Things we want to do!

Posey's day at Google, Bring Your Dog to Work Day 2011

2011-06-24T21:15:00.001-07:00

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We had a great day, I was surprised!

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My pretty hiker (tick magnet)

2011-06-12T23:54:00.001-07:00

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Carrots! Good-looking carrots!

2011-06-07T23:14:00.001-07:00

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Yum

2011-06-07T22:49:00.001-07:00

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Yawn - Posey is depressed with Scott being away

2011-06-07T00:06:00.001-07:00

Firing up the ol' Posterous account after nearly a year hiatus. Stopped using basically when I got my Android phone since sharing photos was so much easier than on the iphone, so I just shared photos directly with the sites. But I do miss having everything post at once... Sfo downloaded the Posterous Android app. Slick!

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Shaved 5 minutes off my last race time!! So stoked!! #sfhalfmarathon #fb

2010-07-25T07:58:00.001-07:00

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Excited for Orientation!

2010-06-28T07:47:00.003-07:00

via tweetie

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Excited for Orientation!

2010-06-28T07:47:00.001-07:00

via tweetie

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Tomato plant has flowers today! Hopefully that means tomatoes will follow!

2010-06-24T18:05:00.001-07:00

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Fruit growing at the freeway orchard! @Hayesvalleyfarm

2010-05-25T19:48:00.001-07:00

via tweetie

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First Mayor Newsom now Obama's motorcade! I'm having quite the right-place-right-time political day! #fb

2010-05-25T17:55:00.001-07:00

via tweetie

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They're getting so big! Though I have to keep them inside now, landlord said it's a fire hazard on fire escape (boo)

2010-05-19T18:30:00.001-07:00

Jes

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My new pets that will make me tomatoes! Hopefully they can withstand the wind and fog on my fire escape! Urban gardening at its finest.

2010-04-18T18:07:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Good use of public space on this fine #NYC day. Union Square Greenmarket

2010-04-02T15:31:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Spring has sprung in #NYC

2010-04-02T12:18:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Sugarbowl powder day!

2010-02-27T11:56:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Year of the tiger - rawr!

2010-01-28T22:32:00.001-08:00

Jes

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View from our room 22nd fl Bellagio!! Woot!

2010-01-28T21:33:00.001-08:00

Jes

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A yummy veggie soup

2010-01-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

Kind of threw this one together but it was super easy and turned out lovely. Warm on a rainy winter evening in SF!

olive oil

leeks

carrots

celery

garlic

redskin potatoes (they were oh-so-tender, you could practically eat them raw), skinned and diced

cabbage (half head)

1 can great northern white beans

1 can diced tomatoes

4 cups veggie stock

1 cup water

salt, pepper

red pepper flakes

chili powder

dried thyme

simmer the leeks, carrots and celery in oil until soft, add garlic. Add everything else and simmer 30 minutes or until potatoes/cabbage are tender! Serve with sour dough - yum!

Earth Engines show - Sirens by Oliver DiCicco

2009-12-12T19:19:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Bumpy ridge with wind turbines.

2009-09-04T19:32:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Scene at the Alamo Square flea market today

2009-08-15T16:44:00.003-07:00

Jes

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$100 organ at the Alamo Square flea market

2009-08-15T16:44:00.001-07:00

Jes

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This week's #farmfreshtoyou CSA box: pears (new!) watermelon, size-of-apple peach, zuccs, tomatoes, giant eggplant, basil, peppers

2009-08-12T22:08:00.003-07:00

Jes

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Largest eggplant I've ever seen! #farmfreshtoyou delivery

2009-08-12T22:08:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Girls in Tech panel. Deb Gage, Camille Ricketts, Swisher, Eliane Fiolet, Jen Leggio (Gina Hughes off screen)

2009-08-12T21:03:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Intro to girls in tech panel - Kara Swisher interviews Brian Solis about future of PR

2009-08-12T19:16:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Flying a kite at Baker Beach, SF, Saturday. #fb

2009-08-10T14:32:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Noodles trying to get into Crepevine, take 1... #fb

2009-08-10T14:31:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Interactive musc video - Soy tu Aire. Really cool!

2009-07-22T15:24:00.001-07:00

Found this over a month ago in my daily Very Short List e-newsletter and have been sitting on it. Finally had a chance to take a look - and recommend you do, too.

It's a really simple-but-compelling, interactive music video from a group called LaBuat. The song is "Soy tu Aire" (I'm told this means "I'm your Air") and sure, it's a beautiful song, but the video is the best part IMHO. As the song plays, your curser turns into a black brush stroke that streams across the page and you can move it to create squiggles, circles, etc. I think you can then save the video you "created" and share with others. Very cool!

http://soytuaire.labuat.com/

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New #farmfreshtoyou csa box: eggplant(!) grapes(!) basil cherry & heirloom tomatoes peaches plums & more!

2009-07-15T20:54:00.001-07:00

eggplant (new!), basil, grapes (new!), cherry (new!) & heirloom tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, peaches & plums, broccoli, cabbage, peppers & carrots - oh my!

