last few years.

Date:	2006-11-07 20:01
Subject:	Three Cheers!
Security:	Public
Mood:	ecstatic

For my homegirl Nancy Pelosi who appears poised to be the first lady Speaker of the House!

(Hooray for Cooter Power!)

If you're curious as to what this is about: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/24/122525/22

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

--AZ-01: Rick Renzi

--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

--CA-04: John Doolittle

--CA-11: Richard Pombo

--CA-50: Brian Bilbray

--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

--CO-05: Doug Lamborn

--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

--CT-04: Christopher Shays

--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

--FL-16: Joe Negron

--FL-22: Clay Shaw

--ID-01: Bill Sali

--IL-06: Peter Roskam

--IL-10: Mark Kirk

--IL-14: Dennis Hastert

--IN-02: Chris Chocola

--IN-08: John Hostettler

--IA-01: Mike Whalen

--KS-02: Jim Ryun

--KY-03: Anne Northup

--KY-04: Geoff Davis

--MD-Sen: Michael Steele

--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

--MN-06: Michele Bachmann

--MO-Sen: Jim Talent

--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

--NV-03: Jon Porter

--NH-02: Charlie Bass

--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

--NM-01: Heather Wilson

--NY-03: Peter King

--NY-20: John Sweeney

--NY-26: Tom Reynolds

--NY-29: Randy Kuhl

--NC-08: Robin Hayes

--NC-11: Charles Taylor

--OH-01: Steve Chabot

--OH-02: Jean Schmidt

--OH-15: Deborah Pryce

--OH-18: Joy Padgett

--PA-04: Melissa Hart

--PA-07: Curt Weldon

--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

--PA-10: Don Sherwood

--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

--TN-Sen: Bob Corker

--VA-Sen: George Allen

--VA-10: Frank Wolf

--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

--WA-08: Dave Reichert

Stephen is putting in his notice at Apple upon the news that he'll probably be fired in three weeks when his review happens.

My mom always says she only likes her even numbered years; I'm starting to think I only like the odd ones. Year 24 has not been a success. What with the deaddad, the lack of employment, the whatnot. I also hated 12, 14, 16, and 18. Whereas 19 and 23 were pretty damn good.

When it's like this this, I try to pick a point in the future and say, when I get to that point, my life will not look like it looks right now. This is not a permanent condition.

A mantra: thisisnotapermanentcondition thisisnotapermanentcondition thisisnotapermanentcondition. I'm waiting to believe it.

Hey kids, I'm going friends only on here after this post. There are just enough people on the interweb reading 2 Tasty Ladies, I've begun to feel the urge to make sure my personal live stays that way. So, that's were I'll be. That is all.

I had a haircut yesterday, and it's not bad. The stylist I've been seeing is young, and I have challenging hair, so it's been a little arduous, but I think she's finally figuring my coif out. I had two archetypal my hair expierances. One, once the color was in and my hair dried, other stylists came up and said, "Wow, you look really good with read hair. What color is it naturally? Maybe I should color my hair red." Two, after cutting and cutting, drying and applying a bit of product, my stylist discovers a few heavy chunks. So she cuts some more, cut cut cut, adds a little more product, cuts some more, and says, "You have a lot of hair. Really. There is just so much of it, I keep thinking I've got it all, but nope."

And, indeed, she's right. It's very thick, with a tendancy toward detestable round poufiness, and it's nice to see that's she's finally rising to the occasion.

Stephen's parent's come in tomorrow. We're heading up to Sonoma for a few days of wine, food, warm weather and fine conversation.

Also, the muscle in my jaw that had been so very painful the last few days has finally eased up a little. I can chew without bringing tears to my eyes, so it's certainly an improvement

Date:	2006-05-03 16:12
Subject:	Oh, that's why I feel so crappy
Security:	Public
Mood:	stuffy

I forgot to take my allergy medication this morning. It's nice to have a reason for the sensation of my sinuses expanding like an over-filled balloon.

From the Washington Post, a piece about the complicated web of immigrants and our economy.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/29/AR2006042901556.html

Date:	2006-05-02 11:37
Subject:	Possibility
Security:	Public
Mood:	pondery

Last night, I was looking at pictures from the May Day marches. It was so beautiful, so American, so connected with labor marches and civil rights marches of the past. It seemed necessary. The msnbc.com poll had 70% of people disagreeing with the immigrants, believing that they should be arrested and deported at the rallies. Earlier that day, I walked past the Indian-owned bodega, past the Chinese takeout place that sells churros, a block away from the Russian temp agency to the Mexican produce market where I can buy fresh salsa and tortillas or mung bean sprouts and rice noodles.

The day before, I'd watched Stephen Colbert's speech from the White House Correspondent's Dinner. I watched the journalists not laugh, cower like bunnies, then largely ignore the event in the next day's coverage. It seems there were two ways to look at what he said. Either you think he has the biggest balls currently in existance in the Western hemisphere, that you envied him for being allowed to stand four feet from Bush and tell him how full of shit he is, and thought he was both hilarious and revolutionary, or you thought he was rude, not funny, and that he totally bombed.

