Peter Sagal Alert

Ok, my love for Peter Sagal has grown even moreso since July of 2004. Am I stalking him? Well, here's a picture what he looks like for those of you who have not had a chance to see him.

I want Peter Sagal or a clone of him will just fine

Thanks go out to Kristin D. for having a sharp eye last year and grabbing tickets to three Cal Performances series at Zellerbach Hall on the UC-Berkeley campus. The first we all remember was David Sedaris. I was unable to make the second one as I was in Seattle for the holidays. The third one of the trio was a live taping of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, the NPR new quiz show which regular readers of the blog know is the closest thing to sliced bread for me. The host of the show is a man named Peter Sagel who I find to be the wittiest man alive, well at least of those that I regularly meet and know. Since I listen to him weekly, I consider him a person that I know. Please don't tell me I'm turning in a lady with lots of cats!!

The show was taped in the same manner as the one I saw taped in Chicago last July. Listen here to the show for February 19th.

I must comment, however, on the trials and tribulations of being in an audience for anything in Berkeley, CA. Here's an example. At some point in the taping, there was a reference made to Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. The politically well-informed citizens of Berkeley, the East Bay and Greater Bay Area, immediately hissed and booed.

After the show is taped, the audience is asked to stick around for the taping of those parts which were unclear in the first taping. You knew that the Santorum part was going to need a second taping. Peter Sagel says Rick Santorum....hissing and booing. This happened at least two more times. At this point Peter (note we are now on a first name only basis) my Peter, is at wits end saying that everyone wants to go home and can't the people of Berkeley take the high road and cheer him? At this point you would think that people would have a fun time doing something they normally wouldn't do and that is cheer the name of a prominantly anti-abortion US Senator. The taping goes through and there was a mere trickle of cheering. Can't these people CHILL?

Lastly, most of you will remember that I too was once a contestant on my beloved show and had a conversation with my beloved Peter. Here is a link to the archived recording of my three minutes on air. Click on the listener bluff link halfway down on the right hand side of the page. This is my evidence that Peter and I are destined to be together.

A little something from the files of Jim J.

Jim, from Las Vegas fame, sent me this article on penguins, specifically gay penguins. To quote Jim...."you got to love Biology!!" Amen brother.

Roadblock

I filled out the paperwork to submit a claim in Alameda County Small Claims Court. I went down right after school today, to beat the 4PM closing time, to find out that it is California State law that a claim cannot be made on a person or entity outside the state of California. Since I was making a claim against Subaru of America based in New Jersey, I was denied. Hmmmm...

According to my legal advisor, I might have to go into municipal court. I'll find out more about all this on Friday evening.

What determines the answer to the question..

"Where are you from?" Ahhh, I love this question, because it's always such an interesting thing to find out where someone is from. But it means different things to different people. It means, for most people, and for me for a long time, "where did you grow up/where did you spend your formative years?" And that would mean Seattle, WA for me. However, if I were now to answer that question, it would be San Francisco, CA, which is now home for me. What is that tipping point that allows you to feel that a new place you reside becomes "where you are from"? Interesting to me in any case.

This all stems from a conversation I had with a group of people who ostensibly meet as a bookclub, but it's all about getting together. Shout out to Hans (and Teresa) for putting together the monthly gatherings. The "book" for this month was "Where We Are From" by Joan Didion. It sparked great conversation amongst us five who were there. Another question that intrigued me is "Are we products of the places we reside? Or do we migrate to those places where we are going to be of like mind?"

I am leaving out a lot of the nuances of conversation but you get the gist. Lastly, something interesting we discussed was those places in America where people who were born and raised there, always hang on to and take pride in saying that they are from. You may agree or disagree....in no particular order or ranking..

Ohio (yeah, think about it, all those people from Ohio are all about Ohio, Texas, Colorado, California, Maine, Vermont, Chicago (but not Illinois), Boston (but not Massachusetts), Seattle (and to a lesser extent Washington state). This is a partial list, but food for thought.

Oh, and lastly, while on the subject of place, here's a great website, called Epodunk I found on someone's blog. I think it's totally cool.