San Francisco Bay Area Kossacks - community

Roll Call, Where are you located?

navajo — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 15:34:32 GMT

Please comment about where you are located so we can find some regular meeting places.

The City:
kimoconnor
homogenius
Mark in SF
RN in NC
dadanation
lineatus
Paul in Berkeley
wonkydonkey
Lorikeet
joustchr & Predictor
zdefender
fogcityjohn
Marin:
boatsie in Sausalito
SallyCat
East Bay:
tuffy in Albany
jotter
norm in Oakland
Jeff in Ca in Pleasanton
jpmassar in Berkeley
ebby in Berkeley
Raines in Berkeley
Peninsula:
navajo in San Mateo county
Oke
rfall
Angry Mouse
FFDAR
Wine Country:
side pocket in Sebastopol
gina
Richard Lyon in Santa Rosa
left coast in Napa
Red Meat Dem, Ruff Limblog in Napa
Bustergirl in Guerneville
Bullwinkle aka Dweb in Vallejo
Maggiejean in Guernville
Nor Cal:
smileycreek in Paradise
Paridise50 in Paradise
Hunter
elfling Ukiah area, Mendocino county
South Bay:
The Awful Truth
mber
Cali Scribe
San Jose Lady
Moody Loner
Yosemite
Archangel

Dinner with Peter Schurman, Andrew McGuire and Shockwave this Saturday!

navajo — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 03:57:17 GMT

MAJOR UPDATE!
Peter Schurman ( http://peterschurman.org/ ) will be attending as will Andrew McGuire from California OneCare.

RSVP in the comments.
MENU warning:PDF
MAP
TRIP PLANNER/TRANSIT.511
Shockwave's Diaries

RSVPS:
1. Shockwave*
2. navajo*
3. lineatus*
4. norm
5. SallyCat*
6. Mr. Cat*
7. Jotter*
8. side pocket*
9. Mrs. side pocket*
10. Oke*
11. rall*
12. maggiejean*
13. Peter Schurman*
14. Andrew McGuire*
15. Mrs. Andrew McGuire*
16. Dadanation*
17. Paul in Berkeley*
18. Lara*
19. Kimoconnor
20. FFDAR
21. JPMassar
*confirmed venue change
I will be arriving at 5:30 PM to stake out our tables in the garden patio area. Please find our tables first and then go to the ordering counter. The menu is very reasonable. You can order dinner or just pastry and coffee.
SPECIAL NOTE: The ordering counter closes at 7PM so be sure to arrive on time to get your food and drink supply in order to last. There is a back door/gate to the garden patio area so if you are late we can let you in there, bring a snack ;) I think if you walk down the block to Gough and go right, then walk right on Ivy you should come to a parking lot with an entrance to the garden patio area. Also there is an on site wine store with excellent prices thatn include glasses to borrow and no corkage fee. nice.

Shockwave is working with California OneCare now and if you are interested in California leading the way for Single Payer you will enjoy chatting with him. Please check out the link above to see the ads by many celebrities.
Shockwave's ad for the Latino community is HERE.

Dinner with jlms qkw and family at Beach Chalet

oke — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:20:01 GMT

jlms qkw will be in San Francisco, with her family, this coming week.
We have reservations for a group at Beach Chalet for Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m.

The Beach Chalet is located above the Golden Gate Park Visitor's Center where the park meets the Pacific Ocean. There is abundant free parking and an incredible ocean view from every seat in the house.
1000 Great Highway @ Ocean Beach
Between Fulton St. and Lincoln Way

Please RSVP in the comments.
Hope to see you there!!!

Reservations for 15 to 20 have been made. That can be increased, but I need to let them know by Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning at the latest.
1. jlms
2 Mr. jlms
3. jlms's young lady
4. jlms's young gentleman
5. Predictor
6. Norm
7. oke
8. rfall
9. Predictor
10.joustchr
11.kimoconnor
12.dadanation
13.homogenius
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Dakota Rez Emergency-How About Us?

oke — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:02:26 GMT

As most all of are aware, navajo has been tirelessly getting word out about the life threatening conditions on the Reservations in South Dakota.

The ice storm and an extra hard winter has added to a situation that ALWAYS exists, not having basic needs and living in conditions that are at the level of Third World countries.

