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| Trader Joe's is amazing. I have know this for at least a few years, but an article in the New York Times
last week really drove the point home (the article is now only
available if you pay for Times Select, the bastards). Basically,
the piece summarized how TJ's develops its unique food products.
They send people all over the world to become experts on regional
specialties and then that expert must figure out how to package it
cheaply and deliciously. Genius! The article also said that TJ's niche market is well-travelled, well-educated, yet
underpaid folks. Bingo!
The place really has a cult following. I overheard a man at the South of
Market Trader Joe's the other week tell a staff member that he
would, "rather starve than shop at Safeway." A bold
statement! This random dude (not starving Safeway fellow) has a blog site devoted to TJ's. Madness.
Tonight I bought all sorts of delectables there- frozen whole oranges
hollowed out and filled with orange sorbet, cheddar soy crisps, dark
chocolate, various ready-to-eat Indian dishes and my very, very
favorite TJ's item- frozen berries. Yum.
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| Happy Birthday to Nathan!
This morning we went to Kabuki Springs
and Nate got a Shiatsu massage- my birthday present to him. I
went to their communal baths for the first time- and it was fun.
Not really any different from any usual jacuzzi/sauna/steam room set up,
but it was enjoyable. The atmosphere is very Buddhist, the
lighting is nice, and there is a gong to ring if people start
talking! Six days a week it is women only or men only, depending
on the day. Tuesdays are co-ed, but you must wear a bathing
suit. Really too bad if you ask me (Germans can handle co-ed
nakedness). Americans are a bit prudish.
The birthday festivities will continue tonight when people convene in the Mission at Al Hamra, which serves up some tasty Indian fare. They do
not serve alcohol, so I am bringing three bottles of red wine from
Trader Joe's to remedy that! Should be good times.
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| On Monday night, I saw a very cute movie called "Eight Below" with
my friend Becca. This was not a typical pick for me- it has eight
Huskies as the main characters. But, overall, I thought it was
rather touching and entertaining.
Julie and I continue to look for apartments. We found a great one on Craigslist,
but it is such a steal that we are pretty convinced we won't get it. We
actually offered to pay 100 bucks above asking, so maybe that will
help. We are also trying to negotiate with our landlord so that
we can stay here and not pay the full $2400 sans Philip. We are
hoping for somewhere between 2200 and 2300. Thus, the ongoing
housing saga- it is sooo expensive to get a decent two-bedroom in the
City where we want to live!
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| Watched "My Left Foot" on Sunday night. I thought it was interesting,
but strangely that the main character (Christy Brown- an Irish man who
sort of overcomes cerebral palsy) was hardly sympathetic. He was
actually a bit of an ass hole. The only time I really rooted for
him was when he was a child and everyone still thought he was mentally
retarded. Turned out that was not true. Otherwise, I
thought he was pretty annoying and obsessive. Oh well- at least
he could paint and write!
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| Happy Valentine's Day! Check out the History Channel's page on the history of Valentine's Day. Seems reasonable, but the stats that 1 billion valentines are sent thru the mail each year, and that 85%
of these are purchased by women (store bought ones, at least) are sort
of ridiculous. Saint Valentine was a man, and now women are
responsible for the vast majority of sales for this very Hallmark
holiday. Do men participate in less commercial ways- maybe they
just buy flowers, and those do not count as actual "valentines"?
What a bizarre holiday! Lots of money to be made off of American suckers.
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