Hedonia

1997 All Over Again

2011-12-19T09:57:44-08:00

Although we live in baby-centric Noe Valley now, DPaul and I lived right on Dolores Park for 11 years. During this time, we watched the neighborhood evolve from a depressed, drug-ridden extension of the gritty Mission to one of the hottest spots in the entire city. Perhaps the most telling metric of this time was that the flat next door to our apartment went for sale in 1993 for $350,000. The year we moved out, in 2004, it sold again for $1.35 million. At the very epicenter of this seismic...

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Plasma Mary

2011-10-26T11:53:51-07:00

A couple months ago, Rosie at 18 Reasons pinged me, asking whether I'd be interested in teaching a Bloody Mary class, accompanying a display of local illustrator Kelly Lynn Waters' delightful illustrations of Bloody Marys (Maries?) from restaurants and bars around town. The teacher they had initially lined up couldn't make it, leaving a gap. I'd taught two infusions and liqueurs classes there already, with another on the books, and so I suppose I'd acquired the ad hoc mantle of Mr. Booze....

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Unprocessed

2011-10-01T14:02:26-07:00

My pal Andrew is on a mission. For the third year in a row, he's going to go through the entire month of October foregoing any and all processed foods. Sure, you say, I could go a month without eating a Twinkie. But processed foods are far more insidious than that. Even if you stop buying and eating packaged foods and make everything from scratch, it's not a slam dunk. Put a little white sugar in your coffee? Think again. Whipping up a loaf of crusty bread with white flour? Nice try. He's not...

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Wine: Won

2011-08-29T14:54:44-07:00

Thank you. I thank you. And I thank you on behalf of Jennie. This raffle for $600 of killer cab brought in 22 donations totalling an amazing $1,250. That's $1,250 that will help Jennie support her two young girls while she rebuilds her life in the wake of tragically and suddenly losing her husband. It means so much to me to be able to help her in this difficult time, but I wouldn't have been much help at all if you hadn't bid on the wine. So. Thank you, again, with deepest and sincerest...

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You Know Who Needs Wine?

2011-08-25T07:51:55-07:00

Photo: 96dpi, on Flickr Jennie does. Actually, she needs a lot of things. She needs a shoulder to cry on. She needs someone to dance with her daughters. She needs the peace of mind that comes from a happy, stable home. She needs her husband. But he's gone. But you know who else needs wine? You do! So let me make a proposition that I think you will agree is a real win-win. You donate some money to help Jennie in her time of need, and I'll give you the chance to win six bottles of seriously...

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Help a Blogger Out

2011-08-22T09:22:06-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I saw a lone, fleeting tweet from my friend Jennifer Perillo: "He's gone. Any my heart is shattered in a million pieces." Somehow, in so few characters and with no context, she had conveyed the devastation of a crushing loss. My breath left me as if I'd been punched in the gut, and tears welled in my eyes. Without knowing for fact, I feared the worst: That she had lost her husband, leaving her with two young girls. And that is precisely what happened. The following week,...

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