Steer me, but don't deter me.

Reverberations from that hit and run in October (stupid bitch) still ring. Apparently, my car's left steering knuckle was cracked or whatever during the accident and has progressively been deteriorating. The Toyota in San Rafael has somehow continuously missed this damage, despite working on the tie rod (which connects to the steering knuckle. I am very savvy now. If you would like to be so savvy, go here).

Long story short? Steering knuckle allows you to turn your front wheels. Mine began to rapidly malfunction while driving in the Mission Monday evening, but I was able to hobble my car home (slowly) and hobble further to SF Toyota in the morning. But it was pretty freakin jacked; the steering was going out. To get my car to drive straight, my wheel had to be turned with the top of it at 9 o'clock, if you can picture the steering wheel as a clock.

Chills would be a subtle word to describe my thoughts on this. Just Sunday, less than 24 hours before rapid deterioration of the steering knuckle, I was driving with Bill and Brandon up near Willits, on windy Highway 101. While driving, we remarked on the beauty of NorCal, with the mountain canyons and curvy roads. Now, I reflect on them as beautiful, but also with the clarity of a near-miss.

............really?

So, basically, if you follow the rules of responsibility and adulthood and schedule regular maintenance on your teeth and car, you end up with the following: A sore jaw and a car in the shop because they royally screwed up a minor repair.

Nutshell? Pain and Inconvenience.

Awesome.

In the crowd, there was vibe

Last night, I went to the Great American Music Hall and saw a completely rad show. Both opener and headliner enthralled me; I didn't even get sleepy despite it being a school night. Arrived early to catch Yeasayer, stayed late to see Man Man. If you can imagine indie hipster going tribal, that was the vibe of the evening. The best thing about Man Man was that they seemed totally haphazard, as if they were just a bunch of guys that came upon all these instruments on a stage (keys, guitar, one of those piano flute things, tons of drums) and just decided to mess around a make music....and the music just happened to sound amazing. Couldn't help but shake it, stomp the feet.

Pitchfork media has a new video division. They did a 7-ish-minute piece called "Man Man: In the Studio." The clip gives a good idea of what the dudes and their music are like. Pretty freakin' cool:

A conversation, if you will.

Me: Oh my god. Look.

Bill: Whoa.
Me: Oh my god. Look!

Bill: Whoa. Imagine if it was summer and you were in, like, a hot stuffy car with that guy. Do you think it would smell sweet?

Me: Oh my god. Ew.

Bettina! Bettina! (Galway, Ireland, 2000)

There were Italians in our housing that couldn't believe her name was "little betty" and always insisted on saying it twice. Bettina! Bettina! Their enthusiasm was contagious and only slightly indicative of the energy and vivacity of this woman who's small stature could barely contain her. In Dublin, we ran around, giving bananas to street folk and walking way too far in a given day. In Davis, we hid from stuffy rooms and I gave her mugs. In San Francisco, we had our Tarot cards read in the early morning hours and a woman told her to stop wearing dark brown and black.

Now, she lives in Canada. Now, she is finishing her PhD in Native American Studies. And, now, Bettina is having a baby....a wee baby boy!

Bettina! Bettina! (love!love!)

In SC, this is what you can see.

Early in the morning last Saturday, we all went early to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz to see Miss T run her half marathon. She finished 10 minutes early! YAY tara!
A lot of my family was up at the ranch in the Santa Cruz mountains. We were all awake very early; the men in the fam were up to cut wood in the orchard, and I was heading to Tara's race. I went around taking some photos:

Body, my uncle's dog. Super cute and friendly (alittle tooooo so).

the ranch house

woodcutters

My sister and cousins all learned to drive stick shift in this jeep. My sister drove it into an apple tree. It is WAY older than I am and still runs! I somehow missed out on driving lessons, but that may have been because the orchard trees were becoming a precious commodity.

I said frak yesterday on accident.

Every weekend has been full of the run around lately, and work has been more work and less play. Turning a new leaf is somewhat hard, but being adult and responsible and efficient and thorough makes you just feel better, rather than stagnant and full of slacker-dom. Putting one foot in front of the other gets you places, but I'd rather add a little swing, a little sass to my step.

It's windy out today. Here's where I have been.