It is evident that the outpouring of support has been overwhelming from the Bay Area, but it would be great if we could take this a few steps further..............
I'd like to throw out the idea of using SFKossacks to get together a list of other needs, and also.............

How about a get together to collect things and do some brainstorming as a group for those interested in continuously monitoring current needs and doing what we can on a long term basis?
Summers can be harsh and deadly on the rez too and basic human needs are always unmet.

There are not words to convey what life is like there unless one has seen it first hand. I've been there, it is a subhuman and brutal way people are forced to live, 365 days a year, even in the best of weather conditions

Please leave any suggestions and thoughts.

Thanks, Laura

Announcing: SFKOSSACK SERVICE PROJECT

navajo — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:55:58 GMT

WhiteT
T
I was inspired by our SFKossack Shanikka's REC LISTED diary about the Giving Tree at her office and suggesting that we give of our time at Food Banks or Shelters. I'm sure there are many places we as a group can serve.

I would be more inclined to give of my personal time if I had buddies to go with me. I think it would be a great idea if we start organizing a monthly or every other month event where a subgroup of us meets to serve together in our communities.

And since we are spread all over, let's have ONE event each month or every other month in a different town with a different subgroup of SFKossacks.

To start let's identify possible places to meet and work. We'll pick one a month or every other month to start. We'll need a captain to volunteer for each event to interface with the charity, gather SFKossacks and communicate the date, time and directions to the subgroup.

I like this idea because it's not asking for you to donate money, it is much easier for me to donate time than money.

So, tell me in the comment thread:
What are the local community projects where we could meet as subgroups and give of our time? (then grab a beer afterward ;)

Also tell us if you do this already on your own and if you'd like some SFKossack buddies to join you next time.

Also a project could be like the one FFDAR suggested recently. Maybe this could be January's project.

Request for a future "fundraiser" related to NFTT
I live near the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital (which has a section treating brain injuries). They collect clothing (remember the female vets), toiletries, magazines, and snacks for the vets treated at the facility, as well as potentially homeless vets. http://www.palo-alto.med.va.go...
But if anyone just "has" to unload some extra items now, I'll be glad to transport them in time for the holidays. ;-)
by: FFDAR @ Mon Nov 30, 2009 at 09:38:26 AM PST

I'm down with this, I really need to clean out my closet.

For DECEMBER'S SFKOSSACK SERVICE PROJECT, may I suggest coming with me to Shanikka's office in East Palo Alto and pick a name off her Giving Tree. We'll empty that tree of names, dammit.

Also, thank you to everyone who donated already this December to the side pocket's Heifer, Int. project. You ROCK and if you can come with me to Shanikka's office you DOUBLE ROCK!

WhiteT

Dinner with Betson08

navajo — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:47:45 GMT

East Coast blogger Betson08 known for her diaries about South American and American Indian issues (she was one of the bloggers who started the Pretty Bird Women House shelter fundraisers) visited the San Francisco Bay area recently to present a paper at SFSU on "Guantanamo as Immigration Detention Center: The Case of the Cuban Rafters, 1994-1996." It was part of a symposium on human rights and the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Betson:
It's a conference about Guantanamo. Mainly about the so-called terrorist camps, but I had given this project at UCSF some of the Cuban testimonials from my dissertation so they ended up inviting me.

Of course the SFKossacks had to do their welcome wagon thingey.

Betson08 was in the mood for Mexican food so we hit Puerto Alegre on Valencia street in the Mission. Man, the food was tasty!

Date: Oct. 10, 2009
Location: Puerto Alegre
546 Valencia St. (bet. 16th & 17th Sts.) San Francisco
Phone: 415-255-8201
Time: 6:00 PM Please be early. Table reserved for 2 hrs. only

1. Betson08
2. Neeta aka navajo
3. SallyCat
4. Mr. Cat
5. dadanation
6. norm
7.
8.
9.
10. ~~Cali Scribe~~
11. ~~Mr. Scribe~~
12.
13.
14.
15.

Guest of Honor Betson08 arrives with bells on. Order another pitcher of margaritas STAT!

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In attendance: (L to R) dadanation, navajo and sallycat

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Also in attendance: (L to R) Mr. sallycat, norm and of course Betson08

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Loved the strolling Mariachi Band

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Can't leave out the food. I could eat Mexican food 5 times a day.