Jes

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Rainbow in the Mission in SF yesterday

2009-07-12T12:39:00.001-07:00

The strangest thing happened yesterday: it rained! In my 5 years here I can't rememer it EVER raining in the "summer." anyway, when we stepped outside (on 16th, outside Monk's Kettle) we saw a broken rainbow! The other end was apparent, too, further down mission st. This pic doesn't do justice, obviously - it was so bright!!

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Cutest pic. It's months old but a goodie. Sundae Sunday in Santa Cruz w Scott! <3

2009-07-02T17:40:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Barkeep - woof! So cute. @ Lucky 13 with @marybethsf

2009-04-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Chad Vangaalen Tree pose for "Willow Tree." :-) loved it so much, beautiful live.

2009-04-01T01:07:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Chad VanGaalen at Bottom of the Hill (BOTH). Asked about his guit: Steinberger, cheap, $189 from Ebay. I asked, everyone laughed. :-) also, see charms

2009-04-01T01:04:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Thanks to the birthday cube fairies for the "green" deco and fail whale cards! So fun, I love it!! ;-)

2009-03-31T10:13:00.001-07:00

Jes

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My birthday dessert(s), compliments of @marybethsf!! :-)

2009-03-30T21:07:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Our table guests at Cajun Pacific. Yum best food ever so far. :-)

2009-03-27T23:10:00.001-07:00

Jes

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Lunch time at Lake Alpine (snow shoeing!)

2009-03-22T21:43:00.003-07:00

Jes

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Hiking in Bear Valley. Such a beautiful weekend.

2009-03-22T21:43:00.001-07:00

Jes

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@marybethsf My fav pic from the show. So smiley - he was so stoked the whole time! Was awesome. Big <3

2009-02-27T02:06:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Pic of Laura Gibson and her band. From PDX. Great artwork an her album. (elliot smith?)

2009-02-27T02:04:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Marquee at GAMH - posting to Posterous ;-)

2009-02-27T02:02:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Our fleet of zins! Being re-labeled.

2009-02-07T16:19:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Filling wine bottles - like a mechanical, wine-nursing Zinfandel cow. Yum!

2009-02-07T15:13:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Broken

2009-01-29T00:40:00.000-08:00

I wrote this poem for M. Ward, who wrote the song "Chinese Translation" and posed the question, "What do you do with the pieces of a broken heart?"

Turn each piece over

in your hand:

this glass

tossed

spit

from the ocean,

red

dripping

beating

one

two:

count

slowly

backwards

from death.

New addition to the household!

2009-01-24T16:21:00.001-08:00

Jes

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Gobi Dal (Lentils with Cauliflower)

2008-12-28T20:41:00.001-08:00

Thanks Jes for the veggie box this week! Once I figured out what this vegetable actually was (Romanesco Cauliflower), I found this great recipe from another family owned farm, Mariquita Farms. They supply specialty vegetables to all the best restaurants in the bay area, listed here.

V for Victory

2008-11-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

"Historic" does not do this night justice except to say that it is bigger than any of us, I think, can comprehend right now. If the fact that I was moved to tears not once but several times while watching - alone in my hotel room in ARIZONA - the television broadcast of tens of thousands of screaming people in Grant Park in Chicago and then during Barack Obama's speech is any indication, it's going to be an amazing four (at least!) years.

I do have to say that I am extremely bummed that I am here, in ARIZONA - McCain's home state, boo - for work and not celebrating with my friends in San Francisco (or, FTW, Chicago) though I am trying to stay positive about it, as much as I can consciously force myself to do so. All I can think about though is how, when I look back on this some day, as it does seem rather monumentous an occasion, I will remember being alone (and hopefully will forget the bitter details such as how much tomorrow is going to suck, with an 8am start and back-to-back meetings until 3pm before I travel back to SF while reading up on a huge new business project that was RANDOMLY thrown my way today). I don't want to remember being alone! I'd much rather be making memories with all of my friends and partying in the streets of SF with strangers, per Alexis Madrigal of WIRED, who tweeted tonight "16th and Valencia: come! http://twitpic.com/k4dr http://twitpic.com/k4qi" or Laughingsquid's "San Francisco is erupting with spontaneous patriotism." Instead, it was me, the boob tube and Applebees, see:

That said, I was glad to be watching the television broadcast and glad to have seen both McCain's and Obama's speeches after Obama secured a LANDSLIDE victory. I mean, this must be some sort of record - he has 338 electoral votes and 52% of the popular vote (only 270 electoral votes needed to win). It's amazing, epecially when I think back to the last Presidential election when Kerry was up against incumbent George W (ugh, thank god he's outta here) and slowly lost as polling station cutoffs spread across the time zones. It was depressing, while today started off as a nail-biter and ended with sheer elation - and early, it seemed, too! I mean, he won some key battleground states that have been swing states or last-minute, fate-changing states in at least the last two elections (both of which I voted in so remember a bit more clearly), such as PA, OH, FL (hanging chads, you've come a long way!), IA, NM and NV (my coworkers went door-to-door in Nevada, yay!). And these states were decided relatively quickly, which makes one think the race was barely close at all.

