Happy New Year's to Everyone! I hope you are safe and happy tonight, and that you have love and success in the new year!

Don't forget those resolutions, and a gratitude list for all the things and people in your life that make you feel your life is great and wonderful!

All this talk of cloning reminds me of this BBC show I saw years ago called, "The Cloning of Joanna May", written by Fay Weldon. Weldon is a brilliant storyteller and writes the most amazing stories. The book as well as the show were very good.

In Joanna May, her ex-husband had her cloned three times and each woman had a part of her Joanna's personality but not the whole thing. It was a very, very interesting story about the consequences of cloning done in Weldon' smart and very cheeky style. Great ending as well, and quite unexpected really.

What is Evil?

My church yahoo group discussion board is having a spirited discussion on evil based on this excerpt from the NY Times.
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Evil is a dangerous word, if you fling it about irresponsibly. But it is an important word to keep in our moral vocabulary, because it sharpens our moral reactions and stiffens our moral resolve. The idea of ruthless malice, the love of death and destruction for its sake, constitutes a real category of human agency, and this is what the word evil is designed to connote.

It is a strong word for an extreme phenomenon. The English language can sometimes seem weak in its resources for the description of extreme wrongdoing, so we find ourselves reaching for alien words: pogrom, holocaust, ethnic cleansing, fascist, sadist, gulag, intifada. The word tragedy is often made to perform duties beyond its scope, with its suggestion of inevitability. (Atrocity is better, implying that someone committed an evil act.) The word terrorism is actually far too weak for what it denotes: not merely creating terror, but doing so by the calculated murder and maiming of innocents because they are innocents. So let's keep the old-fashioned word evil, and let's use it with all the seriousness and caution it requires.

Colin McGinn, professor of philosophy, Rutgers University
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I am guilty. I use the word evil quite a bit, and probably sometimes not for very "evil" things. The upcoming war with Iraq is fueling this discussion, and we are now all pondering "the just war" theory. "Are acts, themselves, good or evil, or do the consequences matter?", asks a member of my church. I think heinous acts have sometimes been committed in the name of good, and I'm sure the "good" people had the best of intentions at the time.

I went to Sears tonight and bought a pair of size 10 Lands' End black corduroy pants. The waist wasn't snug at all tonight, so I think that' s a good sign. I'm sick of my pants with their baggy butts. I tried on a pair of size 10 jeans as well that fit, but decided to wait on buying those.

Then I tried on some Lands' End knit pants in a medium petite, and they were so loose on me. It was shocking to think I coud actually wear a small, but Lands' End clothes must run very large. I want to buy more pants, but I'm afraid in a couple of months I'll have baggy bum syndrome again.

I may buy one more pair of khakis for work. I'm also thinking I should go and try on some Ralph Lauren jeans, since I may find a pair that actually fits now. I just bought a couple of pairs of jeans in the spring, so I'm bummed that they're now too big, even though I'm excited to be buying smaller clothes.

I also tried on some sweaters at Target, but I still need to lose more weight for my tops to look okay. Extra large is too big, but large is still snug. The best thing about being thinner is I can buy cheaper clothes, which still fit. The cheaper stuff isn't generously cut so you really have to be size it says. Actually, it's better if you're even smaller than the size since those cheaper clothes are cut so tiny. My own personal test for weight loss is when I'll be able to wear a medium Target sweater, and it will look great on me.

On a Monday Night football game that ultimately doesn't mean anything, it's still painful to watch the 49ers fall apart in the fourth quarter and to see St. Louis stage one of their usual comebacks.

This is not a good sign for the upcoming Giants game. You want to go into the playoffs with a win, and not a loss, don't you?

Ronn Owens is talking about that new Fox reality show "Joe Millionaire". I'm bad, but I am so looking forward to watching this show. The critics are already going wild. I loved Temptation Island, so I know I would love this show.

It's such a drag to be at work today. I should have taken the next two days off. Maybe next year.

Been watching football games all day, mostly to block the noise of the foot stomping, furniture moving monster that lives above me. The freak moves her furniture around every week, what's up with that? I've been hiding out in my dining room and lying on my fold out futon chair. I moved the chair in there so I wouldn't hear the freak upstairs stomping around, and it's working. I can hear her, but at least I don't feel like it's right over my head. I'm congratulating myself on this brilliant move of mine. My computer is in here too, so I can work in peace if needed.

