The Da Vinci Code review - see if you can decypher it

DbOoNr'iTn BgOsThHiEtR

Between September and Januray, I took pictures of these trees once or twice a week.



Two weeks ago they grew all their leaves back in about 10 days, but I kept forgetting the camera and missed it. So the slideshow shows only half the cycle, but it's pretty neat.

My blog is real!

Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod! This is so huge. It's bigger than Ron getting a non-secured credit card. It's so big, it's life altering. It's mind numbing. It's practically ing.

This ONLY happens to REAL bloggers. Which now officially includes me. I am now officially part of the blogosphere. I can finally say "Hello, my name is iDoc, and I'm a blogger." This is so unexpected... I just don't know what to say!

I can finally start writing about Ruby on Rails (What do you mean I have to know HTML?), whether Perl is still a valid choice for anything (Hell no! Uh, I mean, of course it is!), Linux as a desktop environment (Ain't gonna happen, honey. And yes, of course my desktop at the office runs Linux - I need it to work), what I miss the most about Israel (Hold on baby, daddy's coming next week) and why I can't stand it when Marina leaves the shampoo bottle open (mostly because it could end the world).

Yes, people. I got linked by another blog. Yay Mandy!

Why this was a great day

1. I rode my bicycle to work today. Between my shoulder pain, the hernia, and the unusually long winter, I've been aching for activity. Last weekend we got our first proper sunny day and we went on a short ride in Shoreline. It was fun, but I wanted more. This morning I finally made good on my promise (to myself) to start riding to work and I love it. The morning air is still chilly, but I got warm very quickly (one of the many benefits of being in awful shape). The five mile trip was exactly long enough to get me properly tired, but not so exhausted that I couldn't work. I got to the office feeling like a million dollars and a blowjob, took a shower in the company's quite impressive facilities, and went straight to work with a feeling of utter invincibility.
   
   
2. I had a really productive day at work. I didn't actually get ahead with the goals I had set for this week, but I got rid of a lot of peripheral stuff that was nagging for my attention and will allow me to stay focused on important stuff for the rest of the week. Basically it just felt good to stay focused on my priotities and manage to go through a whole day without getting distracted and Googling for the reason dogs get this itch in their anuses and need to drag it all over your rug to scratch it. I try to use the word "anus" once a day. It's one of my favorites.
   
   
3. A few of the guys from the office went out drinking and pooling (or is it snookering? I never remember which is which). It turned out to be an evening of laughter and merriment with the guys, and there just aren't enough of these. We sort of got hustled by sort of pool sharks who weren't that good at pool or sharking, but when I finally got to play against my friends, I did pretty well. I only wanted to spend time with friends - I didn't care at all if I won or even if I scored. But fuck if it doesn't feel better to win.
   
   
4. In the course of this evening, Ron was telling us about his friend who dropped his contact lens at the beach, found it, cleaned it with what he had available, and put it back in his eye.
   
   Ron: He just put it in his mouth.
   Mandy: Was it hard or soft?
   iDoc: Before or after he put it in his mouth?
   
   You don't get a setup like this every day. And when one comes, you take it. It just ties the whole day together.
   

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. And Me!

Yesterday we went to The City to meet with Chiara and Stefano for some food and sun. It was a beautiful day, and it wasn't too crowded, and life was beautiful.

Is that my favorite bridge behind me? Why yes, it is! Remind me to tell you about Emperor Norton Bridge some time.


Every time we visit The City, we discover something new.


I just love San Francisco.


But that's not the point of today's story. On our way back from Little Italy, we saw the real, the original, the wild, the lovable, the incredible parrots hanging out in a park. You know, The Parrots! You've read the book, you've seen the movie, now check this out!

As I'm sure everyone knows, there's a flock of parrots living in Telegraph Hill (that's in San Francisco). These are wild-born parrots, not escaped pets. It isn't clear how they got to SF and how they all found each other, but who cares? They're here and they're amazing. There were at least 30 parrots there, maybe even all 50 of them.

They were sitting in the trees


on the lamp post


in the other trees


and on me!!!


There was some bird food, probably left there by locals, and we tourists held some of it and tried to get the parrots to eat out of our hands. The parrots already know it's easier to collect food out of people's hands than out of feeders, and they were all over us in a second.

They're amazing. They can hang upside down from a leaf they're holding with only one foot, while picking a single seed out of your hand with their beak. And they manage to look smart doing it.


They will let you come close even if you don't have food, but if all you have to offer is a finger, they will try to eat it. It hurts.



If you do have some tasty seeds in your hand, they will honor you with a personal visit. The underside of their toes is smooth and softish, but they're very strong - my hands we covered with deep claw marks. They're not domesticated - if you try to touch them, you get bitten. Unless you have food, that is. As long as they're chewing food, these flying green sluts will let you pet them gently, or even sneak a belly rub. I expected them to be soft and fluffy, but feathers are very smooth and firm, in a wow soft of way. Makes sense when you think about aerodynamics, I guess. And they're just as light as David Attenborough says. (Oh how I love David. But that's also for another day.)


But as soon as their mouth is empty, play time is over. The speed of their their wings at take off, and force of they wind they generate, are awe-inspiring. Powerful little fuckers.


Grimace: contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state.
In this case, my mental state is "ohmigod ohmigod this is so awesome I can't believe I'm really here, but goddamn that sumbitch is cutting my finger off!"

I like the way we're both cocking our heads in the same direction.


And I loves me a daytime moon.


What a great day to be alive.


Go watch the whole slideshow.