Speaking of, it's just truly amazing to me the real grass roots efforts that went into and influenced this election. The number of people I personally know who went out to phone banks, went door to door and contributed cash to the Obama campaign is truly inspiring. I've never seen anything like it and it was amazing to be a part of. I think back to some of the thoughts I had about the Internet inspiring a movement or revolution - this was before the primaries when I didn't necessarily like any of the candidates (I'm moody sometimes like that) and was lamenting our political system and current US enironment - and now I feel like that's exactly what happened (minus, of course, the whole revolution thing - this is more legit). :) The Internet has just been a tremendous tool in this election - from real-time coverage via blogs such as Politico and Huffington Post, to Twitter and the huge influx of political tweets and Facebook, which last I checked had tracked more than 5 million "people who voted," which pretty much rules.

I am too tired to type anything else but wanted to write how ecstatic I am, how glad I could docuement the experience via new/social media (lest I forget - gasp - what I was doing 40 years from now when Obama was elected!) and express to my friends and city how much I love and miss them, especially now.

Gobama! :) <3

My CSA Makeover

2008-09-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Mary's household, I signed up a couple weeks ago with a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that delivers boxes of farm-fresh vegetables and fruit to your home. I had spoken to several friends who also get CSA boxes so knew of two farms to order from, but did a bit of research online to check out reviews. Of course Yelp has a great forum discussing the various local CSA offerings and while the one I initially tried to sign on with - Eatwell- wasn't available as they'd reached their quota in SF (good for them, that's the goal, right!), I was drawn to door-to-door delivery offered by Farm Fresh to You so ended up choosing them. Signed up for the Capay Valley-only (nothing grown outside their own farm) small fruits & veggies box to be delivered bi-weekly. At $29 per box (including delivery!), it's really quite an awesome deal! Perhaps more than you'd pay at a supermarket but it's all local and organic, and less than farmer's market prices for sure. (And did I mention I don't have to leave the house or drag it home from work?) :)

So they actually missed my first scheduled delivery last Wednesday, but were very nice and helpful over the phone when I called to see what happened. And they rescheduled my box for this Wednesday instead (shifted my delivery schedule by one week to make up for the missed one). So I came home today - after visiting Margaret for a haircut that I'm stoked on, as usual - to a happy box sitting right outside my apartment door. This was good, too, because I officially ran out of groceries after I made veggie chili on Monday. Just a few random things left such as eggs, various cheeses and half an onion. :)

Here's a list of what I got this week - stoked!

Regarding the pumpkins (which caused me to squeal when I saw them - very excited), I'm not

sure yet what I want to make but since there are two, maybe I can try two recipes! I love a good pumpkin curry for sure and the newsletter in the box includes a recipe for pumpkin soup with coconut milk, which sounds tasty. Perhaps I'll try both. :) Bold, daring, adventurous!

But tonight, I went for not-too-extravagent, opting to make a simple

caprese salad with one of the small heirlooms and fresh basil and a penne pasta with arugula, cherry tomatoes and pine nuts. I have to admit I'd never made anything with arugula before and my veggie cookbook apparently doesn't include leafy veg as worthy content. So I scoured the Web for a minute to get some ideas. After a quick run to the market to grab pine nuts and fresh mozerella, I was ready. What I ended up with was loosely based on this recipe from Seasonalchef.com (the site itself also a new discovery):

Linguine with Arugula, Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese

1 pound linguine

1/2 cup olive oil

4 ounces arugula, trimmed

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

1. Cook linguine in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add arugula and stir until just wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

3. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add arugula and toss well. Add 1 cup Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste; toss well.

4. Transfer to bowl. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Serve immediately, adding additional Parmesan, if desired.

Source: SeasonalChef.com recipes for Arugula

Here's what I made! It was delicious!

I learned a few things about cooking today:

1 - re: arugula - the leaves that turned/are yellow taste bitter. Don't use them!

2 - toasting pine nuts isn't as easy as it looks - don't let them burn! (400 deg oven for about 5 min or less)

3 - it's hard to determine what to make when you don't know what something is. Consult friends.

4 - Google is awesome for cooking. Just typing your choice ingredients as keywords and adding "recipe" is bound to give you interesting results. Who needs a cook book these days?!

5 - I really should buy a food processor or blender. Wanted to make pesto with the arugula and peppers in the box but, alas, no can do without those mechanical kitchen tools.