Double barreled refried beans, why didn't I think of that?

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Betson08 giving us a preview of her presentation

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Oh yeah, churros with chocolate dipping sauce and flan; all for sharing. Y U M .

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Photo courtesy of dadanation's camera operated by Betson08: L to R - dadanation, navajo, sallycat, Mr. sallycat and norm

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At the end of our dinner Betson08 is collected by her host Roy who lives in the East Bay

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What a pleasure it was to spend a lovely evening in the Mission with Betson08.
She will be by shortly to post her photos in the comments.

Thanks for reading and if you ever visit the San Francisco Bay Area please let us know and we'll try to get together for you.

Annual Holiday Party w/ Book Signing by Markos [UPDATED]

navajo — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:40:02 GMT

Directions have been sent via email. If you didn't receive them email navajo at nativeamericannetroots dot com.

WHO: SFKossacks
WHAT: Annual Holiday Party
WHERE: Side Pocket's Farm in the Wine Country
WHEN: 1:00 P.M. Sunday, December 6th, 2009

(Address will be emailed to RSVP'ers.)

Sebastopol is 1 hour north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Wine Country
(I can promise that 1 hour of driving is beautifully scenic)

UPDATE ONE:
Side pocket is providing ALL the food and is hoping that you would contribute to his favorite cause, Heifer International instead of bringing potluck.

Please bring your donation for side pocket to collect. If you can't give this year don't worry, please come anyway.
A note from side pocket:

At a past Kossack Christmas party, under the lead of Sallycat and York, we filled one of their bedrooms nearly to the ceiling with clothes and toiletries for those in need of them.
This year please consider bringing a gift for Heifer, International. In case you are unfamiliar with Heifer, It is a nonprofit working in 125 countries, including the U.S., to alleviate hunger and protect the environment by providing livestock, trees, seeds, and training in small-scale, sustainable agriculture. "Passing on the Gifts" is an essential element in Heifer's approach. Recipients agree to pass on one or more of their animal's offspring as well as their training in environmentally sound agriculture to another person in their community. It is a way of giving which hands the power to the recipient. Every recipient becomes a giver and a teacher, an equal partner in working to end poverty; and the gift goes on.
When Mary and I visited Heifer projects in Honduras a year and a half ago, it was the passing on of information and learning that people seemed most excited about. This was in 2007, still the Bush years, and we were feeling that all the causes we poured our time and money into were on the losing side. So, when we saw that something was working right now, on the ground, to improve people's lives and empower the poor, we were so energized that (as you can see) we are still talking about it.
So, this year all the food for our party will be provided. If you feel an urge to contribute a dish, try channeling the urge to a contribution that will feed the truly hungry in an ongoing, multiplying way. Donations made by check are tax deductible. If you want to make donations in the names of friends or family members as a holiday gift to them, gift cards will be available. You could give a flock of chicks or ducklings, a goat, tree seedlings, a hive of bees, or even a water buffalo in the name of your friend. Contributions will be confidential and go directly to Heifer. And, if you are unable to give this year we will all understand.

UPDATE TWO:
This is farm country (rain? =mud.) so wearing sensible shoes is... well... sensible.
UPDATE THREE:

WINE SIGN UP LIST:
If you can contribute to Heifer, Int. and also bring some wine
YOU TOTALLY ROCK!
(stay tuned on this project as it unfolds over the next few days...)
1. Gina Cooper 6 bottles
2. Neeta 2 bottles
3. Trashablanca 2 bottles
4. frugalgranny 1 bottle
5. dweb8231 1 bottle
6. DavidW in SF 2-3 bottles
7. rfall 2 bottles
8. Jeff in CA 1-2 bottles
9. kimoconnor 2 bottles
10. Martha Ture 2 bottles
11. sallycat 2 bottles
12. leftcoast 2 bottles
13. elfling 1 bottle
14. maggiejean 2 bottles
15. norm 1 bottle
16. jotter 1 bottle
17. Predictor 2 bottles

Special Announcement:
Markos will be attending and I don't know about you but I need my book signed. I'll be bringing mine and you should also. If you don't own one you can buy one from SFKossack DavidW in SF at his San Francisco online bookstore.

