San Francisco Women's Film Festival 2006 Starts Tonight

Come to the opening night party and screening at El Rio this evening! You can purchase tickets at WWW.TICKETWEB.COM and you get a discount as a Tribe member, just enter the promo code: tribe430.

The festival runs from April 19-30 at locations across the San Francisco Bay Area, and there will be a special Tribe.net co-sponsored party on Sunday evening April 30th at 111 Minna Gallery (tickets also available on ticketweb.com). We will be screening Danny Glover's newest film "Missing in America," and Danny Glover will be there IN PERSON for the screening.

You can find the full program of films by going to www.sfwff.com or visiting a special tribe dedicated to the festival at womensfilmfestival.tribe.net.

Support your community online and offline and join us in celebrating the contributions of women to the film industry!!

Me vs. Car Door

I'm afraid the door won in this face off.
The short story of it all, because I'm too sore to tell a long winded one, is that I was riding my bike to work on Monday morning and on the way I passed a line of cars while in a clearly demarcated bike lane. A man in one of the cars opened his driver's side door without really looking and I didn't have time to use my brakes. The next thing I know is I'm on my back in extreme pain and crying/gasping until the ambulance comes and takes me away on a stretcher. The guy first tried to blame me for the accident, but then got it into his head (after being yelled at by numerous onlookers for being an idiot and opening his door without really looking), and was very apologetic as I was being carried into the ambulance.
I feel lucky that I am alive with very little major damage. I've got bad headaches, weakness, extremely sore arms and neck, and some humongous bruises--but no broken bones as far as I can tell. For all you bikers out there I have one piece of wisdom: Wear your helmet! Mine was cracked in numerous places on the backside where I whacked my head upon falling--that could have been my skull! Crazy stuff. My bike isn't too bent out of shape either, although there's no way in hell I'm hopping back on that thing for a while. Hello buses, here I come!
Anyways, for all of you people who can stomach gory pictures I thought I'd put up one of my bruise photos as per certain friends' requests. Stay tuned for updates on my recovery!

An Unwanted Houseguest Named Asbestos

According to our ex building manager (she got summarily fired after renting us the apartment we are in, as there seemed to have been some gross miscommunication between her and the landlord about whether she should be renting it out or not), the pipe that lies above our bed in the bedroom is encased in a layer of asbestos insulation. She wanted to know if they ever came to repair it (which of course, they didn't).
If that isn't scary enough, a piece of the insulation is cut away so the insides are exposed in one place, and we have spent the past 6 months breathing in any fibers that might have been escaping. Paul took some paper and taped it shut when he found out, but now I'm totally freaked out about that pipe and the possibility that it may be wreaking havoc with my lung walls.
The problem is that due to chaotic time when we moved in (see my blogs from October), we had to sign a document saying that we were aware the apartment was illegal in order to move in (even though we didn't know that when we gave them our deposit and first month's rent). So I don't know if we have any legal recourse to sue them for not making repairs on this pipe when we first moved in and gave them a list of all the issues we found in the apartment.

The Sun Is Back!!

And just in time for my 23rd birthday! I don't know what Paul has in store--I've asked him to keep it a secret whatever he has planned. It is kind of amazing to step back and think about how much time has passed in my life, and all the adventures I've been through (such as last night, when my back tire on my bike popped on my way home from work, or yesterday during lunch when a bird ceremoniously pooped on my left sneaker). I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful, caring people in my life, and that the San Francisco rain graciously paused right in the nick of time for me to celebrate my birthday on a brilliantly beautiful March day.

Now for my birthday wishes:
1)peace on the earth
2)ice cream for everyone

Playing Hookey in Sausalito

So I convinced Paul to play hookey yesterday and skip doing his law school work to take a long bike ride with me. We opted to try biking all the way to Sausalito. It was totally worth it, although completely exhausting (there are hills in this city, you know, and a couple across the bay as well). I had never been to Sausalito, and couldn't understand why people were so crazy about the place; from the highway it just looked like a couple of sail boats and some houses. Not much happening there.

What I didn't realize was there was an entire other section to Sausalito that wasn't visible from the highway, which was the epitome of paradise on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The weather was gorgeous, the ice cream stores were packed and time seemed to melt away as we lay down on the benches by the waterfront and soaked in the sun.

A Website to Crack You Up

This is really funny. It's a website that lists, by state, the crazy laws that are on the books. I don't know how accurate it is, but it sure is hilarious!

www.crazylaws.com/

Check out this link for a pleasant distraction

I'd like to give props to Nic for this really adorable link. It was so cute, I just had to repost it on my blog so others could check it out!


www.cse.unsw.edu.au/%7Egeoff...tery.html
(link is now fixed)

Go ahead, cheer yourself up!

SF Weather

I still haven't quite got used to SF weather. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it just a bit bizarre to wake up on a January or February morning and have the sun blinding me on my bike ride to work with its piercing glare, instead of being reflected off of snow banks. I actually started wearing sunglasses (when I remember to bring them) on the ride, because often I'm blinded for about 35% of my morning ride, which I don't think is a very smart idea considering the route I take is heavily trafficked by cars that are much much larger than I am.

So today is absolutely gorgeous--so gorgeous that I actually am beginning to understand the inclinations of self-proclaimed sun worshippers (Paul, are you listening? :P) I can't imagine it snowing, or even removing my puffy down jacket from the closet where it collects dust. I've tried to stop wearing turtlenecks to work on colder days, because it never seems quite cold enough for it. On the whole, SF is a city of layers. Clothing layers, and lots of it. Luckily, I'm a cardigan-jacket-pullover loving girl so as long as the temperature doesn't reach the height such that those extra layers become superfluous, I'm a happy camper.
But I wouldn't mind a little snow. Perhaps a sunny snow shower? One can always hope.