Book break

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is complete and last night my roommates and I successfully hosted a discussion of Great Expectations (if success can be defined as 2 people finishing, 1 relying on high school memories, and 4 still reading...but there was lots of wine and cheese!). My book club reading marathon has come to an end, so I can start on one from my stand-by stack. There are lots of used book stores around, but I find great steals at libraries and community centers. I mean, $0.50 for a book? Fantastic! Lucky for me my pack rat tendencies are for books, not shot glasses or old VHS.

What a random set of books - lucky me!

Muttville: Roscoe

Roscoe is just the sweetest guy ever. He loves walks and even let me take him out in the rain. There are much better pictures of him on the Muttville website.

Roscoe has distinctive feet, note how they turn out like a ballerina. When he lays down, he crosses both his hind legs and front legs. I wish I could have snapped a picture of it!

Pixar's Hawaiian vacation

When Pixar's Cars 2 comes out, it'll include a short featuring the Toy Story gang! It's called "Hawaiian vacation." Can't wait!

Life NK skincare

I came across this company and just love the branding, how sweet are these labels?

I was trying to show good/different examples and happened to choose all lotions! That's so me.

Snow in SF

It's so cold here in SF, that it might snow for the first time in 30 years! If you're not in SF, here's a handy site in case you're interested:

www.isitsnowinginsfyet.com

Breast milk ice cream

Presented without comment (except, $24/scoop?!...and I'm sorry for bringing this into your consciousness):

Organizing the Bookcase

Oh, to be a banana surfing on books...

OK!

The BBC recently published an article explaining the origin and history of 'OK,' as explained from an author who recently wrote a book on it.

Some of the article is informative:

But what makes OK so useful that we incorporate it into so many conversations? It's not that it was needed to "fill a gap" in any language. Before 1839, English speakers had "yes", "good", "fine", "excellent", "satisfactory", and "all right".What OK provided that the others did not was neutrality, a way to affirm or to express agreement without having to offer an opinion. 

Some, not as much:

Visually, OK pairs the completely round O with the completely straight lines of K. 

Speaking of books, I have finished 2/3 and both in time for book club! Green Metropolis was awful, just don't read it. On the other hand, despite a slow start, Great Expectations was lovely. On to the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks...

Tartine

I met my cousin yesterday for lunch at Tartine. As someone who keeps french bread in the freezer "just in case," it's sort of shocking that I haven't been there before. It was sooo good.

As we were eating outside, this hipster dude walking by with friends said something like: 'zomg, this place is so overrated, why would anyone wait in line to eat here?' Then tripped over someone's dog. The dog was ok.

The apartment just got a lot more awesome

1. My window neighbor moved out! Though we never spoke, I did learn a lot about him. He worked from home and liked to synch his laptop to his giant tv. He used to have a girlfriend, but at some point that must have ended because she stopped coming around. He likes soccer and playing warcraft. (Hmm, I wonder what he would say about me?) Anyways, looking forward to a quieter person to share my window space with. Or someone hotter.

2. My roommate bought an antennae converter and we now have basic channels! You don't know how much this is blowing my mind - or maybe you do. I'm going to watch Glee when everyone else is watching Glee! We're all excited to watch the Oscars this Sunday too.

24 and Potrero

Abandoned (?) art at the bus stop:

Muttville: Lily (and Kelly update)

Lily is very sweet. On walks, she wants to smell everything very thoroughly and she also has giant ears - unrelated characteristics, I think. 

Lily rocks 2 collars.

We put a sweater on her today:

In other news, Kelly is no longer in self-imposed seclusion. Here she is hanging with her buddy Al. I didn't mention the last time that these two came in together, so they'll be adopted out together too:

Kelly and Al, NOT running away

Spork

Last night, I had dinner at Spork in the mission. And no, unfortunately I didn't eat with a spork!

Thanks for the pic yelp!

This restaurant used to be a KFC and I think a lot of the lights and seating might be the same. The food was really good, they have a small menu but everything looked great. Bonus points for homemade bread.

Welcome to SF, mancationer!

An NPR reporter/CNN blogger recently had a mancation ("a trip taken by a bunch of guy friends to blow off steam and remember why they are better off home with their families") in SF and had a lovely time! Unfortunately, he was looking for a Hangover type adventure. 

Frankly, if you're looking for adventure, then eating at the Ferry Building and hiking Mt. Tam probably aren't the way to go. 