From DavidW in SF:
For delivery: If anyone wants their copy delivered to the event, it's Free Freight. They'll just need to specify "FREE EVENT DELIVERY" in the special instructions during checkout. (If they don't specify "FREE EVENT DELIVERY" I'll assume they want it shipped home.) Assuming they don't run out at the distributor's, they should be able to place their order to us by November 30 for Event Delivery. I'll hopefully be bringing the stock personally, but if not, I can Priority Ship them to event site.
If people want to place an order to be delivered to their homes in time for the event, please order before November 24.

If you haven't been to side pocket's sustainable farm here is my last diary about it. It is a lovely place to meet in the Wine Country.

WINE COUNTRY, HERE WE COME!
As you meet people in the blogs please direct them here to sign up. Our yahoo group email blast doesn't hit as many people as it should.

RSVP List:
1. Neeta aka navajo
2. Mr. navajo
3. side pocket
4. Mrs. side pocket
5. SallyCat
6. Mr. Cat
7. Homogenius
8. norm
9. dweb8231 or Bullwinkle(coming from Vallejo, prob. via 37 to 101 North, can give ride)
10. kimoconnor (riding with John07801)
11. Moody Loner 1. Little Loner (8 yrs. old)
12. P00ka
13. Vigilant Meerkat
14. Mr. Vigilant Meerkat
15. FFDAR
16. leftcoast (chauffeur for Elveta)
17. RedMeatDem aka LeftyLimblog
18. FrugalGranny (can offer ride from SF)
19. Mr. FrugalGranny
20. maggiejean
21. Gina Cooper
22. Mr. Gina Cooper, lol
23. Mary Rickles
24. Malacandra
25. Hunter 2. Cassia (9 yrs. old)
26. Elfling
27. Guest of Elfling/Hunter
28. Guest of Elfling/Hunter
29. trashablanca
30. jotter
31. Mrs. jotter
32. Markos!!
33. dadanation (riding with Paul in Berkeley)
34. john07801 (chauffeur for kimoconnor)
35. Elveta (riding with leftcoast and RedMeatDem)
36. Paul in Berkeley (chauffeur for dadanation)
37. rfall (driving from Palo Alto can give a ride, chauffeuring Angry Mouse and Oke)
38. AngryMouse
39. Archangel
40. oke (flying in from Iowa just for our event)
41. lineatus (maybe)
42. SusanG
43. Martha Ture
44. Jim
45. Raven Brooks
46. Mona T. Brooks
47. Jeff in CA (offers ride from Pleasanton) 3. Mariah (9 yrs. old)
48. Mrs. Jeff in CA (Joan)
49. Patrick O'Heffernan (driving from Marin...can take others)
50. Kathleen Shaffer
51. Bob
52. DavidW in SF
53. makeda
54. Gloryous
55. Archangel's guest
56. Will Rockafellow 4. Jude (5 yrs. old)
57. Mrs. Rockafellow
58. Predictor
59. Christian
60. zdefender 5. little z? 6 little z2?
61. Amy 7. (6 yr. old)

Netroots Nation 2009, Pittsburgh Roll Call

navajo — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:27:03 GMT

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Agenda Links:

http://netrootsnation.org/sche... overview

http://netrootsnation.org/agenda with details

Outside Events

Google Spreadsheet of NN09 Schedule

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Please tell me in the comments if you are attending Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh this year.

I ~~am going to try~~ have reserved our tables again, look for the same table signs as last year.

I will post any dinners and other meetups in this diary so do check back here even when you are in Pittsburgh.

1. Neeta
2. highacidity
3. ukiyo
4. norm
5. Malacandra
6. Jotter
7. Jeff in CA
8. Jeff in CA shotgun
9. dweb8231
10. Raines
11. Raines' guest
12. kimoconnor
13. sidepocket
14. Mrs. sidepocket

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WEDNESDAY 8-12-09 DINNER w/ Cheers & Jeers group:

place: http://www.tonicpittsburgh.com/
Tonic Bar & Grill
971 Liberty Avenue
phone: 412.456.0460
time: tbd

place: http://www.augusthenrys.com/ho...
946 Penn Avenue
Phone: 412-765-3270

Email from Bill in Portland Maine's beau Michael:

