Marry Him

At the prompting of a friend, I read a book about a month ago entitled Marry Him: the case for settling for Mr. Good Enough. More than once I have been told that I am too picky about who I date (thanks family!). I never really saw it as being picky. I thought that compiling a list of "must haves" and "deal breakers" based on men I have gone out with was only helping me become aware of what I want and what I don't.
Well the book was a little bit of an eye-opener. Contrary to what it sounds like, it's not a book about settling for less than the best, but more about being realistic about who is out there. As I get older (yeah, I'm no longer 22) I realize that the idea of being the single, spinster teacher who collects themed cardigans really isn't appealing and take a look at what needs to be changed so I don't become crazy sweater lady. My aforementioned list isn't getting any shorter, in fact, it's really long and when I look at what's available in the men department it becomes quite clear that there aren't any that resemble who I'm looking for on paper. So what has to give?
I've decided to ditch the list that began when I was a 12-year-old Beehive and I'm taking a new approach. This time I am looking at wants vs. needs. Yes, I want someone with Ryan Reynolds's looks (uh, actually, I really want Ryan Reynolds), but I don't need someone with movie star looks. When I really ponder over what I need in a significant other, the list is much shorter.
Now that I am armed with some new ideals I've re-vamped my match.com profile (that IS an online dating site, where else do teachers meet men?) and I'm giving dating another go. This time I'm attempting to be a little less analytical when it comes to the old criteria in hopes that I get some different results.
Let the mayhem ensue.

San Francisco, what's with the rain?

Warning: there are a lot of pictures below. Not only a lot of pictures, but a lot of my rambling to accompany them. Lucky you. San Francisco, you're pretty darn cool, however, I wish you had respected the items I had packed and had weather that accommodated. Instead, I got one day of sunshine and 3 days of rain, the spitting kind. So in the words of one of my favorite San Franciscans: How rude!



All in all, I had a blast. Please enjoy my amazing photography skills. And wit.



Guess where we headed first. I'll give you a hint, we had to climb Everest first:

And if that wasn't enough:

Hello "crookedest street!"

We walked up it too. My calves ached for 4 days. I'm not kidding. I totally love my stick shift auto, but should a rich and handsome man whisk me away to San Francisco to live happily ever, I'd be getting me an automatic. Holy hills!

This is the only day of sunshine. We thought it was a good sign. We were wrong.

Here comes the rain. We went to Blazing Saddles and suited up some sweet mountain bikes for a trek across the Golden Gate Bridge and through quaint cities such as Saucalito and Tiberon. These pictures were from the beginning of the ride. Before the downpour. At that point in time our fingers were frozen and we were worried about ruining our cameras to document.

I digress. Hopper's hands. I have no idea what they are, but I saw a smokin' hot runner-as in shirt off and ripped) run over and touch. Naturally I needed to follow suit.

We found some nice, if oblivious boys to take this one. At least he was thoughtful and captured the bridge. See our bikes?

Underneath. Cool huh?

You could have wrung our clothes after our ride. I am proud to say we rode all 21 miles to Tiberon (21, not the 18 that the stupid map said).

Chinatown. We didn't stop, just zoomed through. Kind of cool backdrop though.

I was tempted to open an account here. Who wouldn't want a bank that looks like this?

Ferry Building. Pier 1. Get it? Pier 1. :) Super cool shops inside. I'm still a little bummed we didn't stop and get a grilled cheese at the cheese shop inside. Next time.Bay Bridge

Public toilets! Sweet! There's a 20 minute time limit at which point the doors open. The random maintenance dude mentioned he's seen a few things inside here that were pretty odd. I can only imagine...
Lisa thought about going in, but discovered that there was no TP and it didn't smell to sanitary. Guess it's time to refill the soap.

Now for my favorite part! Alcatraz. I am FASCINATED! We were really, really TO'd that we couldn't go on the night tour. Can you imagine a night tour of "the Rock?" I'm going next time. I really think they need to give the backdrop in this picture a little more atmosphere. Where's the fog?

Cool, right?
View of the city from Alcatraz. Yes, it rained.

The showers. They used to have stalls, but to keep inmates from fighting they took them down. I seriously loved this tour!
After the shower this is where the clothes were.

A cell.

Lisa in a cell. Don't worry, I didn't make her stay there.
The rec yard. I thought it was pretty lame that we didn't get to go down into it.

What's left of the Warden's house. Apparently it was destroyed by a fire.

I LOVED this part of the trip. We got to hear about the break out attempts, about how families lived on the island, and got to see how the cells worked. It was THE COOLEST.

The next picture may not be appropriate for all readers. I would like to say, however, that the, er, gentleman who sported this ink was a chaperone for a high school group. I thought it was pretty sly of me to get a picture unnoticed. I rock.

Right? What the heck is it?

Golden Gate Park. Don't walk it, it's not really interesting (sorry GGP lovers). I'd go again only to see the museums I missed and the windmill (and tulip garden), but I'd take a bus. The walk is longer than you'd think. I took this picture while we were trying to find the Bison Paddock and to show the distance between my travel buddy and myself. She told me later that the park was a little too deserted for her taste and I think she was afraid someone was going to jump out at her. I was thinking it was pretty thoughtful (sarcasm) of her to put so much distance between us during what she had thought was an unfriendly area, she assured me that she looked back often to ensure I was okay. And it rained.

Such a relief!

At the Japanese Tea Gardens. $7 admission fee. That's all I've got.

Next stop, actually we went here first but order doesn't matter right?Never heard of it, right?

"Whatever happend to predictability..." We watched for Uncle Jesse for hours but maybe he was getting his hair gelled.

Cool shoe garden.

We also got to go to the Curran for a Broadway Show. We wore no jackets. One of us in flip flops the other in a pair of flimsy flats. It was raining. Totally worth it.

I LOVED this too! Love, love, love. And who was playing the lead? Constantine Maroulis of American Idol fame. I just wish I'd been a little lower.

Constantine
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Okay, that's pretty much all. Except for this place:

Go to San Francisco and eat there. Sooo good. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

See breakfast?

I have a question for you

It's that time, or rather a little past that time, when most do a little self reflection and set some goals. I think I do that on a daily basis, but around New Years I give more attention to this reflections, seeing how I start a new calendar year and also age. Last week I sat in Midas trying to read about Lord Voldemort speaking to the slimeball Wormtail about Bertha Jorkins' demise, when I overheard a suggestion on the news about how to create New Year's Resolutions: Ask your friends and family. The reason behind this to see if there are suggestions made numerous times and using those suggestions to create goals. If I hadn't been so irritated at the volume of the television, or obsessed about reading to get ahead with AR, I would have listened specifically for what to ask. Instead I am googling it and coming up with nothing, so I'm going to try to word this delicately and hope it comes close.

What characteristics or traits do YOU feel I should develop or improve upon in 2011?

***Disclaimer: I am the first to admit I'm imperfect and flawed. I also realize that I am asking some of you to step outside your comfort zone and say things you may not are polite to say. Consider this post a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card, if you make a suggestion, I promise to take it as intended.

If you're up to the task, please comment. If you're not comfortable commenting, but would like to contribute, e-mail works too. Thanks in advance for your thoughts, and

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!