Stream-of-Consciousness Linkage

I. The Fool Hath Said in Her Heart, There Are No Raccoons in Hyde Park...

So, I suppose this is completely illogical, but I never considered the possibility that there might be raccoons in Hyde Park. I always thought that it was too urban for raccoons-- clearly ignoring the fact that there are a) bunnies in Hyde Park and b) raccoons in San Francisco. Anyway, I was pretty certain that the squirrels would out-compete them. This is clearly illogical, as raccoons eat garbage and Hyde Park squirrels have moved to a higher evolutionary plane.*

My naivete was crushed when a certain roommate left a bag of kitchen garbage on our back porch overnight, and it was discovered by some four-footed scavengers. Lucky for us, our (crazy) landlady had left a bag of sheetrock on the porch-- which was subsequently torn open by our little ring-tailed friends. The result: a back-porch covered in the mark of Sauron. If Sauron had been a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed menace to campsites everywhere.



The prints were swept up, and we didn't see any more until Monday night/Tuesday morning, when they had a fight on our back porch-- which I only heard because I was up all night packing to go home.

II. Only in California

I first took an interest in today's Chronicle article on the Sausalito houseboats because one of my good friends in High School (one of the few I didn't hate by the time I left) lived on one, and wrote her College essay about the experience.

"When we go on vacation," she wrote, "my family does not go camping."

It didn't end up being too interesting an article, but I thought that the following paragraph was particularly emblematic of Bay Area history:

To apply for the permit, the owners -- Steckler Pacific Marina -- need to show they have title to the land over which the houseboats are anchored.

They can't because the marina is located over a subdivision, albeit an underwater one, which includes underwater streets that are owned by Marin County. These are underwater streets with names, no less. Among the affected underwater streets are Manzanita, Pescadero, Eureka, Donahue and Teutonia.

The streets and the privately owned parcels they connect were created when California decided to sell state-owned tidelands in 1868.

All around the Bay, parcels which at the time were underwater were sold at auction under the assumption they would eventually be filled.

Some things, you just can't parody. Entire article found here.

III. Leah Garchik, How I Missed Thee...

I know, I know, I should just start checking her column online. I've missed her witty social-and-otherwise reporting. She's being touted as "The New Herb Caen". I buy it.

Sean Wilsey says the talk at Cody's on Saturday was about great moments in the soon-to-close Telegraph Avenue store's history, "like the time Salman Rushdie came out of hiding, post fatwa, to give a reading with 15 minutes' notice. There's still a hole in the ceiling and some charred bookshelves because Cody's was bombed for selling 'The Satanic Verses.' '' Whatever business occupies the space, maybe the hole can be landmarked.

Leah Garchik archives

For you easterners who don't know Herb Caen, think of it as a one-man "Talk of the Town". Although not quite as good as "Talk of the Town".**

IV. In other news of the cute and furry...

The Daily Kitten

This one is particularly brain-meltingly cute.

V. Celtic Philology

Ran into some friends, one from Breck, the other from Medieval Studies, who happen to be engaged and getting themselves wedded this weekend. A lengthly conversation in re*** my summer in Wales and the poor quality of Celtic philology ensued, in which I mentioned the dangers of the Celtic linguistics section of the Reg-- which he hadn't visited. About an hour later I ran into him on the first floor of the Reg,**** carrying somewhere between 6-10 books (they were so precariously balanced it was hard to estimate). "Alice!" he said. "I was bamboozled by the Celtic Philology section!"

That gave me a good and much needed laugh.

VI. Damned Dragons
I've been wasting time playing the simple, stupid, frustrating, and incredibly addicting Mystic Inn. Don't click, for the love of time management.

Is it more frustrating than that laser game from first year? I don't know. And I've lost the link again, so I can't test it. Which is probably a good thing.

VII. For A.B. and D.K.

Now that you're done with that class, you'll get a litttle kick out of this old post I found while looking for the abovementioned laser game.

VIII. Le Vostre GC

More brilliance from Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blogge:"The Ocks Men".

THE YONGE MAGICALE BOWMEN FROGGES: Thes IV frogges dide swimme yn the streme nere an alchesmistes hous and thus touched by sorcerie did wexe large and stronge un til they weren as talle as men. Thei weren trayned by an hedgehog ycleped Shivere and haue lernede the artes of werre for to defende Engelonde. Augustinus doth fight with an longebowe, Ambrosius wyth an shorte bowe, Gregorius wyth two crossbowes, and Hieronymus doth kepe the arwes for the reste. Thei dwellen yn the seweres undir Londoun and eten blancmange wyth much relishe.

_________________

* I direct you to Steven-from-Breck-but-not-Lucy's story of running into a squirrel carrying an entire Baby Ruth candy bar.
** Yes, I'm a The New Yorker addict. I've read James Thurber's The Years With Ross multiple times and I own almost everything published by E.B. White. And I'm from San Francisco. Your problem is...?
*** from the latin, preposition + ablative.
****Sukie/Suki/Suqui says that when her father was a grad student at the U o' C, they used to call the Reg "Joe's", and they'd invariably follow their trips to Joe's with trips to Jimmy's.