Hello All!
It is getting really close now.....
Ok I have finalized the place. http://www.augusthenrys.com/ho...
I spoke with the owner and he is very accommodating. They don't require a deposit, they will do separate checks, they will be adding a18% gratuity to each check.
We will meet in the lobby at 630 pm or so. I have the reservation for 7 pm. It is across the street from the convention center.
I will send out another email closer to the date to get a feel for who might be attending. some of you have said no and some yes. I have kept those emails.
Looking forward to seeing you all again, and to meeting new people!
Hugs!
Michael

rsvps:

1. Neeta
2. Raines
3. Raines' guest
4. Jotter (maybe, if the wind is with him...)
5. dweb8231
6. sidepocket
7. Mrs. sidepocket

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Thursday

Lunch - 12:30
Location - TBD

1. Neeta
2.
3.
4.

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Friday

Lunch - 12:30
Location - TBD

1. Neeta
2.
3.
4.

Dinner after Dr. Dean - 7:30 ish
Bossa Nova?

1. Neeta
2. Jotter
3. Kim O Connor
4. Land of Enchantment
5.
6.

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Saturday

Dinner before big party at 8pm
Location - TBD

1. Neeta
2.
3.
4.

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Cedwyn and Orangeclouds are looking for someone to share a room with them. Let me know if you want their email addys.

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mindoca is Not gonna to use her Priceline res ($65/nt) at Hilton in Pittsburgh for NN. Anyone want it? Down the block from Omni & Westin. Pls email navajo at nativeamericannetroots dot net and I'll forward to Mindy.

ct's in San Jose!

navajo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:39:00 GMT

I know many people are on vacation but for those of you close to San Jose and fond of CT (Jeremy, the tech guy at DailyKos) he is attending a conference:

http://en.oreilly.com/velocity...

Conference Location
Fairmont San Jose
170 S. Market Street
San Jose, CA 95113

If you are interested in meeting for a drink, say Wednesday night please comment below and I can contact ct.

That's ct there in the plaid shirt (kos, miss laura and Nate Silver)

Going Away Party for highacidity and ukiyo (PICS)

navajo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:00:32 GMT

Sadly, the San Francisco Kossacks are losing two valuable members. Highacidity and ukiyo are moving to North Carolina. Highacidity and ukiyo were two of the original 2005 organizers along with myself of our local group that gets together every now and then. We have had a lot of fun and we will sorely miss highacidity and ukiyo. You can find past event diaries in my profile of course, several are hiliarious like the tin foil hat contest...but I digress.

Last night we got together one final time in Bay Area meatspace to say au revoir to highacidity/ukiyo and let them know how much we have enjoyed their participation in our group and our lives. We will miss them but glad that we have virtual access to them.

I will get to see them at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh and you can too if you register.

Our wonderful SFKossack member sidepocket could not attend but called the restaurant and paid for the several pitchers of margaritas we drank. What a guy, huh!

A few of my photos below:

ukiyo with wifey highacidity on his shoulder and leftcoast more interested in the menu than posing.

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Ultra closeup of ukiyo then highacidity and leftcoast seated with RedMeatDem (leftylimblog) standing
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norm and FFDAR taking pics
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FFDAR, blissing and Greg
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The food arrives! YUM!
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blissing, Greg being shot by RedMeatDem (leftylimblog)
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In case you've ever wondered what RedMeatDem looks like while you are reading his diaries...
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Stay tuned in the comments or check back for everyone else's photos.

It was a great evening.

Bon voyage highacidity and ukiyo. Please take, live long and prosper, etc.

Gina and Bob's Going Away Party

navajo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:00:40 GMT

UPDATE :: Hola's can only accomodate us at 5:30 PM!

Bob and Gina (Ukiyo and highacidity) are moving to Raleigh, North Carolina.

We are meeting at Hola's in Belmont to say au revoir.

Saturday, June 20th at 5:30 PM.

1015 Alameda De Las Pulgas
Belmont, CA 94002
(650) 591-1735

Get directions

RSVP in the comments
1. highacidity
2. ukiyo
3. navajo
4. FFDAR
5. kimoconnor
6. moody loner
7. ms. moody loner
8. leftcoast (rsvp via email)
9. lefty limblog/red meat dem
10. norm
11. blissing
12. greg
13. little loner
14. Archangel

Stanford PowWow this Friday, May 8th

navajo — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:38:51 GMT

The annual Stanford PowWow starts this Friday, May 8th and runs all weekend.

http://powwow.stanford.edu/sch...