Karl Rove may be indicted, there's hints of a Congressional prostitution scandal, and Barack Obama's name whispers through my head like a mantra.

Probably nothing will happen, probably the 2006 and 2008 elections won't bring forth sweeping changes. But, God help me, I feel this tiny twinge of possibility. Our nation seems poised between two world views, on the verge of the possibility of change. When Bush was re-elected, the only upside I could think of was the possibilty that it represented the tipping point. I know the nation is not in consensus (re: above mentioned 70%) but they never have been during times of great change. Lots of people thought maybe Martin Luther King (and Frederick Douglass and Gloria Steinem and Eugene Victor Debs) should shut up. Change is hardly ever popular. It doesn't happen because everybody gets together and decides to get rid of slavery or desegregate or let women earn equal wages (which still ain't happened, we're just up to 76%) or let workers have an eight hour work day and safe conditions. Generally, we are dragged kicking and screaming. Maybe this is how people felt in 1968, that change was just maybe possible.

I really believe that it is impossible to love Papi too much. He does things that are only just the barest bit likely, things that brush against the utterly miraculous. And he's utterly pleasant and loveable. Truly, he is almost too amazing to be believed.

Date:	2006-05-01 16:09
Subject:	Baseball vitriol
Security:	Public
Mood:	standard baseball frustration

So, Red Sox/Yankees. Exciting. I really hope they just wail on Damon. He said, "“I expect them to cheer what our team accomplished back then. Winning the World Series was pretty awesome,” Damon said. “I expect them to boo the fact that I’m here. That I went over and that I’m playing with a team that truly needed me, truly wanted me.” Uh-huh, okay, if you say so JD.

I read an Q&A from (I think) the NY Post a month or so ago where the guy thought that Boston fans would respect Damon's role as part of the 25 and his talent enough not to give him a hard time. Sure, of course. In bizarro world. Sheesh, speaking of idiots. . .

Also, ha, welcome back to the Miracle Man, Doug Mirabelli.

Also, people I do not love (nor have I loved all season); i.e. wastes of space: Wily Mo Pena (Your amusing name does not placate me, Mr. Mo Pena), Mark Loretta (I'm not convinced he actually exists), David Wells (Why won't he just drop dead?)

Bitches, I miss me some Bronson. Wouldn't he look nice in the lineup right now, because, fucking DiNardo? I saw a piece titled "DiNardo starting slowly." That would make a suitable description of his entire freakin' career. Grrrrrrr. Also, I mean it, why don't they just have David Wells kidnapped and locked in a South American dungeon to free up his roster spot. I've hated him for years, and I made a legitimate effort to give him the benefit of the doubt last season. That was a mistake; he didn't deserve it. I just wanted so bad for him to be valuable. I'm so sick of his bad attitute and self-importance that I could hurl.

Date:	2006-05-01 11:27
Subject:	All sort of things
Security:	Public
Mood:	blah

The Boy and I had a lovely picnic in the park yesterday. We sat next to, I swear this exists, a large, duck-filled pond build for the express purpose of playing with miniture yachts. Golden Gate Park is really enormous, so they manage to dedicate little corners of it to all kinds of foolish purposes. It was a bit breezy but very bright and spring-like with cherry blossoms and other blooming things, and many San Franciscans were happy to be outside.

Stephen's parents are coming on Sunday. We're spending two days with them in Sonoma. I need a haircut, but we can't afford it, so I may just have to go shaggy and avec les roots. As much as I'm looking forward to their visit, as soon as they leave, it's time for me to get another crappy retail job. That was sort of the deadline I set for myself. I thought my last interview with Pearson went well, but once again, they've never bothered to call me back, so I'm assuming I didn't get the job. None of my other recent applications have gotten notice, so it's time. I'm pretty miserable over it, but trying not to dwell.

Some things are good. 2 Tasty Ladies had its biggest month ever with 1,052 unique and 2,503 total visits (30,637 his; search engines are crazy things). We just got two more links from sfist.com, and we've made a blog friend with Hedonia (hedonia.typepad.com). Our second biggest country of readership is the Netherlands; I've really enjoyed looking at Stephen and saying, "The Dutch love us. We're huge in the Netherlands" then flashing devil horns and sticking out my tongue like Gene Simmons. It's wildly trippy to think of a thousand people, all over the world, reading our work and following our lives. As I've mentioned before, we're always open to the idea of guest bloggers, if anyone is interested (ahemWhitneyahem).

Oh, and about Whitney, she is offically an aunt! Wee baby Owen is an absolutely lovely, thoughful looking baby. I can't wait until we get to visit him in Nashville.

I'm having a number of odd, nagging physical ailments right now (stomach cramps, a torn and throbbing cuticle, nightly headaches, stuffy sinuses, aching cyatic nerve, general premature body failure). My right jaw muscle has been hurting very much lately, to the point that I'm thinking I may have to cut out the chew-intensive foods for a while. Of course, when I think of soft foods I think ice cream, buttery mashed potatoes, shrimp bisque, and other similarly bad for me foods, so I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.