So basically, I am super excited about my future adventures in cooking - again, loads-o-props to Mary and her roommates for the inspiration and many delicious meals - and can't wait to share funny stories and flashes of brilliance (I hope) here. At least now I'm guaranteed to have food in the house at a decent (and consistent) frequency! Before last Sunday, think I hadn't been full-on grocery shopping (not including popping to the over-priced natural foods market to buy bread, cereal, frozen pizza or something) in about 3-4 months. I just couldn't find the time or didn't feel like it when I did have time. My barren cupboards and refridgerator reeked of BACHELOR (not literally, that would be gross - cupboards and fridges should NOT smell). And even when I do make a big grocery run, bike paniers and all, it's usually for the same old things - my tried and true recipes (which isn't saying much; eggplant parm only SOUNDS intensive and spaghetti squash is going out of season soon). Not anymore, though!

Let's hear it for a fresh start! :)

Not doing so well

2008-08-23T02:11:00.000-07:00

So I think I'm not doing so well upon conducting an impromptu mid-year assessment of the goals put forth in this blog. I did precisely NONE of the things in "the list," I have no sweet travel plans or plans to do anything else that constitutes a 4-plus-years-in-the-making goal of any sort. BUMMER! Wanted to do Burning Man this year, but didn't (Kacie is going), almost sucked it up and bought a ticket for Outside Lands tonight to see Radiohead, but didn't (Mary did) and none of the beer or music fests really panned out for me, either. Sigh. Guess there's always NEXT YEAR. (again, defeating purpose of this blog!) But perhaps its in the spirit of taking things one chunk at a time. Yes!

I added a list, mean while, in the right margin where we can add the shows we saw this year. Mary goes to a lot more shows than I do, but we recently determined that one of the things we love about our friendship (one of many) is that we can bring new music to each other and introduce the other to new groups. So this list will help document our tastes and remind me when Mary tells me about a band she saw and loved. :) Maybe we can even add a rating or something.

We're going on a big(ish) bike ride tomorrow in the East Bay sans cars! BART will take us to Dublin/Pleasanton and we will go through Sunol, loop around via Palomares Road, through Castro Valley and along the San Leandro Resevoir to Skyline, ending at the Rockridge BART. ~46 miles total. Should be fun!

Sad Shock, life

2008-08-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

I can't do this justice, so please read my friend Pete's entry on our friend, Robyn: http://donquixote.livejournal.com/797097.html

Thank you.

Did it! Done!

2008-08-03T17:54:00.001-07:00

the prize
Originally uploaded by jes_kositz

Well, age proved to only add about five-tenths of a second to my time from last year. :) I rang in at 1:57:01 this time, so I'm stoked.

Felt really good, too. It's funny running the same course again, because I knew (sort of) what to expect. I thought more than once during the race this morning about that and found myself better able to mentally prep for each "leg." I knew, for example, where the water stations were or put myself mentally in the zone for each forthcoming hill. So that was good. But overall, I think I felt better during than I did last year. I'll probably do it again next (I say that now). :) And I'm going to try my best NOT to take six months off immediately following this race. :) My goal is to continue running 1-2x per week, if not more.

P.S. Can I just say that I LOVE my iPhone? I'm obsessed. I carried it in my new SPI belt (which was awesome, btw. A great last-minute race expo purchase!) so was hands-free and it served me well as an iPod with my race mix, a camera for pre- and post-race snapshots, an Internet device to Twitter my start/finish times (such a NERD) and, of course, a phone to call/text peeps after I finished. AND I was able to email and POST the photos I snapped while on my walk home. I'm just AMAZED and IN LOVE. :) Who new a device could get me all worked up and geeked out?

Here's my vitals, just posted:

Place Overall: 1267 out of 6679
Women: 362 out of 3696
F 20-29: 143 out of 1342
AgeGrade: 56.27%

FINISH: 1:57:01 pace: 8:56

I rocked a fat nap this afternoon, too. Felt so good. Now what I really want is a fat burrito! Waiting on Mary to make it in from Sac-town to fulfill that wish. :) Thanks for everyone's well-wishing, love and support! And thanks to Aaron for the peppermint lotion - feels so good on sore muscles!

Cheers!

and scene! finished in about 1:57, beating my goal of 2 hours!
Originally uploaded by jes_kositz

I'm Doing it Again

2008-08-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year for me again: half-marathon race. Yes, tomorrow I will once again (for the second year in a row) subject myself to the task that is running 13.1 miles very early in the morning. As many know, I ran the SF half marathon for the first time last year, signing myself up because I wanted to start running and I figured commiting myself to a race would get me in the habit. I didn't stick to a hard-core training session, per se, though I did meet my goal of beating two hours, which was awesome.

This year (after literally not running for 6 months following my successful completion of the race), I again signed myself up with the intention to train more, run faster, better, etc., though I think I trained even less (guess I can't be sure, since my schedule was different but I know I didn't run as far as the longest training-run I did last year), so my goal this year isn't so much to beat two hours - or even beat my time from last year - but to finish and just feel happy.

hamming it up after the 2007 race

I mean, I am another WHOLE YEAR older than I was last time. ;)

Had a nice carbo-load dinner tonight with Clara and her friend, Dena (delicious, ladies, thanks!) and am synching a playlist now, then to bed. My wave's start time is a rise-and-not-so-shiney-shine 5:35 a.m., so I need all the sleep I can get!

