Thanks to everyone who played this round of Everyone’s Favorite Online Collaborative Poetry Game™, Exquisite Corpse: 
joe_bearnickel, Eric (furtummy), carytown!
Basket of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil,
The memory of him lingers in my mustache.
The days and nights in Rome,
the leftover cold pizza in my fridge,
the scent of him all over my bed.
He left more than one kind of stain on my sheets.
His trademark is in the air:
And still I am hungry. But for what?
Yesterday, my buddy, Kevin, and I went to the Giants vs Mets game, where we saw Barry Bonds hit his 711th career homerun. It was so surreal. I remember feeling this strange headrush as if the blood had drained out of my head: my whole face went all numb and tingly, and I felt odd and excited. But even his heroic effort, which tied the game, could keep the Mets from their well-earned victory in the 11th inning.
So, I’m sitting here with my buddy, Kevin <b411 user=bayosito>, enjoying the warm sunny day here at AT&T Park to see the Giants play the Mets. It’s a fantastic day for a ballgame, lots of hot men in attendance. It’s the top of the 8th inning and 1 out and the sun finally just hid behind the awning, and the breeze is gentle and cool, there’s a slight haze across the bay, and I’m just chillin’ out enjoying the day.
Yesterday, which is normally my day off, I gave two massages – one a birthday gift, and the other for his husband, friends of mine who drove down here from Lake Shasta, so I took Monday off instead. They are both big musclebears, and after working on them, I was pretty wiped out, so today is extra relaxing!
A couple of beers, some Boudin Clam Chowder in a bread bowl, and a Kielbasa Dog, and I’m feelin’ fine. Life sure is a good thing sometimes.
Bernardo, Mark, Mel, Randy
The El Camino Reelers in Palo Alto held their spring dance this past saturday, and several of us rode down in the Rusty’s Fur Wagon: Mark O. (markosf), Big John in SF (bigjohnsf), Ed (sfbearhoney), Mel, and myself.
ECR always has a nice potluck spread, their location is very spacious and comfortable, but sometimes their choice of callers leaves a bit to be desired. Seth Levine from Phoenix is the club caller there for Desert Valley Squares, and he teaches their Basic/Mainstream, Plus and Advanced classes. He just seemed really low energy, and his music choices were somewhat bland and uninspired. Perhaps because the weekend before’s caller, Joe Saltel, was so polished and a great singer, I was a little let down by comparison. Despite that, though, I had a good time dancing, flirting and socializing. Well, and the fact that I won the 50/50 raffle might have had something to do with it, too. Woo-hoo!
After the dance, the fur wagon gang and a few other men headed to a late supper at The Palo Alto Creamery, a local institution. The food was good, the service average, parking was good. They have a Bubbly Burger on the menu, which is a hamburger served with a bottle of Dom Perignon, for $150.00. Crazy, huh? I don’t think anyone ordered that, though.
I dozed on and off on the ride back to Frank-baby, and left my phone in the van, silly bear. Fortunately, I called it when I realized, and Rusty freighted it back to me.
At the Second and King Streets Station on the N-Judah Muni line, there are several bronze plaques embedded in the floor of the station. In honor of National Poetry Month, I thought I’d share photographs of them. Read the rest of this entry »
The ribcage is an important area often overlooked by massage therapists. Most therapists want to work the major muscle groups, yet there is tremendous benefit to working the intercostal muscles between the ribs.
The intercostal muscles exist in three layers: the external and internal layers, whose fibers run diagonal to each other. These muscles assists with respiration. The external layer, brings the ribs closer together, raising and expanding the chest cavity for inspiration. The external layer attaches to ribs 1 – 11, and inserts on ribs 2 – 12. Basically, they run between the ribs, starting at the sternum and following the ribs around the curve of the ribs. The same is true of the internal layer, except their action is to depress the ribcage during forced expiration. The third layer is the partial set of innermost intercostals, the subcostals, and the transversus thoracis. This layer of muscle is not accessible via massage, as these muscles lie beneath the ribs inside the thoracic cavity.
