The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation, by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón

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A summary from the Amazon site below. This book has the clearest timeline I've ever seen of the events on 9/11, and an easy to understand view of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission's report.
It's interesting in light of Rumsfeld's quote that so few understand the war in Iraq. Perhaps Jacobson and Colón should bring out a second book directly about Iraq, too.

"On December 5, 2005, the 9/11 Commission issued its final report card on the government’s fulfillment of the recommendations issued in July 2004: one A, twelve Bs, nine Cs, twelve Ds, three Fs, and four incompletes. Here is stunning evidence that Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón, with more than sixty years of experience in the comic-book industry between them, were right: far, far too few Americans have read, grasped, and demanded action on the Commission's investigation into the events of that tragic day and the lessons America must learn." - Amazon review excerpt

The Riddle of the Wren by Charles de Lint

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I seem to be on a "first novel" kick - both writing and reading. This is Charles de Lint's first novel, which has been out of print for a while. de Lint says in the author notes that this isn't the first book he wrote, but the first book he started, and that he had written seven different versions of it.
Like Pat Murphy's The Shadow Hunter, it was reprinted several years after its first publication as a hardcover limited edition, and he was "pleased to find it in the seeds of themes he's still exploring in my work to this day."

I really was impressed by the depth of the world he created - language, race names (erlkin, etc) travelling between worlds by tracing symbols on henge stones - it reads like it is a book in a long-established series.
And the main character's journey to really find out who she is and how she's supposed to accomplish what seems to be an impossible quest, resonates with me as well.
Also, when browsing around on his site and that of his wife, Maryann Harris, I found this account of how they met (it's the foreword to a collection of the yearly Christmas stories that he writes for her each year). It seems so random that people so compatible meet so randomly.

ASJA meeting at Mechanics Inst

Pat invited me to a meeting of the ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors) - we're both not members but we shelled out $10 for the privilege of hearing two senior editors at two San Francisco publishing houses (unnamed here) reveal how writers can make use of new information and technologies on their route to successfully publishing, and publicizing, their books.

Pat's take on the evening as a whole was that they were making the situation seem a bit too rosy - it might be easier to publish as writers these days but definitely not easy to make a living. They had proposed that writers hire their own publicists at a relatively high cost to fill in the gaps left by the publisher's publicist when they move on to the next book. This sounds like a good idea but in practice not very feasible - sounds like it eats up the advance for the book quickly.

However - the meeting was interesting and was held in the Mechanics Institute, a very beautiful and historical building in SF on Post near Mont. BART. We went down the staircase pictured above, and peered into the library windows on each floor. It looks awesome and the library was open, but we needed member key cards to get in.

Clinton: Don't Let the Perfect become the Enemy of the Good

I went to a rally for Prop 87, which establishes a $4 billion program to reduce oil and gasoline usage by 25 percent, with research and production incentives for alternative energy, education and training, funded by a tax of 1.5-6 percent on producers of oil extracted in California. (And here's a link to the Forum show about the prop, and thanks to Forum for the concise summary of prop87, cut and pasted above).
Bill Clinton was the star attraction - so much so that when the rally was asked, "What are we here for?" many yelled back "Bill!".
He was very smart, the speech just went from point to point flawlessly and of course he is a master of the art of making everyone feel like he is speaking to each of them.
It was just amazing to actually see him in person - I was relatively close to the stage, and he was the first President I ever voted for (in 1992 when I was 18).

Don't Let the Perfect become the enemy of the good - that the opponents say the proposition is bad because it's not perfect. No, it's not perfect but it certainly seems like it will be better than what we have now. He pointed out that people have been using this argument to impede change for 600 years and that Californians shouldn't fall for it now.

Mikebaudio, who I found on Flickr, was there also and took much better pictures than I did. He took the above picture of Clinton and SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, and here is Bonnie Raitt, who sang "Something's Happening Here" - the acoustics were great for those there live but the little movie I made of her sounds very muddy.
Below is a view of City Hall that I took. Note the blurriness of the Treo, I had forgotten the real digital camera, The view is looking up from where I was standing. It was very beautiful. Apparently this was a big day for Clinton, he went to another rally in SF after this one, and then went to Stockton!