what we've been up to since moving to the west coast

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here there and everywhere

Sarah and I have been exploring the area lately. for our anniversary, we spent 2 nights in San Francisco, eating and walking and exploring and having a great time. we highly recommend picking up a copy of the SF Lonely Planet Guide if you're in the area; we failed to be disappointed by any of its recommendations. our one recommendation: bring your hiking shoes.

last night, we trekked over to North Oakland to visit friends who were in town for the weekend. the Bay Area is so vast and diverse, it's going to take a long time to really see it all. last night, we returned home by way of the Bay Bridge, which connects Oakland and San Francisco. we crossed at dusk, watching the sun die behind the fog enveloping Alcatraz Island, Golden Gate Bridge, and the Transamerica Building. iPod's shuffle feature finally did something proper and brought up Sufjan Steven's paean to the wonder of new life and the city, "Chicago". a beautiful exclamation point for a few chances to explore the area.

ps. I don't use 'exclamation point' lightly as I am reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves at the moment, but I'll post about that later.

"Farewell, My Lovely": a quick review

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
PI Philip Marlowe never better...



On my list of books to read and then see the movie.



The story has actually been made a film 3 times; the 2nd one seems to be the "original" film, and easiest to find to rent. Misguidingly titled "Murder, My Sweet", it took me a little work to find it, but it's sitting in my queue at the moment.



Prediction: book will be far and away better. It was made early in the era of Film Noir, a genre that was still trying to figure out its style. Though based on strong material, it's likely that the producers decided to lighten it up--in dialogue, in mystery, in sin--for the sake of reaching greater audiences.


View all my reviews.

take me out to the ballgame

in honor of tonight's all-star game, here's a little sing-a-long from Chris Thile and friends, The Punch Brothers.

close call

whew, good news.  we're not losing any local Starbucks in Silicon Valley, at least in the first wave, which is a relief since I don't know whether or not I could survive if I had to walk a few more yards to another coffee shop, likely another Starbucks.

and a shout out to the SC... that is, the real SC.  congrats on not losing any! :)