Thanks Malcolm!

Jessie's school district may be the only one in the entire nation that gets Malcolm X day off. Apparently, violence is an attribute to be celebrated, not punished. I always suspected that my elementary school curriculum was missing something.

We decided to take advantage of the free time and whisk away one frazzled teacher to a weekend through San Jose, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Sausalito. The photo essay:

We stopped at Borders to kill time and to look at books/magazines. We learned about the dangers of "pet abuse."

Time has been good to Juanes. There was probably a point where he realized he had enough money to higher a style consultant. I'm not sure if that happened between album 1 and 2, or between 2 and 3. Votes?

A few lucky fans would get to ride with the band to the airport after the show...

There was one moment where Juanes stopped to catch his breath and talk to the audience a bit. This particular conversation went something like this:

> "You know, its great to see all the [latinos] here, but it's really cool to see all of the americans and native San Joseans in the audience!"

> (crowd goes wild... hands waving)

> Juanes turns to, presumably, an asian woman (obviously in the extreme minority): "And you, did you come from Japan?"

>(crowd is as silent as it had been all night)

>Juanes - awkward silent pause. Turns back to band to get guitar and starts next song. Jameson dies laughing.

It would seem that growing up in Columbia doesn't give one much exposure to different Asian ethnic groups. He should spend some time in Peru: I'm sure Fujimori wouldn't mind teaching him a thing or two. And, he could do a benefit concert for the inmates at the same time! Bam!

Hard to believe I know, but the majority of the fans were middle-aged latina women. "They're quite voluptuous," Jess noted. The atmosphere wouldn't have been the same without the excessive amount of makeup and two-sizes-too-small blouses.

Then we hopped on 880 and headed north...

I saw the Claremont each time I drove to Berkeley to see Jessie back when we were dating. She thought it was the greatest thing in the world (i had equated it to northern CAs version of the Hotel Del). So, I found a good rate, and we stayed here the first night. It was fun to be back in Berk-town. Ah, memories.

Next stop: downtown SF for shopping. This was really my favorite part of the trip. Did you know the forever 21 in SoMa has 3 floors? ;)

This weekend just happened to coincide with Bay to Breakers, so hotels were hard to come by. We found a nice (and cheap) place off Van Ness and Lombard, near the church building. 70% of the families in the Golden Gate ward are attending U of P dental school. Wierd.

Walking to the Wharf...

Dinner:

And a movie...

We saw IRONMAN that night at the Metreon. Jessie isn't too used to action movies. She thought it was overly violent. I thought she was going to have an anxiety attack in the theater. My take? good movie.

Part of me would like to steal this street sign. The other part knows that every time I'd look at it, I'd know it was stolen, which would rob me of any joy that the possession thereof would embue.

Much to my wife's chagrin, I made a friend. Here's a close-up of his sign. I couldn't resist. I figured the guy had worked so hard to get so much of the ransom already, he deserved a buck. Plus, contributing the last dollar gave me bragging rights to say that I had resolved a hostage crisis AND simultaneously saved a marriage!

The next morning, we went to church, and then walked around the Presidio area at SF end of the Golden Gate bridge. The beaches were beautiful. I still can't believe I've lived here since 2003 and hadn't explored it.

Jessie said I looked like a tourist. I guess technically I am a tourist. Do I look like a tourist? She says anyone wearing neon shoes deserves the label, regardless of residence.

Can you see the sailboats?:

Next stop, Sausalito. They had this amazing Dr. Seuss gallery. These are some of his "Lost Sculptures." I love this one (Kangaroo Bird). I wanted to buy the replica, but the gallery informed me that it is listed at 3k. Whoops! I settled for a brochure. Maybe i'll pin it to the wall.

Ted Geisel's father was a zoo superintendent. Whenever the animals shed certain appendages (e.g.) horns, beaks, etc.), he would bring them home for his son. As an adult, he used these pieces to create mixed media work of "Unheard-of-Animals." The beak here was from a toucan, the horns from a goat, etc.

Here's the link to the collection.

I think Sausalito was our favorite part of the trip. We just lounged around and walked along the water. It was the perfect finale for a fun weekend. Our hotel (Casa Madrona) can be seen in the top frame of this photo:

I joined a couple of shots from our bedroom window to make this panorama.

This place had awesome icecream. Manila Mango was a hit.

Take a closer look at the bathtub, and the folding of the towels. Not too shabby.

Back to the world of research, writing papers, and for Jessie, crowd control i mean molding minds. I had my interview this afternoon with my (future) boss at Google. It went well, for a job interview.