So I was advertising for my work's upcoming classes on Fetlife, which is like Facebook for the fetish community. I'm in a group called "SF/Bay Area kinky Jews." As my work is run and owned by Jews I wrote a post titled "Upcoming Classes at Pure Pleasure (Jew owned sex store)". Note that I have made posts here before, they know me, and most other peoples title posts have something Jew-y in them.

Here's a message I got yesterday:

"Dear Avi, The use of the word Jew as you have used it is very inappropriate. Even used by a Jew, concerning a Jewish owned shop in a Jewish on line group give negative connotations any way you look at at. It looks instantly offensive. You have done a great disservice to the store and to jews. You have left your use of the word Jew up to individual interpretation. In the context you have used it it is most likely to be used negatively. You really should consider making an apology and explanation of your use of the word to the group and to the shops owners."

Keep in mind this guy is the grandfather of a girl I went to middle school with and his profile picture is him in a gimp mask.

wow.

Andrew

meh, I'm a touch insane... :D:D

Avital

no, your just a touch sexually retarded

Please e-mail us with your name if you want to be on the guest list (free entry before 11pm)!

The Blank Club
44 S. Almaden Ave, San Jose
www.clubsatori.com
www.theblankclub.com

I've been holiday shopping early this year so my family in Canada don't get their presents in the new year instead of at Christmas. So I've also been noticing some upcoming local fairs. I will begin listing them here for the head-starters like myself -- because gifting local-and-hand-made items is preferable to made-in-China-bought-on-Amazon for several reasons that I will not list here as I will be preaching to the choir.

• Nov. 21-22: Thread, 11am-6pm, Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion, San Francisco. "The event will present 100-plus independent designers and artisans selling their wares." Mostly clothing and fashion accessories, looks worth going to even if only for yourself.
• Nov. 28–29, Dec. 5–6, 12–13, 19–20, Berkeley Artisans Holiday Open Studios, 11-6pm, all over Berkeley (check page for map of open studios.) As described; not a one-stop location but open studios in Berkeley selling their wares; "...including blown glass, functional & decorative ceramics, ornaments, Menorahs, lamps & lighting, painted & custom furniture, garden art, floor cloths, one-of-a-kind clothing, textiles, many styles of jewelry, leather bags, recycled art, sculpture, photography, paintings, original prints & works on paper, musical instruments..."
• Dec. 3, Handmade Ho Down Urban Craft Fair 2009, 6pm-12am, 1015 Folsom, San Francisco. "Be a part of this first ever Etsy-sponsored, urban craft show, and BUY LOCAL this holiday season!"
• Dec. 5, San Francisco Art Institute Winter Art and Gift Sale, 12pm-3pm, SFAI’s 800 Chestnut Street campus, San Francisco. "Students, alumni, faculty, and staff will present work in individual booths, featuring paintings, sculpture, prints, photos, apparel, accessories, home décor, and more!"
• Dec. 5-6, Fort Mason Printmakers Show And Sale, 11am-5pm, Fort Mason Center Building B Rooms 205 & 208 Laguna at Marina Blvd. San Francisco. "Annual show and sale by the printmaking department of San Francisco City College school of art. Including etching, monotypes, lithographs, relief prints and more. Plenty of bargain prints."
• Dec. 6, RISD Holiday Sale, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fort Mason Center, Building A , located at Marina Blvd. and Buchanan St., San Francisco. "Over 30 artists and craftspeople from the Bay Area will be offering hand crafted jewelry, wearable art, home fashions, toys, glass, fine art, paper collections, ornaments, textiles, cards, and much more."
• Dec. 10-11: Oakland Unwrapped, 5-10pm, Jack London Square in Oakland. Check out the vendors on their page -- this looks quite promising. Also their page links to local artists who have online stores too if you want a head start.
• Dec. 12, The Under 100 'H' Sale At Root Division, 7pm-10pm, Root Division 3175 17th St, San Francisco. "Items for sale include unique drawings, paintings & photographs, handmade jewelry, fair-trade clothing, knitwear made from recycled yarn, silk-screened baby clothes, the coolest candles in the Bay, dolls, stationary and much more. And here’s the best part: no one item will be over $100, including sales tax."
• Dec. 12-13, The Crucible Holiday Gifty Art Sale, 10am-4pm, 1260 7th Street Oakland, CA. 70+ local artists. Looks dope-ass.
• Dec. 12-13, Bizarre Bazaar, 12-6pm, San Francisco County Fair Building Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. $2 entry fee. 120+ vendors, it's the tops of the local seasonal holiday fairs.
• Dec. 12, 13, 19, 20, 23, 24: Telegraph Street Fair, 11am-6pm between Dwight Way and Bancroft Way near the U.C. Campus in Berkeley CA.
• Dec. 19-20: Renegade Craft Fair 11am –7pm at the Fort Mason Center Herbst Pavilion, San Francisco. "Over 150 of today’s finest indie-craft and contemporary design talents will be setting up shop... from jewelry and clothing, to ceramics and stationary, with everything from bath products, housewares, posters, comics and plush objects in between – at this large-scale, FREE-TO-ATTEND art, craft and design extravaganza!!"

That's all I know of for now. There will of course be plenty more such events popping up between now and Dec. 24th, so keep an eye out and please add to my list!

its been four weeks
why wont you see me?

WTF did I do?

barely returning my calls.
acting aloof

three years and youd think I'd know

not gonna lie
today i did nothing

kinda wish i did more
kinda dont

just sat staring at this screen for a while

overall this day has been good

had a good talk with Jesse this morning, made me feel like we're back to normal. I think im getting more used to being away.

Lunch with Heather. <3

food shopping

drinking beer and watching lost

overall, pretty good