please don't go!

everytime it seems to happen the same way. i have a great time with whomever happens to be visiting, and don't want them to leave. my visitors somehow always seem to be threatened with being tied to the stairwell with climbing rope, and never allowed the leave.

this past weekend was no exception. cousin duh and friends came out for a few days. we saw the sights, drank some wine, walked along the coast (where's the throne?!) and explored the city. i also learned that cousin duh has a much better sense of direction when walking than i do.

and of course on sunday night, before they caught the red-eye back to minny-SO-tah, cuz and i threatened to block the doors and tie them up so they could never leave us. but they out-reasoned us. smart kids!

here's a cute pic of the 2 of us at golden gate park. amazing that my eyes are slighty open!

here's the link to the rest of pics from their visit

this is going to be a hard month as far as visitors are concerned. e-love is coming for 4 days next weekend, and gc is coming for what i hope will be the annual memorial day weekend climbing trip at rustling wood. and leonard bernstein is coming in june, for the OAR show and so i can see him before he ships out to fucking afghanistan.

i should pick up some extra rope at REI this week.

thank the FSM for wine

so i took off from work early yesterday so that au and i could head up to spend a leisurely day drinking wine in sonoma valley with cousin duh and friends who are visiting from minny-SO-ta.

all i can say it, im SO glad i stopped paying for internet on my phone. it would have totally ruined my evening if i had been following the cubs game, where rich hill pitched to 6 batters and only got 2 outs in the first inning before being pulled. the bullpen had to take over the rest of the game.

another mystery of basebal. hill was unfuckingtouchable last year in april, and this year he cant seem to throw a strike to save his life. its no wonder he was demoted down to AAA after the game.

i still have faith. hes too young (and too cute!) to be washed up at age 28. apparently hill was told his spot in the rotation will be waiting for him when he gets back. i'm sure that will be the case, as long as jon lieber doesn't rack up 10 wins in his absence. maybe by the time hill is ready to come back, it will be marquis' turn to be sent down. i hope im wrong about that, but i bet im right.

where is my certificate

here's a pic of the approach we did to the indian springs area this weekend in tahoe. it wasn't too steep, but there wasnt much a trail, just a lot of walking on bark and through branches.

apparently these approaches are getting to easy for me as i did the approach on saturday in my chacos through the snow. and sunday i did the approach with a beer (a coors no less) in my hand

i'll take my dirtbag climber certificate right about now. thanks.

i know i picked a good area to move to...

... cos apparently baseball fans here also hate aj pierzynski and love michael barret.

the chronicle ran this story yesterday. apparently my very own michael barret, who plays for the division-rival padres, is an unoffical folk hero to giants fans who still harbor a grudge about the trade that sent francisco liriano and joe nathan to mn. in return they got aj pierzynski. and boy did he suck when he was with the giants, and boy did the fans hate him for it. no wonder the white sox got him so cheap when he went free agent the following year.

when asked about his local cult-hero status, barrett played it cool and nice. he used the opportunity to compliment the giants on their history, and tried to convince the reporter that the infamous punch was an abberation.

you dont have to pretend with me, barrett! aj may not have deserved the punch for knocking you to the ground and slapping the plate, but we all know he deserved it on a karmatic level for being an all-around dickhead. im glad i was there at the game to be witness.

who says the cubs can't hit?

one for the highlight reel

if games are won by defense alone, reed johnson's amazing diving catch of a felipe lopez fly ball to the farthest part of center field in the bottom of the 5th inning tonight would would clinch it. the game should be over right then and there.

johnson dove headfirst when he was already on the warning track to catch the ball about a foot from the fence. i thought for sure he was going to dislocate a shoulder or knock his head for a concussion. but he was fine, and even tossed the ball from his glove to his hand casually as he walked off the field as the inning was over. his face was in the dirt, so he couldnt see demps mouthing "oh my god" as he watched the play. he could see, however, mark derosa, playing left field and backing him up on the play, stand dumbfounded in awe as johnson trotted past him. de-ro just stood there and stared at the place where johnson had landed in disbelief.

johnson said after the game that he was upset that he hadn't made any impressive plays like that up to this point in the season. boy did he make up for it. and as far i am concerned, he can replace felix pie in center field on a permanent basis. lets trade pie to get a rookie who can maybe need some time in the minors, but will actually will be able to hit major league pitching. just a thought.

cubs 3, nationals 5

white sox were rained out. no game-winning walkoff hits for crede tonight. booo