Am going to bring my phone on which to hopefully snap a few pics, as I did last year. So I'll get those up afterward. Til then, wish me luck!

Update: Find me online during/after the race!

Live Results/Tracking: Click here for live, up-to-the-minute results!
Final Runner Results: Click here to check out your own personal results when you are finished.
Photos: Find your photos here.

America bikes!

2008-07-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

An AWESOME video feature from CBSNews.com, from a segment on their Sunday Sunshine program. The segment is about 10 minutes long and covers the growth of American interest in cycling in the face of ridiculous gas prices and (a sub-point that could have been more prominent, in my view) desires to be healthier and "greener." Also of note is the historical references to the bicycle and Susan B. Anthony's quote that the bicycle "has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world" and that she called it the "freedom machine." YES!

SF gets a shout-out for being one of the better US cities for biking, but Portland takes the cake with a several-minute feature segment on bikes and bike culture there. Ah, Portland, I heart you! :)

Video from this CBSNews.com story

Makes me happy to be one of the lucky 1% of Americans who commute by bike. Enjoy!

Torn

2008-07-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have a dilemma. Had pretty much made up my mind over the weekend that I am going to buy myself the new iPhone 3G as soon as my contract with Verizon ends, July 30. CAN'T WAIT to get rid of that shitty RAZR phone, UGH.
THEN, on Tuesday, I got an email from an artist I really love, Audrey Kawasaki (our bdays are one day apart), that she's releasing a new print this Saturday, July 19. It's called "If Only You Were Here" and it's GORGEOUS!

"If Only You Were Here," image of print by Audrey Kawasaki

The cost of the iPhone and this print are basically equivalent. So that makes my decision even more difficult. I need art on my walls and it would look AWESOME in my place. But I also WANT a new phone and how many times do I find myself asking if anyone has an iPhone so I can look something up on the Web?

Not sure what I'm going to do yet! :) Anyone want to weigh in??

Doing it old school

2008-07-12T11:05:00.001-07:00

Ever since the road trip, I've rediscovered the joys of keeping a semi-embellished-yet-more-fun account of my life (ahem) in old school HANDWRITING.

WOAH. Like, who does that? TWEET! ha - Cliz linked to a funny (if you think annoying mall girl voices are funny) video of comedienne Lisa Nova about Twitter. http://ping.fm/MmKIZ

So what I'm really doing is procrastinating my run that I absolutely NEED to go on today... but I'll do it eventually.

Anyway, yes, I've been keeping hand-written accounts in a real, honest-to-god JOURNAL of late. It's kind of cool, makes me think that NO ONE will ever read it, no matter what. Not if I accidentally post as public or if what I actually post as private might be seen by someone because I know absolutely nothing about the security of locked blog posts but NO ONE can read my journal as long as I keep it hidden - what am I talking about, I live alone? :)

It's nice. Old school. Love it. Remember back when the Interwebs didn't exist, or they did but we didn't post our lives for all to read about? I do and it was quaint and cool and nice and, I think, calm.

But I digress. Just got a "You're Cool" comment on Yelp from some SUPER USER that I don't know. Sweeeeeeeeeeet. OK, enough. Get out there and run, Jes! GOSH! :)

(Let it be noted: in my REAL journal, I don't pep talk to myself in the third person, I swear)

Hooray, America!

2008-07-03T13:12:00.001-07:00

I sent this around to the people I'm going camping with in a few hours (with the caveat that - as they know - I prefer JD over JB):

Thanks, someecards, you rule. :) Will be sure to post any booze-fueled (choose your poison) pictures after the fact.

Have a happy and safe Fourth!

Fun Food Times

2008-07-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

Sent an email to Kacie and Mary around 5pm today to see if they wanted to get together to make/get food. Kacie responded almost right away that she was going to row, but would be down after 8pm and is it OK to bring Alan, since they had plans to meet up. Of course!

Kacie had broccoli, brussel sprouts and cous cous to offer to the mix and said be creative when you go to the store (I mentioned I had to go grocery shopping anyway so what did they want).

I left work by 6pm, was home by 6:30pm. Wanted to go for a run and also do laundry (thanks, Aaron for the quarters), but decided that food was the biggest priority, since I was having guests. Called Kyle (my bro) to wish him happy (20th - holy crap, I feel old) birthday, chatted for a bit then decided to head out to Trader Joe's (biking counts as exercise, right?).

Not sure why, but I had veggie spring rolls on my mind, and a Thai-ish stir fry. Trader Joe's had run out of mint, no cilantro, basil, etc. No rice paper, no NOTHING. Although I did get some Thai-flavored tofu there. (and some Soy nuggets, bananas and 2 bottles of 2-buck-Chuck. Mmmmmmm) Biked from there to Lucky, given they have several aisles of "ethnic" food-stuffs, I thought for sure I'd be set. Got my cilantro, basil, mint, lettuce (butter), peanut sauce, garlic, onion, JUMBO udon noodles (yum, was fresh), and radishes (though I thought they were beets - but better off they were radishes, in hindsight) and contemplated an eggplant but decided against it. Then, while checking out, as if by fate, the dude two people ahead of me in line (also a bicylist- with helmet on) was on the phone with (sounded like) his date, said he had everything under control (he thought), did they like eggplant? Phone person said no, so he asked the cashier if he could give the eggplant back. I said I would take it! Like I said, FATE! Eggplant's so in season right now, they're huge! Need to get on some eggplant parm soon...

