Today is one of those days when I think about some of my traits and behaviors. Some are funny and some are not nice. I'm such a dichotomy. As real as I am, and as easy-going... Don't ever let me make you think I'm uncomplicated. I admit I am not.
Things about me I thought about on my drive to BART:
I have a fair amount of road rage, but would never hurt someone as a result. I cuss so much at other drivers I think I'll pop a vein.
I definitely believe I can do a lot of things better than most people, including driving. Damn, stupid scared people should not go out on that big scary road and fuck my day up!
I have a healthy disdain for most humans. When I find one I can respect, admire and trust I hang on to them. Dogs rule.
I was touched to the points of tears last night reading how my friend Rebekah went out of her way to save a little, sick and blind field mouse. She named him Ben. He passed away in the comfort of her compassionate hands. Who does this?! Not enough of us.
Finally, so you don't all think I'm a total hardass bitch, as I was walking down the escalator to the train I noticed the woman in front of me had her sweater on inside out. I tapped her shoulder and let her know. She said "I was in such a hurry, silly me!" and she thanked me profusely.
As much as I complain about people, I still have faith and hope and want to be kind to them.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Self awareness day
Friday, September 18, 2009
it's been fairly quiet...
I don't have anything super exciting to share from BART these days. I did have a week off, and am just getting back in the thick of it.
I wonder though, are other people as curious and observant as I am? Who is a real people watcher? What kind of things do you notice?
Riding home from the Giants game late Wednesday night, my co-worker and friend Emily said "hey, that woman sitting across from us is writing about us." She did have a pen and small pad. So I said "oh, I got something for her ass!" and pulled out my bigger pad, and pen... and started writing. While staring at her. And talking to Emily. And wondering why hot dogs are so good. And why the Giants lost the game we were at, but kicked the Rockies asses the past two nights. And afraid my dogs ate my house out of sheer rage and loneliness. And dreaming about my new camera lens.
OH, did I mention we're getting a small but welcome bonus for being under budget this quarter? It's enough for lots of hot dogs!!!!!!!!!! (Prather Ranch Meats, organic... of course)
I wonder though, are other people as curious and observant as I am? Who is a real people watcher? What kind of things do you notice?
Riding home from the Giants game late Wednesday night, my co-worker and friend Emily said "hey, that woman sitting across from us is writing about us." She did have a pen and small pad. So I said "oh, I got something for her ass!" and pulled out my bigger pad, and pen... and started writing. While staring at her. And talking to Emily. And wondering why hot dogs are so good. And why the Giants lost the game we were at, but kicked the Rockies asses the past two nights. And afraid my dogs ate my house out of sheer rage and loneliness. And dreaming about my new camera lens.
OH, did I mention we're getting a small but welcome bonus for being under budget this quarter? It's enough for lots of hot dogs!!!!!!!!!! (Prather Ranch Meats, organic... of course)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Groucho BART
In looking a guy with the best tic ever... His eyebrows raise up high every couple of seconds! Making me laugh but would annoy me beyond belief if they were my brows.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Releasing my inner farm girl
When I heard from my friend Linda that a good friends of hers that has a small pastured chicken ranch called Soul Food Farm, lost a big chunk of their farm (and income) due to an arson fire last week... I was upset. I told her if they needed my help that I was on vacation this week, and I'd do what I could. So Linda asked if I'd help her do egg deliveries for them today. Their egg laying hens and houses were intact, so that business still needed to be managed while they try and rebuild the other barns and tend to the 600 chicks per week they take in.
Linda picked me up at 8:15 today so we could get to the Vacaville farm by 9 and take off with a mini van full of fresh eggs (and I mean fresh, some were laid nearly in my hand!)... they were being delivered to 5 local Bay area businesses. When we arrived at the farm, I met Alexis, the very sweet, dedicated, and worried owner. The fire was really devastating to her and her family, and I could see it in her face. She was so thankful that we were helping, and just taking care of the deliveries for the day helped her tremendously. She was able to take care of her new chicks and other farm business instead of driving around all day delivering eggs.
Since things are off-track right now, the eggs weren't quite ready to load... so Linda and I jumped in and helped get them ready. We were labeling egg cartons, placing the sell by date stamps on the sides, running them through the egg washer, placing in cartons and loading in crates marked for each business. We had over 100 doz. eggs to deliver! While Alexis prepared the last 20 dozen (by hand washing in her kitchen!), Linda and I grabbed buckets and visited the hen houses to see about collecting more eggs. We loaded 2 buckets apiece. It was pretty cool. I only got pecked twice (Linda avoided reaching in, she's a little smarter than me). We spent about an hour and a half at the farm working.... then we loaded the van and were off!
Our first stop was Cafe Rouge. Easy peasy, if you don't count the only casualty of the day which was a dropped 6 pack of eggs oops. Next up was Magnani Poultry in Berkeley. Pretty easy, again. Then, we made a quick run up to Chez Panisse to drop off some dishes for Alexis. Next on our list was the great restaurant, Camino.
Then we hit the Bay Bridge for our last two stops. First up was the super amazing Bi-Rite market and creamery. What wonderful, caring people and what a fantastic local community market. They sell the greatest products! We treated ourselves to some ice cream. Linda had salted caramel and balsamic strawberry, and I had toasted coconut and coffee toffee. Mmmm! Moving on, we hit the streets of San Francisco bound for our last stop, Prather Ranch Meat Co. We unloaded the bulk of our eggs here, including 6 doz. Alexis had donated to Mission St. for a benefit.
