San Francisco Vacation : Biking the Marin Headlands

My third visit to the city so far, and what a day it was! the first 2 visits were with my friends Matt & Jen, and they had been rather foggy... not chance for good views, though there's still plenty to do and see.


The view from Coit Tower looking westward on a foggy Saturday.. That's Lombard St., the crookedest street in the world, just left of center.

Today I headed into the city alone while Matt & Jen were working to get in a little biking. If I can't get out on 2 wheels, after a few days I feel rather lethargic. Besides, SF is the biking capital of the world (unofficially, of course).

...I expected fog today, all the weather reports predicted it. So I was going to bike the Presidio, or Golden Gate Park... places where the sights were up close and there was no vista for the fog to cover.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the sky as clear as a bell....

Change of plans. I have wanted to bike the Marin Headlands, and they're supposed to have the best views of the Bay, period. Today was my chance.



Here I am at the vista from the Spencer Battery, an artillery post that defended the Bay during WWII.... and there was much more hill to climb. In many stretches I was in first gear, but I didn't stop (except for photos, of course).

All in all the elevation change from where I started was about 1,500 feet. Then there is a HUGE drop off from Hawk Hill that is over a mile long. One fellow on a racing bike flew right by me (and I was going pretty fast too!), darting through each turn... he had to have done this plenty of times. There are only a few guard rails, sheer drops off the roadsides, and dozens of winding turns. Thank God they've made this a one-way street.


The long drop off from Hawk Hill to Point Bonita.

Three hours later, after many stops for side trips and photo opportunities, I made it back, muddy, a little sore, but I did it! I pushed my limits, challenged myself physically, and took on these hills I found big and intimidating. And I did it!

What an experience!

Yup, they pegged me...

...how do they know?! How do they do that?!?

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty. At work and school, you do best when you're researching. When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often. In friendship, you are considerate and compromising. Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking. You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

The Birth Order Predictor

Where'd Tim go?

ditzy_waits1
Originally uploaded by AultTimIT.

I'm on vacation for 2 weeks in San Francisco.

Don't worry, a friend in town is taking care of Ditzy for me.

Here's how I imagine him right now, wondering where I've gone...

See the cat? See the cradle?

"For maybe a hundred thousand years or more grownups have been waving tangles of string in their children"s faces... no wonder kids grow up crazy. A cat's cradle is nothing but a bunch of X's between somebody's hands, and little kids look and look and look at all those X's, but there's no damn cat, and no damn cradle.

...Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

I just arrived in San francisco this afternoon. During my flight I was able to read Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle". Overall I have to say I liked the book; it left me pleasantly surprised at times how eloquent Vonnegut captures the human condition... the more I read, the more I like. In the book Vonnegut introduces the religion of Bokononism. Bokonon, its founder, teaches us that the universe arranges itself into two entities, the karass and the granfalloon. The karass is a loose connection of friends that, without knowing it, do God's work. A granfalloon is a false organization, one that serves no true purpose except to make false associations.

...there is a lot more about bokononism out there than what I am willing to put into writing. I suggest wikipedia for a better definition than I offer...



Anyway, what really touched me and what I wanted to share from this book are the last rites given to a Bokononist.

God made mud.
God got lonesome.
So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!"
"See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."
And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around.
Lucky me, lucky mud.
I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done.
Nice going, God!
Nobody but You could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have.
I feel very unimportant compared to you.
The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around.
I got so much, and most mud got so little.
Thank you for the honor!
Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep.
What memories for mud to have!
What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met!
I loved everything I saw!
Good night.
I will go to heaven now.
I can hardly wait to find out for certain what my wampeter was...
And who was in my karass...
And all the good things our karass did for you.
Amen.

Ia! Ia! C'thulu Ftagn! (Translation: Shop at Walmart)

Something sent to me in the mail from my friend Gabe.



While I do defer great respect to the Old Ones, the main reason I am not a Cultist of Walmart is that I don't like to buy Cheap Crap!

But an environmentally friendly Walmart? Please.

Still, the comparison to the actions of Corporate Walmart to the ineffable evil of Great Cthulhu is quite amusing, though I feel that they are more akin to the insidious, subtle evil of Nyarlathotep...

still, Cthulhu would be a great spokesman.

Evolution is a fact, not a theory.

So last week I was watching Carl Sagan's "Cosmos"... they are reairing them on the Science Channel, along with some updated graphics. I remember always watching the show as a kid, it was one of my favorite programs.

Anyway, the one I was watching was on evolution. In it Carl said something that today would cause all kinds of religious rancor,

"Evolution is a Fact, not a Theory, it really happened."

The evidence of evolution is overwhelming, more overwhelming than the evidence of gravity (no one yet is certain of how gravity works). Yet in evolution scientists have taken fruit flies, separated them into two isolated groups, and through several of their short generations have mutated them so much that they are unable to reproduce with each other, essentially make two species out of one... evolution.

Yet the propaganda from the religious right is that evolution is theory. Bunk. The difference between theory and fact in science is well defined by their own peerage, not by clergy and politicians. Yet the tide of public opinion still shows many would rather believe in the stories of Creation (yes, there are 2), or in its bastard stepchild, Intelligent Design.

Truth is, evolution is how life has diversified from a single source (and it is still debated as to where the single source came from). God created the universe. Evolution just shows how God did it. Science teaches the process we call evolution. But for some, that's just not good enough

With that off my back (though I could go for hours), I leave you with this comic from Asmussen's Bad Reporter. He underlines, I think eloquently, how ridiculous it is to bring mythology into a science class.

Credentials? What credentials?

Cat and Mouse

Cat and Mouse
Originally uploaded by AultTimIT.

Says Ditzy..."yeah! How do you like me now?! I'm up on your desk... you just go ahead and TRY to double click. I dare you!"

A fun little Quiz

Who would've known?


You are Peppermint Patty!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

...kinda odd: I hate academics, yet I am an academic. ?!

Halleluiah!

Paul Hackett will run for Senate in 2006 against DeWine (Google news wire)

Finally! Us Ohioans have a real contender for Senate. And, a recent Zogby poll has Hackett already ahead of DeWine by 44.2% - 35.9% (+-2.9% MOE).

Now my question is: Where do I sign up to volunteer for the Hackett campaign? It's about time we kicked these corrupt Ohio GOP politicians out of power.