'When I saw a basket of glistening donuts at the Pepples donut stall, I immediately ordered two, thinking it would set the tone for an unhealthy day of indulgence. But no sooner had I stuffed one in my mouth that I saw that they were vegan. A vegan. Blueberry. Donut."

Fastest game of hide and seek

Imagination - 1, reality - 0.

Nestrest

Want:

Cheese or font?

Two things I love, cheese and fonts, in a fun quiz game. How random is that?

(Kabel is a font, I got that wrong.)

Double high five!

I really want a cat. In case you didn't know that.

Happy valentine's day!

KICKBALL!

Today was my first official kickball game! It was so much fun! I was worried it'd be a) men who hadn't outgrown their frat days or b) super-competitive kickballers. But no, there were all levels of skill and everyone was nice.

I love the picture above: half are paying attention to the game and half are facing the opposite direction. Classic. It wasn't just a great day for kickball though, seems like everyone and their dog came out to Dolores Park to enjoy the weather - not to mention the jello shot and PBR vendors.

See the tennis courts? Someone told me today that they play bike polo on the courts at night. Now that sounds like some serious fun.

Levi's Ex-Girlfriend fit

"Remember the girlfriend with the great style? Here's a tribute to her -- a fit that's super-snug allover, an update of the five-pocket classic that's as skinny as it gets."

Muttville: Maya

Last week, I met Maya:

The shelter has a backyard and Maya was taking full advantage of the beautiful weather.

Red panda jumping

I could watch this on a loop forever:

Gough and Mission

SF is vainest city?

The Daily Beast recently completed a ranking of the US' vainest cities based on percentage belonging to a gym, percentage not overweight, and monthly spending on personal care items. Guess where SF ranks?

#1! 

I don't care if we're 1 or 14 (hopefully no one takes these things seriously), but in principle I think those are the wrong metrics to focus on. Since when does being fit = vanity? By that logic, are people who are overweight automatically humble? I think better metrics would be percentage who have undergone plastic surgery or amount spent on designer clothing.


A slideshow of all the cities can be found here.

Blockbuster with my uncle

Me: do you have any interest in watching 'eat, pray, love'?

My 70ish uncle: isn't that about girls or something?

Yay baseball!

Giants FanFest is today, the official start of SF baseball season! I didn't go because, let's face it, it was probably crazyville down there today. 

Willie Mays Plaza

I took this picture about a week ago. I can't wait until I can afford season tickets - so awesome!

Muttville: Kelly

Poor Kelly. I don't know her story yet, but the way she acts around humans and dogs tells me she's one sad doggie. Except for one buddy, Al, she's afraid of everything and will not let you approach her. She wouldn't even take a treat after I put it down in front of her and walked away.

Kelly. Look at those eyes!

I'm pretty sure she's 20% dog, 40% sheep, and 40% cloud. After sitting still for a long while, I was able to slowly kneel-walk over and she let me pet her. She didn't growl and I think she liked it, but she needs a home where she can get lots of patient attention and love.

Morning run in February

Went for a run this morning and it is GORGEOUS outside:

Alcatraz

Transamerica Pyramid from Pier 9ish

Saturday Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building and a group tour!

I am so lucky to live here! The weather has been sort of unbelieveable lately. I think the following video sort of sums it up:

Future Christine will own art

I would love to own something by Jim Nares someday:

Someday, when I'm an adult!

Bridesmaids trailer

This looks funny!

UK vs. GB vs. England

Neha, I'm ready to visit now! PS: Any interest in going to Iceland?

"Medical Clowns"

Medical clowns may boost IVF treatment success; Laughing may lower stress, raise implantation rates 

From the NY Daily News (I've highlighted my favorite parts):

Women who have tried everything to get pregnant may have one more option: A medical clown. Seriously.

A study of 229 Israeli women undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to treat infertility received 15-minute visit from a trained "medical clown" immediately after the embryos were implanted.  The success rate ballooned to 36%, compared with 20% for women who weren't given the silly treatment.

The goal of the study was to see if reduced stress, caused by laughter, could increase the chance of that the injected embryo will successfully make its way into the womb.

Afraid of clowns?  Other treatments, including acupuncture have lead to positive results for women undergoing IVF.

You can't become a medical clown just from attending your local clown college.  The University of Haifa in Israel is the only school in the world that actually awards a degree in hospital jokery. 

These professional funnymen, who have taken courses in nursing, have made strides in Israeli children's wards by helping young patient communicate their pain and distract them from their suffering.