Offbeat

There is a great awkward scene from just about every teen movie I can remember growing up – the boy and girl are getting passionate, but before anything ‘happens’ he realizes he needs a condom. He heads to the local pharmacy where getting the condoms involves dealing with (a) the girl’s father (b) another authority figure (c) the girl he REALLY loves (d) some combination of these or another cliche. This isn’t used as much today since most people can stroll anonymously into a local Walmart and avoid the difficulty entirely … well, not entirely: the people working there are…

When I was growing up, the echoes of the 60’s and early 70’s protests along with the brutal police response lingered heavily along with the post-Vietnam era … and as more civil protests and cooperative ways to try to change things, so too did the police response – and the outfits they wore. I was flipping through an old copy of a local paper that covered the school walkout in 1981 at the announcement of the impact of the Proposition 2.5 cutbacks on the school. The headline said 200 walked out and there were 5 arrests. The images showed a…

As adults we see so many different good and bad things in our lives; some we would change and others we wouldn’t change even if we could. As we grow we have friends and family who experience joys and tragedies and are reminded that life is just too short and can end in a moment without warning. This Thanksgiving I had my brother in my house – not his family, just him … because after nearly 25 years of marriage he is facing divorce. Which comes on the heels of my sister whose divorce finalized the day before her 20th…

Image courtesy Zap2It Everything is turned up to 11 as we frantically approach Black Friday and the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. If you watch network television, you have likely seen and heard two amazingly annoying ads: Kohl’s ‘Rebecca Black Friday’ commercial and Target’s ads featuring the simpering presumed cokehead who hasn’t slept in days. Have you seen these? Well, here they are! [poll id=”9″] Are there other annoying ads you want to share? Link them in the comments! Also, what are your plans for Black Friday?

Scott Weaver used 1000,000 toothpicks, about 30,000 hours and Elmer’s Glue to create a visually stunning 9′ tall masterpiece with five different “ping-pong tours” through the various San Francisco landmarks. I have used different brands of toothpicks depending on what I am building. I also have many friends and family members that collect toothpicks in their travels for me. For example, some of the trees in Golden Gate Park are made from toothpicks from Kenya, Morocco, Spain, West Germany and Italy. The heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made out of toothpicks people threw at our wedding. This…