More Baby Feet!

Picking up the slack for SFS and posting a picture of Mo.  I vaguely recall chewing on my feet as a child.

Strange day at Chez Crewtonz

This evening somebody slipped a book into my car. The car was parked in front of my house with the windows ajar. The book was one that I really wanted, I saw it when I visited the Design Museum on Shad Thames. I was able to leave the bookstore without buying said book since I have a rule about purchasing books while traveling. Instead, I would order it from Amazon when I returned home. Fast forward seven months and the book was on my car seat. There was no card accompanying the book, nor was there an inscription. I asked the wife about the book, she responded, "No, but I wish I had." I have no idea who could have given me such a fantastic gift. To whoever it was out there, "THANK YOU FOR THE BOOK, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!!"

Strange indeed.

While I am here at it, another picture of Sebastian Good Vibes!

Quit harshin' my buzz.

Dining alone can be a fab experience

Today was lazy. Meandering around with my little pal today I hit the following points of interest - Chateau Harder (CR's abode), coffee with CR, the hospital and lunch with the wife, hanging out with my little pal at home listening to unreleased Velvet Underground thanks to CR.

At coffee an elderly lady stared intently at my little pal and proclaimed, "He is a master, I can tell. I can feel strong positive vibrations coming from him." She waved her hand around his stomach like he was a crystal ball. She asked for my little pal's name. She commented, "Sebastian is a strong name ... of course, what else would it be for a master." This is the second time an older white lady has made these types of pronouncements about my little pal. Do they know something I do not?

Over coffee, CR and I discussed various models of female worth. This is entirely irrelevant to me as I am happily married. His models were grounded in age specific cost-benefit analyses. My model consisted of a hole in the ground or a tree.

In the evening, the two of us (little pal and I) went to a local eatery in Carmel Valley. It is really nothing special, a family restaurant in a suburban strip mall setting.While waiting for a seat at the bar, I spotted the Realness of Carmel Valley. Imagine a 60 year old Asian man with a dense white shock of hip hair, the tightest ladies sloping v-neck shirt, the tightest pants known to mankind and a teddy bear. He sat alone at a table enjoying (to the n-th degree as n goes to infinity) his meal. Before each bite, he relinquished the morsel to his dining companion - the teddy bear. He was blissfully unaware of the stares he garnered

He shared a strong esemblance - facial, hair and body type wise - to CR's friend EA, if EA was a sixty year old flaming Asian male. He was the queen of Carmel Valley and for once I would not have minded being a royal subject. He was having the most fun in all of SD at that exact moment. Watching him made me re-consider the idea that dining alone in a bland suburban eatery could be a "fabuloso" experience (on the order of imbibing large quantities of high grade drugs). After paying his bill, he danced his way out the door. At birth, he likely danced his way right out the womb.

Who is this gentleman??? I need to know.

Assholes from the desert

A closer analysis of Spring in San Diego reveals a transient abundance of Zonies. For those of you not in the know, "Zonie" as defined in the Urban Dictionary refers to -

Short of [sic] Arizonian, these people invade local beach towns in California during the summer causing traffic jams, and straight up annoying the population of the local town [sic].

i.e.,
Person #1: Damn zonies fucking invade San Diego every summer!
Person #2: Fuck i [sic] know! They need to get their own damn town!

*Note the gratuitous usage of the F word and syntactical violations, these are common in the English language as spoken with the San Diego vernacular.

This morning, my little pal and I almost died from one of these douchebags. Driving down the freeway I spied a lifted truck, with half-a-dozen unsecured long boards in the flatbed, merging onto the freeway. Because the boards were not strapped down, there was a high probability of them becoming hazardous to my little pal and I's health. As a responsible parent, I changed lanes from the slow lane to the adjacent one to avoid this truck. The truck merged onto the freeway 15 mph faster than is safe and proceeded to change another lane (the lane I was in) without shoulder checking or signaling. The boards jostled about and appeared about to become airborne. I quickly swerved out of my lane. Luckily there was no other cars in the adjacent lane, otherwise you would be reading about my little pal and I in the newspaper. I then noticed the truck had Arizona plates. I hope the people in that truck get stabbed in PB/OB/MB tonight (p>0.65).

Talking to CR after the incident, we hypothesized they likely surfed Scripps and were on their way back to their MB boardwalk house rental. So predictable ....

