I finished the petit fours for Mr. Chris’ New Years Eve party last night.  It started out so well.  The cakes came out great.  I didn’t have any problem splitting and filling them, and even cutting them into shapes turned out OK.  But then there was the fondant icing.  It isn’t difficult to make but covering petit fours with fondant icing is not as easy a task as it may seem.  I got chocolate EVERYWHERE.  It was like a chocolate explosion in my kitchen and not the good kind.  Next time I make these I’m going to figure out how to not make such a mess and not waste so much chocolate.  Here was the final result at Mr. Chris’ house this morning:

I slept in this morning and didn’t get any exercise in anticipation of a long, drunken night. Stay tuned!

I managed to make it home before the rain started last night which was nice.  We had an early dinner and then I made a cake for Mr. Chris’ party tomorrow night.  It’s white cake that I made in three layers that I split and filled with chocolate buttercream.  Tonight I’m cutting the layers into about a dozen pieces each in a variety of shapes and then dunking them in chocolate fondant.  Petit fours!  I hope they turn out. 

It was too wet for biking this morning but, much to Rufus’ delight, it was not too wet to walk Rufus!  We walked through Ashbury Heights and into the Sunset where I saw this spectacular holiday display on 6th:

Then we headed up to Grand View Park.  The sun was just starting to come up.  I love the early morning:

From there we walked a bunch of staircases around Golden Gate Heights which was really fun because I haven’t been on them in forever because I’m usually on a bike in that neighborhood.

There are some gorgeous early 20th century homes in the inner sunset.  These are on 6th (I think):

We took Paranssus into Cole Valley and then headed home.  Rufus loves to go!

I got cleaned up and went into work.  We probably walked about six miles.  So much fun!

I stopped by the comic book store yesterday to pick up the books I didn’t get last week and I got a couple extra because there isn’t anything coming in this week because of the holiday.  I ended up with eight:

New Avengers #60 – Loved it!  Loved it!  Loved it!  It’s funny and chock full of a bunch of characters I haven’t seen in a while like Hellcat and Valkyrie AND it’s got Henry Pym who has gotten a whole lot hotter since he stopped being so crazy and started dressing up like his dead wife.  I liked the plot.  I liked the art.  I’m looking forward to the next one.

Doctor Voodoo #1 -  Is really neat.  It’s a little weak on the plot but it does have reprints of three Brother Voodoo books from the seventies and I really liked them.  I have high hopes for this.

New Mutants #8 – Was very good.  Loved the art on the cover.  Also, I love anything with Magik in it–  I even have the limited series where she was created from the eighties!  They’re reintroducing Doug Ramsey and Warlock.  I have concerns about Warlock because his appearance in the first New Mutants coincided with me stopping reading it because the way he was drawn started to bleed into the whole book and I really didn’t like it.  Developing.

Captain America Who Will Wield the Shield one shot – Was interesting.  They haven’t finished the limited series where they bring him back from the dead yet but I guess I know how it ends.  I’ll be interested to see how it turns out.  Steve Rodgers is kind of a relic from back when comic books were a lot less violent then they are today.  He had a code about killing that I don’t think is going to translate well into the Marvel comic world.  His replacement is violent and turbulent and generally awesome.  AND he likes to team up with the Black Widow who’s another one of my favorites.  I’m interested to see where this leads.

Amazing Spider Man #616 – Was very good and with a very sad ending.  The quality of this title is amazing especially given how frequently it is published.  I’ve also warmed up to the retro art.

Avengers The Initiative #31 – I’ve just started reading this title mostly because it has Justice, Penance, and Tigra in it.  It’s surprisingly more complex than I thought it was going to be and I liked it very much.  The Taskmaster is hilarious.

Ms. Marvel #48 – This was the weakest one I bought.  It didn’t help that it had Mystique on the cover but not really in the book.  I hate that.  I had passed on it two weeks ago and I’m still not sure whether I’m going to continue buying this title.  The problem with it is that the plot lines have been so all over the place for the last couple of years and have gotten so convoluted that it’s kind of hard to keep up and you kind of don’t want to.  Super Yawn.  I miss the issues with Machine Man and the Brood Queen.  They were all sorts of ass kicking awesome.

