I also grabbed Winterwood, a kind of a noir novel in the snow. Looks good. We’ll see!

I also spotted two books that I am buying soon.

“Drown” was one of my favorite “pick a book by it’s cover” purchases ever. Diaz’s ability to pull you in and make you feel the same feelings as the characters is simply amazing.
I cannot wait to buy this.

This simply looked interesting, however.

I’m getting back into reading a hell of a lot more. I have to or else I think my brain will go dumb. Oh, and Gracie recently fought a panda. AND WON.

Just thought I’d say hi, life is great.

Addendum: This is the drink of choice lately. It’s fantastic.

RECIPE: Whiskey Smash
SOURCE: Paul AllisonMAKES: 1 Serves
INGREDIENTS:
2 slices Lemon 2 - 3 leaves Mint 3/4 oz Simple Syrup 1 1/2 oz Whiskey
METHOD:
Muddle the lemon, mint, water and simply syrup in the bottom of a mixing glass. Add bourbon, shake, and strain into an old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint, and serve.
BOOM!
optional: replace Whiskey w/ Vodka
It’s delicious, you can definitely up the liquor content and no one will ever notice.

I am indulging in some cider this morning. Lucy bought some Newton’s Folly Draft Cider from Trader Joe’s and I am enjoying it a lot. Most cider puts me off due to a poor sweet:alcoholic bitterness ratio. Thankfully this is one cider that gets it just right.

I just finished reading all of <a href=”http://www.fartparty.org/2006/12/22/how-to-make-a-million-dollars/”>the Fart Party</a> to be current. It’s quite the great comic, I have to say. It feels like a zine without the pretension and is based in this here Bay Area. Some comics actually made me feel a bit nostalgic for actually living in San Francisco. But the size:money ratio of my apartment and love for Gracie keeps me here. There’s that Lucy person and my job too. It’s a great read and even though she has relocated to NYC and thus her comic has too it’s pretty rad.

It has actually inspired me to attempt drawing of some sort. We’ll see how that disaster goes.

I’ll be heading to the venerable ZIP! ZAP! hair to get my ears lowered. The modern “urban” boy has little choice than to pay for a 40 dollar haircut it seems. You are stuck with two (or three) options:

1. Supercuts, cheap cuts, crappy shitty cuts: They charge 10-20 bucks and cut the whole damned thing with clippers. They butcher the cuts around your ears and make you look like a 12 year old. BUT it’s hella cheap.
2. “Ethnic” barbers: I’ve tried them all; chinese, vietnamese, african-american, latino, italian and on and on. The list is never ending in my quest for a cheap, good haircut. In New Jersey I had my hair greased back by what can only be described as a “Guido” barber. I also had my sideburns and beard shaped into hilarious shapes by the Latino barbers in Atlantic city. The african-american shop down the street from my house did an Okay job recently but I think the barber was more nervous than me. The asian barbers just give me helmet hair and…yeah. I sound like a filthy racist but this kinda-nappy, curly as fuck, thick brown hair only happens on white mutts. Sorry.
3. Shi-Shi expensive places: These are the sweet spot, sadly. There are different levels of course, ranging from the reasonable like Transformer and ZipZAP! in the Lower Haight to the nigh-ridiculous like Festoon in Downtown SF and Berkeley and probably even higher but I get sick thinking about any more than that. It’s expensive and I’ve gotten ridiculous haircuts at these places before (Festoon and On Mars, I’m looking at you). The On Mars cut was particularly ridiculous, giving me hipster hairburns and a helmet on the top. Shit-tay. However Zip Zap, just a few blocks from my old apartment is the queen of cuts for me. My first seriously shearing there yielded a fantastic cut and I’ve been searching for a replacement ever since.

So what should the urban boy do? Look like an ass with money in his pocket? Get dirty looks and a questionable do as he walks where few crackers have gone before? Or should he shell out top dollar to look and feel good although he’s broke and wells up with self-loathing?

Well, in a few hours I’ll be 50 bucks poorer and filled up with the wonderful feeling of knowing that I am a Yuspy. A Young, Urban, Semi-Professional Yutz. How sad.

Our school serves an odd cross-section of Oakland, drawing from Rockridge and North Oakland, the “old” and the “new” students respectively. Because of this the disparity between what the kids wear, eat and the help their parents can give is often so great its crushing. There are children with identical needs and symptoms but some can go to far more competent doctors, ending up with a dosage of medication that works the first time while others struggle with appointments, dosages, side-effects and absences. I don’t necessarily support the medicating of children, but in the past 5 months I’ve learned that last resorts often need to be turned to, more often than most of us would like. Without getting into specifics, there’s a chain of events in a person’s life that can determine the opportunities they have without any of their input. I’m seeing the results of the disparity and as an educator trying to mitigate what I can but it’s hard.

Topping this off is certain folks who are supposed to be helping who just aren’t doing their job. Incompetency is something I have trouble dealing with when you’re in a position that is supposed to helping those who simply cannot help themselves. It troubles me because you are not only failing at your job but you’re simply piling on top of a person who is already struggling against nearly insurmountable odds.

So that has me grumpy. My brother getting into graduate school is fucking rad, even though it means he’ll be leaving the Bay Area. Oakland to Ann Arbor sounds like a fun drive though, we’re thinking of making it the Lil’ Buddy’s final hurrah. I’ll drive him there and then drop off the LB in West Virginia, to live out the rest of his life up on blocks in the lower 40 at my parents’ house. We’ll see. Erin got a little Toyota Yaris that I haven’t seen yet. Those things are super cheap and super cute. I could do a car payment maybe…

Things are getting cramped in mine and Lucy’s apartment. I think sometimes we should move to a one bedroom instead of this studio even though it would be more moneys. I think it would make things easier, but she’s reticent. I think it might be because of the idea of a one-year lease and what that means relationship-wise but she won’t necessarily vocalize it that way. I think it might help some of the stresses that happen when two people (and a kitten) co-habitate in a space this size. We’ll see. It’s been a year and a month or so, which is baffling to me still. While things are up and down at times it still feels “right” to me. We’ll see how it goes.

My bike is pretty rad. I love riding to work and I think that the 7 miles I ride roundtrip every day are making me feel great. I need to go to the gym though. I had brunch with a good friend today and she was talking about how starting Krav Maga several years ago helped her eliminate weird feelings in herself. Maybe I should take some sort of aggressive class like that instead of focusing on weight lifting and my desire to take Yoga. I don’t think I’m necessarily someone who needs more getting in touch with my gentle side, perhaps I need to embrace more of my frustration and anger.

Anyways. The kitten and I are sitting here listening to Paul Baribeau bootlegs and in general just being “down.” I love days where I lose track of how long it’s been since I opened my mouth to speak. Silence is so enjoyable, especially when it’s my own.

• I am now a Teaching Assistant for Kinder and 1st graders. It’s at a charter school in Oakland (www.noccs.org) and is probably the best job I’ve had so far. I started out as a P.E. teacher, which is hilarious and a good story if you’d like to hear.
• I am now living in Oakland with my ladyfriend Lucy. If you’d like to send Büntcakes or love letters, the new address is
  607 Beacon St
  Apt 6
  Oakland, CA 94610
  We have a kitten. it’s cute.
• That’s about it. I got hit by (another) car while riding my bike. I wear a helmet now. Graciously donated by a buddy of mine.