Absolute Beginners

Summer is peaking her head at Chez Crewtonz, I missed her terribly this winter. Prior to her visit, Spring made a brief stop-over. With the company of my little pal, warm evening breezes and leafy green mysteries as seen through my bedroom window, I am re-reading one of my favourite novels - Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes. As a metaphor, my little pal is an absolute beginner - the emergent self in a new soul.

In other news, the renovations are coming to an end. The bookshelf was completed, the 3Form panels have been installed. The layout and color scheme came about during a late night conversation in Wapping with my English cousin. She came up with the brilliant idea of the color singleton! If you catch me in a whimsical mood (i.e., drunk), I'll explain the post post-modern idea behind the design scheme that links Francis Bacon, Peter Fowler and color-opponent processing in extrastriate visual cortex. The 3Form bathroom panels were installed today as well, I cannot wait to use the commode. I suppose the experience will be similar to defecating within a green jello shot.


Better photos to come. I need to ply CR with Boddingtons to entice him to take pictures. CR is my SD consultant for all things photography. There are a lot of phonies around, but CR is the realness.

Shit talking.

Of note recently, I have been able to spend time with old acquaintances with and without my little pal. I am sure he is absorbing all the verbiage like a linguistic sponge. 

Tonight over quite an enjoyable dinner at the Kensington, an individual in the dinner party ejaculated into the conversation the following inquiry, "Does he rape you during sex?" The other guest is of Chinese descent and is seeing a Japanese gentleman. 

Another outing included said dining partner and one of my science colleagues. My colleague, who is the smartest scientist I am quite fortunate to have as a friend, made this astute observation, "If you are a giving a blow job to a dude, you are gay..  No questions about it." Imagine this statement coming from a  mind whose IQ exceeds 200 easily .

I mentioned to the rape comment colleague the other day, "I distinctly remember forgetting that piece of information."

Makin' Time

To counter the previous crass post, I have posted a baby picture (clothing by Marks and Spencer).

Due to a recent paucity of time for workouts, my recovery pace has increased from seven to eight mins/mile. Sigh ... The eight minute pace feels effortful, whereas last fall the same pace felt absolutely glacial. I need to pick a target race and start the training regime again.

Led Zeppelin has been on constant play at Chez Crewtonz. I have always opined that early Zeppelin borrowed liberally the vocal stylings of Steve Marriott from the Small Faces. Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love (1969) = Small Face's You Need Loving (1966) - listen to the middle eighth. It is rumored that Marriott was Page's first choice for the band. Other songs from the early Zeppelin catalog sound like The Pretty Things SF Sorrow lp.

I feel a little naked tonight

Yo, guess who's back? I finally have something to write about...my ass! So that growth on my ass has not reduced in swelling for an entire week. It was especially painful today so I got myself to the doctor's office because I'm worried it's a cyst/boil and not a simple pimple.

So i whip my pants off in front of the doc the conversation was something like this:

Doc: Whoa, ok...ummm...let me lock the door first to give you some privacy.

Me: Don't worry about it. Really, I don't mind.

Doc: No no, I'll lock the door. Yup, it's kinda pusy, let me get a swab test, I'll be right back. Put your pants back on.

Me: No really, it's no problem.

Doc: Jesus, just get behind that curtain!!

So he gave me some antibiotics and topical cream to hopefully reduce the swelling. I just looked at it was more swollen and blue/black in color. Damn, I forgot to take a photo before putting the cream and a band-aid on.

Who wants to see this?

Until LT comes up with blog gold, this blog has effectively become a baby picture blog.

How does it feel to feel.

Sebastian's first Christmas came and went. To truly appreciate how mind blowing this is, imagine your greatest high. I can think of multiple times where I thought I would never come down (Cal Greek Theater, Pop Scene, Cream Rave, Vice party at the Pussy Cat Lounge, Amsterdam etc ...). Now multiply that by a hundred to get a sense of how it feels to feel.

Chiller than most

Oh hi, it's Sebastian Goodvibes. The inventor of laughs, Fridays, perfect
nipples, finding money, and girlfriends that get along with everyone you
like.

The triumph of life

Fate has a new driver - existentialism was solved 10/13/08 7:43 am.

Powder room

Fall has been a busy season. Renovations and travels filled September. The wedding in East London was lovely, best wishes to my cousin and groom.

The imminent arrival of the bump has quickened the glacial pace of the powder room renovation. Prior, the room was unfriendly, garish, dark and ornate - fake patina, unnecessary bathroom accessories.