X Men #519 – I somehow missed X-men 518 and I had a hard time figuring out what I missed.  Thank you Wikipedia!  It was better than Ms. Marvel but not by much.  I’m hoping the next one will be better.

I won’t be going to the comic book store next week because I’ll be traveling to Kissimmee to see my Mom that day.  I might try to go into town and go to the store there because it’s huge and they’ve got all sorts of interesting stuff there.  We’ll see

This morning was a bit colder then yesterday but I bundled up and headed off on my bike.  I rode Corbett to Clayton to Parnassus to Cole to Haight to Stanyan and into Golden Gate Park at JFK.  I came out of the park at 8th and took Lake to 28th to California to 32nd to Clement to 34th to Cabrillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway and down the coast where I took Skyline to Lake Merced to Font to Holloway to Harold to Ocean to Phelan to Judson to Foerster to Hearst to Edna to Monterey to Diamond to Wilder to Arlington to Randall to San Jose to Duncan to Valencia to 18th to Douglass to 17th to Ord and home.  There wasn’t enough light to take pictures until I got to the Mission and then it was still too cold.  So I took a picture of the dogs when I got home to get cleaned up for work.  They’re all still tired from Christmas:

Mr. Poe was heading off for movies.  Hello gorgeous!:

The rain is supposed to be coming in tonight so I don’t know if I’ll be riding in the morning.  Fingers crossed.

Bike Mileage:

Today 19.3 Week to date 38.3 Month to date 313.1 Year to date 7,892.1 Rolling Year 7,971.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,169.8

Saturday I slept til noon and did nothing all day.  Ah, Christmas.  Sunday we had out friends Richard and Ron over.  We were supposed to have a couple of more guests but they totally blew us off and we only found out that they weren’t coming when Mr. Poe called to find out where they were.  That totally pissed me off first because that’s such inconsiderate white trash behavior and second because I made them donuts.  Donuts!  Which take forever and make a huge mess and they didn’t even fucking show up!  I don’t think we’ll be having them over again.  I’ve issued a fagwa.

The dogs were completely wiped out from all of the entertaining we’ve been doing.  Mimi’s practically too beat for hating.

I got up on time this morning and actually headed off on my bike which, sadly, is an unusual occurrence these days.   I took Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and then got on Geary to 34th and up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor.  The sun was just starting to come up and it was pretty dark:

I got on Camino Del Mar and went into the Presidio.  I came around on Lincoln and stopped at the Crissy Field Overlook for a pic which turned out pretty well given the low light.  I don’t know why the old hanger had all it’s lights on but it looked fantastic:

I continued on Lincoln.  This is one the trees in the Presidio lit for Christmas.  Trust me it looks better in person:

I came out of the Presidio at the Lombard Gate and took Greenwich to Octavia to Union to Gough to Green to Polk.  I stopped in front of City Hall for pics.  This is Bill Graham Civic Auditorium:

City Hall:

Me:

I continued on Polk to Market to 17th to Ord and home to get cleaned up for work.  I hope they like donuts.

Bike Mileage:

Today 19.0 Week to date 19.0 Month to date 293.8 Year to date 7,872.8 Rolling Year 7,952.6 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,150.5

Merry Christmas!  I slept in a little and then headed off with Rufus.  We had to go down to Mr. Chris’s house.  We dropped some cookies off at Ben and Courtney’s on the way.  They got a new cat!  And she’s pwecious:

Then we headed back down to the Castro and got on Muni.  Rufus had a lot of concerns about the subway.  He looked a little anxious:

From Mr. Chris’s we headed over to the park on the Embarcadero.  Which has great views of the bay and especially the Bay Bridge:

We walked through the Financial District and up to Nob Hill.  Grace Cathedral looked especially pretty:

Such fine detail:

Me on Nob Hill with Santa Hat:

We came down Larkin.  This is a new mural from Precita Eyes on Hemlock at Larkin.  I haven’t found anything about it on the internets.  I really like it:

This is one of the entrance statues to Little Saigon on Larkin at Eddy.  Love them:

We continued down Larkin.  City hall looked gorgeous:

The view down towards UN Plaza with the fabulous Federal building in the background:

We got home and got ready for Guests.  Nathan, Daniel, and Russ showed up for dinner and Donald made an appearance for dessert.  Poor little Ashley was pooped out before we served dinner!  I love his little Santa suit:

We had a huge dinner and we all boozed it up like big time playa’s:

Nathan plotting my downfall:

Daniel and Ashley.  The cuteness!