And, I guess I had too many Maker's Mark Manhattans at my friend's cocktail party last night, because I woke up with a dizzying wicked hangover. Haven't had one of these in years. I think I only had four drinks, but I guess I'm getting old because I think one or two drinks is my limit, although my friend does make her manhattans very strong. Or maybe it's because it was brown liquor and I usually only drink vodka or wine or beer. Who knows? I just know I was severely hung over this morning, and watching football in bed was a delightful idea.

Anyway, watching all these football games makes me marvel at the game of football. The whole playoff scene was a trip. Miami beat New England, but because the NY Jets beat Greenbay, both Miami and New England were eliminated out of the playoffs. But if the NY Jets lost, they'd be in.

How weird is that? To win your game, but then get ousted out of the playoffs because some other team won. And the NY Jets look like they're peaking as well. The NY Giants too.

Is it Oakland's year? It would be interesting to watch Oakland play Tampa Bay, because of the John Gruden connection. Skip Bayless from the Mercury News was right. Oakland didn't need John Gruden, because they've done well without him.

Not sure about the 49ers though. They're a strong team, but other teams looks better. If they play the Falcons, they might get through that game. If they play the red hot NY Giants, well, then maybe next year. The 49ers are still a young team, and I think they need a couple more years before they become superbowl contenders. Maybe if they get a new defensive guy, they'd actually have a chance to win. I've never liked Jim Mora, and don't think he's brought anything to the 49er team.

It's a rainy day in San Francisco, so I'm listening to Mozart's Requiem for the Dead. It's appropriate rainy day music I think.

I had the weirdest dream this morning. I dreamt that the civic center part of downtown San Francisco was all giant condo buildings. It must have been a futuristic dream because there were electric and hover cars everywhere. I was looking for a new place to live, and was contemplating a top floor apartment with one heck of a view. I wish!

I'm supposed to go to a pre-New Year's eve cocktail party tonight, which I should go to just to put in an appearance, since it's being given by a very good friend of mine. I hope the rain stops by then.

I've been listening to futurists talking about the year 2003, and they don't have very good news. Everyone says we will go to war sometime between January and February, and most likely February 1 because it's a new moon. One futurist said the military has always started an attack on a new moon to provide cover for the stealth fighter planes. I wonder if this is true.

One interesting comment from one of them, Sean David Morton, was about the airline industry. Morton said that a group called the Carlyle group, a primarily Republican Billionaire Boys club run by Former Sec. of Defence Frank Carlucci and Former CIA Dir. "Buzzy" Kronengard, was buying up train companies like CSX. Apparently, this same Carlyle group SHORTED MILLIONS of dollars worth of AMERICAN and UNITED AIRLINES stock the DAY BEFORE the 9/11 Twin Towers attacks. Morton said if the Carlyle Group is investing in trains, then they're expecting something to happen to the airline industry, which most likely will be terrorist related.

I think the airlines industry is in serious financial free fall right now, and one more terrorist related incident like 9/11 will clinch it. I think the United Airlines bankruptcy will have far-reaching effects on the SF Bay Area and Chicago economies, and that we've only seen the tip of that financial disaster.

What's weird about all the futurists is they're all predicting doom and gloom. Usually they differ very greatly in their predictions, but not this time, and that's the most frightening part.

I still tend to believe that we should go to war with Iraq, but then you have the law of unintended consequences to deal with. Sean David Morton said the same thing. The terrorists, the Al-Queda network is the X-factor. Who knows how strong their response will be to an attack on Iraq? There are even rumblings in the conservative papers about what's going on politically in Iran, so I wouldn't necessarily rule out the war in Iraq spreading to Iran.

Morton also said that Osama Bin Laden is still alive, but would be caught or killed in early 2004 and that the Al-Queda network will go on without him.

It's grim news I know, but all futurists will tell you that the future is not set in stone, that it can still be changed. But perhaps not this war in Iraq. The only thing that could change our government's plans for war with Iraq, is North Korea detonating a nuclear device in the DMZ. And no one knows what North Korea is capable of at this point.

Check out the Top 10 Word Lists of 2002, from Your Dictionary. The Shrubmeister has contributed many of his own personal mangled words to the list. I like the phrases "for shizzle" and "rank and yank".

I'm finally at home checking email, and reading news from far and wide.

On Christmas eve, I went for a steak dinner with a friend to supposedly the best steak house in SF called Harris. They have their own ranch down south, where they get their beef from. I'm not a big steak eater, so it's kind of fun to go out every five years for special occassions to eat steak. Thank god they had petite steaks without bones, for non meat eaters like me.

