San Francisco and the Undead

I went to San Francisco this afternoon with my daughter in law Kate and the "Littles", (Abbey age 6, and Aidan age 9).

We stopped in to grab lunch before heading up to the shopping district to buy a shirt for my son. Sitting at the table next to ours was a trio of what had to be zombies.

I respectfully requested that I be allowed to take a photo of them, and they were very gracious, considering that they are zombies and all.

I am not really a big fan of zombies, but a lot of my friends are. For example, the beautiful and charming Nicky loves zombies. She really loves zombies. Mike also professes a love of zombies. Since they are from Canada, I doubt they get to experience them as often as I do living near San Francisco.

The thing is, I thought zombies only came out at night. Apparently, I was wrong. It's vampires who only come out at night. Zombies can be out there any hour of the day or night.

I also learned that some zombies like hamburgers and iced tea. That surprised me somewhat. I figured they would drink vodka and eat fish for some reason. Maybe I thought that because of Ziva, the Finnish goddess.

My girl, Quirky, also expresses a deep affection for zombies. When I think about it, that surprises me a little, but it probably shouldn't. Quirky is a little quirky if you get my drift.

Mo's mom, Carol, says that Mo really loves zombies as well. What is it about zombies that makes them lovable?

Hell if I know! I'll take a vampire over a zombie any day of the week!

The Fan In the Too Tight Shirt

This jersey is an extra large.

Harry is a furry mammoth. He is listening to the World Series pre-game show on KNBR Radio because he hates Joe Buck and Tim McCarver so much. These guys are Fox broadcasters.

I hate them too.

I don't know why Fox is broadcasting the World Series. They completely cut out 84 year old Tony Bennett singing "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" at the beginning of the game. Give me a break!

Then to add insult to injury, Fox cut out the part where Willie Mays was supposed to throw out the first pitch of the World Series. Willie Mays is my idol. All baseball fans like to see Willie. Unfortunately, Willie was not there last evening because of illness. But there was a line up of Giants' royalty from yesteryear on the field, including Orlando Cepeda, Monte Irvin, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry. I really wish I could have seen those guys.

What was on the Fox programming while the first pitch was being thrown? Joe and Tim making stupid comments is what was shown, then a cut to commercial break. Thanks Fox.

It's like a religion that never mentions God but talks about Tupperware instead. Fox is not doing a good job on the Series. But am I really surprised at that? No. I'm not. These are the same people who bring us those newscasters like Glenn Beck.

Go Giants!

Slutty Is The New Black!

I have three teenage granddaughters.

Hannah is 16; Emma is almost 15; and Arianna is 14. One of my biggest pleasures is taking these girls shopping.

I tend to want to take them to more conservative stores like Nordstroms or Macys, rather than the trendy little stores that carry popular styles at very low prices for teen girls. While I have no aversion to saving money, I do sort of hate the cheap clothes that can best be described as "slutty.

I really dislike that see-through lace tops over garishly colored bras are being shown as the height of fashion for young teens. Low rise jeans to show off a thong are not appropriate for public wear for anybody, let alone for teenagers.

The clothes are too revealing; they are also made of cheap materials and poorly constructed. I can only think in terms of "a poor man's" Miley, Britney, Rhianna, or Katie when I see them.

I'm not knocking performers who make money by wearing revealing clothes. I'm knocking stores that promote this crap to kids. Teenagers who are not performers do not have expert tailors to make sure things look good and fit flawlessly. Nor do they have professionals to care for their stage wardrobes. The cheap clothing shreds, fades, frays, and falls apart after a washing machine session.

I guess that means it wasn't really cheap after all.

So I Met This Guy From Turkey...

I was looking for a Turkish Hereke rug on the internet.

What I found was a new nephew named Saltuk. He and I became pen pals and fast friends. Saltuk guided me through all the steps I needed to know to acquire just the perfect silk Hereke rug.

That he was in Istanbul and I was in Alameda was not really an issue. I invited him to come and visit me. When I met him at the airport, we were both already old friends. I love it when that happens. Saltuk calls me and Alex a few times over the year just to check in on us.

He got married two years ago and now has a little boy. I can't wait to meet his wife and baby. Saltuk has invited us to come and visit him and his family and we may do that.