We wrapped up our day here, and enjoyed lunch at one of my favorite places... Taylor's Refresher.
It was really refreshing to see the local support for Soul Food Farm, and how much people cared about Alexis and her farm. They're doing all kinds of fundraisers, raffles, etc... to chip in to help them rebuild.
Today was one of the best days I've had in some time. I felt very good about giving up my last vacation day to get filthy dirty, sweaty (and we all know how I feel about sweating lol), and worn out. Alexis and her family and her awesome farm deserve the best, and I hope they can pull through this setback. With everyone's help, I think they can.
For more information on Soul Food Farm and how you can donate to help rebuild, go to their site and read the blog...
I have a renewed appreciation for the small scale community farmers. Those out there with pastured animals raised humanely and cleanly work SO HARD to get what they have... wow. I will never ask again why eggs from a place like Soul Food are "so expensive" compared to factory farmed eggs again. I KNOW why, now. I was there. It's a ton of hard work done by just a couple of people and it's done by hand. Please, support them, support the businesses that buy their products, and support any small, quality farms.
I also want to give thanks to my own parents, who live on a small ranch and raise the meat I eat. My Dad has worked his butt off doing underground construction most of his life, and then he runs his ranch alongside that. He raises pigs, lamb, and beef. I have a freezer full of humane and free range meat thanks to him. He just dropped off a dozen fresh eggs from his hens for me yesterday... THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!
Linda picked me up at 8:15 today so we could get to the Vacaville farm by 9 and take off with a mini van full of fresh eggs (and I mean fresh, some were laid nearly in my hand!)... they were being delivered to 5 local Bay area businesses. When we arrived at the farm, I met Alexis, the very sweet, dedicated, and worried owner. The fire was really devastating to her and her family, and I could see it in her face. She was so thankful that we were helping, and just taking care of the deliveries for the day helped her tremendously. She was able to take care of her new chicks and other farm business instead of driving around all day delivering eggs.
Since things are off-track right now, the eggs weren't quite ready to load... so Linda and I jumped in and helped get them ready. We were labeling egg cartons, placing the sell by date stamps on the sides, running them through the egg washer, placing in cartons and loading in crates marked for each business. We had over 100 doz. eggs to deliver! While Alexis prepared the last 20 dozen (by hand washing in her kitchen!), Linda and I grabbed buckets and visited the hen houses to see about collecting more eggs. We loaded 2 buckets apiece. It was pretty cool. I only got pecked twice (Linda avoided reaching in, she's a little smarter than me). We spent about an hour and a half at the farm working.... then we loaded the van and were off!
Our first stop was Cafe Rouge. Easy peasy, if you don't count the only casualty of the day which was a dropped 6 pack of eggs oops. Next up was Magnani Poultry in Berkeley. Pretty easy, again. Then, we made a quick run up to Chez Panisse to drop off some dishes for Alexis. Next on our list was the great restaurant, Camino.
Then we hit the Bay Bridge for our last two stops. First up was the super amazing Bi-Rite market and creamery. What wonderful, caring people and what a fantastic local community market. They sell the greatest products! We treated ourselves to some ice cream. Linda had salted caramel and balsamic strawberry, and I had toasted coconut and coffee toffee. Mmmm! Moving on, we hit the streets of San Francisco bound for our last stop, Prather Ranch Meat Co. We unloaded the bulk of our eggs here, including 6 doz. Alexis had donated to Mission St. for a benefit.
We wrapped up our day here, and enjoyed lunch at one of my favorite places... Taylor's Refresher.
It was really refreshing to see the local support for Soul Food Farm, and how much people cared about Alexis and her farm. They're doing all kinds of fundraisers, raffles, etc... to chip in to help them rebuild.
Today was one of the best days I've had in some time. I felt very good about giving up my last vacation day to get filthy dirty, sweaty (and we all know how I feel about sweating lol), and worn out. Alexis and her family and her awesome farm deserve the best, and I hope they can pull through this setback. With everyone's help, I think they can.
For more information on Soul Food Farm and how you can donate to help rebuild, go to their site and read the blog...
I have a renewed appreciation for the small scale community farmers. Those out there with pastured animals raised humanely and cleanly work SO HARD to get what they have... wow. I will never ask again why eggs from a place like Soul Food are "so expensive" compared to factory farmed eggs again. I KNOW why, now. I was there. It's a ton of hard work done by just a couple of people and it's done by hand. Please, support them, support the businesses that buy their products, and support any small, quality farms.
I also want to give thanks to my own parents, who live on a small ranch and raise the meat I eat. My Dad has worked his butt off doing underground construction most of his life, and then he runs his ranch alongside that. He raises pigs, lamb, and beef. I have a freezer full of humane and free range meat thanks to him. He just dropped off a dozen fresh eggs from his hens for me yesterday... THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
I admit...
I'm a bit frightened by religious zealots. Don't they end up being the serial killers, kidnappers and rapists on the news a little too often? They hide behind religion and say they were following direction from the Lord? Um, the Lord of Darkness?!
Current case in point, Jacey Lee Dugard's kidnapper. That whole situation is unfolding in to an unbelievable nightmare. Dude is a monster. One that loves him some Jeeeeesus. Does Jesus love him?
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