We had cocktails to start. I had my usual, been drinking it since I was 21, vodka and tonic, and my friend had her newest drink, a Maker's Mark Manhattan. My drink was like 90% vodka and 10% tonic, the kind of drink that makes you sweat when you drink it.

Then we had crab cakes, because after all it is crab season here. They were made fresh and were very, very good. Then the steaks. I had my boneless tiny steak and my friend had some red blood icky giant prime rib thing, that didn't even look cooked, with creamed spinach and some nose clearing horseradish sauce. We split a bottle of very good merlot, and split a cream cheese cake with huckleberries and blueberries. What the heck are huckleberries?

Then it was off to church service, which was short and sweet, and interesting only because I saw a guy from our sister church there. Like what was a guy from our rival church doing at our service, when he could have been at his service? Very, very interesting.

On Christmas Day, I went over to another friend's house and we drank champagne mimosas, watched figure skating, and ate scrummy munchy things all day. We sat down for a late dinner of ham, sweet and regular potatoes, rolls, very good zinfandel and asparagus. Then for dessert, we had applecrisps and coffee with eggnog, and split open these cheesy english cracker things, which I was told are quite victorian. Then we talked about spending a christmas in London so we could have real english victorian crackers, and going to Fortnum and Mason or Harrods for tea.

And now I'm at home stuffed with food, and exhausted from too much eating and drinking.

Merry Christmas to all! I hope tonight you are happy and well! Check out NORAD tracks Santa. It's so cute!

Wouldn't it be nice if we still believed Santa Claus was real? Those were such innocent days.

DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers for 12/23/2002. This is where Rumsey talks about the US fighting on two fronts, Iraq and North Korea. Scary!!!

Short posts for awhile. I'm over my posting limit by a couple of days, I should be at 69% and I'm at 79%. That's why linking is better than copying I guess.

I decided after long talks with friends over the weekend, that now is not a good time to move. Too many uncertainties in my life right now including my job, and what's going to happen once we go to war with Iraq. There will no doubt be retalliation from the Iraqis, it's just a matter of when and how many times. Who knows what more 9/11 disasters will do to the US economy, not to mention everyone's peace of mind. A friend is afraid of a nuclear strike, although I doubt that will happen. I'm more afraid of a biological or chemical weapon, or a dirty bomb.

Although SF is a high profile target, all the conspiracy/psychic futurists say it's either going to Colorado, Chicago or DC, or all three. Chicago because of The Chicago Board of Trade, which deals in agricultural and financial futures and options. Colorado because that's where the US government has their underground city in case of a nuclear attack. And DC, well because it's the capital.

Then there's the crisis happening in Korea. That's a major hot spot, and people are saying that right when we're in the middle of the iraqi war, North Korea will explode a nuclear device near the DMZ. China will probably take Taiwan and we'll let it go, and if the US has to fight a ground war against North Korea, it will be messy since our resources will already be stretched too thin from the war in Iraq. I'm not looking forward to watching the body bags come home on TV every night.

It's going to be an interesting 2003, whatever happens, and it seems prudent to stay put for now until the dust settles.

Rainbow Grocery Statement on Israeli Products

Statement from the Board of Directors Regarding Israeli Products. Spin Rainbow Grocery, spin!

So Rainbow grocery ended its partial boycott of Israeli made goods, Rainbow Grocery backs off on boycott of Israeli goods Representatives of two Jewish groups declare victory.

I don't know if I can ever shop there again though. They had the boycott in place for a year, and they only backed down because they got found out. For all their talk of being a progressive grocery, they acted just like any big corporatation that they profess to hate; they engaged in deceptive practices. It's so typical of the progressives. They despise the conservative right and big corporations, but when you examine them and their practices they're exactly the same. At least the big corporations and the conservative right lay their agenda and motives on the table for everyone to see and judge. They're honest about who they are, and what they're willing to do. Not the progressive left. They lie and hide in the name of self righteousness and because they really do think they know better than anyone else. Is it any wonder people are so disgusted with the left and progressive these days?

Who has time for dishonesty and hidden agendas? Please! If I'm dealing with a jerk, I like to know up front. Be proud of your views! Don't skulk around and hide, and only change your views when you're caught. Shame on you, Rainbow Grocery!

People are typing in "elf girl" into all of these search engines (thank god for sitemeter) and visiting my bloggie. Are they looking for The Elf Girl in the City me or is there some other elf girl out there on the Net?