The Stanford PowWow is free and open to the public. We welcome your donations to help fund our event.
Spectators may come and watch all dances. Dances begin with the first Grand Entry (or first Gourd Dancing session) until the last dance of the day. Generally, dances will run from 7pm-11pm on Friday, 11am-11pm on Saturday, and 11am-6pm on Sunday.

There are food booths that will be open prior to the 7pm Grand Entry on Friday.

I will definitely be there at 7pm on Friday. Not sure I can meet earlier at the food booths but let me know in the comments if you want to meet for food and I'll see if I can get there. I have a very busy weekend and limited time on Friday evening.

There won't be an organized meeting place. If you want to meet us leave a comment and I will email you. We will connect using our cell phones.

SFKossacks Dine with Angry Mouse w/ PHOTOS!

navajo — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:45:56 GMT

In my announcing diary about our upcoming dinner with Angry Mouse I gave a little background on our visiting Kossack.

Please join me below for a photo recap (only 20 or so, no worries) of our WELCOME WAGON dinner.

We enjoy dining with visiting Kossacks so please let us know if you will be in the San Francisco Bay Area.

It's all about community, IMO.
Angry Mouse requested Mexican food and boy can we deliver. It was difficult to choose among the hundreds of fantastic restaurants we have here in the Bay Area.

We decided on La Fiesta Restaurant in Mountain View.

It was fantastic and the BEST mole I have ever had, I must say.

We had a great turnout, as usual and the ROAD WARRIOR award goes to sidepocket and mrs. sidepocket who drove over 200 miles yesterday round trip from Sebastapol to give a hearty welcome to Angry Mouse. Sidepocket and the Mrs. come to most of our events and they are truly a pleasure to be with, many kudos for their exuberance and dedication to our group.

I scored. The sidepockets brought me a bouquet of lilacs from their amazing farm. They are fragrant and lovely and remind me of my growing up years in rural Utah.

Their lovely fragrance has been wafting over to my workstation all day. Such an amazing beauty and fragrance that I had to write about it.

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Let me begin by informing you that Angry Mouse declined to have her photo posted. I did my photoshop duty on the first photo and then couldn't resist altering highacidity's photo with a pic of her cat. Indulge me:

Angry Mouse is super photogenic so I am a little miffed that I can't post her face.

(photos available for a small sum of cash, email me. shhhhhh...)

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Here she is ordering JUST A LITTLE BIT OF CHEESE PLEASE...

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Here are the sidepockets and sidepocket holding the photo montage he had just posted at Cheers&Jeers that morning:

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And a closeup of that photo:

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sidepocket continues to steal the show with his ceiling cat shirt:

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Highacidity (soon to be highhumidity) reaching for more margaritas:

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Here is Mr. FrugalGranny, FrugalGranny, Homogenius and Paul in Berkeley:

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Esquimaux lives 5 miles from this restaurant, he had to show up!

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The Moody's arrive, that's Moody Loner, Little Loner, Mr. FrugalGranny, FrugalGranny, Homogenius, Paul in Berkeley and Mrs. Loner

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Back at the ADULT end of the table, me (navajo) and ukiyo:

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And now for some delicious Mexican Food:
(gawd, I love refried beans, I want to marry them)

And now for the BEST MOLE IN THE WORLD!

BURP!!!! Whoa, 'scuze me. Phew. Wow.

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Paul in Berkeley playing cards with Little Loner (who was there to deliver her Girl Scout Cookie orders to us)

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ukiyo, doing what he does best, figuring out the money...

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And as usual, we held a parking lot meeting after dinner:

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You can't believe the fragrance that is floating over here right now, try to imagine:

:: FIN ::

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While I have the mic there is an event in San Francisco on April 17th that I am attending, I hope you will too.

SFKossacks Welcome Angry Mouse

navajo — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:24:58 GMT

The San Francisco Bay Area SFKossacks are having dinner with Angry Mouse this Saturday, April 4 at 6:00 PM at La Fiesta Restaurant in Mountain View at 240 Villa Street.

