I could not get out of bed on Saturday morning which was a problem because we had a whole bunch of stuff to do.  We didn't get to the grocery store until almost noon!  I made brownies and started on Daniel's birthday cake while I had lunch and then took the dogs for a long walk so they'd be nice and tired for our dinner party.  We walked over to Noe Valley and then headed over to Dolores Park.  Here they are in Dolores Park:

I went home and finished up everything for the party.  I made dessert and appetizers.  I deviled some eggs (secret ingredient = bacon) and made some hummus which was very easy.  My shrimp mold turned out vry well and was easily unmolded with a satisfying plop as it landed on the plate.  I think it's hilariously retro.  Mr. Chris said he thought he was at a wedding circa 1985.  I decorated it with olives and capers.  It kind of looked like a breast:

Rufus loves his friend David:

Mr. Poe, Daniel the birthday boy, and Mr. Chris:

Poodle on the table!

The guest headed home around nine and then we all went to bed.  I was beat!

I walked home from work via Nob Hill and Japantown after work on Friday to make up for my laziness that morning.  The weather was pretty nice and it was a lot of fun.  This is the view looking down Mason from California:

Grace Cathedral:

Me:

Check out this incredible mosaic inside the Masonic Center:

Grace Cathedral from the Masonic Center:

The view down Polk:

Geary from the Japantown Footbridge at Webster:

I went home and had dinner and then made some stuff for our dinner party on Saturday.  I made a shrimp dip which turned out well and attempted this cherry sauce for a dessert that was a total fail.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

I didn't go biking this morning even though the weather was fine and I got out of bed.  Bad Joseph!  I got up, had breakfast, went to go pet Ashley, and he looked so comfortable that I curled up next to him and went back to bed for a couple of hours.  Bad, bad Joseph! 

Over lunch I had to go to Civic Center to get tickets for Fiddler on the Roof--  featuring Harvey Fierstein no less.  I had to go pick up the tickets at the box office because Mr. Nick had given us a gift certificate a couple of years ago that we had puzzlingly never used and I had to go to the box office to redeem it.  We're going on our anniversary next month.  I think it will be fun and Mr. Poe is really looking forward to it.

I walked back to work from the theatre. This is the farmer's market in UN Plaza.  Bustling!  So much preferred to the crowds of homeless defecating in the fountain that used to characterize UN plaza when I moved here:

This is the Hibernia Bank Building.  It's currently under renovation after having been derelict for many years.  I can't wait to see what they're going to do with it:

This mural on Golden Gate and Jones is new.  Likey:

Gorgeous detail, well executed.  What's not to like?

The artist is Mona Caron.  You can read more about her on her website:

This is the view down Jones from Golden Gate.  I think this neighborhood will eventually gentrify and not be full of drug dealers and homeless.  But I'm not holding my breath.

Rufus and I did a LOT of steps on Wednesday morning and I was creaking around for the rest of the day because of it.  I went home at lunch and stopped by the comic book store on the way home.  There wasn't a lot that I wanted.  I only got three:

Realm of Kings:  Imperial Guard #3/5 -- I thought that this was something else when I got it.  I hadn't seen this mini series before.  It's pretty good and well drawn.  It's about a group of people who go into an interdimensional fissure in search of their missing emperor.  Why they're looking for him I don't know because he's evil and everybody hates him but who am I to judge.  It's a good book with tons of action and I love the creatures in it. 

Amazing Spider Man #617 -- Was very, very good.  It doesn't have the same artistic style of the rest of the Guantlet books.  It's got a lot going on considering how introspective it is.

Siege #1/4 --  Made me very angry.  First of all it was $3.99.  Second, more than half of the book is taken up by interviews and checklists of comics in the same storyline that they want you to buy.  Third, six pages of the rest of it is a section that's reproduced as a teaser in a bunch of other books.  This shite should have been free.  It does not make me want to buy the rest of this series.  No likey!

I stopped by Banana Republic and exchanged a Christmas present for something that will fit and headed home for dinner.  I was pretty beat.  Mr. Poe made me dinner and then I walked the dogs.  Before I went to bed I watched some Dr. Who on Youtube.  I've already made it through the new stuff and I've started watching the first episodes from the early 60's.  The first storyline wasn't very good but the second is about the Daleks an it's all shades of awesome.  It's amazing the continuity they have in that series.  The Daleks from 2008 look and sound exactly like the ones from 1963.  The theme music is the same.  The Tardis is very similar.  Love.  Have a look:

This morning I managed to drag my ass out of bed and actually made it out on a bike.  Imagine!  It was very, very foggy and super damp.  I think it was dryer yesterday morning.  I headed off Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and down to the coast.  I came up the Great Highway and took Cabrillo to 30th to Lake to 9th to California to 8th and into Golden Gate Park.  I went through the Music Concourse and then took MLK into 9th to Judah to 7th into Laguna Honda to Portola to Evelyn to Teresita to Foerster to Monterey to Diamond to Chenery to 30th to Church to 25th to Sanchez to Jersey to Castro and then I climbed up a massively steep hill out of Noe Valley and into the Castro.  I got some pics of some of the fine Victorians on Castro in the Castro:

Me:

I continued on Castro to 18th to Douglass to 17th to Ord and home to get cleaned up for work.  I'm glad the days are starting to get longer.  I'm over it being dark until 7:30.

