A sad sight from Friday the 13th. My first-ever car being towed away. I sold it for scrap to an auto parts dealer for a measly $600. A casualty of a hit-and-run driver while innocently parked at 14th and South Van Ness in the Mission.

Although I’m not a car person, I will miss it/her. In fact, I used to pride myself on not owning a car and being a bike and public transport kind of guy. That little vehicle was bought in 1999 after I made a blind move down to LA for a promotion. Nine months later, I returned back to SF and that was the only (s)car from the experience.

Without it, I would have never been the athlete I became, driving to triathlons, trail runs and early morning workouts. It was my chariot to my job in Berkeley, a shuttle for countless visitors to SFO or OAK, and many surprise rides home for my boyfriend and his bike from the pool.

I survived for four weeks vehicle-less. The first week entirely on BART and my bike. The following three weeks were a combination of a co-workerer’s kind carpool (allowing Janie Sparkles to come to the office), inline skates or my bike to BART.

Honestly, it wasn’t too difficult. Not being able to drive the dog to a park was the only downside. I enjoy riding the train to work. I like the time I get to knit and listen to music or books (any suggestions for my next audible.com download?). It’s been a means to get to know JH better and I’ll always welcome another dog-owning friend! It felt nice to reconnect to the City. Instead of orbiting freeways in my aluminum pod, I was part of the urban fabric.

Last Friday, the day of the sorry photo above, I picked up my new car. (No, I won’t post photos. That’s just silly.) I drove to work every day this past week, although I did carpool with JH and drive multiple co-workers home. It’s not a return to the gas-guzzling status quo. I’ll use it judiciously. So far, Janie Sparkles has enjoyed a park visit, a beach romp and many days at the office. I relish the freedom of being able to come and go as I please.

However, yesterday was such a lovely day, I decided to walk my ass all over town, through the Castro, to ImagiKnit, into a (new to me) hip, lil’, custom graphic apparel shop (My Trick Pony), and I had a surprise run-in with a friend’s girlfriend as I walked back home.

That’s something I hadn’t done for months. Note to self: take more walks, not just with the dog. It felt great to reclaim this town and the distances between my home and favorite neighborhoods as my own.

On Saturday, after swim practice, I headed out to an event I’d been meaning to go to for the past 5 years. The Hoe’s Down Festival at Full Belly Farm. It was the 19th annual harvest celebration of sustainable agriculture and rural living in the nearby Capay Valley. The organic veggie box we get delvered to the office comes from River Dog Farm, another Yolo County farm just 6 miles down the road.

After an hour and a half drive from Berkeley, a horse-drawn wagon shuttled us in from the parking area. Gastronomically, I enjoyed some polenta cakes with grilled veggies and a tasty hummus wrap. But, there was more to see and do than farm tours, great food and a day in the country. There was the new straw bale house is a stunning example of green building techniques—complete with a beautiful indoor/outdoor shower with some beautiful tilework. There were sheep, pigs (including the one-half ton Cinquo), a milking cow and a bunch of goats, including a little guy who was just one day old.

I only went up for the afternoon and evening, but festivities went into the night, with overnight camping and more workshops on Sunday. Music, dancing and activities for kids of all ages, from crafts and pumpkin carving to wine tasting and organic beer. Lover of wool that I am, my favorite area was the spinning and weaving area, and I didn’t walk away empty-handed. Not that I needed any more yarn… Thank you, Yolo Wool Mill.

Yes, there was sheep-shearing, however I missed it. For the record, I don’t spin. While I have used a drop spindle, I’m resisting the urge to spin my own yarn, despite how many of the cool kids do it. I’ve got plenty of yarn and things to knit as is. No need to add something else to eat my non-existent spare time.

Lastly, doesn’t that guy on the label look like a friend of Franklin’s pal Dolores?

We went back to Walzwerk tonight. It’s hard to keep a good man down, right? Actually, I wasn’t in the mood to cook dinner, having survived a day of BART and my bike. When I got home after 8:40, all I wanted was their Special Spaetzle (salmon, cheese, spinach in with the buttery and oniony goodness which only appears on the menu every so now and then). Last night, the only food offerings were sausages grilled outside (not my thing since 1991) and a variety of salads and slaws.

Tonight was the last night for my favorite Spaetzle, as the menus change on Tuesdays. Comfort food would do me good. Alas, there was not enough noodle as a table ahead of us ordered the last plate. Knowing the owner was frazzled from the party and just wanting something yummy, I suggested dumplings and the mushroom Jaeger sauce. She returned from the kitchen with more bad news: only one dumpling left. Finally, I orderd some house-cured salmon and beet salad to accompany the starchy yumminess.

When our dinner arrived, she surprised me with a half order of the spaetzle to go along with the lox and the dumpling. Carbo-feast made it all better. Although it was a stressful day, and it sucks that my car may no longer be, I can celebrate the fact that we weren’t in the car when it was hit, no one close to me was injured, and in the end, only a material object was damaged. Thank you for kind comments. Despite the aggrevating end to the weekend, there was a lot of knitting accomplished: a second sleeve for my variation on Durrow and a 44-stitch wide swatch to test out a chart for a future Janie sweater. IOU photos.

