AJb

Hank

Robynn

Rawman

Lifestyle Matrix f(x)

Edible

Eat at Tu Lan

If you love good food, especially Vietnamese, hit Tu Lan, It's on SIxth St next to Market in SF. Once you make your way thru the 6th street seediness you will be treated to one of the best tastebud orgasms your tongue will have ever had.Spring rolls are crispy and filled with meatiness flavor with a dipping sauce that's oh so goood. Lemon beef salad that didn't have as much meat that I would have liked ,but the lemony sweet sauce , the mint and crispy cabbage made up for that. And my all time fav, Vegetarian chow mein, killer sauce,  with spiciness that even the timid can handle and vegetables that when you bite down on them are audible  to the person sitting across from you. You can't beat the prices too.

Paul Eats at...

Paul eats all the time, with an incredibley high metablism he must eat it seems every two hours or so. With this in mind understand that it wouldn't be possible to list every place, but there are a few listed here below, and why:

•SMOKEHOUSE::On Telegraph Avenue in Berkely, they make the best greasey fast food ever, especially their chilli cheese burger!!

•AT HOME :: Undisclosed location, I love to cook, and more so i love to eat. My dad was head chef, maybe it's genetic, maybe not. I love it though.

•AT BIRTHDAYS with FRIENDS :: Where ever, birthdays are always great, and i always make a point to thank the birth person, because birthdays always involve good friends and definately good food.

All Hail the I-Hop!!

Located? Everywhere! I know, I know some of you are going "How cheezy!!" But how can you go wrong with their Tutti-Fruitti or Red,White and Blue Pancakes. Definitely a flashback from my childhood, and a joy to see as a comeback as an adult. Their standard, diner recipes are the same where ever you go, their cheap, and the service ain't too bad. Who knew. It's where you can find me once a month when I meet up with an old high school friend for catch up on gossip, sad stories, happy stories, and of course pancakes.

Taqueria San Jose

Located in Oakland at 35th and International, with another location in San Rafael. The grill cooks slice, dice, and super mix so nice, and they look good and clean-cut while they do it. I trust them handling my food. You can get a juicy, filling burrito with the finest grilled meats, chips with green salsa and salsa fresca, and a drink for about $4. It's fast and quick, but you can sit down and enjoy a meal with your family or bunch of friends. I took five people for a full on feast with drinks once for $28, but that was before they raised prices a little bit. You know, inflation. The Christmas display that displaces the big screen TV with the futbol games come December is not to be missed.

Hygenic

Use Baby WIpes to Clean Your BUM

If they're good enough for my 5 year old boy, Elijah, they're good enough for AJb.  Why baby wipes? Because paper tissues are so beta max. Baby wipes give your bum a nice cleansing and a fresh scent too. If you had stool on your elbow you wouldn't wipe it with a piece of paper, you would clean it with soap and water, which happen to be  the 2 main components in a single baby wipe. Trust me!!! I'm a nurse!

Paul Washes

Paul washes his sneakers. Some may say that washi8ng one's sneakers may be an odd thing, but when you see a person, and recall them later you always remember what stands out. I have light colored sneakers, and they stand out when they have the slightest amount of dirt on them at all.... So I wash my sneakers. Generally using someting like a scrub brush, a sponge and a slight bit of mild hand soap. It really works and wil sharpen up an image with the littlest effort.

Witch Hazel

A cool discovery I learned from my grandmother whose full of home remedies from the "old country" as she likes to refer to the Deep South... Excellent conditioner and toner for the skin, it' a girl's best friend for keeping the skin o' so healthy. And it can be used daily after a facial cleansing. Also great for the guys after they shave (has an excellent cooling effect), and good for cleaning slight cuts and abrasions. You can buy it in a bottle and apply with a cotton swab or pad, or try my favorite, Witch Hazel Wipes, which come in a lil' plastic jar and are perfect for travel. A Diva-must-have when on the road.