Massaging deep in the ribs is a time consuming process. First, you have to work the more superficial muscles of the region, the pectoralii and serratus anterior muscles, the latissimus dorsi, getting them more loose and pliable in order to accept the deep work on the intercostal muscles.
To work the entire ribcage takes about an hour of very slow, methodical work. After getting the superficial muscles softened with more generalized massage, you can get beneath them and into the ribs. With finger tips and knuckles, stroke from sternum laterally, following the curve of the ribs. There are several ways you can work these muscles, but always be carefully, as they can be very sensitive to touch.
The main benefit of working these muscles is the aid in breathing. Often, clients will report feeling they can breathe more freely, and take deeper breaths.
OK, so a part of this weight loss thing as been having this particular meal:
1/3 cup rice
2/3 cup chicken stock, or water or broth or even a stock/orange juice mix
1 frozen chicken breast, boneless/skinless (the ones in that big bag from Trader Joe’s work for this)
1-2 cups haricots verts, frozen
soy sauce to taste
in a covered microwave safe dish (polycarbonate works best for this), place the first three ingredients and cook on 50% power (assuming 1200 watts) for 10 minutes. when the time has elapsed, open the lid and place the green beans, re-cover and again on 50% power, for 10 more minutes. if the liquid hasn’t completely been absorbed, cook in one minute bursts.
The rice cooks nicely, the chicken is fork-tender, and the haricots verts retain good color and tender-crisp texture. Dress with a bit of soy sauce, and you’ve got a yummy and filling but low-calorie meal.
stock: 20 calories
rice: 75 calories
chicken breast: 140 calories
haricots verts: 35-70 calories
soy sauce: 10 calories
Insomnia seems to have taken control of my mind tonight. Where usually I have no trouble falling asleep, tonight my mind races, full of possibilities. I have been looking at houses, both for myself to live alone, or with John and Plumpy. I had found a 2 bedroom house in Westwood Heights, on the southern slope of Mt. Davidson. In that post with the panorama, I had just come from seeing this house before I shot those photos.
It’s a lovely house, overlooking City College, with both bay and ocean views. The current occupant and his female partner are healers, a massage therapist and an accupuncturist, and they have a magic show business as well. They are looking to move up to Marin Country, where she recently opened an office. In exchange for reasonable rent, they want to be able to use the second bedroom, which is currently set up as a treatment room, two or three days a week. All other times, I would live there by myself, and have use of the treatment room for myself. There is also a garage and an uphill backyard, as well as plenty of on-street, no-permit parking. It’s a quiet but pleasant neighborhood, and one in which I suspect I could do well.
On one hand, this is a nearly perfect opportunity for me. It’s a beautiful if slightly less convenient location, but not terribly far from City College, where I am going to start attending. Heck, I could walk there. It’s also close to Balboa Park and West Portal stations, and two bus lines run two blocks downhill on Monterey Avenue. The weather can be foggy and sunless, but on Tuesday there was a panoramic view. Forturnately, the Castro and Noe Valley are not very far away.
Also, I’ve been looking for 4 bedroom houses on craiglist, ones in which John, Plumpy and I could move. I think all three of us could make a new move work out well enough, but I have to have two rooms. The room where I work now would be perfect if not for my furniture, but I am very attached to that furniture. It serves as a pleasant reminder of my time as a dot-commer, and that couch is long enough for me to lay completely flat between the arms with a little room to spare.
5 bedrooms would be penultimate, as both John and I have living room furniture, but probably not terribly feasible, and 6 bedrooms would be a dream, as then David could have an office space, too. Well, it’s nice to dream, but the realities are that I need to have a room for my bed, and a room for massage.
Much thinking must continue.
Albadger and I went and looked at a house that I might be renting on Tuesday before Square Dance Class. Afterward, we drove to the top of Twin Peaks, where I took this picture. Clicking on the pic will take you to the full-size version – it’s big, real big.