While attending the 7th anniversary of our favorite restaurant, Walzwerk, my car was the victim of pretty serious hit-and-run. What I thought was a simple broken tail light turned out to be a major impact that bent the frame of the trunk, misaligning the hatchback door and bending the axel. The tow truck guys said it’s mostly likely totalled.

Once I paid it off, I reduced my insurance coverage. Therefore, no claim can be made; I’m just without a car. It would be great if I could get some money for it, but I’m thinking the best case scenario is going to be a big fat donation to KQED or SF MoMA. Too bad you can’t drive your dog to work in a tax write-off. More time for knitting on BART.

Back before I was a knitter, I was writing to myself online, often on much more personal topics. In honor of what happened in NYC, Pennsylvania and DC five years ago, I wanted to re-post something written two days after the attacks. Coincedentally, September 11, 2000 is the day I started my current job/career, so it holds a positive significance as well its place in history.

6:57 p.m. 2001-09-13

Up until Monday, I was feeling guilty for not getting back to write. So much had happened that was significant: running for three days in New Mexico and deciding I was bad-ass, discussing moving in with C and finding an apartment, wanting to come clean about the past two years with C to my X, and my first year anniversary at work. Big things.

Then something bigger happened. I got to watch it unfold on TV. They've named it "America Under Attack," complete with exploding WTC graphics. I call it sad. And frightening.

I guess I'm lucky, living on the West Coast, far away from it all. All my friends in NYC and DC have been accounted for, thank goodness. I've even spoken to most of them. I've got blessings.

The most significant loss in my world is a friend of my roommate was the rugby player that called his mom from the flight that went down in PA. Roomie sent me an email Mark had written just a week ago that sums up everything I feel about queers and athletics. I'm going to keep that with me forever. Will the networks paint a complete portrait of this guy? Those have been my only tears.

I'm frightened of how this will change everything. Not just flying, but my taking everything for granted. I've never had to tally my friends before.

I'm scared of my "fellow" Americans, when I hear jingo-istic war cries on TV or in the office. The hatred and intolerance that will come out of this won't go away easily. Sure, we'll all remember the tragedy, I just hope we find a way to move past the anger and work on healing.

Gosh, that sounds so Californian.

Tragedy reminds me of how easily life can be stolen, how much I rely on others, and how important it is to overcome and heal. And that includes not thinking in "us" and "them" terms.

Perhaps it's too soon for mainstream America to hear such Kum Ba Yah sentiments. They're not being broadcast on TV or scribed in the papers. People are just beating the drum, rallying the masses.

I'll just keep humming to myself softly.

Wednesdays are my longest day of the week. Besides the usual work routine, it’s often my day to take Janie to the office. We hang out at my desk from 9am to 6:30 or 7pm, sometimes later, before we rush off into traffic to get to synchro practice at 7:30pm. Janie doesn’t come to that. The result is I’m often late and stressed and not in the best mindset for swimming.

There are two things that make the endless day and night all better… at 9:30, practice is over, though sometimes you could call it torture. Then it’s home for a late dinner and savoring all the Project Runway goodness TiVo has captured.

Yesterday, I didn’t bring our little blossom to the office because she’s coming in today. Then, I had a 5pm meeting in the City, so I left work early and had about an hour at home before practice (which I will continue to feel in my obliques for days). As usual, from 10-11pm, PR ruled.

The reason for this post’s title? Upon getting online, I run over to Dan’s blog for his astute recap. I’m shocked at the winner (that’s not an outfit for an “everyday woman” nor did it look flattering from the waist up!). He needs to go. I agree with the dismissal, however much I wanted to like him. I just wish he’d grow a spine or a unique design perspective.

However, I disagree with your assessment of the Angela’s mom/Jeffrey thing. Maybe it’s how I was raised (being the son of a minister), but if I ever addressed my mother or any one in that matter, I’d expect a slap across my face. Rude is rude, even if it’s in response to someone’s strategic schemings.

That said, thanks, Dan, for being part of my Thursdays.

One of the reasons I don’t write here often is the misguided impression that I should limit my posts to just knitting. Along with that, I judge my photo-less posts as inferior to those with pretty pictures. Therefore, my precious few loyal readers have an erratic and inconsistent document of my going-ons. For that I apologize. I’m sure something is better than nothing. Heck, some of my favorite reads, knitting and otherwise are text-only. With that, I’m giving hizknits.com permission to contain more non-knitting stuff and photos will be a bonus, not a manditory.

It’s been a week since my return from Canardia (silly joke from last year’s Poland trip). My thoughts are no more collected, nor are my (by which I mean Chris’–link doesn’t show swim pix) photos sorted. I realize that life’s just going to keep chugging on, whether I compose witty words to describe it or not. I am caught up in hanging with the puppy (sometimes even in bed!).

