A friend of mine collects strange cookbooks. This is part of her collection.

We meant to go to the bicycle ballet but intertia won. We stayed home, instead.

This is the cat.

I know this is old news. It's so last month. I dug up this clip because I'm collecting political quotations for a Dive Bar game later this month.

The cat has suddenly become spooked by a spot in the living room. She stalks this spot. Her tail gets all poofy. As far as I can see, there isn't anything there. Maybe I have a ghost in the house.

This is a bagel with cherry tomatoes from the garden.

We took a City Guides walk around Mission Dolores. I found this yarn sculpture. There are a lot of them in this neighborhood. I think they add color to the neighborhood. I am always happy to discover one.

This is my hand. Yes, I seem to be on a hand kick these days.

We took a late evening walk around the neighborhood. This house is much more interesting in the daylight.

Tonight, we went to a bar to watch the Vice Presidential debates. We picked a lesbian bar in honor of Mary Cheney. She wasn't allowed to be seen at the Republican convention. We wondered if she might be hiding out at a lesbian bar.

October 6

Last night, a woman asked me to knit a hat for her. She keeps losing hats. Replacing the hats is getting expensive. She figured she could get me to knit a hat for less than she pays to buy them. When I tried to tell her how much time it would take, she said her birthday was coming. I think this comment was supposed to make me want to make the hat, no matter what the cost.

She wants me to knit a hat for less than she would pay for a hat at WalMart. If this is how she values hand crafted articles, I will never knit anything for her. She can buy her hats at WalMart.

Handknitting takes time and skill. I will not knit for anyone who 1) expects that I will do it for them and 2) places such a low value on it. I frequently knit for other people. However, I only knit for people who appreciate the skill required to produce something. I will not knit for someone who places no value on hand knitting. Yes, this is a sore point with me.

Speaking of knitting, I finished a shawl today. I have this idea that I want to do some lace. This shawl isn't really lace. It's just stockinette stitch done on big needles with a. mohair blend. Still, it gives me an idea of what a lacy shawl might look like.

This thing does raise a question about art. I think one reason I was so offended by the attempt to get me to knit a hat was that I recognized that this woman saw knitting as a worthless activity. For me, knitting is a creative outlet. To me, knitting is very valuable. But is it art? Or useful? And does it matter? This shawl isn't very practical or pretty. I made it mostly to get some experience with fine mohair on big needles as I dip my toes into doing something approaching lace. I'm happy with it although I don't know that I will wear it or that anyone else would find it attractive. I enjoyed making it and that's about all that matters to me.

As I was walking to my knitting group gathering, I found this 'vehicle' on the sidewalk. It almost looks like a broken down soapbox derby racer. The Bernal Hill race is coming up. I'll be there in my pink Barbie car.

I went to hospice tonight. During part of my shift, a group of us was watching CSI. This episode made me wonder what kind of tunnels are underneath San Francisco.

Not having cable, we had to go somewhere to watch the debate. We went to a friend's house. After watching this debate, I still think 'petulant' and 'defensive' are still the most accurate adjectives for George W. Bush.

This is the view from our friend's house.

We took another City Guides tour of Russian Hill. This picture is on Macondray Lane, one of San Francisco's more charming streets.

Later, we went to a going-away-slumber-party for a friend. Everyone in that house is very creative. I had some conversation with them about creativity and why it matters. One person told me it's a way to experience God/the divine. Another person told me it's an inherent part of human nature. Some people just have to do this. It helps keep the group/community together.

I am wondering if there is a negative correlation between creativity and organized religion.

I have some more to think about this.

In the evening, we went to an outdoor showing of Harold & Maude. The park was VERY crowded. I think it was a good idea but too successful for its own good. The place was kinda crowded.

This is me in a sweater I just finished.

I'm still on the 'creativity' theme. The Knitting Curmudgeon just published her collection of the 'Gallery of Ghastlies' from a knitting convention. These are things that probably should not have been knit. Some people do knit some truely scary work but to them this is art. They probably wouldn't have knit it if they didn't like it. They wouldn't have worn it in public to a knitting convention if they didn't want people to look at it. Still, does that make it art? And a worthwhile pursuitof time & energy? And who am I to judge, anyway.

Back on the political theme, I like this site.

Russ Meyer died recently. This is a shrine to him at a local bar. We went to see Russ Meyer films as a kind of wake/memorial.

