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Yes, this is Yoda’s butt. And it amuses me. And I think it sets up some of these other random thoughts I’m having this evening.

Like this shot from this weekend. Jeff and I headed down the peninsula Saturday to visit one of the local malls. Well, the holiday frenzy had already began, so we had to find parking near the Sears…which was oddly vacant. So…note to Sears: you will never beat hip Target at their game if you use bad graduation photos to highlight your photo studio. Inside Sears, we passed displays hastily constructed of cardboard and racks of cheap trinkets. If this is the best Sears can do, then they really do deserve to go out of business.

On Sunday, we drove north to Sonoma and hit a couple of wineries. The day was gray and cold, but I did catch this moody shot of birds on a wire. We visited a couple of new wineries, including Nicholson Ranch…where the friendly wine pourer asserted that broccoli wrapped in bacon and served with butter and garlic might cure my broccoli phobia…and put me in the grave, frankly. (He then went on to suggest replacing the broccoli with a second type of bacon: bacon wrapped in bacon with butter and garlic!) Well, he sold a couple of bottle of wine in any case.

Today was a bit of a blur, that began with a couple of fillings at the dentist. This rain shot pretty much captures the mood 🙂 My dentist seems to be a bit keen on keeping the cash flow up. Until I visited him, I had never had a single filling. Since them, I have had four…just to be sure. Honestly, I buy the logic…but tell me that doesn’t seem a BIT coincidental.

When I arrived in the office early this morning, long dramatic sunbeams were lighting up the walls, turning them into dramatic canvases. I only had my Treo this morning, so this picture is quite pixelated, but I still like how the image worked.

Ready or not, the Christmas decor appeared in Starbucks this morning, and I jumped in with both feet–I bought my first gingerbread latte of the season. Normally, I resist for a couple of weeks, because I’m stubborn and feel like “its too early for Christmas”. Well, not this year. This mind-altering-drug in a cup is just what the doctor ordered to perk up my mood.

My first sip brought a smile to my face. Yum.

I would never survive in politics, because deep down I’m an idealist. I trust people. I want to like everybody. And I see the world in black and white…good and evil. So, I would just be depressed in politics, where a sliver of hope is spun into glorious victory.

Take the email I received this morning from the Human Rights Campaign, touting the headline “Election 2006 – We did it!”, citing Democrat victories and the rejection of an anti-gay marriage amendment in Arizona. Well, for kicks, I checked out a “family values” website, which was crowing with the headline “Marriage Amendments Seven for Eight on Election Day 2006: Majority of States Now Define Marriage as One Man, One Woman”. Further, the good people of Colorado decided to vote FOR an amendment to ban gay marriage AND defeated a law to allow for domestic partnerships.

So, I’m having a hard time being a “glass is half full” guy, even though I do see that the world is becoming more tolerant. In politics, you really do have to treasure those two steps forward, in spite of the steps backwards.

I will close with a request to the crusaders for the sanctity of marriage. Please get your own house in order before lashing out at others. I found it ironic that on the same news pages noting the new marriage amendments were the early reports of Britney Spears’ divorce–her second after her first 55-hour marriage. It was only the first divorce for Britney’s husband…who met Britney while his girlfriend at the time was pregnant with his child.

I’m not anti-marriage. I just think its not as exclusive as we might be told. Marriage is what you make of the relationship, not how its codified in the Constitution.

Really…I’m off my soapbox…again.

A common feature in many SF homes is a lightwell. Ours is wonderfully situated, and brings light into our main bathroom, the guest room, and (via a stained glass window) the stairway.

Nevertheless, the previous owners neglected our lightwell, and we just finished re-painting it and filling its floor with peaceful river rocks. The final step will be to find an appropriate stainless steel planter.