The best sporting part of Montreal was deciding to swim a solo. I went planning just to swim a duet. When I originally signed up, I did so as a solo, as it looked like no one else from my team was going, since we agreed to swim at the Gay Games in Chicago. There, I swam a team of 6 and a trio. One third of our trio happened to be from Montreal, so she decided to visit her family and we became a two-some. They still had me down for a solo as well, so all it took was some friendly support to convince me to swim alone. In a competition. For my first time. Ever.

I spent a couple of hours today editing all the video onto a DVD for our team meeting tomorrow night. If you beg nicely, I could be convinced to edit a few short movies together and toss them up on YouTube. How badly do you want to see me in a Speedo with pointed toes?

Beyond the sporty stuff. hanging with people was the best part of the two weeks away. Swimmers from Quebec, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Toronto, and even Sacramento, not to mention the Canadian National Team! My sister and her new girlfriend. A long-lost friend from college and his boyfriend. My duet partners mom and her many draq queen friends. A co-worker’s recent friend and the source of the best eating recommendations in all of Montreal. A fellow knitter and his fellow, Nigel (who commented on my last post) and Geordie (father of knit designer Holly), who we followed to Quebec City.

Knitting-wise, I finished the last sock for the Trek-Along while in Chicago. I’ve worn the socks twice, and they are so much softer after washing. I’ll definitely be buying some more of that yarn. The sock that I was knitting coming out of the the Metro when spotted by Nigel is finished, and I’m well into the foot of its brother. It’s a simple sock with the split toe from Knitty.com’s latest issue, no intarsia or mock-button back. No need to design one myself, now. We’ll see how that yarn (Lana Grossa’s Mega Boots Stretch in orange with green and maroon varigation) wears. I don’t like the toe-up sock for one reason alone: the cast-off edge of the cuff is too tight, no matter how large a needle and suspended cast-off method. No need to design my own, Tricky.

One sunny day, I’ll get around to photographing a bunch of stuff. There’s still the Artfibers Mammoth raglan sweater that needs a collar and to be sewn together. Speaking of things that need to be finished, the cycling aran I made still needs a zipper, but remains one of my favorite things I’ve made. (Micah, I used a Rowanspun Chunky found on ebay.com.)

That’s all for this Sunday evening. I was supposed to do some work for my day job, but it was so much more fun writing to you. Hopefully, more words and pictures to come.

Sorry for the long silence. I’ve spent the past two weeks in Montreal at the OutGames. The week before that was a busy six days home after a week of the Gay Games in Chicago. Much to write about, but it will have to wait until I collect my thoughts. Suffice to say, gold and silver medals were won in synchronized swimming, a pair of socks were finished and another started, new friends (one a knitter) were met, long-lost friends found, and places of my past visited.

I’m looking forward to surviving the airport in the early hours of tomorrow, sleeping in my own bed and, most importantly, wrasslin’/kissin’/cuddlin’/runnin’/nappin’ with my little Janie Sparkles (photo courtesy of Pick of the Litter Pet Care).

Lisa, Ms. Bird in the Hand, posted images of her art show (including one I snapped of her and knitter extraordinaire Jess Hutch).

Here are my images from Friday night’s show:

It was a lovely night… and I may soon have a few pieces so I can remember it forever on my own wall!

Just got home from Lisa’s show at Edo Salon (on the corner of Haight and Steiner). If you’re in SF, I demand you go. She’s an inspiration, a friend and an amazing swimmer. I was supposed to sell the buttons she/we made, but spent more time chatting, photographing and staring at her intricate and elegant work. I’ll post photos later. Pieces were selling left and right, wine was sipped to whatever the DJ was playing, and Lisa glowed in the center of the packed room.

I did a little glowing myself—or was that blushing? Who should walk into the show but Jess Hutch, creator of the bunny pattern I just knit, the robots that all the Internet kids love, and Knitty’s kitty Kate.

Granted, I know Lisa interviewed Jess for Whip up. I had asked her if Jess might come, and recognized those cat-eyed glasses from the moment she came in. Jess, sorry to be a bit of a blog stalker. Normally, I have more interesting things to say than, “I just knit your bunny! You’re famous!” Ask Lisa, I’m so much cooler than that. I as so embarassed by my own behavior that I didn’t get a picture of her, although Lisa did ask me to snap one of the two of them on her camera. SF is a small enough town; I trust I’ll meet Ms. Hutchinson again and redeem myself.

Pictures soon. I’m hanging out with Lisa again tomorrow night, along with at least one co-worker. The Ditty Bops are playing at Slims just around the corner. For never having heard of the band a mere 30 hours ago, I’m thoroughly obsessed with their swinging retro, ragtime, cabaret/vaudeville pop. My work sponsors them and I saw their Bikes & Bikinis calendar before listening to the latest CD. You can find a few videos on YouTube (where you should check out the sketch comedy of Pretty Thingsss, gender-bending sketch comedy made by one of the Ditty Bops). Run along and read their bike blog about pedalling across the country, gig-to-gig.