It's a hot and sunny day in San Francisco, even here in the fog belt part of the city where I live.

I had a manicure and pedicure this morning, so my nails look pretty and painted. I can't believe manicures and pedicures were a regular part of my life a few years ago, when I used to wear suits to work every day. Now painted nails are a nice and luxurious treat for me.

I got my eyebrows and upper lip waxed as well. I usually do my brows and waxing myself, but the salon does such a better job. There is nothing like waxing the hair off your body, but take it from me, don't wax your underarms. It's so not worth the money. The underarm hair grows back in two days. What's the point of that?

I shaved my legs very thoroughly as well, shaving once, then buffpuffing the legs, then shaving once again for good measure, and then buffpuffing again to finish. I love the feel of my own shaved legs. They feel so smooth and silky.

It was nice to see that the salon I usually go to was full of women and men having beauty treatments. There is something comforting in seeing that in the midst of a bad economy and war, people still have enough money to beautify themselves.

I'm not sure if I'll post when I'm on the cruise. Supposedly I'll be able to log on from the boat, at a rate of 50 cents a minute, so I may post although it will be very short pieces.

I wonder if there will be TV on the boat. I was vacation in Bali when the Gulf War 1started, so I guess it's fitting I'll be on vacation on the high seas on a luxury liner sailing down the california coast to Mexico during Gulf War 2.

My parents taught me never to discuss religion and politics in polite company, and my father said even then, only with people you know very, very well. It will be interesting to see if the war comes up as a topic. I don't usually say anything with vehement anti-war people, especially when they're emotional and attacking Bush ad hominem. I mean, what's the point. I'm not going to have a critical discussion on the pros and cons of war, and I'll be accused as a Bush supporter, which I am so not. I'll probably just smile and nod, and walk away.

I was thinking about my pro-war stance on the way home last night. Having been an anti-government protestor since the age of 16, and having always felt apart from american society in general, it's kind of cool to think that I finally feel somewhat normal and a part of american society. Maybe I'm not such a freaky geek nerd girl after all.