How to Use a Public Restroom

Wash hands before going. Dry with paper towel - use paper towel to turn off sink, open stall door, then keep it handy. Take a little TP, wad it up, and scrub off the toilet seat. Apply waxpaper, if not available, 3 strips of teepee folded back to back making a U on the toilet seat where you sit. Do your business. If #1, stand up while holding the TP to yourself so you catch any dribble. Use TP to knock over the seat cover into the bowl. Take paper towel, close seat lid*, then flush, then open stall door, all with paper towel, which you then dispose of. Wash hands again, and after drying hands, use new paper towel to turn off sink and open the door to go out. If you're really slick, toss the paper towel back into the bathroom trash bin after opening the door and propping it open with your foot.

*toilets emit a vapor out of the bowl like a mist into the air with your waste products with every flush. Covering with the lid reduces this.

Outdoorsy

Next Summer Party Outdoors at Serendipity

Bring your dog, your frisbee, a picnic basket filled with picnicky foods a cooler full of New Castles ,lay out  catch some rays and listen to some fat beats. Started by Paul ,aka Hank the Guy with Records, Serendipity is one of the few outdoor party's that goes on in the bay, literally. It's located on Treasure Island and happens once a month during the summer. Every party Paul comes up with a theme, when I spun it was water. Water filled ballons and a slip n slide were in full effect. You can't get that kind of vibe at Ruby Skye.

Paul Goes

Paul goes to Treasure Island on the 3rd Sunday of every month when it's warm. You can find a small gathering of people there with him. They call it SERENDIPITY. Its a wonderful little get together. a nice place to spend one Sunday outta the month at sunshine, good music and maybr a few beers. It's funny, a lot of people miss out on this because they look out and see a few clouds and think "eww, it'sa yuckie out, Treasure Island...hmmmm....island.../that'll be yuckier." Generally the weather out on Treasure Island is nicer than either side of the bay, and it's worth checking out, mmmm, maybe one Sunday a month.

The Beach, the Sand, the Water...

May there be fog or no fog, nothing is better than sitting and listening to the waves at a beach. Add kite flying to it and you are set to go. If you've never tried surfing, try it at least once in your life time. What a rush, what a sense of being.

Good beaches...

Drakes Beach located @ Pt. Reyes :: One of like 5 or 6 beaches in the national park, it's closest to the Light House. A huge beach, not too crowded, and the water is just right : D

Ocean Beach :: Under a full moon w/ a low tide. It's the perfect spot for finding sand dollars.

Night Hikes and Runs

Pick your favorite hillside neighborhood, most of which have more than adequately lit streets, and take yourself higher and higher. Enjoy the bay view. Contemplate the goings on of your life while indulging on endorphins. Cool fx include fog forming in front of your face, rainy weather and puddles, wind, harvest moons. Try it alone if you can. Rinse. Repeat.

Sample route: Loop around or through U.C. Berkeley campus, from Northside run up Euclid Ave to Grizzly Peak, make a left, then run to Spruce/Wildcat Canyon Road, make a left onto Spruce, and run back down to U.C. Berkeley. Recommended: embark after midnight.

Getting around

If Possible ,Ride Your Bike

I'm cool with bars markin up alcohol 150%, but gasoline, like  the late Nell Carter said " Gimme a break, I truly deserve it.." $2.15 for gasoline is criminal. Livin in the bay area is hella expensive as it is, housing, car insurance, food and parking tickets, you pay a price livin in the bay that's 4 sure. Do not give money to those oil corporate punks if at all possible. Do like I do, ride your bike to work. If you can't pedal to work ,carpool, take PT , get a job closer to where you live ,or again,also do like I do and move closer to your job so that you can pedal. Instead of driving your car five blocks to get a pack of cigs, walk. It's good excercise and you can have the cig that you  just bought, outdoors without stinkin up your car. Just think, you can take that x-tra money you saved by not riding your car and use it to by some baby wipes and dinner at Tu Lan.

Paul Rides

Paul rides around in borrowed cars at the present. However that was not always the case. Unfortunately the city of Oakland had decided that my Volvo should be theirs, and they're sneaky about it. They took it away in the middle of the night. That was my 9th car. but only the 2nd car towed. The first one towed was a Nissan Sentra. the others haven't been towed, but have either died [Toyota Corona, just plain failed, Honda CVCC cracked head gasket, Toyota Corolla ceased engine, Chrysler Newport dropped a transmission]. Some of them were sold like my Yamaha 180 scooter. The one thing in common with them all was that I paid little if anything for each one. The Nissan actually was the most being $1k, but one was $60, one was free if I fixed it, a couple others were gifts. So my transportation story is always exciting. I look forward to my next.

