The Horror, The Horror

(Note: I first typed this last Thursday, but didn't publish it until now, February 17. Sorry for any confusion.)

So today is the darkest day of the year (even though the weather was beautiful here,) Valentine's Day. Oh, the horrible corruption of the day that has been inflicted since that day over 1700 years ago when the Roman Emperor Claudius II ordered St. Valentine executed for illegally marrying people (according to legend.) So, this evening, I will adhere to my personal tradition, which includes Smirnov, powdered donuts, and war movies (although I'm saddened that I can't find my copy of Apocalypse Now.)

Other than that, I haven't yet written on this here blog in 2008, so I might as well. Lots is happening. We have perhaps the most interesting race for the presidency in at least 40 years (but hopefully this one is interesting in a good way,) and I'm very excited for it. I'm partial to Obama, and would've voted for him in the California "Super Tuesday" primary had I known how to (a little complicated if you're listed as an independent and voting absentee, which undoubtedly helped Hillary win this state,) but I've always respected McCain. I think it will be a good election that will be feature a far, far more intelligent discourse than we had four years ago.

I've also been watching lots of movies of late, perhaps because I don't know many people yet, but at least partially because there have simply been so many really good ones that have come out in the past several months. The Oscars are coming out, and I've seen all five movies nominated for Best Picture. If I were voting, I'd vote for No Country for Old Men. The bad guy in this movie was so good, that I actually had a nightmare about him the other day. See it, if you haven't!

I'll include a few pictures of a hike I took a week ago. Also, I went to the beach and Japantown today, so I'll include a few of those pics, too. Enjoy!

Nihon Machi (Japan Town,) in San Francisco, at twilight.

kite

Kite

Kites flying at the beach

Interesting and yet uneasy co-existence, given our relatively recent oil spill in the Bay.

another view at Ocean Beach

Shore bird

Some sort of shore bird.

The edge of Western Civilization, as seen through my sunglasses.

Today at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Not bad for February, eh? These guys were playing Ultimate Frisbee.

The creek at the bottom of Wildcat Gorge.

These were some interesting looking caves on the wall of Wildcat Gorge. If the Governator's proposed budget cuts to education go through, which it looks like they will, I may have to move into one of these.

I was trying to find a way to get to these caves, and while going through some brush, I seem to have come into contact with some sort of poisonous plant. After that, in an order I'm not sure of, I adjusted my sunglasses, grabbed my right earlobe, and, um, relieved myself on a tree. So, the last few days have been filled with cortisone cream and lots of scratching. Ugh!

Wildcat Gorge through my polarized sunglasses that my loving parents were kind enough to give me for Christmas.

Wildcat Gorge. This is also a techtonic fault line. Not too far from my house.

The intersting thing is that while I was driving up to go hiking here, there were cops everywhere, and many of them were on ATV's. There were also helicopters circling. I figured it was probably just some excercise they were doing for the weekend, since it was such a beautiful day. But, it turns out it wasn't. The next day, I read this in the paper. The guy was probably only a mile or so from where I was hiking, and on one of the same trails I was on.

Eucalyptus trees in Tilden Park. Alas, there are no Koala bears. But the leaves do taste like cough drops.

This is Wildcat Canyon Road, which is one of my favorite ways to drive home. I was here, in the middle of Tilden Regional Park hiking a week ago. A pleasant way to go home, for sure.

A view from the same spot, a little bit later, of downtown San Francisco. Again, not so hot, but that's what I got!

I came home from work one night, and the sky and view was so beautiful, with dark gray storm clouds in the back ground over the Pacific and behind the Golden Gate Bridge, that I walked down a few blocks and tried to take a few pictures. Alas, daylight was fading rapidly, and I couldn't find a decent spot to still my camera for a low-light shot. So, it didn't work out too well, but this is the best one I got.