So, still missing a few key ingredients, I then headed over to the Natural Foods store on Divis and Hayes, but he had neither rice paper nor rice vermicelli. So I got some conditioner and soap, which I also needed. :) As a last resort, I went to my beloved Green Market (next to my old place, on Divis./McAllister) and he HAD rice paper! Though no rice vermicelli... got rice udon (dry) noodles instead, but didn't end up using them. Oh well, some other time. Love that old man (even though he didn't announce my prices!) :( Miss that!

After all that, feeling pretty good, headed back home - saw Herb and his friend Jen on Divis on the way - and Mary was on my porch, dialing my apartment. :) Just in time. Kacie was allegedly at Bean Bag (I rode past there twice!) with Alan and Sean. I told Mary that Kacie should also invite Sean, but we didn't call her to say so. But it was OK, since she brought him anyway! :) I did say in my email the more, the merrier. :)

We were stoked, started cooking and the food turned out awesome! Alan also brought some Bonny Doon wine - Barbera - YUM. Going to post the recipe, since it turned out quite good for my first time making spring rolls and this was an original stir fry, off the top of my head and across 4 stores. :)

Stir Fry:
olive oil
4 Shredded Carrots
whole Broccoli
1 small Onion
Garlic cloves (2?)
1 yellow bell pepper
1 eggplant
Peanut sauce
soy sauce
Jumbo Udon noodles (fresh)

Sautee veggies in oil until soft, add soy and peanut sauces, heat on med, covered, until cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Add seasoning (crushed red pepper, chili seasoning, pepper, etc.) to taste.
Add udon noodles and fry for 2-3 minutes, serve immediately.

Spring Rolls:
Rice papers
Thai baked tofu (Trader Joe's)
Mint
Cilantro
Basil
Lettuce (butter is good)
radishes
carrots

Chop herbs all together to make one mixture, chop radishes and carrots. Peel lettuce leaves off stalk, leaving individual, whole leaves.
Dice tofu, heat in skillet with oil, soy and peanut sauces until hot. Simultaneously, heat up large frying pan of water to dip rice papers.
Dip each paper until soft, lay flat and fill with lettuce, tofu, carrot, radish and herb mixture. Tuck ends and roll.
Serve with peanut sauce.

Good food, good friends, good tunes (mostly Brett Dennen, Cat Power). And Kacie said - "There's nothing classier than cloth napkins." :) hahaha
AND! I have a container full of leftover stir fry for lunch tomorrow - WHOO-HOO!

After dinner we watched The Jes Show with Mary from our road trip, along with some of the other videos that were too long to post on Flickr. :) The boys were bored but Kacie, Mary and I were into it. HA.

Gotta love impromptu-yet grown-up (kind of) moments like these. Thanks for indulging in my experimental food whims and keeping me company, guys! :) <3 you!

Mary and me, prepping

Bon appetit! :)

Can't WAIT to go camping with these kids and Alex for the Fourth of July! :) Going to be awesome. TWO MORE DAYS!

Jes = laugh riot

2008-06-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Not really, but here is a (copyrighted) photo from the race I ran last Saturday. It was soooo hot that day, so I was very glad to finish. I saw the camera guy and made a funny face.

Def a good one for Mom and Dad, making 'em proud. :)

FINALLY - photos

2008-06-24T02:11:00.001-07:00

in the home stretch
Originally uploaded by jes_kositz

Yo yo yo. So I finally put the bulk of my photos from the EPIC ROAD TRIP on Flickr. Phew, it took several days to upload, tag, cleverly (I hope) entitle and caption, and check for historical and factual accuracy. I mean, this is all part of the process of creating a full sociocultural text on the moments, the times, the MEMORIES.

Or something. Check it (at your leisure, of course): http://tinyurl.com/4u3udc

Please enjoy!

That's Funky

2008-06-23T22:45:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from "Darondo's Penthouse" (1985 - Bay Area Cable Access Television Show).

Had the extreme luck and pleasure to see Darondo peform live @ The Independent SF a few weeks ago. He was a special guest of Nino Moschella and his kickass band. This guy has some serious soul, especially when he sings instructions on how to link whip cream off a woman.

Not to be missed.

Come check him out as part of the 4th annual Afrofunk Music Festival at the Independent.

(Tags on this post reflect exactly those from the video found on youtube.)