On the way home, we passed by the Bail Bonds place.

Continuing with the political theme, we went to a bar called "Would you believe" to play a political quotation matching game.

We went to a friend's house to watch the debate. Pretzels & Heinz ketchup seemed like the appropriate accompaniments.

This is one of those days when I didn't take a picture so I took a shot of my sleeve. This is a sweater that I just finished knitting. It's my new favorite sweater because this one actually fits and it's warm.

It's been hot here. That's why I decided to make gazpacho (cold tomato/cucumber) soup.

Then I also decided to make bread (whole wheat with flax seed) and turnovers (roasted butternut squash in Phyllo)

Fortunately, the weather was not as hot as the forecast predicted it would be.

I went to my hospice shift in the evening.

This is the water pipe in a friend's live/work loft.

Halloween is coming. I'm collecting a list of Things that Scare Me(mostly political).

Something is changing about my politics. This is the first presidential election when I won't be holding my nose and voting for the lesser of two evils. This year, I'm voting for Kerry and I like it. He's a politician who I think will actually do some good. Bush still scares me but that isn't why I'm voting for Kerry. Even if Bush were benign (which is far from true), I would still vote for Kerry. Kerry has a brain. I believe he will use that brain to do things in line with my value system. Kerry won't make any stupid decisions. Kerry is also willing to admit something went wrong and then make appropriate changes.

I seem to also be liking a local politician. The new mayor, Gavin Newsom, is doing good things here in San Francisco. He seems to actually making a dent in the homeless problems with a program of substituting services instead of cash welfare payments. I saw Newsom speak in person recently. The media is right. His hair is scary. Even me, the queen of non-fashion, thinks he should back off the gel or whatever substance he puts on his head. Despite the hair, I like what Newsom had to say and how he said it. I'll be voting for him again.

This is the cat, surveying her domain.

Today, I cut my knitting. I'm doing a steek to insert a sleeve into a complicated cable cardigan. Taking big scissors to my knitting always scares me.

This is a friend's new kitten.

We took a City Guides walk through the Castro.

Later, we went to a birthday tea.

The first big storm of the year came through. When I say 'storm', remember I live in California and everything is relative. 'Storm' means it rained a lot.

This is the cat sitting in the bathtub.

This is me in my Barbie racer. I'll be 'racing' this thing down Bernal Hill in the soapbox races. This time, I'll have brakes.

This is black kitty sitting on the fence. She hangs out in the back yard. But she won't let anyone come too close to her. She runs if I try to talk with her or go anywhere near her. I'm only asssuming this is a 'she.' I think all cats are female by nature.

I went to my hospice shift in the evening. I'm still having issues with hospice management. Seven of nine paid employees quit in August. The board still doesn't appear to see that there is a problem. I have also been thinking of leaving. However, my loyalty is to the hospice residents, not to the organization's board. The board appears to have hardly noticed that most of the paid staff quit. My leaving wouldn't have much of an impact on the board. I'm not sure if it would have much of an impact on the hospice residents. The answer to this depends on whether or not I think I'm actually doing any good in my hospice volunteer work. That is a big question for me. I don't believe I am doing any harm. However, I am not convinced that I am doing any good, either.

Maybe I'm just burned out. I walked through the ward tonight and thought of all the people who I'd had the privilege to meet at hospice. After 2.5 years, most of them are dead. I'm feeling tired.

This is the zucchini plant heading for the house.

Anyone with a car alorm deserves to have their car stolen. This especially applies to people who leave their alarms chirping all day or all night. Yes, this is a pet peeve.

Today's cooking: Phyllo pastries filled with mushrooms, artichokes, leeks and onions with a roasted red pepper sauce.

Today we went to Open Studios at Hunter's Point. Hunter's Point used to be a naval shipyard. There is still some military security around the old buildings. At a previous Hunter's Point open studios, I got in trouble for taking a picture of some abandoned ships.

That's why today's picture is of my garden. Well, this is Angry Duck, a stuffed animal that lives in a pot in my garden.

Today's cooking: mushroom sauce, banana bread, buckwheat crepe batter sitting over night, sour dough bread (with rye and whole wheat flour) out to rise overnight.

Today was a busy social day. My Buddhist study group met in the afternoon.

In the evening, we hosted another political party gathering where I cooked a pasta dinner and then we talked through the ballot initiatives. This year was a bit more chaotic than previous years. Not many people, including myself, had done home work. This meeting helps to at least start to think about what's on the ballot.

