Spoils of San Francisco

My epic trip to San Francisco yielded a lot of wonderful spoils: records, books, and other fun goodies! (Each picture will have a small story, so there ya go.)

~DAY 1~

Amoeba Music on Haight was the place I was looking forward to going to the most. It ended up being totally worth it. Future SF stops will include a venture to this fine place. The first thing I did when I went in the store was look for Perfect Blue. I was shocked to find it so much that I hugged it as I went to search for other things. (If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it!)

Finding the Jerry Harrison/Casual Gods single was awesome. The single cover wasn't what I thought, which makes it even  better. Though I wanted "Man with A Gun"...

Streetlight Records was a nice little shop, but didn't yield too much other this gem. I've been wanting this on VHS for a long time. It was only a buck. I should've gotten ripped off like on eBay, but nope. Totes legit.

My first bookstore stop. This was a great little place, I would go back if I had the time to go to more than one store. Read Running Wild in one night (a damn good novel BTW). Haven't touched the Carter novel yet.

The store had a resident cat, a big 'ol orange kitty. I got to pet him (?) and he was sweet.

Recycled Records was a surprise hit of a place. The cashier was a cool dude. The first thing I did was go for the H's to find "Man with A Gun". Nope, instead found the 12" of "Rev It Up". I about burst into hysterical laughter. Why u follow me, song? You're not even my favorite!

The big find was the Martini Ranch album. For those who don't know, it was the band Bill Paxton was in before he became a big movie star. It came with a promo packet of pics and a letter from Sire Records. Oh and another thing... yes, they're actually good.

~DAY 2~

I took the BART to Berkeley (a wonderful little college town BTW) to visit the main Amoeba Music. I wasn't as impressed with this one as much as the Haight location. Though I found a eff-ton of singles and the first issue of Radio Silence, which is a really cool literary/rock magazine.

While walking around Telegraph Avenue (yes, all I can think of is the Michael Chabon book and this song), I discovered Rasputin Music. It made up for the lackluster Amoeba experience. The album next to the Bob Welch record is a 12" single of Lindsey Buckingham's "Go Insane".

I also found two Talking Heads singles: "Life During Wartime" and "I Zimbra". While looking through them, I found the French release of "I Zimbra", which I already had.

And whoops, bought a Peter Gabriel record I already had. And missed out on the German ones 'cause of my dumbassery. Boooooo.

Yeaaaa, Grooves (back in SF) had my favorite Band record! Crank it up! Liiiiiiife is a carnival, believe it or not...

Rasputin Music in SF wasn't as cool as the
Berkeley location. Though I got this Berlin single...

I wasn't that impressed with the deYoung Museum, though I fell in love with the painting that I got a postcard of. It's called "Mother Earth" by Chiura Obata. The woman modeling as the titular figure is his wife. A really wonderful idea of Mother Earth not being some mythical-looking white woman in flowing robes, but a Japanese woman in the nude (ala Eve) and in a more earthly light. I read on the info plaque that Mrs. Obata was pregnant when this was done (or I read wrong, I dunno). Makes it even more powerful.

OMG, snack foods! Bought then at the Japan Center. I love shrimp chips and strawberry Pocky a ton. I also love the honey twists, those things taste like a cereal I used to have as a kid.

The Chocorooms were okay, as was the almond Pocky. Two of the chopstick sets and wrapped bowls were for my sister and her boyfriend. The book and other chopstick set were mine. And I nommed on nearly all the foods before bringing a few things home.

~DAY 4~

My final day... *sigh*. I went to various places and a big one was Ghirardelli Square. I got a free sample and then searched for some tins o' chocolate to bring home. The dark brown one is the one I got for myself (and I later appropriated as a place to hold things) and the streetcar one is for my sister. This was the thing I was gonna surprise her with. She dug it.

City Lights was the biggest stop I've been waiting for. It is absolutely wonderful and warrants repeat visits until either it closes down or I die a ripe old age. After reading so much about The Flamethrowers, I gave in and bought it. I also sat down and read Ginsberg's Howl for the first time ever inside the bookstore. Seemed appropriate.