I just got back from another holiday party. God, I'm exhausted. I've been going like gangbusters all day. I'm supposed to go another party tomorrow afternoon, but I'm thinking of not going. I'd like a day to just relax and decompress. I spent the whole day shopping, and waiting in line at the post office trying to mail presents; me and the whole world it seemed.

There's also another party on Christmas eve to attend right before the late night service, that I just got invited to. I told them I have Christmas eve dinner plans, but may show up for dessert. Then I'm going to a Christmas day luncheon party. Just thinking about it all makes me tired.

Still, it's nice to go to parties to catch up with people whom I haven't seen or talked to in awhile. Athough I'm not a big party goer, I go to all the Christmas parties to catch up with friends.

Like take my friend who was in the hospital with a bacterial infection. I've been meaning to send a card or go and visit him, but I kept forgetting. Some friend huh? Anyway, he shows up at this party tonight and it was so good to see him. We spent about 20 minutes talking about what happened to him, and how he's doing now. Then I spoke to another friend who I hadn't talked to in awhile, and she was telling me about her new medication for this recurring medical problem that she's having.

Parties are where I get to hear the nitty gritty details of people's lives, and that's why I go to them. Well that and the gossip. I get to hear the gossip about various friends, and that's always kind of fun in a purely perverse way.

Now I just want to sit down and read my new Caleb Carr novel. I love Cale Carr! He's an amazing writer. He's a historian as well, and he includes all these factoids in his stories. I love him, and want to write like him. His stories make me think deeply about issues.

I haven't been writing since the end of November. I kind of feel guilty about it, but a part of me feels like I deserve a break and a vacation since I spent all of last month furiously writing. The December holidays are the worst time to write. There's just so much to do this month, that it's hard to fit writing in.

It feels strange not to write though, and I'm starting to feel it. I'll have to start writing again after Christmas. Things will have calmed down by then, at least until New Years.

I read a book a few months ago called, "Move your things, Change your life." In a fit of who knows what, I moved my desk to a totally different area of my apartment. I wanted my desk to be near a window, so I moved my desk to where my dining table used to be, and then had to move a bunch of stuff around to accomodate the change.

I've had my desk in the same place since I moved in seven years ago, so it feels a little weird to have my desk in a new place, but ... I kind of like it. Maybe it will change my life. Maybe not.

I went to look at an apartment tonight. I think the guy renting that apartment I looked at, must have been desperate because he listed it last week, and was showing it last Saturday for $50 more. I wanted to check it out, but I had that screenwriting seminar that day. When I emailed the guy if he was showing it another time, I never got a reply back. This Tuesday, the guy relists his apartment only this time with a more detailed description and $50 cheaper. I keep wondering what happened last Saturday that made him relist in more detail for cheaper. I decided to go and check it out, because it did sound so good on paper.

The apartment was in the back of someone's house, which people refer to as an "in-law". I know people who are in great in-law apartments, and they love it, so I decided to check this one out.
The size was good, and it was on a quiet street, and it was perfect except for the fact that it only had two windows.

I think it might have looked better during the day, but Mr. Desperate Landlord decided to show it on a Friday night at 6:30 pm. It makes you wonder what the story is with this landlord. I spoke to his wife earlier on the phone, and she told me the husband inherited the building from his parents who live in the top apartment. An older couple live in the bottom apartment, and then there's the in-law apartment underneath. The wife and husband used to live in the bottom apartment, then they went and bought their own place. Curiouser and curiouser said the cat.

I'm spoiled. I have a corner apartment with seven windows, and I adore them. Six of the windows are bay windows, so they're nice and huge. I just love all the light streaming in, so I bought these horrendously expensive guazy white cotton Pottery Barn curtains with little suns all over them. The light comes in but people can't see in. I never draw my shades, and when it's pretty outside, I open the curtains.

The windows are one of the main reasons I moved in here in the first place. Not having windows in that in-law freaked me out. Sure I would have way more peace and quiet, way more room, and a garden outside, but it would feel like I was living in a cave and I think that would drive me insane after awhile. I need light, windows and lots of lots of sunshine. This love of light and sun must come from island upbringing. We had big windows in my childhome home.

Two more apartments tomorrow. Yikes! My gut keeps telling me to wait for a place that feels really, really good. That I'll know it when I see it, like I how I knew about this place when I first saw it. My gut also keeps saying that rents will still come down, if I just wait another month.

So in the mean time, I'll just move my whole apartment around and disrupt my current way of life. It's already disrupted big time anyway. What's a little more disruption in my life? Besides, maybe my life will change if I just move my stuff. You never know.