Cooking: two loaves of sourdough bread, one plain and one with rye flour for extra sour flavor, buckwheat crepes with mushrooms, carmelized onions and mushroom sauce, pasta sauce where I started with tomatoes, a green salad with oil/vinegar/herb dressing, garlic bread, lemon pie and angel food cupcakes.

This picture is actually from October 25. This is 'sushi' done with twinkies and fruit rollups. This wasn't my idea although I will admit to eating it.

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm burned out on hospice work.

There is also a new safety issue. Laguna Honda has had to change the admissions policy to strongly favor patients referred from SF General. There was recently an issue with an SF General referral coming to Laguna Honda and bringing his violent, gang-related past with him. While this incident didn't happen on the hospice ward, I still have some safety concerns.

Then again, maybe I'm burned out and looking for any excuse to be done.

I just took the Barbie racer for a test drive to check out the brakes. I live on a fairly steep hill. It took me a bit to figure out where the brakes were. After I found the brakes, the car started spinning. I went off the curb sideways. The car landed on top of me. I seem to be fine. There are a few scrapes but nothing serious.

The good news is that the brakes work..

I'll be ready for the Bernal Hill Soapbox Derby...as soon as the Barbie Racer gets a drinkholder.

We went on a tour of the Old Mint, an historic building in San Francisco. This picture is some of the gas pipes

Random question: why must verbs be conjugated? "I do, you do, he/she/it does" It would not be correct to say "I does" why not?

We went to the Eagle (a gay leather bar with an outdoor patio, tables and electrical outlets) for what seems to be an annual tradition: pumpkin carving with power tools. Last year, the pumpkins were more r-rated. This year, we only had one power tool. Still, people made some good pumpkins.

This image was a one second exposure, hand held.

Tonight was a total lunar eclipse. The Red Sox won the world series. I'll take this as a good omen meaning Kerry is going to also win.

This is my picture of the eclipse. I took this while bracing the camera on a trash bin.

We went to the Dr. Hal show. Somehow, we both managed to ask questions worthy of a shot of Fernet. The table behind us was wondering why our table kept asking Fernet-worthy questions. I told them Fernet is more of a punishment than a reward. I think Fernet still tastes like furniture polish

This is a picture from one of the City Guides walks. This church survived the 1906 earthquake and fire.

I was sitting at my computer doing email when I heard a crash. I looked outside to see a motorcycle on the street outside my house. I went outside to see what was going on. I called 911 but someone else had already called. I'm not sure what happened since I didn't actually see anything. Somehow, a car and a motocycle collided. The bike hit the car. The rider was wearing a helmet and leather. He had a badly injured shoulder. I'd guess a broken collarbone or something very wrong with his shoulder. He was in a great deal of pain when the ambulance took him away. After they put him in a head/neck brace, the paramedics cut off his sweater. Then they loaded him into an ambulance and took him away.

The driver of the car was fine. Her back bumper had a good size dent. She was emotionally shaken but physically fine.

After the emergency vehicles left, we took my Barbie racer up to the top of Bernal Hill to try the brakes. Everything worked fine. The brakes worked. I remembered how to use them. I didn't crash.

In the evening, I went to my hospice shift.

We went on another City Guides tour. This one was of 'Sacred Spaces' in San Francisco. On the way home, we saw this church promising a sermon on "Everlasting Punishment."

For some reason, the Bunny Burger jingle is stuck in my head.

This is a stuffed bunny donating its head to the cause of a Halloween costume. I will be using the body of the bunny for my seat in my Soapbox Derby racer.

My question of the day: what happens if an election can't be certified and a state's electors (for electoral college purposes) aren't chosen? There doesn't seem to be an option for re-doing the election. I suspect Florida won't be the only place with problems this year.

Barbie made it out again for the Bernal Hill Soapbox Derby.

I wasn't going to vote for Renee Saucedo (District 9 San Francisco supervisor) anyway but after today, I'm even more certain I'm not going to vote for her. Her supporters have taken to parading around the neighborhood in a convoy (bus, several cars) all honking their horns and waving 'Saucedo' signs. They did it again today and stopped traffic on the main drag through Bernal Heights. The last time I heard them it was something like 10-11pm down my street. If this is the kind of supporters she has, I don't want to join them.