Third Graders

When asked to describe what a friend or an animal looks like here is an example from a Bay Area third grader:

today I am going to rat adat a  frend. he looks like a BoY. he is tol. he has short hare. his ies braon. he also has 5 fingrurs.

Nawe I am going to rit wute he likes to do. he Loves to Plax tag. he likes The dork. he also Love sucor. he likes to reed. he love to wich tiv.

Transcribed verbatim, case included. Ouch.

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Brainwash Cafe on a Tuesday

I love not having to work on random days of the week, such as today, a Tuesday. I’m at Brainwash Cafe, at 7th and Folsom, enjoying a sandwich and a tea. On my table is my current book, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, my iPod with Charles Mingus’ Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus on play. Enough on this laptop, back to the relaxing.

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Airfare Is On The Up

Airfare is getting more expensive. I’m using the SFO-EWR flight on Continental as my barometer. Flying on it in May of 04, the flight was $276. August of 04, it was $316. May of 05 it was $341. I’m looking for another flight in August, it’s up to $396. Ridicilous! What happened to the days of cheap flights?

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Taqueria Can Cun, The Best Veggie Burrito in SF

Yesterday while walking on Mission trying to find a place to view Carnival from, I stumbled on to a place that claimed to have the best veggie burritos in San Francisco. It was nearly 10AM and having not have breakfast, the time was ripe to have a burrito so I ducked in an ordered the famed veggie burrito. Undoubtedly, Taqueria Can Cun has the best veggie burrito I have ever had, San Francisco or not. Filled will all the usual goodness (beans, rice, sour cream, salsa, cheese, avocado) it gets its punch with cilantro covered onions and the freshness of the ingredients. Their salsa’s pack a sinus killing punch and it’s cheap to boot. It’s a must try in the Mission (at Mission & 19th St).

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Saturday in San Juan Bautista

I spent Saturday afternoon in San Juan Bautista, a small town that is home of the Franciscan mission of the same name. It’s a cute location, with a washed out main street, full of shops with curios and an odd mix of resturants. I had my first experience with El Salvadorian food (popusas) there. It wasn’t great, but I think that’s more due to the establishment. There are a few Salvadorian places in the Mission (SF) that I’ll do a retry at.

The at Mission (Bautista) was beautiful and well preserved. I can’t recall if I’d been to this mission before. One of my father’s goal’s in life, I think, is to see very California mission so I’ve seen nearly every mission except two or three. The garden in the center was a great spot to get some beautiful pictures of flowers and tilework on the benches. Pictures here.

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France Rejects EU Charter

The French have rejected the EU charter treaty in a 55% No vote in their referendum. It puts an interesting twist in to this story. France as a charter member of the EU, and a founder of Europe back from the European Coal and Steel Community. This could be a fatal blow to the constitution of Europe, as it requires the affirmation of every member country. It’ll likely have to go back to the European Comission to see what, if anything, can be done. The seems to be surge of nationalism riding in certain parts of Europe (see also The Neatherlands vote on Wednesday).

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Traveling in Mexico

Apparently Tobin is in Mexico, going overall across some segment of the country, traveling either by bus or hitchhicking. His pictures and stories are amazing. Makes me wish I could dissapear for a week (or two or three or more) and explore the inside of Mexico without my retentive need for an itinerary.

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Low Key City Weekend

I kept it pretty low key this weekend, catching up on sleep from a hectic week at work. On Friday, I briefly went to Fluid to hang out with Pablo and his consorts. Saturday, Jamus, Ami and I went and saw the Giants versus Oakland game at SBC Park. The nose bleed seats had great views and we gorged ourselvs on fantastic ball park junk food. After the game, from my place, we were able to the see the KFOG Kaboom fireworks from the windows. Ami and I made our way over to Bliss Bar in Noe Valley and met up with Tanya and friends to catch up since she was in town for a friend’s graduation. Lastly, today we went over to Fillmore Street, had brunch at The Grove, walked around and did some window shopping and spent most of the day walking around various parts of San Francisco.

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Villaraigosa Elected Mayor of LA

The first Hispanic mayor in over a century was elected to the post in Los Angeles yesterday. I’m certain this is just the first in in what will become a growing wave of Hispanic influence in local and city politics (and hopefully, nationally as well).

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12 Angry Men and a Visit Home

On Saturday my parents and I drove to Jersey City to take a PATH train to Manhattan. Jersey City, especially the part around the Holland Tunnel is nasty. It looks like South SF but way worse. We made our way to the 33rd Street station which oddly enough, empties out in to a mall and walked over to the American Airlines Theatre to catch our matinee of 12 Angry Men. The theater was quite nice and the play was fantastic, great acting and a well done (if minimalist) set. The energy of the dialogue and drama kept me engaged the whole way through.

After seeing the play we took the subway to Greenwich Village, starting at Washington Square Park and walking around the streets, making our way eventually to Bleeker Street and touring the area. It was a nice time spent in the Village, after which we got on the PATH train at Christopher Street, and went back to New Jersey.

My flight back from Newark was uneventful (and on time, take that Alaska!). No upgrade again, I think the plane was again packed full of elites. I finished reading Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi. It took me a while to get through, but the book was fantastic, a great memoir of life in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It also left me inspired to pick up some Austin, Nabokov or some Fitzgerald. Perhaps I’ll make one of theirs my next novel.

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