Bike Mileage:

Today 19.6 Week to date 19.6 Month to date 56.7 Year to date 56.7 Rolling Year 7,562.9 Since Inception 10/1/07 21,226.5

It rained all last night.  I probably could have ridden this morning, but I thought I'd walk Rufus instead--  a decision very popular with Rufus.  I headed through Ashbury Heights into the Haight and then through the Sunset up to Golden Gate Heights and then through the Sunset again.  This is the view looking west from the Oakhurst steps right before sunrise:

I headed up to Clarendon.  There's a great view of the radio transmitter from there:

I headed over to the Pemberton Steps.  This is Crown Terrace:

The view from Crown Terrace:

The Pemberton Steps

Rufus loves to go!

I went home and got cleaned up and headed in to work.  This is a scan from the Dark Avengers Annual.  They've given Captain Marvel a new costume.  Not as sexy as his old one.  Le sigh:

It looks like it's gonna be a gorgeous day!

Monday it was time for me to head back to San Francisco.  I don't dislike Orlando Airport, but most of the stuff to do there is before security so it's kind of boring.  There's a beautiful hotel in the main terminal.  Pretty:

They've made a big shift in security procedures at Orlando.  You used to be able to got to either Terminal 2 or 4 once you were through security and but now you can't so I was stuck in the Delta Terminal.  Not so bad.  I thought I that I saw more MD80/90's (can't tell them apart) than I'd seen in previous visits but I could be wrong:

Orlando Control Tower:

I tried to go to the Southwest/Jet Blue terminal and found out I could not.  This is from my return trip to Terminal 4:

Atrium:

I had some nasty french fries and then it was time to head over for my flight.  It was a 757 again:

the view from my seat:

Delta Airlines 1318 MCO-ATL Dep 1:30PM Arr 3:05PM 757-200

This flight was completely full.  Peanuts and one drink service.  I had a window seat so I didn't could take some pics in flight.  This is us climbing out of Orlando:

And landing in Atlanta:

Atlanta Airport:

My flight arrived in terminal A and my connecting flight left from there too.  I found a place in Terminal A which had falafel.  It wasn't very good but it was presumably vegan.  Then I headed over for my flight to San Francisco.

Delta Airlines 1071 ATL-SFO Dep 4:30PM Arr 6:36PM 757-200

I was waaaaayyyy in the back.  Here's a cabin shot:

This is the view from my seat.   I wonder if they're going to put winglets on them:

View from our aircraft as we pushed back:

Lufthansa!  Anything not Delta is an unexpected treat in Atlanta.  I'm guessing this is an A330-300:

The control tower with the new terminal behind it:

A 747-400 in Delta Colors:

The flight was uneventful.  Two drink services and snacks plus buy on board.  There was WIFI and IFE at every seat.  One thing I found odd was that they catered the first class dinner from the rear galley which must have been a pain in the ass.  I wondered why they did that.

We got in a little early.  I got on BART and went home.  The dogs were very happy to see me and I was happy to be home.  I missed Mr. Poe very much and do not like traveling without him.

This is my Mom's new cat Pickleball.  She named it after a sport she enjoys playing that you can read more about here.  My Mom shouldn't be allowed to name her own pets.  I've been lobbying to get the cat's name changed to Peggy and that's slowly building momentum.  She's pretty shy and spent much of the first couple of days I was there hiding from my Niece and Nephew but they left Saturday morning and we started seeing more of her.  She's beautiful:

My Mom and Peggy:

We didn't do much on Saturday and it was way too cold to go biking.  Sunday we headed off and ordered my Mom a new bike and then went off for Indian food that was very, very good.  Mr. Poe doesn't like Indian food at all so I don't have it often and enjoy it very much when I do.

We also stopped by the comic book store in Kissimmee which is very large.  My mom went in and was agog at all the nerds in there.  Likely she was the only female that had been in that store in some time.  I think somebody propositioned her, thankfully she doesn't speak Klingon.  I got a bunch of stuff:

Dark Avengers Annual #1 --  This features Captain Marvel.  I like him very much.  It was a pretty good read and I'm interested to see what they do with him in the future.  I also bought his miniseries Marvel Boy (below).

New Avengers Annual #3 -- This was kind of a meh but it wasn't terrible. 

Marvel Boy: The Uranian #1/3 -- Was awesome.  I loved it.  Well drawn and interesting story.  I can't wait to see where they're going with it.

New Mutants #9 -- Featured Magik and I like her a lot.  Not too much action but I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with it.

Doctor Voodoo #3 -- I didn't read Doctor Voodoo #2 and was totally lost.  It's very well drawn and I like all the characters.  I'm putting Doctor Voodoo #2 on my list.  It might make sense then.