A little about Angry Mouse:

I live in Tacoma, Washington with my husband and our three cats. I grew up in Santa Barbara, went to UCSC, and lived in San Mateo for five years, and I desperately miss California, so I love any excuse to come back for visits. Especially when the weather is so gorgeous like it has been for the past week.
I work from home as a paralegal, but my office is in Palo Alto, so every few months, I'm summoned down here (which I do not mind at all, since I love my office, love any excuse to visit my friends, and love chowing down on a double double from In 'n Out. I'm trying to persuade my husband that we should move back here, but so far, I've been unsuccessful, so I settle for coming for visits every few months.
(snip)

More about Angry Mouse below.
Angry Mouse's blurb bio continued:

I've met a few Northwest Kossacks, which has been great, so I'm excited to meet some Bay Area Kossacks. It's always fun when you already know you have a lot in common -- like a seething hatred of Republicans, a fascination/obsession with cute pictures of cats, and an addiction to blogs.

Yeah, count me in that group.

An RSVP list will be running at our blog. SFKossacks

If anyone else would like to join us please leave a comment. I know this is short notice.

Follow up photo diary sometime next week.

RSVP LIST:
1. Angry Mouse
2. navajo
3. highacidty
4. ukiyo
5. Moody Loner
6. Side Pocket
7. Paul in Berkeley
8. Esquimaux
9. FrugalGranny
10. Mr. FrugalGranny
11. Homogenius
12. Mommyp00ka (Mrs. Loner)
13. Little Loner

Viva La Mexican Cuisine!!!

Who's up for Dinner with Angry Mouse?

navajo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:51:08 GMT

Hey San Francisco Bay Area SFKossacks!

Angry Mouse is in town:

I live in Tacoma, Washington with my husband and our three cats. I grew up in Santa Barbara, went to UCSC, and lived in San Mateo for five years, and I desperately miss California, so I love any excuse to come back for visits. Especially when the weather is so gorgeous like it has been for the past week.
I work from home as a paralegal, but my office is in Palo Alto, so every few months, I'm summoned down here (which I do not mind at all, since I love my office, love any excuse to visit my friends, and love chowing down on a double double from In 'n Out. I'm trying to persuade my husband that we should move back here, but so far, I've been unsuccessful, so I settle for coming for visits every few months.
(snip)

More about Angry Mouse after the jump.

I know this is short notice but I think bloggers having a chance to dine with other bloggers is a good and rare thing. One should jump on the chance to participate.

So JUMP.

NOW.
Angry Mouse's blurb bio continued:

I've met a few Northwest Kossacks, which has been great, so I'm excited to meet some Bay Area Kossacks. It's always fun when you already know you have a lot in common -- like a seething hatred of Republicans, a fascination/obsession with cute pictures of cats, and an addiction to blogs.

Yeah, count me in that group.

So SFKossacks, help me choose a date (this week, FRI, SAT, or SUN) and a venue.

Angry Mouse and I want Mexican cuisine, (even tho' we just did that, no worries, I can eat Mexican food 7 times a day.)

The restaurant must be able to accomodate a large group with table service and reservations, have fantastic margaritas, awesome cuisine and be on the Peninsula (for me, since I just traveled into the city.)

Right now I am thinking of Don Pico's Original Mexican Bistro in San Bruno. I have never been but have heard great things about it.

My favorite place closed recently due to the economy: Andale' in Palo Alto. There is also a decent place in Belmont; Hola! Although we have already had an SFKossack event there.

We have no lack of great Mexican joints so it comes down to location convenience of attendees.

So.

If you can attend this weekend tell me in the comments and tell me what day, FRI, SAT, or SUN and suggest a restaurant.

Kay? K.

SFKossacks Welcome DemMarineVet (PHOTOS!)

navajo — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:05:16 GMT

On Saturday, March 21st the San Francisco Kossacks honored "Out of Town" blogger DemMarineVet.

We gathered for drinks and dinner at our local Mission spot Puerto Allegre.

It's all about building a community.

Only 10 photos below compared to my usual 100.

Here is DemMarineVet gathering with kimoconnor and the awful truth

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DemMarineVet and kimoconnor listening to Mr. Cat and Sallycat with swell Mexican accordian and guitar players in the background

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A better shot of the wonderful musicians

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And my favorite photo from the evening; some art from the walls of the establishment.
(There was other great stuff but I neglected to snap a shot of it.)

