DanRochman.com

Another beautiful day. I sometimes need to be reminded that (my) life is pretty sweet. At least it is right now. Friday night was nice - Em and I saw American Splendor, and liked it a lot. And today started off right just by being Saturday. Then my Em (I have an Em!) and I rode our bikes to the newly-restored Ferry Building (well, it re-opened a couple of months back, but it was our first time there) for the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market. I can’t food-shop or cook worth a damn, but I *love* farmer’s markets. Go figure. Plus, the concourse inside the building is now full of yup-scale food shops and such, and is a really beautiful space. Then you go outside, and you get to gaze out at the bay, the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island - rough. Em managed to pick up some fresh produce for dinner, and on the way back we stopped at 826 Valencia, one of my favorite places on Earth, mostly just to say hi to Karl.

Alas, Karl was not to be seen. We inquired, and found out that since our last visit, the beautiful little guy passed away. I bought a “Karl Is King” t-shirt as a sort of (lame?) tribute. Well, it’s a cute shirt. And it’s not as morbid as that - the shirts were made up *before* he died, but as it turned out they arrived in-store just in time for his funeral. It was one of those days where you stop and think a lot, and so I stopped and thought of Karl, and how nice it is that I got to meet him. Some people (and some fish) have the ability to touch other people’s lives that way. I tried to take a little lesson from that as we got back on our bikes and rode home.

Tonight, we’re going out super-late (by our homebody standards) to see Po’ Girl at The Starry Plough in Berkeley. They don’t go on until 11:00 - wow. Was a time that wouldn’t have made me blink, but now it seems hella late. Should be worth skipping a little sleep for. Besides, we get to sleep in again tomorrow. Well, a little. Tomorrow we get to go to Golden Gate Park for baby Ava’s FIRST BIRTHDAY! Whee!!

So, I’m midway through a really nice weekend, and life is good, and I’m just stopping to remind myself of that. During the week, head-down in workworkwork, it’s too easy to lose perspective and get bummed out over really trivial things. But when you’ve *got* work, and your health, and a home, and a “significant other” (or others, for you poly types out there), and friends, and you live in a beautiful city and have some free time to enjoy it… Well, then you’ve got it pretty damn good.

My current New Year’s Resolution (don’t tell me what day it is) is to do more to help those who haven’t got it so good. Because it is Right, and because I want to make Karl proud.