Sunday, October 31, 2004
I laughed twice recently while reading about products in the Cyberguys fall/winter 2004 catalog. One item is called the Forever Flashlight—it has magnetic coils inside and you shake it in order to generate power for the flashlight—no batteries needed. However, if it's supposed to last "forever," why does it have only a one-year warranty? The headline for the other funny item said, "Compliment your Metal Case with an All-Aluminum Keyboard" and in smaller print below it also said, "(Keys are not aluminum)." Breakfast at Baghdad Cafe: Patrick had the western scramble and coffee and I had the croissant breakfast sandwich and a chai tea. We bought a housewarming present (Carson Kressler reads Off the Cuff on CD-ROM) for Tony Q at Books Inc. Laundry. Car wash at Divisadero Car Wash. Prepared for the road trip. Drove to Sacramento. Dinner at Chevy's in Fairfield with Patrick: I had lemon rosemary tacos. Patrick had a soft chicken taco with a pig tamale. The chicken in my tacos was very dry, as was the rice. Checked in to our bed and breakfast in Sacramento. It's called The Inn at Parkside (916-658-1818, 800-995-7275, 2116 Sixth Street, Sacramento CA 95818), which we found pretty easily with directions and maps from Mapquest. Phillip very professionally and efficiently greeted us and checked us in to our room, which was called Passion (qing re). It used to be the residence of one Mr. Fong, an official representative to the United States from Nationalist China prior to 1949. The decor of the hotel was inspired by the house's history: Chinese antiques and replicas, many photographs of the Fong family, and Chinese artwork. Our bedroom was tastefully appointed with a queen-sized dark wood bed; an entertainment cabinet with TV, DVD player, and CD boombox with a relaxation CD; Chinese art (wood carvings, statues, paintings); antique chairs and lamps; a Hurley ceiling fan with remote control. Our bathroom was surprisingly large with a mirrored vanity in front of a full wall mirror at one end and a 2-person jacuzzi tub at the other. In between were the toilet, the sink, and a faux fireplace which generated heated air. The bath rugs were particularly plush. The main parlor was closed for remodeling, so in place of their normal wine and cheese at 8:00 PM, they instead gave us a bottle of 2003 Black Swan cabernet sauvignon from southeast Australia in our room. After checking in around 3:30 PM, we changed into our costumes and drove to Tony Q's house. We wore this year's costumes for (hopefully) the last time—me as gladiator and Patrick as 1960s/70s love hippie. Patrick, Scott T, Andy M, Michael, and Brian L practiced free love in Tony's bedroom. We met Drew and Philippe, Marija, Nathanial C (1970s disco queen), Michael, Armando and Paul, Andy, Irwin, Franky, Shai Justin Thomas Yeck; Tony's siblings: Christina, Danny; Christina's boyfriend. Tony was again dressed as a friar. Others there we already knew included Scott (Japanese tourist) and Andy (white spirit), Brian, Galen (military dude). Andy's costume was an all white stretchy fabric which nearly covered him from head to toe. I had just finished telling him "Andy, your costume is a food disaster waiting to happen" when he accidentally spilled Hawaiian Punch down the front of his costume. Somehow, magically, it all came out with a few quick brushes of the hand, but we all had a great laugh over the incident and my ability to instantly jinx him. Andy demonstrated how he is a human interface to babynamer.com. I learned who Sneeper is tonight. I demonstrated my 500,000-candlepower flashlight for Andy, Scott, and Galen. Tony let Andy M use his computer to look something up on the Web then foolishly left the room. Andy proceeded to continue Tony's chats in IRC but saying things like "I AM SO HORNY!!!" Food, food, FOOD! Chicken drumsticks, chao siu bao, giant potstickers, chili, Doritos, salad, cupcakes, candy. Drinks: the popular drink of the night was some drink where you mix blue curacao with beer. Where were Travis and Steve? (We'd heard that Travis fell ill.)