The Beer Retard - November 23rd, 2001

part two of the week of the out-of-town visitors. the last time i wrote, i was looking forward to peace and quiet after a weekend of running around, drinking, smoking & eating. that didn't happen. one day of catching up on sleep and then more of the same. monday night was an all-out orgy of booze and billiards with kai and co. i had to call in sick on tuesday because i was all the way across town with no way to get home. that didn't bother me much. we went bowling on tuesday afternoon and then kai was on his way to sackatomato. another day of rest and recovery and then my sister and bro-in-law were back from the wine country. we went out for pasta in north beach on wednesday evening and then had a few beers afterward.

one of the places we went was the pena pacha mama. this is my crazy aunt's place...a bolivian restaurant that has live music featuring her band, sukay, and other south american music. i'd avoided this place like the plague cos my aunt's a pretty flaky person, but we decided to drop by since we were in the neighborhood. it was alright. the music seemed interesting, but the clientele was strictly dorky white folks. i don't remember seeing so many rich, dorky white folks in one place since my last trip to a museum.

for thanksgiving, we went to a restaurant by the embarcadero. i don't have much to say about this. like most meat-centric places, they had a token vegetarian offering which was less than inspiring. i found myself wishing i'd had tofurky. but it was good to spend the evening with family and francesca, so i'm not going to be petty and dwell on it. after dinner, we saw monsters inc.</u>. i enjoyed it more than i thought i would. despite some sappy parts, it was funny and the animation was flat-out amazing.

today's the last day of my sister's stay. i think she wants to go to the MOMA. there's some ansel adams exhibit going on. since it's her last day, i guess i'll go and wander among the sea of dorky white folks and look at some photographs. but i won't be buying anything today if i can help it. that's right. today is buy nothing day. and with king george's war in full swing, the ideas behind buy nothing day take on greater significance. we're being told to keep spending money to support our economy and the war. what better way to protest both the war and rampant consumerism then to say no...even just for one day. cheers...