An open letter to Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

Please take your plant bukakke and stick it somewhere. Somewhere else! I'm getting a bit tired of your plant sperm making me feel as though I've got a recurring case of the flu.

Yes, I realize the human race is doing terrible things to heat up the planet and all that.

That's no excuse for letting your plant life get all orgy-porno.

Miserably yours,

Me

Never rains, it pours

• Family drama/crisis. Still ongoing. Decidedly un-fun.
• Work drama bordering on crisis. Concurrent with the family crisis, making everything just so much fun.
• BART drama. Because BART.
• A goddamn recall on my car's airbags.
• Notification from the dealer that the replacement parts for said recall won't be in for another month. At least.
• Allergies. So. Many. Fucking. Allergies.
• The joy of realizing I still have so far yet to go in so many parts of my life.
• And finally, ants. Goddamn. Fucking. Ants.

That's been my last couple of weeks. I figure if I can get through the next two weeks with my health and sanity intact, I stand a 50-50 chance of making it through the month without completely losing my mind. This year is a clusterfuck and I'm barely through the first quarter.

Review: Baubax Travel Jacket(s)

Another of my waning list of outstanding Kickstarters delivered on Saturday. I think the remaining four or five Kickstarters will never actually come up with anything for the investment, but that's a topic I've whined enough about.

Where was I? Oh yes, Baubax.

So I backed their Kickstarter some time back. They offer a "travel jacket" complete with a crap-ton of pockets of varying sizes, an inflatable neck pillow, gloves, a pen/stylus attached to the zipper, a glasses cleaning cloth, a blindfold on the built-in hood, and... um... I think that about covers it. Lots of pockets.

So they offer four "styles" of jacket: a bomber jacket, a windbreaker, a hoodie, and a blazer. I've got no shortage of jackets in my possession, and I found choosing to be a bit tough. I wound up going with the hoodie (I can always use an extra hoodie) and with a blazer (as my attire tends to run very... um... casual).

First reactions: damn good. They both fit well. I wound up going a bit larger than I usually order and it turned out I guessed correctly.

Or I've grown. Either way...

The material seems well-constructed. The blazer has removable thumb-hole hand-covers as well as a removable hood and zipper-lining. The hoodie's got the thumb-hole hand-covers, but they're not removable. Nor is the hood, though I wouldn't be inclined to remove that from a hoodie. Just sayin'.

The pockets are well-constructed and well-placed. Both are comfortable enough. The hoodie's not too heavy, but is nice on a cool, rainy day (like today). The blazer is lighter (thank the FSM) and should be a nice go-to-work or out-on-the-town jacket.

The neck pillows are removable (and are now dwelling on a shelf in my apartment, as I won't need them unless I travel) and seem well-made. I haven't tried to inflate them as neck pillows rarely work well for me.

The little pen/stylus tool on the zipper is a nice touch. I'm a sucker for little things like that.

Overall, I'm pleased with the end-product. These were worth the wait. I may, one day, be curious enough to try to pick up a windbreaker or bomber jacket but with summer coming, I'm disinclined to add to the wardrobe in that way.

not the wisest course of action

It should be no surprise to many that I often write blog posts after having a few drinks.

All things considered, it's a miracle most of my posts are even vaguely English.

So this week, I have discovered a new form of Kryptonite in San Francisco: Pagan Idol. Yelp has a few positive things to say. To this I can only add that their rum drinks are outstanding.

Out. Goddamn. Standing.

I hit them on Monday after work. Bad idea. Great drinks, though. I hit them again tonight. Also a bad idea. Followed by drinks elsewhere, which was a worse idea.

I currently question if I can walk given that I slipped coming home from BART and smashed my knee into cement. I suspect tomorrow is going to suck in many ways for many reasons.

You don't care about that.

So, yeah. Pagan Idol.

Long story short: if you like rum cocktails and tiki decor, for the love of the gods, go here and check it out. The drinks are outstanding (and strong). The decor is awesome. And don't combine multiple mai tais with a "Daywalker" (aka Zombie). That's just not wise.

Now I'm off to drink more water and pray tomorrow won't suck too horribly.

Yummy Ethiopian Food

Last night I braved the long haul to San Jose for a meal of Ethiopian food with some friends.

We hit Zeni, a restaurant I've been told is the best Ethiopian food you can get in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I believe the claims.

One of my friends has some history in Ethiopia and did the ordering for us. I didn't catch the names of the dishes, but they were pretty recognizable fare. What we got were essentially stews - beef, lamb, and some vegetarian fare - with spices and such served on a platter lined with a spongy, sour flatbread. The meal comes with rolls of more of that flatbread that you use to soak up chunks of the stew.

It's unreal now delicious it is.

The flatbread's sour tang goes really well with the dishes. I especially loved some brownish vegetarian... um... goop (for lack of knowing the proper name) that just kicked my arse. The lamb was awesome as well. We had a form of beef tartar that was okay, but against the other dishes, it stood out the least.

I have to say I liked the Ethiopian beer as well. Wish I remembered any of the names. Alas.

I can't recommend Zeni highly enough. Two tips:

1. Go early. This place fills up.
2. Bank on being there a while. Service moves largely at its own pace.

And other things

Aside from the service I attended Saturday, it was a pretty full weekend.

I got the news about Scalia's death in the late afternoon on Saturday.

I'm not going to pretend I wasn't happy to hear that bastard is gone. I'll be interested to see who gets past the obstructionist Congress to get confirmed for the next Supreme Court post.

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I finished "Cibola Burn", book four of "The Expanse" by James S.A. Corey on Sunday. Holy shit that series is awesome. I'm going to probably hold off on the next book - "Nemesis Games" - until it hits paperback. I've got the next Mistborn novel, "The Bands of Mourning", and the Will Wight novel, "Of Dawn and Darkness" to burn through as a change of pace.

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Looks like we get rain again tomorrow. That's going to be nice. I have to admit, the early Spring here in California is freaking me out a little.

Farewell to Janet

On Saturday, I went with my friend Erik to the service for his mother, Janet.

The week prior, Janet had succumbed to a long fight against cancer. She detailed her struggle in her blog.

No memorial service is an easy thing to attend, but the family did a brilliant job with this. It gave a truly wonderful testimonial to a funny, sassy, smart, complex lady. One who will be sorely missed.