The bag has since then acted as a tiny purse of sorts. And both the Ferlinghetti poetry books were wonderful.

And finally, at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, I went to this amazing exhibit about Impressionists and boating (it is still at the museum until October, I think). Definitely go see it!

I bought a poster and some postcards. Lovely stuff.






This took me forever, mostly because of the pictures. Posting pictures on Blogger is a HUGE PAIN OMG. Some were flipped even when I already flipped them so everyone could see them better, WTF?

San Francisco Bound!

Hello, this is the obligatory scheduled message from yours truly notifying y'all that I'm currently out of town for a week. Take this time to catch up on the archives here or for your other favorite blogs.

Until then, I'll be back!

Roll that "exit stage right" music, Mr. Prophet!



...

Wait... I do have a stupid sense of humor:

Doing What I Can

After thinking about it for a while (and reading the archives of And Then We Saved) I have decided to do a Spending Diet of sorts. I really want to have a nice chunk of change saved up in my bank for whatever things, and of course for San Francisco. In fact, I had two unexpected expenses to worry about: my glasses' temple bar broke off completely and my Fossil watch started to act weird. Thankfully I was able to find an exact replica of my frames on eBay for half the price I originally bought them for; for the Fossil watch, I got a battery replacement. So far, everything seems to be back to normal (?). My glasses fit great and my watch hasn't been acting like a doofus.

I also got my haircut at SuperCuts instead of my usual stop at JcPenney (their salons are awesome, but pricey). The stylist at SuperCuts did a great job and I only paid half of what I normally do at JcPenney (and that was with a generous tip!). Also been avoiding going out to eat and buying books and music (which hurts, I can't even begin...) Been utilizing the library more often and my job's book loan program. I checked out the new Joe Hill novel* instead of buying it (but Lordy I did want to buy it. I want to support Stephen King's son! I'll buy its eventual paperback release...)

Since the only thing I don't pay for is most groceries, this is still covered by my parents, I'm doing pretty well for someone who only works a part-time job. My car was a gift, though I do pay my share of the insurance. I pay my share of utilities (no rent, since the house is paid off. Go Mom and Dad!) I'm doing what I can with what I have at the time. I do want to move on to a better-paying job (also with great health benefits, since there are meds I need to be on, otherwise remain very healthy) but I'll have to make do. And you know what? Better to learn it now than later.

*Don't worry, B&N customers, I take excellent care of the books I borrow. And if I ever damage them in any way, I always buy it to remain fair and honest.

FYI: the title of the blog entry is a Lindsey Buckingham song.

Black Friday

This one goes out to all my friends out in the retail world right now that are working their asses off to make a living (or some semblance of one) all in the name of consumerism, capitalism, and a holiday that lost all its meaning sometime in the 20th century.

Peeps, peace and love to you all. May you be safe and sound by the end. May your lunch breaks be delicious and full of funny co-workers. And when you clock out for the day, may you dance out of the building to your families and rest peacefully for the next round. This is only the beginning. We're all in this wacky mess together. Let's at least go out laughing at the fools.

Nooooo... tes!!

You probably got a gander of my page recently and saw something about a Haruki Murakami challenge of sorts. Since I want to challenge myself to do more stuff, I decided to sign up for it, a first for me. I'm very excited to be part of a community. I plan on reading everything that I have (which amounts to 10 books), plus whatever I don't have and of course, the upcoming English translation of 1Q84 (whoo).

~

I also decided to tally up how many books, movies and albums I've experieced last year. The answers:

82 books read
82 albums listened to
63 movies watched

That is a lot of media. No wonder I have frequent headaches now...

~

So much to look forward to. Lots of movies, music... but not so much on the book front. Other than the Murakami, I can't think of another book to look forward to. Oh well, maybe I'll find some to look forward to.

~

As for blog-related matters, I will continue as I always have. Since I like the schedule, postings here will remain on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until I get tired of it. I will conclude the "24 Reviews in 24 Years" by the eve of my 25th birthday, and also decide once and for all... the "Best 25 Songs (That I Have) of All Time" list. I will post reviews (even some for the Haruki Murakami thingy) and random writing posts. Expect more writing stuff.

Hell yes.