With new eyes, I reformulated the primary aims: 1) open the space with natural light; 2) simplify planes; 3) provide a light source to the adjacent hallway. This clarity is directly associated with the recent sojourn in my birth city.

Adding the sky light lessens the prior claustrophobia associated with the space. A simple and economical mirror light solution provides a pleasant glow (the dry wall is a mock-up of the mirror). The ceiling height was increased by seven inches by moving pipes.

The door jam detail is simplified by using Douglas Fir and aluminum "L" channel. The Douglas Fir door jam ties the powder room with the rest of the house. The "L" channel ($1.50/ft) provides a clean transition between wood, drywall and secret product.

"I GOT A BIG BAG OF WEED AND COLD CAN OF BEER!!!"

RZL DZL lp.

This record makes me hungry. I love how the flipside is pizza crust.

Pretty much finished.

Here are final pictures before I close the front door.


Picture 1 - Bamboo detail underneath kitchen counter. Initially there was Doug Fir on the vertical face. In the end I choose bamboo instead for a cleaner transition. Why introduce an unnecessary third material?


Pictures 2-3. The 3Form pieces have yet to arrive for the back light effect. In the mean time I found pieces of ABET in the attic to fill the spaces. Homepride Fred stands guard over my books. If you look closely you can see who taught me how to dress gazing into the kitchen.


Pictures 4-5. The upper and lower staircase. By using glass, the hand rail does not take away from the bamboo and Doug Fir details.

Sitting at home gives me an immense feeling of satisfaction. Good design is necessary for clean living under difficult circumstances.

Fight back to school.

Renovations are nearing the end. I learned loads during the design and build. As well, I can compare our build to the neighbor's renovations and CR's preliminary designs.

Things I learned.

1. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) - Limiting the materials equals less transitions, transitions are difficult. My neighbor incorporated eight different materials in his kitchen. The kitchen resembles multiple kitchens simultaneously from different issues of Dwell Magazine - in other words, his kitchen is cluttered and confused.

2. Absence can be used to define space.

3. 50% of the total wattage in the kitchen must come from fluorescent light fixtures.

4. Cable rails are not code in SD county as off 2008 .

5. Good design does not mean spending tosh cash, nor does it mean using "fashionable" modern build accessories (i.e., cable rails, Zebra wood, Miller chairs). It is poor form to rely on these items to mimic good design.

6. Good form always follows function.

7. I need to keep my mouth shut when I look at other people's builds. They do not want to hear that their house looks like a Design Within Reach showroom. Most people who call themselves a designer are laughable. Chris's engineer friend calls herself an architect because she worked for a construction firm. Last time I checked, an architect is a certified professional. This is equivalent to saying, Chris is an gladiator because he watched an entire season of American Gladiator.

Small block pt 2.

Big Drill Car is playing! They are playing a few reunion shows this summer. We have tickets for the first night in Huntington Beach (much thanks to Martin at Giant Robot)!!! BDC, ALL, Descendents and The Chemical People were my soundtrack to high school. The singer of BDC married a local girl, Penny Swanson. They got divorced years later. She returned to Edmonton and opened Cafe Mosaics on Whyte Ave. During dates in high school I went to Cafe Mosaics often, it was the "alternative" place to be.

The rest of the bookshelf and countertop were installed. I saw Gustavo this morning. He has little things to adjust still.

Small block

Gustavo and his crew are half-way done with the bookcase install. The floating shelves and counter-top are next to be installed. We still need to choose the plastic for the back of the bookcase.


While unpacking kitchen items I came across a pencil holder my old office mate made for the wife. It was fabricated from a solid block of stainless steel with 15 holes drilled into it. Apparently it took 40 minutes for each hole to be drilled. The block goes well with the cabinets.

Turf Fight Club

The same guy fucked me twice tonight at the Turf Club. First instance was him fucking with our food at the grill. Second instance he kept on elbowing the pregnant wifey. Both times I told him to fuck off. Both times he complained to his girlfriend about me. The second time I yelled at him extra and flipped off the girlfriend. Darren and I were ready to fight. I hate dudes who wear untucked vertical striped shirts, him and his friends were squishy Gaslamp dudes. Of course the odds of victory would have been better if Chris actually showed up like he was supposed to with Erik. My better half deescalated the second confrontation.

Fucking Chris. Way to be a stand-up guy.