Several years ago, I was taking the train from San Jose back to San Francisco on a Friday after attending a conference. My seatmate on the train was a very nice young man from India named Deepak. He was in the US for a Microsoft function. Deepak asked me if I could recommend a nice hotel that was safe and not too expensive. He was going to spend the weekend in San Francisco and do some shopping for his family back in India before leaving on Monday.

Without giving it a second thought, I told him to come on home with me. He did. Alex was surprised when he found we had a house guest, and he privately asked me if I was sure they guy was not a serial killer. (He was joking.) We took Deepak on a sightseeing tour of the City and he was really thrilled. He was able to spend his money on gifts for his family rather than on expensive hotel rooms. Deepak and his wife wrote us lovely letters thanking us and we've kept in touch.

Not long after Deepak's visit, a friend of mine went to India and stayed with Deepak and his wife for a week. She said they were lovely people and really went out of their way to make her feel at home.

I guess I could be putting myself in danger, but I have never had a bad experience. And I love meeting new people. My friend have told me I'm being foolish to do this, but they don't have invitations to Istanbul or Bombay either. I'll keep taking my chances. I think my odds are pretty good.

Celebrating the Orange and Black

Since our Giant's won the Pennant and will be playing in the World Series against the Rangers this coming Wednesday, I found just the thing to wear to the game.

Now, unfortunately, I do not have a ticket for the game. But since I have the perfect ensemble, maybe one of you would like to give me one. That would be nice.

I gather there are tickets for sale, but I was hearing prices like $8,000 and that's a bit out of reach for me. Still, if you happen to have an extra ticket, I would make a nice addition to your ballgame experience.

There are things I would do for a ticket, but they can't be discussed here. Or, they can, actually. I would be your love slave. (Just kidding.) I would cook your meals for week or clean your house. I would also do your laundry. Oh wait! I do that for Alex already and he's not giving me a ticket. Cheap bastard!

Oh well, we'll think of something.

Torture

Early on Thursday evening, we went into Harry's apartment to watch the ballgame while we waited for our pizza delivery.

Harry was on his loveseat, Alex on his chair, and I was situated on the sofa. Six eyes were glued to the television screen. The Giant's scored first and we were jubilant! Harry even got into the "High Five" action! Damn, he's a smart dog!

For those of you who aren't sports minded, our San Francisco Giants are one win away from going to the World Series for the first time since 2002.

In 2002, Alex was in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia so I watched the Giant's lose the World Series alone. I was very sad to see them lose.

I was even sadder because I knew Alex would be watching the game and it would depress him too. It was bad enough that he was in the Middle East for a year's deployment but to have his beloved Giants lose a game they should have won was just a heart breaker!

Fast forward 8 years. The Giants are in the playoffs and one game away from winning the Pennant. We had the champagne chilling, the crystal flutes on the table, and our ace pitcher on the mound. Things were good until the 3rd inning. Then things turned not so good with a couple of hits and sloppy defense in the infield.

The unthinkable happened. The Phillies won the game 4 to 2.

Now the Giants must travel to the hostile territory of Philadelphia to try and win one of the next two games. Not an impossible task, but one that worries us.

Still, this torture is better when Alex is at home and not in the Saudi desert. And the champagne will just have to keep chilling. Bring me a beer, Alex.

Annual Zombie Pub Crawl

Last Saturday was the 2nd Annual Zombie Pub Crawl in my town.

My husband and I did errands in the late afternoon that included going over to check out the new "Ross" store that has come to our local shopping center.

The "Ross - Dress For Less" store is exactly like all of the others. Still, I was curious to see what it was like, expecting to be charmed or impressed or something. I was neither charmed nor impressed with the store. It was packed with people and had a line for the cashiers that stretched all the way to the back of the store.

Looking at the long lines, I couldn't help but notice that there were some very garishly made up people among the clientele. Black rings and smudges around eyes, lipstick smeared onto chins and necks, etc. I thought to myself "Queer!", and did the smart thing and got out of there.

When we were walking out, we passed a buxom young lady, dressed in black who was downright ghoulish in appearance. She had a horrid scar painted on her ample cleavage. I did a quick calendar check in my head and realized it was not Halloween yet.

It was not until the next day that a friend told me that she and her friends had attended the "2nd Annual Zombie Pub Crawl" the previous night. I've known for years that Alameda has a Vampire Bar called "Z's", but this zombie stuff is new to me. No wonder I don't go out at night.