Speechless

2008-06-22T10:46:00.001-07:00

Oh, wow. Totally lost my voice. Think the combo of running in 90-degree+ heat, biking in heavy fog to the beach, standing around a (commandeered) bonfire, then being up for nearly 24 hours probably did the trick. Alas, I am going to help Kacie with her Barack Obama bake sale and can barely utter audible sounds. :) Ah, well, it was worth it. :)

Says high of 70 today but it looks freezing out there. Burn off, fog, burn off!!! Quick!

Check out the cool new Obama t-shirt: http://ping.fm/4jBc8 Think I'm going to get one :) Yay!

Sigh, vacation's over

2008-06-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

We had the most amazing trip. SO much fun, many, many MEMORIES (thank god we didn't lose them!) and inside jokes, road nicknames (classic) and sayings, fake tattoos, bandannas, hitchhikers (not really, just Charlie, our surrogate hitcher) and loads of LAUGHS. Gosh, I don't even know where to begin recounting the trip or how to choose which of my 700 photos and videos I should post (and those are just mine, I'm sure Kacie and Alex have near as many as well).

I also did something on the trip that I haven't done in a LONG time: wrote in my REAL journal - as in, handwritten, on-the-fly recounting of the travels, the places, the jokes and I even drew a home-made map with images of each place we stopped. Perhaps, if I'm ambitious enough, I'll scan it and post it here. Oh man, what am I putting myself up to? :)

It was very bittersweet and certainly QUIET when I got back home Sunday night (around 10pm). After 9 straight days of talking and laughing and music and FRIENDS, I had nothing but a silent studio apartment (oh, I could hear my upstairs neighbor though - ugh) with not even a TV or radio to fill the void. Not that those would help, though, since what I really enjoyed most about the trip was the company. I remember I made a comment during the feast we cooked at Ted's cabin in the mountains outside Twisp, WA, that we would be sick of each other after a few more days (that was day two-three) but then quickly said "just kidding, our hearts will be bigger for each other," which I meant and it's true, in retrospect.

Here's a smattering of my fav photos:

The Great Road to the North

2008-05-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

It's Friday night and I'm at home. Why, you ask? Because I'm packing for THE GREATEST ADVENTURE OF ALL TIME!!!! In approximately 15 hours, Mary, Kacie, Alex and I will embark upon the Great Highway (sounds better than the 101) to the North, and by North I mean Destination: CANADA. Vancouver, BC, to be exact.

OK, enough of the fanfare - I CAN'T EFFING WAIT!!!! I've wanted to make this trip for the four years that I've lived on the Left Coast and now we're finally making it happen. Stoked.

Now, what to pack, what to pack. Let's peep the weather. Whoo-hoo, warmth in Vancouver! Saw some rain on the way though so def bringing the rain shell.

The good news about this trip is that we're taking it piece-by-piece. First stop - Crater Lake. Then I think we're shooting up to somewhere in Washington, then to Vancouver by Monday (in time for the delicious weather!), spend a few days in Canada, camping, hiking, kayaking, etc., then back down via Seattle, Portland, Arcata and back home.

We'll definitely post pics soon. Whoo-hoo! (And I might Twitter about it, ya'll - http://twitter.com/jessica_bm).

I also want to give a shout out, before we leave, to PETE, with his recent LOVE SONG TO DIVISADERO blog post. What else would you expect from the dude who was recently paraded down it by adoring friends? Of course he loves it. :) As I said in the comments to that post - Pete's enthusiasm and love for the city is possibly rivaled only by my own. Gotta love that, kindred spirit. :)

Ta for now. We're On the Road.

Thanks, Bush

2008-05-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

Received my $600 boost-the-economy-(yeah-right)-for-all direct deposit today. I feel happy, but it's going straight to my credit card. Did some shopping last weekend, so perhaps I've been doing my part all along.

Damn you, consumerism!!!

Did you get yours yet? They're apparently doing a roll out by SSN and those who filed for direct deposit refunds first.

Cinco de Mayo - 2006

2008-05-05T12:45:00.001-07:00

This photo was taken in the now-obsolete PDX bar, The Hungry Tiger. This is how we met Aaron Durand - tapped his shoulder to take our photo in front of the giant tiger mural in back.

As you can see, Aaron is no good at taking photos. Good thing he was better at making conversation. :)

Hooray for friends around the world!

And hooray for Cinco de Mayo!!

(cross-over post from LJ: http://mynameis-jes.livejournal.com/14112.html)

here we go now

2008-04-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

TGIF, for starters.

It's been a decent, mellow day. Got some work done, which is always good, updated the blog layout - a bonus - and happy memories of Thursday evening stir in my head. Oh, so let me tell you about it! (so glad you asked)

Kacie sent out an invite during the work day to check out a dude's photos at a small gallery. Now I don't typically make a point of attending opening exhibits and all that jazz, but this guy's work moved me. I honestly thought the whole train vagabond thing was passe, mostly because it's highly illegal! Remember the part of "Into The Wild" where Chris gets beat the shit out of by the engineer who finds him sleeping in a boxcar? Yeah, no thanks.

photo credit: The Polaroid Kidd

Anyway, it was beautiful and haunting and Brodie was there with his band of hooligans (i'm fondly referring to them as such) slash models. I secretly envy them. Plus I got to chat with Kacie and find out about her Friday plans, which I can't wait to vicariously experience in the recounting that will come. Yes!