My Car... Or the Ferry

I know, I know... the first option is not environmentally... right. But one of the joys of being in my car is listening to music. And I LIKE MY CAR!!!

More environmentally efficient, traveling to the City by ferry is the way to go. A very peaceful ride, with spectacular views regardless of the weather.

The AC Transit A Bus

Complain about BART not running past midnight? Maybe if you live east of the tunnel.

Welcome to sustainable clubbing. Take your friends, jump on any of the transbay buses running into San Francisco in the evening. If needed, get your Muni ticket that's basically good the rest of the night for the owl service. About every 14 minutes past each of the midnight hours, the A will take you to downtown Oakland in 15 minutes, where you are met by AC Transit lines 40, 51, 82, 58, and 72/73 just waiting to take you home. Or, do like AJb says and bring your bike both ways.

Film de cinema

Check the Movie: Baraka

I first saw this movie at the Red Vic on Haight about 7 yrs ago and ever since then , with each repeated viewing ,I love this movie more and more. The first time I saw it I was possed by Mary Jane and had the most mind blowing experience. The flick is set to ambient sounding music and has no dialogue at all. Like the back of the DVD cover says"  Set to the life affirming rythms of varied religious rituals and natures own raw beat. Baraka is a visualization of the interconnectedness humans share with the earth." From the intense expressions of the Buto dance to the whirling and twirling of the whirling dervishes, Baraka seems to capture the beat of the world. I have been to a lot of party's where they have this movie running as a visual, that's how visually stunning Baraka is. Check it.

Paul watches

Oh boy, this is a gonna be a short one. I actually don't go to the movies, don't have a TV nor a VCR/DVD whatever. The last movie I saw was Tomb Raider, and that was because Angelina Jolie was in it, but that was a long ass time ago.

Movies

Man this is a hard one, becuse I'll go see pretty much anything except movies where an animal is the main character. So yes I will pass on Benji-genre movies. Am a sucker for movies with dope soundtracks.

So in no particular favorite order, here are some movies I can watch over and over and over again: Anything, yes, ANYTHING with Vin Diesel in it; Friday; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World; The Color Purple (definite tear jerker); Ferris Bueller's Day Off and pretty much all of the 80's teen movies; Once Were Warriors; She's Gotta Have It; High Fidelity; Aliens; Stargate the Movie; Hard Boiled; Run Lola Run; American History X; Little Buddha; Good Fences; Latcho Drom; Poltergeist; The Crying Game; The Wraith; Party Girl; Paris is Burning; Children of the Corn; Dragon's Inn; The Matrix; Shaolin Temple (Jet Li's very first movie... EXCELLENT!!!); My Fair Lady; School Daze; House Party I; Princess Monoke; Heavy Metal (noi-ce soundtrack); and my all time favorite... Auntie Mame.

All Time Favorite Infomercials

I wouldn't pay for any of it, but Tony Robbins has something... this faux spirituality that's kind of addictive like sugar candy. I can't help but gape into his big mug and submit to the baritone of his booming voice.

The original Soloflex infomercial featuring the nerdy, shirtless teenager wistfully attempting pushups, then looking sullen into the mirror at his formless physique, is perfect pathos.

Tony Little is all ova da place, but his Ab Isolator commercial really connected with me. There are a few moments where he literally turns into pure, psyched up energy and almost explodes your TV set. These are strategically placed in the lulls of the commercial to reinvigorate you.

Who doesn't love Ponch from C.H.i.P.s? It's too bad he's not offered better work... but perhaps he turns it down because he's so gung ho about Lake Shastina. I believe there is a home for certain people in Lake Shastina. But pay more attention to the residents in the infomercial than Erik Estrada himself - you probably don't get to live next door to Ponch. Has anyone checked to see if the "planned Safeway" referred to in the infomercial is under construction?

Other favorites: all those "no money down, cash on closing" real estate sham ads, music compilations for any decade...

They say it's best when it's live -- the only place I know of now is the Alameda County Fair's exhibition hall where they demo household products every June/July.