Saturday, April 24, 2004
Some stranger whose username on Skype was lontek called me out of the blue (on Skype) while I was preparing my morning oatmeal. He claimed to be from the south of England, wanted to know what my favorite film was—whether I liked Shrek. Whether I liked taking photos. What the time and weather in San Francisco was. (I wanted to give him a URL so he could look it up himself—ha! No, I didn't, really.) He was really weird to talk to because we didn't have any common interests besides using Skype and because I could hear someone with him telling him what to say. "My English isn't very good..." (delay) "...because I'm from..." (and then I heard the other person said "Poland") "...Poland." Our call only lasted 7 minutes 31 seconds. I suppose now I could do a testimonial for Skype: "It gives me the power to receive strange calls from around the world for free!" And to think I turned off Club 977 (which was playing Michael Sambello's "Maniac") for that! Finished my oatmeal. Tidied up around the house: folded clothes, did dishes. Cut my hair, took a shower. Looked in Google Directory for things I might find interesting. Learned what letterboxing, geocaching, and spelology are. Radio listening today: frequence3.org—French Webradio live from Paris. Another stranger on Skype tried calling me when I was in the shower: xaranon - Klaus Kater from Germany. I didn't call him back - I presume these kinds of calls are just people who are trying out Skype for the first time and want proof it works. I planned to meet BK for ice cream after his bike ride, but they weren't home when I arrived a few hours later. I walked to the Castro, got blueberry ice cream in a plain cone at Ben and Jerry's, then hung out with Jesse who was working at All American Boy. BK and Kelly got home from their ride a little late, and the 3 of us went to Firewood for dinner: roast chicken and potatoes with plain water for me, roast chicken and salad with iced tea for BK, beets and some other veggie with Orangina for Kelly. Went back to their place. Eric H and Simma were there. Eric was watching a South Park episode. Simma was cooking a Persian soup called Osh (but I'm not sure about the spelling). Eric showed me his professional quality photos of orchids from his recent trip to Ecuador—orchidphotos.org—and I was impressed and amazed. Others showed up later: Nico, Nina, Jesse. We got a visit from drag queens, photos were taken, laughs were had. We sat down lateish for Simma's soup—delicious. Three kinds of beans, noodles (ingredients: noodles), garlic, onion, and other things I didn't see her put in. For dessert, chickpea cookies and rich, sweet baklava.