Everybody was worn out by the time the guests left:

Even Rufus!:

It was a long, long day.

I was very, very lazy all week and didn’t work out in the morning which made me disgusted with myself but well rested.  Thursday rolled around and finally the baking was finished.  Mr. Poe, Mimi, and Ashley took naps:

Rufus and I went for a walk mid day.  First, we headed up to Buena Vista Park.  There’s great views of just about everything from there.  Including the Golden Gate Bridge:

I’ve walked past this apartment a zillion times before but just noticed what great detail it has.  And the building has been very well maintained at least on the exterior.  Likey:

Rufus loves to go!

We headed over to Golden Gate Park and I got a pic of the Japanese Tea Garden from MLK:

Then I headed into the Sunset.  This is the pretty public library on 18th at Irving.  It’s fabulous:

From there we headed over to the beautiful Moraga Steps.  They have a beautiful mosaic all over them.  You can read more about it here:

Then we headed up to Grandview Park.  The view from up there is phenomenal.  This is the view looking Northwest towards Marin:

.

The view southwest towards Pacifica:

This cargo ship was coming into the Golden Gate:

The view downtown from Grand View Park:

The view towards the Golden Gate Bridge:

Then we headed over to Oakhurst Lane which is actually a very long series of stairs.  There’s a great view of the Sunset from there.  You can St Ann’s in the foreground:

The view from Oak Lane:

We headed over Clarendon and I got a pic of the Golden Gate Bridge from Twin Peaks Blvd as we came down the hill towards home:

I went home and got cleaned up and then we headed off to the Gay Men’s Chorus Christmas concert at the Castro Theater.  This is the dog I was petting while I was in line:

This is the interior of the theater before they started the show:

The show was a little weak.  A lot of their program seems dated, pointlessly political, or otherwise off.  But Mr. Poe likes to go so I’m sure we’ll be back next year.  They did have some queen dressed up like Julia Child:

We went home and had dinner with some of Mr. Poe’s colleagues.  It was lot of food and they stayed around til after 1! 

I felt pretty good when I woke up this morning which was kind of a surprise because I’d felt so crappy yesterday.  I guess I just needed some sleep.  I had a Different Spokes ride out to China Camp.  Cameron was the only one who showed up for it so we tacked on Lucas Valley and had a great day.  The weather was kind of all over the place–  foggy in the morning and then sunny around noon and then it clouded over and rained a little towards the end. 

This is China Camp State Park.  I love it there.  It’s gorgeous.  There’s tons of places for hiking and picnicking should biking not be your thing.  Likey:

Then we rode past the super fantastic Marin Civic Center.  It’s maddeningly difficult to get pictures of the tower because it’s surrounded by trees of a similar shape as it.  But I managed:

Fabulous detail:

We had lunch at Big Rocks and then headed up to the top of Lucas Valley.  Here’s Cameron at the top:

And here is the view:

From there we headed over to Fairfax where I saw a mural I hadn’t seen before.  It’s called “Seeds of Peace” and it’s by Precita Eyes Mural Project.  Love it:

From there we headed back to San Francisco.  I took a pretty circuitous way home through Laurel Village and up over Lone Mountain.  This pretty Victorian is at Fulton and Baker (I think):

Me:

I had a great day on the bike.  I’m looking forward to longer days and higher mileage.  This week’s total is pretty weak.

