may we all be

merry.

A sad thing. A sign of the times.

I just got off the phone with Bill Laube, manager and previous owner of the Pleasanton Hotel. I was trying to schedule a 40th wedding anniversary dinner for my parents on the 3rd of January; Mare and Gare LOVE the Pleasanton Hotel. The building is such a fixture in Pleasanton, and while the old fashioned yellow was much more appealing to me, it remains a historic part of the town complete with that renowned underground tunnel to Gay Nineties Pizza.

The hotel is closing. The news made me want to cry. If his voice on the phone was any giveaway, Bill Laube is pretty distraught as well -- he has been at the hotel for 25 years. As of Janurary 1st, in her quest to sell the business and building in the declining market, the current landlord is closing it's doors. Permanently.

I know a lot of us don't go to the Pleasanton Hotel. There are many more "hip" places in Pleasanton to have a drink. I just ask you, at some point before 2008 bids adieu, to pop in, have a drink, and give a kind word to Bill and the staff. This really is a sad thing.

(for more info on the history of the Pleasanton hotel and current staff, go here.)

(a)Musings

10:32 AM Co: how are you this week?me: good, busy, but functioning and I'd say 85% pleasant. :)

Although there was a crying baby in Ross a couple days ago that almost made me lose my shit. Thank god our emotions don't show themselves like boners.

Co: seriously, emotions are more like incontinence...concealable for a limited amount of time

me: YES

Co: sometimes i feel like i need black pants for my feelings

Gluttony Named Desire (also known as holiday cookie extravaganza)

Click collage to enlarge.

i have been running around, running amuck

I read the other day that blogs are cluttering the ether. It made me think of all the little wooden boxes I had on my vanity and how last night I literally slid them off with a sweep of my arm and then hid them inside a closed bookshelf. The vanity looked open and calm.

I worry about clutter, since I clutter so easily.

Girl Crush

Girl at Front Desk at Gym: "So, my friends and I totally have a dinkiest ponytail contest going on. You win."

Wassail

And so begins my favorite time of year. The foods with the cinnamon, the drinks all warm and social, the weather chilly on the outside, but warm and snuggly in. Boots and skirts, with the occasional scarf. Granted, I just spent the weekend up in Sea Ranch, where it was beautiful and, dare I say, balmy, but the twinge of fall is still in the air. Holiday parties, Thanksgiving food dishes, knitting hats, making presents to give...it's all there. For the next two months? Color me content. And my coffee will be flavored with soy nog.

***

Prepare to be mesmerized:
live puppy cam
oh, and.

Obamafication

fingers crossed

Unexpected

Unless you have been under a really freaking huge rock, you know today is election day. And you know you should vote. There are a ton of issues on the ballot (not just President!) that deserve our utmost attention...and people are coming out in droves. In the inner sunset, a little old Irish lady has the neighborhood polling station in her garage every election. There are old historical photos of San Francisco and Ireland on every wall surface that isn't covered in books. She gives us "I Voted" stickers, and usually there are cookies. Today, no cookies, but a line all the way to the corner that was just as satisfying.

I have my opinions. I know today is important. But what surprised me was the amount of intensity I felt when filling out my ballot this morning. I was overwhelmed. I wanted my little black line connecting the arrow ends to be capital letters, to be a howler, to yell at the scanner machine and somehow make my little mark louder and more impacting. Even now, I can feel it in my chest, the passion for some things to happen and the fear that others will. And I become thankful. And hopeful.