Thursday 19 October 2006
	I'm doing a whole day with Isaac, in school, today. During morning assembly, outside, Isaac answers a question and is rewarded with a kids cookbook. Isaac is the table group 2 monitor, picking up and distributing papers. Isaac (and Eugenia) deliver necessary paperwork to the office. Isaac has the "joke of the day" to tell.
Tuesday 15 September 2006
	Lila: [a restaurant sugestion] and that's my 'gestion, and that's what I feel comfortable with.
Wednesday 16 September 2006
	It's too damn early in the morning, but Isaac is awake while Rose and Lila are sleeping. (Don't ask me why the kids aren't heading off to school today; I can't remember. Perhaps he was recovering from a 24-hour flu.) As we pass Harvey Milk Plaza, part of the Castro MUNI station, we stop to appreciate the fog of steam generated by the men cleaning the station. Isaac chooses Orphan Andy as our breakfast destination. (This way Lila and Rose can sleep for a while longer.) Inside the restaurant we're seated by a photographix who is making a record of two girls - one in a huge cowboy hat - having breakfast at the window table. The meal choice is a bowl of Fruit Loops, which - because of it's strange typeface - appears to Isaac as "Fruit Floops", which appeals to all the servers. Speaking of servers, here's Woody. Always kilted, Woody is a favorite of the kids (and us, as well). He's part of what makes Orphan Andy a special and fun Castro fixture. Rose calls. She and Lila are awake, and are walking down the hill to join us. Shortly thereafter they join us, and we move to a booth. Lila seems extremely pleased with her short stack of pancakes and the side of chocolate chips. The sun is warming our neighborhood, and the near-by Collingwood playground. Renovated over a two-year span - yes, that's how long it takes to transform a rec center with a playground to a rec center with a playground - it's just recently re-opened. It's convenient, fun, and the kids love it. A morning well spent. This evening I have the bright idea to bring Rose to a restaurant that I loved many years ago (and to which she had gone before we met), the Pacific Café. The fish is great, but the lines are unbelievably long. Even though we got there at 17:30, we still waited two hours before being seated. The kids had bread and butter, the adults got complimentary wine. The staff was friendly, the food was good, but the kids were too tired out by the ordeal. [UPDATE: When Isaac told his teacher about the evening she related that her daughter was the server, who remembered us as "that nice family".] I'd eat there again, but I'd have to show up a half-hour before opening and leave if not seated within an hour, at least on a night with the kids.
Tuesday 15 September 2006
	We've got the kids on an earlier schedule. This way they get more sleep on school days. I have no idea why Isaac is so underwhelmed. Perhaps he's waiting for the Veat to accompany his corn and rice. Or maybe he's just tired. School and Hapkido do take their toll.
Sunday 13 September 2006
	Each morning Rose and I have been driving the kids to school. It's great together time. Here's Rose chatting with another parent before the bell is rung and the kids line up. This morning Rose and I return to Zazie Café, sitting at one of the two sidewalk tables. That's my red car sitting just in front. It's not often I get such a convenient parking spot. I helped name the business in the background. Many years ago, when I lived in the Haight-Ashbury, the owners were looking around for a name for their new place. I suggested "The Paper Chase", after both the television show and the frenetic actions I have to undergo whenever I visit the post office. They were fixed on the term "postal", and so with a bit of juggling came the new name. Mickey kisses Rosie. It's nice having "big parent time". Hi, Honey. I love you.
Saturday 12 September 2006
	Isaac has been getting into following the instructions for one of his LEGO sets. This is an eight-wheel crane (modified by yours truly to overcome some design flaws, making it too weak for enthusiastic youngsters).
Friday 11 September 2006
	Five Years Ago: In Memoriam: The World Trade Center Twin Towers. The annual plea for help with tidying up after our fun time on the playa arrived in my in-box today. From: Terry Schoop @ BurningMan Subject: Need 2 Peeps for HELP w/ Radio Cleaning Each year we spend a week cleaning rental radio gear so that we don't have to pay a $17,000 - $25,000 cleaning fee after we have return the equipment. For the last few years each department has committed to provide assistance with radio cleaning and each department is requested to provide a minimum number of people/days helping proportional to their allocation... Cleaning will be done at the BM office in the downstairs kitchen. We can also work past 7pm as necessary if there are folks there who can only help out after work. Please RSVP to me, so I can pass along the names and dates of committed staff and volunteers to "get 'er done!" - Terry Terry Schoop, radio name: "Retro" Manager, Black Rock City Community Services* *Supporting: Airport, Arctica, Bike Guild, BMIRadio, Cafe, Earth Guardians, Greeters, Lamplighters, Playa Info, Recycle, Shuttle Bus, Theme Camp Placement, & Volunteer Resource Team \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / \ <> / Then, a follow-up from the head of the Rangers: From: SeaDog @ Rangers Subject: Radio cleaning next week at the SF office ...We are the biggest users of radios on the playa and the comm guys need our help. They are planning [on cleaning radios] from Monday to Thursday, ten to seven. They will have drinks and food. SeaDog And so I reply: From: Ranger Mickey I'll be there! It's not as glamorous as Decompression but just as worthy :-) Monday morning sounds like a good time to me; lots to do and the cool tasks from which to choose. I'll leave the really dirty ones (you dropped it *where*?) for you later-in-the-week folks. Heh, heh. Mickey It turns out that we had to get at the radios before we could clean them! To that end we had to unload the Burning Man communications truck. Here's the scene just before the six-wheel Posidon was driven oun of the truck. What you can't see, in the darkness, is box after box of communications gear, antennae and cable, towers, and more. We're done unloading! I'm so happy! Behind me is the last item to be dragged into the storage area: the plywood (to which I scribble "ESD" in huge letters before moving them). Okay, that long and playa-dusty chore done, we turn to the boxes of dusty radios, batteries, chargers, microphones, and assorted accessories. Standing is the head of Emergency Services Division, Joseph Pred, known today as "batallion1" and in the old days as "baker18". We started Rangering together at Burning Man 1996.
Thursday 10 September 2006
	Isaac just got a gift of Marshall Brodien's Collapsible Magic Hat. He's been imitating the street magicians he's seen since he was a toddler. At breakfast we were treated to Lila & Isaac's magic show. Bubbie calls to invite us to the Temple Beth Shalom ground-breaking. So we head on over after school. Here's the musicians playing, with Bubbie and Lila buffet-diving in the foreground. Jews traditionally bury, rather than burn, religious items which have become unusable through use. Here are those items ritually buried into what will be the foundation of the new synagogue.
Tuesday 8 September 2006
	The next morning, after dropping the kids off at school, we stop in Cole Valley to visit a café that I haven't seen in over a decade: Zazie. The ambiance is just as wonderful as I remember it, the staff just as excellent, and the food just as satisfying. Rose thinks so too. She's happy.
Monday 7 September 2006
	Now that both kids are in school Rose and I can claim some of our together time in a way that we haven't since Isaac was born, almost eight years ago. We've had some time off, an evening here and there, but there's something decadent and worthwhile about daytime together. So, hand in hand, we venture to Zuni Café for a mid-day treat of raw oysters and a plate of anchovies, olives, and cheese. Mmmmm. What a great day we had. This is going to be fun!
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