We (avec kacie's coworkers) then headed to House of Shields, a fav, for a beer, which turned into two beers, then biked (the coworkers barted) to the Mission to eat Little Star. I hadn't yet tried the newer sister restaurant, and maintain that the one on Divis. is tops. But of course it was delightful company and they did have a 'pizza of the night,' which included roasted red peppers and asiago cheese and was delish (dear Divis. PS - why don't you do this?). More beers.

Deciding the night was still young, we headed to Ace Cafe Bar for some smoky (ew) times. I kept saying the bartender (blanking on his name; have met him so many times!) is "THE LAST HONEST MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO." Because of his moustache.

And in walked hippies 1 and 2 with their hippy dog. Normal occurance, natch, but dude hippy and I start chatting as we're both sitting at the corner of the bar. I think initially it was the dog or something that caused the sudden strike up of convo. So dude (i could tell now from closer inspection of his face that he was pretty young) has been traveling - "lives" in Telluride - "on the road" with a stranger and his new (a month?) Peruvian girl friend (hippy 2), staying on strangers sofas (couch surfing) and seeing the sights. He apparently was on his current excursion, which landed him in SF for the moment, because he answered a craigslist post from a graduate student who's putting together a documentary/thesis on this subculture. Kinda cool. He had just left portland and unexpectedly stopped in SF.

Of course my first question was 'how do you make money?' and he said he didn't really need to. He a) dumpster dives b) hitches via craigslist rideshare c) crashes on sofas so maintains that he lives a relatively free life. My mind was reeling. Trying to comprehend his life was an incredible experience. Speaking with him was kind of like staring through a window at this strange anarchist lifestyle and I really wanted to keep going deeper and deeper. Why - what compels someone to live life on the outskirts? it's the age-old question. I guess one could consult literature or history but i was actually face-to-face with one of The Polaroid Kidd's muses. Or cohorts, I suppose.

And - obama came up and he said while he agreed he was a better alternative, his stance was one of true (duh) anarchy. No government. Revolution. All that jazz. I dug in here and he said "we are part of the revolution already." I asked him how and his response was kind of lofty - basically look around you, look at me, look at yourself, we're the revolution, etc. OK.

Kacie really wanted to leave - it was late, but I wanted to talk and talk - so he wrote his email and blog (yes!) on a tear of paper for me. Under this, he wrote "look into the cracks. another world is possible and it runs parallel to this one. [anarchy symbol]"

I felt - I feel - more whole, a better person, for having met this guy. His name is Joshua. Nice chatting with you, Josh, good luck. And thanks.

commence la revolution!

2008-03-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

It's the Irish new year's day. We were up late, drank too much, sang and cursed and demanded hope for a new day. Today. But this type of resolution is not lame like "lose 10 lbs" or "cut honey out of my diet." It's legit, in fact, revolutionary.

Though it almost sounds a bit like we've been living in a hole for the past few years, when of course that's not true. Here's a (short)list of Things We Did!:

Denali National Park, Alaska - camping in the back country
Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - kayaking a coast of fjords
Good ole' Anchorage, where we met the tamale lady's retarded brother, finally saw the summit of Mount Denali reveal herself, and lived the life with Jes' bro and family.

Treasure Island Music Fest -- what's the name of that island it was on again?
Modest Mouse, Spoon, Devil Makes Three

Bluegrass Festival -- Golden Gate Park
Mother Hips, Steve Earle, Hot Buttered Rum, Keller Williams, Bella Fleck and the Flecktones

Seattle, WA, MLK Weekend 2008
Discovered a higher form of Rock Band at the Experience Music Project, got lost in the shelves at the most amazing public library I've ever stepped into.

Vive la revolution!

So, it all begins

2008-03-18T21:41:00.001-07:00

This is an experimental blog. Perhaps we will delete it. Perhaps we will use Google Groups, instead! Anyway, wanted to get an initial list going for events that CAN'T BE MISSED this year - in SF and beyond:

NoLa Jazz Fest - Apr 25-27 and May 1-4
2nd Weekend (May 2, 3, 4 - Stevie Wonder, Santana, The Raconteurs, Jimmy Buffet)
Advance adult ticket: $40 through April 30 (each ticket for one day only)

Bay to Breakers - May 18

High Sierra Music Fest - July 3-6

Quincy, CA

(Michael Franti & Spearhead; Akron/Family; The Mother Hips)

$157 through May 19

Oregon Brewers Fest - July 24-27

(OK, so not Bay Area, but we've been wanting to get up to PDX in summer time!)
Portland

SF Outside Lands Fest - Aug 22-24

Golden Gate Park - Speedway Meadows

(Radiohead, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Jack Johnson)

Burning Man - Aug 25 - Sep 1
Tickets are currently available at $295

Austin City Limits - Sep 26-28

$170 3-day pass