Dear bizi (et al.) ,

Things are going good here in SF. I have, (apparently), made a successful transition from high-dose Paxil to low-dose Lexapro with similar mood elevating results and fewer sexual side effects. This follows a year's unsuccessful attempt to do the same to Cymbalta, a med that proved to have the identical side-effects as Paxil at the dosage that I had to take for clinical effect.

Today, I attended a meeting of a state commission investigating how the new money raised by a special luxury tax to support extending mental health services to the unserved and underserved was being spent. I pointed out, again, that no public money was or is being spent specifically on the Depressed and Bipolar. The problem of accountability that the bureaucracy demands is insurmountable. First, one has to have a staff in place to file the data that the funding requires. Secondly, since the primary prerequesite of outreach is total anonymity to the client, how does one show results? Ergo, the money will continue to go to deserving, but already strongly addressed, programs in drug dependency, familial abuse and intellectual retardation, all of which have massive staff.

One commissioner whom I was told is the sheriff of San Diego county said that they had a successful outreach project there called, "The DaVinci Program", (I think), and offered to talk to me after the meeting but I couldn't stay. If I am able to attend tomorrow's session I'll drop him a letter requesting further details. Otherwise, I'll look up his San Diego address and send it there. However, I have a hard time imagining any public service bureaucracy funding a program based on trust in the counselors.

Yesterday, as I was waiting to board a city bus, a commotion broke out towards the back. The bus driver jumped up and yelled, "What's the matter?". I walked back along the pavement parallel to the bus windows and heard a voice yell, "Put your hands behind your back." Then I saw a portly black policeman manhandling a pleasant, innocuous appearing hispanic young man in business dress, (sans tie). Either the cop was pushing the guy towards the front of the bus or the hispanic guy was pulling him. As he arrived at the open front door, the hispanic young man shouted, in apparent genuine outrage, "Me? Hit a woman! Are you crazy?" The cop replied, "I saw you." The suspect then gave the cop a teriffic shove, launching him into the handicapped seats, and jumped off the bus. He paused momentarily as if to settle his clothes and then loped off down the street at a steady, but not panicky pace.

I still wonder what I saw. I didn't stick around to ask questions since I had an appointment to make. The one thing that makes me think that the guy had actually done what the cop alleged was the controlled way he ran away.

Another day in, what a locally famous, now deceased columnist, Herb Caen, used to call, "Baghdad by the Bay". Ironic.

I am looking forward to celebrating a friend's birthday party at the local Trader Vic's on Saturday. I stopped off there today to pick up a gift certificate so that she could enjoy her favorite drink, "Navy Grog". It's made with 150 proof rum and I decided to sample one, for the first time, to see what I was buying. I thought it was a really tasty, tangy citrus drink with hardly a hint of alcohol. The bartender told me that it was, by far, the most potent drink on their menu. As I said, it was delicious. For the following two hours, I was very content.

Cheers to all!

I can't help but notice how many familiar posters have disappeared both from this board and its doppleganger at braintalk. I hope that their reasons for not posting are as unimportant as my own.