Clang, clang, clang went the trolley

I was on a mission this afternoon to hunt down a few law books for Discipulus Legis and during my travels I had occassion to ride one of the old time San Francisco streetcars for the first time. There was a sign in the car that said that particular car was built in 1948 and had originally been used in Cleveland, Ohio's streetcar system. I'm a sucker for old stuff, and it was easy to look around and imagine men in suits and Fedoras commuting to work with their briefcases, reading Chronicle headlines about the Berlin Blockade or other postwar things. San Francisco is a neat city.

Reason #5356 to hate the Tenderloin

I know where the great unwashed masses of San Francisco hang out: the public library. How do I know this? Of the eight people sitting at the eight public computers near the stairwell on the fourth floor, it is clear that fully 50% of them have not showered recently. This includes the gentlemen sitting immediately to my left AND my right.

Also, I am glad that the computer being used by the rude f-er at station #480 logged him out. He appears to have showered, but he's a demanding jackass nonetheless. Plus the pocket magnifier he's using is annoying me. I don't know why.

Defamation!

From the Associated Press, just another example of gross, vulgar, anti-avian defamation: Pigeon dung examined in bridge collapse.

Oh, so it wasn't shoddy engineering that destroyed the bridge in Minnesota, it was pigeons. Yeah. Right.

Resistance. Is. Futile.

This song has been stuck in my head for the past week. Boyz by M.I.A. I can barely understand a word she says, but I love it nonetheless. Listen to it and try to resist.

Giant Pigeon Attacks Mecca!

Film at 11:00.

I [heart] NY, but not its rental market

Sometimes--particularly when I'm looking for an easily accessible, bank-operated ATM, or to hail a cab in more than one or two areas of a city, or when I'm walking through a sketchy place where the homeless and drug addicts are plentiful and usually peeing on the street--I find myself missing New York City. To dampen this longing, it helps to read articles like "Lessor Evils" in New York magazine. Fact: The average monthly rent in Manhattan for a one bedroom apartment is over $2,700. Thank you, NY mag, for that reality check.

I'm off to enjoy my more reasonably-priced den in San Francisco, peeing crazies and all.

(Picture caption: Pre-war building on Upper East Side. Two story unit, airy roof with great views, charming bullet holes. $5300/month. Must earn 73,652 times the monthly rent and have a guarantor from each of the fifty states and every U.S. protectorate to pre-qualify for pre-approval. Open house on Sunday from 12:43 to 12:46 p.m. NO PETS.)

OMG OMG OMG!

I'm going to geek out for a moment and mention how excited I am that the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra here in San Francisco is performing a production of Il re pastore this fall. I don't remember why I didn't see this when I was living in New York City (though it was probably due to poorness. I remember--not fondly--digging for change in my couch cushions to scrape enough together to get a standing room ticket or two at the Met), but no matter. It's playing just down the street in a few weeks! Woot! I've seen all of Mozart's major operas, but never any of his earlier works that are rarely staged. Il re pastore features the beautiful aria "L'amero, saro costante" ("I will love her, I will be constant") that I have bone-headedly deleted from my iPod.

I found an amateur concert version on YouTube, however, that suffices quite nicely.



This definitely makes up for all of the Gluck I've been missing lately.

Oooooh, so THAT'S my problem!

An interesting article in USA Today reports that smart people are more likely to have financial problems. Not that all smart people are bad with money, but if this article is true, then I must be freaking brilliant.