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Our longstanding SFKossack the awful truth can take a ribbing. He orders and partakes of girl drinks. Here's a shot of him and his girl drink: a strawberry margarita.......frozen......?????

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The candid shot above is now acknowledged with a toast. (He was drinking choclatinis in either Chicago or Austin, lol, wish I had a pic of that)

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Also in attendance, myself (navajo) and my UCLA Bruin daughter, we'll call her MangoBaBango.

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AND NOW FOR SOME DELICIOUS FOOD PICS, OH YEAH...That's what I'm talkin' about.

It was as yummy as it looks...

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And now for my finale photo, a group shot:

Left to Right: navajo, kimoconnor, Mr. Cat and SallyCat, (INCOGNITO as requested) the awful truth and DemMarineVet (Could DemMarineVet be any cuter?)

DemMarineVet, it was a pleasure breaking tortillas with you! Please let us know when you are in the area again.

Our next event will be in the Southbay and highacidity's house to welcome AngryMouse on her visit.

Stay tuned...

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And while I have the mic:

Please submit your proposals for panels/sessions for Netroots Nation 2009 here.

For background see these diaries::

From Adam B:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

From myself, navajo:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

From Nolan:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

Girl Scout Cookies are in

Moody Loner — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:50:30 GMT

For those that ordered, no we did not forget about you.

Just let me know below how y'all want to do this.

Dinner with DemMarineVet :: March 21st :: Update!

navajo — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:26:41 GMT

SallyCat just emailed me and we need to do our welcome wagon thingey.

Hello....from the other side of the wet bridge!
I've agreed to let DemMarineVet stay at my house in March. He'll be here for 3+ days the weekend of March 20-22. York and I both spent time with him in Chicago. A very nice young man and coming in from Las Vegas (iirc).
He'd like to meet up with SF Kossacks...Mexican food is his favorite. So, I was hoping we could organize a dinner at a SF restaurant.

Major UPDATE: We are starting at 5:30 PM!! We only have the table for 2 hours so please arrive on time!

Saturday, March 21st :: 5:30 P.M.
Puerto Alegre
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Mission
546 Valencia St
(between 16th St & 17th St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 255-8201
1. navajo
2. SallyCat
3. Mr. SallyCat
4. DemMarineVet (Guest of Honor)
5. Mber
6. Maybe Mber's cousin
7. kimoconnor
8. mangobabango
9. dadanation
10. the awful truth
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Photos of our Dinner with LOE

navajo — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:41:21 GMT

Land of Enchantment is a on road trip from New Mexico to L.A. and then her final frontier the San Francisco Bay Area. Last night we had a welcome dinner at Xiao Loong. Man, the food was goooooood! Must go there again soon.

In attendance:
1. Land of Enchantment
2. Lineatus
3. navajo
4. norm
5. SallyCat
6. Mr. Cat
7. sidepocket
8. Mrs. sidepocket
9. RNinNC
10. RNinNC's "plus one"
11. leftylimblog
12. leftcoast
13. Archangel
14. dadanation

All photos below:

Land of Enchantment and jotter

sidepocket and Mrs. sidepocket

Mr. Cat getting a call from the CIA, Lineatus and Archangel

RNinNC and his squeeze

myself; navajo and dadanation

Land of Enchantment, sidepocket and jotter

Give a kossack some Chinese food and chopsticks and look what happens to the menu

The dedicated photographer last night was dadanation, a pro and took way more photos than I did. Hopefully he will check in soon and post his stuff.

We had a great time and if YOU visit the Bay Area let us know and we will do our welcome wagon thingey for you.

Girl Scout Cookies.

Moody Loner — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:02:54 GMT

At Neeta's request, I'm putting this up here:

I'm sending this because people at the meetup wanted a heads-up when it was time for the Little to take orders for Girl Scout cookies.

The types she has available are:

Lemon Chalet Cremes
Trefoils
Do-si-dos
Samoas
Dulce de leche
sugar free chocolate chip
Tagalongs
Thin Mints.
Cookies would be delivered the first week of March. They cost four dollars a box and come twelve boxes to the case. If there's a meetup scheduled in March we'll bring the cookies then, otherwise we'll work something out.

She also has "Gift of Caring" certificates so that the cookies can be donated to the Red Cross, local food banks (our papers don't specify, Mrs. believes it's Second Harvest) or the military.