Bike Mileage:

Today 80.3 Week to date 118.1 Month to date 274.8 Year to date 7,853.8 Rolling Year 8,030.3 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,131.5

Friday was a very busy day.  I had to deliver a birthday cake I had made to Mr. Chris’ for sweet Alex’s birthday party during lunchtime.  Which is an endeavor when a trip on the subway is involved.  Luckily I managed to get it there without dropping it or otherwise mangling it.  I think it turned out OK.  My cake decorating is coming along but still seems a little “touched in the head” as they might say in Texas:

I went back to work only to find that they had woefully underestimated the demand for food at our holiday party and were out of everything.  I’d had a little lunch when I was picking up the cake so it wasn’t the end of the world but was a little disappointed so I headed over to The Plant Cafe on Front between Pine and California in the 101 California building where I got a vegan chocolate cookie and a vegan cupcake.  Their menu looks awesome and I look forward to eating many things off of it.  I ate the cookie on the way back to the office but managed to get a pic of the delicious cupcake before demolishing it.  It was chocolate with peanut butter frosting and the frosting was very peanut buttery and I loved it.  Here it is with my Hello Kitty Christmas ornament and wedding picture:

Here it is halfway gone:

After work I headed over to Mr. Chris’ to drink wine help them get ready for the party.  Here’s Mr. Chris with his prized asparagus:

Super cute David with the haricot verts:

Nathan took a couple of pics of me and I looked crazy in all of them.  This is the least frightening of them.  Le sigh.  I may look psychotic but at least the hair looks good:

Nathan, Mr. Chris and David:

My camera had run low on batteries by the time the guest of honor arrived.  We had a fabulous dinner and Daniel gave me a ride home which was really nice.  I slept in a little on Saturday morning (til 8!)  and then we dropped off the dogs for the Christmas hair do’s and headed over to Costco.  I hate going there.  It’s exhausting.  Still, they have stuff you need.  We got liquor and champagne for Christmas.  We’ve got a lot of Irish Catholics coming over this year and you really need to buy liquor in bulk for the leprechauns, bless us.  Here’s Mr. Poe angrily wagging his finger at nobody in particular:

We went to the grocery store and then headed home.  The dogs were ready a little early.  They look great:

I took a long nap in the afternoon.  I sure hope I’m not getting sick because I’ve got a bike ride tomorrow!

I headed home for lunch on Wednesday and stopped by Whatever in the Castro.  I got five comic books:

The Mighty Avengers #32.  Love this book.  This is my second favorite title right now after Guardians of the Galaxy.  Well written.  Full of action.  Likable, compelling characters.  The only thing I’m not loving about it is that they’ve been dangling the return of the Scarlet Witch in front of our faces for three years now and it still hasn’t happened. 

Dark Avengers #12.  Interesting.  It’s interesting because the characters aren’t exactly likable and the premise is very dark but the storytelling is interesting and I get the sense it’s headed somewhere really good.  Plus they have the Molecule Man and you can’t go wrong with that.

Realm of Kings Inhumans #2.  This is a limited series but I’d much rather see them with their own series.  It’s awesome.  Loved it.

Amazing Spider Man #612.  I had missed this when it first came out.  It’s the first issue of “The Gauntlet” story arc.  I’m still now 100% behind the artwork but I’m always crazy about Spider Man.

Amazing Spider Man #615.  Another good read.  I can’t believe that this book as is good as it is when it comes out so frequently (3X a month!). 

I passed on a bunch of stuff in order to not go over my self imposed comic book spending limit which forces me to get the only the books I really want as opposed to getting the ones that I’m collecting.  I didn’t get Ms. Marvel which used to be my favorite book but I have to admit that it hasn’t been awesome in over a year and that’s a shame.  I might pick that up next week we’ll see.  I also didn’t get the new Justice League because even though they’ve picked up Dr. Light and Plastic Man it still isn’t all that interesting.

I got a few pics of the Financial District on my way back to the office.  The rain was tapering off but it was still soaking wet. 

The view down Sutter from Sansome:

The front of the Pacific Stock Exchange:

The view looking North up California from Sansome:

The view looking south on California:

I tried to get a few pics when I left the office but this is the only one of them that turned out.  It’s the view up Market from Davis:

I took the final for my class and I’m all done for the semester.  Then I had to bake a birthday cake– I’ve never made a carrot cake before and fingers are crossed that It’s gonna be edible.  I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep and didn’t sleep well.  This morning I got up and had breakfast but went back to bed for a couple of hours.  Which disappointed me.  I need to stay on my schedule.