OK, you guys know that "Skateboard," a.k.a. the legless homeless guy who got around on a skateboard in San Francisco, died? Poor guy was hit by a truck, which just couldn't see him. Tragedy, all around.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=18&entry_id=15845

This woman, and all the people carrying on about the "middle class," are making me hate humanity right now. It's making me want to round up a bunch of homeless panhandlers and buy them all beer.

caitlin, why don't you go listen to some folk music, crunch some granola, sip some herbal tea and give the rest of us a break from your tortured drivel? it's easy-come, easy-go types like yourself who are to blame for the current state of this city, in which the homeless dominate the landscape and are never held responsible for their actions. have you never heard of "personal responsibility?" you may not mind living in a city which the "homeless" have transformed into their private bathroom/shooting gallery/saloon, but I assure you the overwhelming majority of us do. When I am approached by a "homeless" person who wants me to contribute to their self-destructive lifestyle, I COMPLETELY IGNORE THEM. They may persist, but ultimately, they leave me alone.

caitlin, how precisely was skateboard "disenfranchised and oppressed?" Applying anarchronistic Marxist jargon to him hardly does him justice either. why do you assume that the state, or some cabal of rapacious capitalists, is to blame for the phenomenon of those who cannot--or will not--fend for themselves? While I understand that many of the homeless who populate are streets are desperately mentally ill, there are others who have eschewed the workday world in order to enjoy a free-wheeling existence in which they are beholden to no one, although they certainly aren't shy when asking for handouts, either from the Mayor of San Francisco or their fellow citizens. I for one am tired of panhandlers who attempt to ingratiate themselves with indifferent passers-by by displaying signs bearing slogans like "Why Lie? I Want a Beer" or "Aspiring Porn Star." It's not that these types can't take care of themselves, find jobs and lead productive lives - it's that they don't want to. They'd rather smoke dope, drink 40 oz. King Cobras and bs with their fellow scofflaws. I applaud your own work ethic and the fact that you also know how to relax. And finally, anyone who rides a skateboard past the age of 12 is obviously developmentally challenged.

If she wants to talk about people who "have eschewed the workday world in order to enjoy a free-wheeling existence in which they are beholden to no one," she should meet my ex-boyfriends, who are not homeless and not panhandlers. People who have figured out how to get out of real jobs are usually more clever about it than sleeping on piss-soaked cardboard boxes in doorsteps. I'm not saying smart people haven't ended up on the streets, but I don't think it's a choice anyone other than misguided "punk" teenagers would make. (And many of those kids, honestly, are running away from abusive parents.) Because groveling for money to buy a McDonald's hamburger, and never showering or changing your clothes - not to mention NOT having a bed or a roof and just generally being vulnerable to thieves -- dude, that is so much better than, like, working.

This is the problem with Web 2.0 version of journalism. I mean, this chick could have a "news" blog.

This person is awesome, though:

'And finally, anyone who rides a skateboard past the age of 12 is obviously developmentally challenged.'

The man. Had. No legs.

I'm not saying this alone prevents a person from being employed (tho I'll wager it makes things *much* harder), but taking digs at a legless dead man for transporting himself by skateboard is just plain vile.

Let's not take pot shots at the deceased in anonymity. Whatever we may think about the causes of homelessness, or the effects that it has on the quality of urban life, it's just not decent to use a man's death as an occasion to vent.


I think I just heard a gunshot outside.

So lonely

Apr. 27th, 2007 08:56 pm
Today, on my way to meet Erika Christiansen for lunch at Zebulon (located in a shady San Francisco alley), I got a stern barking to by a pit bull belonging to a homeless man. Freaked me out! Then on my way back, I saw this woman lying in a doorway, vomit by her feet and by her mouth. It looked as though she fell and dropped a Jamba Juice cup. Her clothes were clean, but she had large, dirty hands - in fact, I thought she was a man at first. I called 911, and the dispatcher told me to talk to her. I asked her if she needed medical help and she shook her head without opening her eyes. The 911 voice said, "Well thanks for calling." It made me sad, what a lonely world we live in. The mother in me feels as though there should be an organization, like a hospital, that will come clean up your vomit, pick you up off the sidewalk and wash your face and hands, put you in a nice bed to sleep.

I know it's possibly her own fault and she drank herself into a stupor, and that no one but her can help her kick her addictions. But still, it's sad. I would like to think if I was lying on a San Francisco sidewalk, one of my friends would find me, pick me up and carry me to their apartment, make me some soup. I feel that I know enough people that could happen, and I'm grateful.




You know all those people who could pay $100 to see the Police reunion, I'll bet maybe 5 percent of them like the Police the way I do. I'm guessing it's all guys who like to bellow, "ROOOOOOOOOXXXXXXXX-Anne!" and women who think "Every Breath You Take" is the most romantic song ever, and all those millions of people who bought the Police Greatest Hits for those two songs. I'll bet most of them weren't reading transcendentalists in a wood-paneled apartment while spinning old Polices LPs and singing along to "Bombs Away" and "Man in a Suitcase" and "So Lonely." Yeah, that was me. I just remembered: I love the Police a lot. Damn. Who's with me?

Music that's really good:

Thee More Shallows' new record

http://www.myspace.com/theemoreshallows
theemoreshallows.com

The Coma Lilies (reference to Memento Mori, I love it)

http://www.myspace.com/thecomalilies
thecomalilies.com

Juan Prophet Organization:

http://www.myspace.com/juanprophetorganization
juanprophet.org




Mary Timony is really nice. I'm starting to like "The Magic City" and "Mountains," too.

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