the pillow that I dream on
leads to some fantastic glory
Its the threshold of a world I can't ignore


Olafur Eliasson, Untitled (Iceland Series), 2004


* According to the SF Weekly, some ess eff jokesters want to 'honor' President Bush. excerpt:

"A furtive movement is gaining power in the political bowels of San Francisco. Motivated by left-leaning public opinion and gaseous presidential ineptitude, this mounting force threatens to slide onto the November ballot and, finally, blow wide open in January at the very moment George W. Bush leaves office."

"The so-called Presidential Memorial Commission, an informal city-based group of half a dozen left-leaning jokesters, has gathered more than 4,000 signatures since mid-April to rename a county sewage treatment facility the George W. Bush Sewage Center. The Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant is located beside Great Highway near the zoo, and processes up to 65 million gallons of treated water per day. If commission volunteers collect at least 7,200 valid signatures by July 8, the initiative will go on the November ballot. The initiative's proponents also hope to coordinate a citywide "synchronous flush" at the very moment the next U.S. president is sworn in.

"Passersby have responded enthusiastically to the commission petitioners, though a large proportion have apparently commented that, while Bush may stink to high heaven, he doesn't deserve memorial status of any sort after he leaves office. Hey, raw and treated sewage deserve better.

"'These people would like to forget he ever existed,' said T. Wayne Pickering, the commission's chairman, who can be found petitioning most Wednesday evenings at Market and Noe. 'But it's important that society remembers politicians as they ought to be remembered, not as [the politicians] choose to be remembered, since many politicians turn around and write their own glowing memoirs.'
...
"With the approach of the Haight Street Fair and Gay Pride weekend, Pickering and his pals expect to collect perhaps double the signatures required for balloting the initiative, at which point S.F. voters can decide whether to send the current head of state out of office and back to the ranch with a flush that will last for years."

* Rerun: Found in a Used Book:

In a copy of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin I purchased at the wonderful though now-defunct Vassar Book Sale, was the following correspondence between Bob Bernard and Mary Knell.

The note from Bob to Mary, written in pencil on the inner flap of the book, and dated July 12, 1971 reads:

"To Mary,

Our relationship began and ended with Pushkin. May his thought provide the foundation for a different and higher level of rebirth.

Bob ("The Babbling Idiot" or as Russell calls me "The Last Remaining Chaucerian Character") Bernard."

In an undated note, written in pen on 5x7 watermarked paper, Mary replied (emphasis in original):

"Bob:

Here are the things you sent -- I fail to understand why you sent them -- as far as I'm concerned I can see no future in any kind of a relationship between us -- I have no desire whatsoever to see, talk, or receive any materials through the mail from you. Although I appreciate the trouble you went to in regards to the thorazine, I never wanted any drugs from you in the first place.

We're two different kinds of people Bob -- so rather that launch into a tirade (which would be painful for both) concerning your self-importance, etc. I would rather leave things as they are.

I want nothing from you and I can't imagine what you could possibly want from me.

Mary Knell"

* 50 memorable movie star cars.

* "Misfortune was my god." -- Arthur Rimbaud