Marvel Boy 1-6 Hardcover Edition -- Loved this.  Very interesting and I like the art.  I'm hoping to see more and more of this character.  I especiallty like his insect derived powers.  I thought that the villians--  which were corporate evil--  were interesting.

Avengers #501  -- The second part of the 2004 Avengers Disassembled storyline.  Very, very well done.

Avengers #502 --  The third part of the 2004 Avengers Disassembled storyline.

Avengers #137 --  This is the issue where Moondragon and the Beast join the Avengers.  Loved it.

Thursday we headed over to Sea World.  I do not recommend going to Sea World.  It's very expensive.  It's almost $80 a person--  which is a lot--  and then when you get into the park a bunch of the attractions are an additional charge--  which is insulting.  The kids kept asking why we didn't go to Disney and I wondered that too. 

Here are Sam and Eugene:

the first thing we went to was a show that featured rescued pets.  Moderately amusing:

Then we had lunch and headed over to see the sharks.  They have a cool tunnel aquarium:

Then we went to go see a strange acrobatic show that is hard to explain:

I was gonna wear the same thing that day! 

Then we went to go look at the dolphins:

Niece and Nephew mesmerized by the dolphins:

Then it was off for another acrobatic show.  This had Chinese acrobats some of whom were the hotness:

Finally we went to big Shamu show that was so stupid.  I don't see why they tried to make a whale splashing around into an inspirational masterpiece but they did and it sucked.  I liked the whale.  The rest of it was awful:

We got some pizza on the way home.  I went to bed early.  I was beat.

I had to get up very early for my flight to Orlando.  Lousy time zone changes think they're so great.  Mr. Poe took me to SFO and it turned out I was there very, very early.  I had anticipated a long security line because of the attempted Christmas Day bombing but it was incredibly short and I was through security and in Terminal 1 with a lot of time to kill.  Terminal 1 is not a lot of fun.  There aren't a whole lot of restaurants and it isn't as large or as nice as Terminal 3 or the International Terminal.  This is what it looks like:

I liked this sculpture they have on display in Terminal 1.  It's called "Cardboard Kore" and it's by an artist named Michael Stutz that you can read more about here.  He worked for a while making Mardi Gras floats in New Orleans and cites it as an influence.  I can totally see that.  Likey:

Sadly, the 767-300 that I had originally been scheduled for this flight was downgraded to a 757-200 which I wasn't crazy about.  I love 767's.  Two wide aisles and only eight seats across.  Here's my ride to Atlanta:

Delta Airlines 68 SFO-ATL Dep 7:10AM Arr 2:50 PM 757-200

The flight was almost but not completely full I was lucky enough to have the middle seat on my aisle free.  The woman sitting at the window seat had a malti-poo puppy with her that was totally adorable and very well behaved.  I can't even imagine bringing my dogs onto a plane.  It would be a panic.  Mimi would be giving the flight attendants the side eye and demanding multiple snack boxes.  The flight had WIFI but I stuck to my book.  Two drink services and food for sale.  We got into Atlanta on time and without any drama.

I think this is a shot of our aircraft after we got to Atlanta:

I got in at Terminal A and my flight to Orlando was also from Terminal A but I had a three hour layover so I went for a walk.  I headed over to the International Terminal E because there's a restaurant there that makes reasonable burritos.  I like making connections in Atlanta and prefer it to places like Denver, Chicago, and Dulles (sorry United).  The layout of the airport is very straightforward and it's not easy to get lost.  I also like that you can go to every terminal regardless of where you're ticketed which is not true at most airports.  I walked, but there's also a train:

When I got to terminal E where I saw this ugly thing.  I can't believe I've never noticed it before.  It looks a like a gaudy thermometer.  Why??  How??

It just looks worse the closer you get:

I saw a Northwest 747-400 when I was heading up to Terminal E.  The only thing I don't like about Atlanta is the lack of variety of aircraft that visit it.  This was an unexpected treat.  There look even better in Delta colors:

Some views of Atlanta from Terminal E:

This made me laugh.  I think it's supposed to make you think about aircraft running on biofuels.  It's well executed:

An Air France 777-200 amongst all the Delta:

This is the new international terminal that they're building that's supposed to open next year.  It's going to be enormous.  You can read more about it here:

I headed back to terminal A and got on my flight to Orlando.

Delta Airlines 177 ATL-MCO Dep 5:55PM Arr 7:28 PM 757-200

This flight was pretty short and I didn't get any pics on it.  I think they had WIFI on it.  I stuck to my book again.  Quick drink service and peanuts.  No buy on board food.  We got in a little early and then I went to wait for my brother to pick me up.  We headed over to my Mom's house and then I had a little food and went to bed.  Long day.

It was a little colder this morning when I headed out on my bike.  I took 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 it to Lake to 23rd to Cabrillo to 47th to Fulton to the Great Highway and down the coast to Skyline where I stopped for a pic of the sun rising behind Lake Merced:

I continued on Skyline to Lake Merced to Winston to Moncada to Urbano to Pico to Ashton to De Montefort to Miramar to Southwood to Plymouth to Greenwood to Hazelwood to Staples 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 to get cleaned up for work.