Our Campaign Receives a California FPPC Number

When we sought advice from the San Francisco Ethics Commission about filing our Form 410, which is required of all candidates who receive $1,000 or more in contributions, we were told the California Secretary of State's office would take approximately two-weeks to process our application and $50 filing fee.

Since we are very close to hitting that $1,000 mark, we want to make sure we have a Fair Political Practices Commission identification number as required by law.

Our Form 410 was snail mailed last Tuesday and on Saturday, our campaign treasurer Mike Merrigan received a paper letter informing him and the campaign that we have been assigned an FPPC ID number, and it's 1367765.


We're quite pleased to see state government working so quickly and that turn around time was less than the expect two weeks.

If you've already donated, we again say thanks, and if you have not yet contributed, please do so today by sending a check to this address and be sure to include your snail mail address and occupation or employer: Petrelis 4 Supervisor 2014, PO Box 14943, San Francisco, CA 94114.

Your support and donations are both needed and much appreciated.

Muni Must Rid BART Plaza Bus Shelters of Pigeon Poop

My campaign to improve the public health at BART's two plazas at 16th and Mission Streets is now in its third week and takes a new turn.

As you know, last week at my urging the Department of Public Works began steam cleaning the filthy and disease-carrying pigeon poop off the sidewalks and other surfaces, and the Department of Public Health has begun an environmental review of the plazas.

Despite numerous emails to BART officials, and promises back that they would put in writing what actions they were taking to clean up the unsanitary conditions, I've received no substantive responses along the lines of what DPW and DPH have put in writing.

You may be wondering why I am so concerned with these plazas, when they are outside District 8 and what this all has to do with my Supervisorial campaign. Thousands of D8 residents daily use the plazas, which is one reason to make this a campaign issue, and also all Supervisors regardless of which district they represent are tasked with maintaining clean public transit hubs.

The following letter was sent today to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, requesting Muni do its part to restore the plazas to a better state:

Dear SF MTA Director Ed Reiskin and Board Chairman Tom Nolan,

It's come to my attention that your agency has been derelict in properly maintaining clean your public property in the BART plazas at 16th and Mission Streets. Let's look at the photographic documentation I gathered today.

This image shows the street and traffic signs streaked with pigeon fecal matter, the top of the red plastic caked with poop and two Muni users waiting for the 22 bus to arrive. In my estimation, this deplorable and hazardous health menace has existed for quite some time. I do not believe Muni has been diligently inspecting this bus shelter and all of its signage in the plazas.

Also in desperate need of cleaning are the backs of a traffic signal, sign and pole located a few feet away from the bus shelter, closer to Mission Street. The SF MTA's shelter and signs abut the north west BART plaza.

Across the street, the south east plaza's bus shelter also shows evidence that it's not been washed in some time and has bird poop on top and down the side, and needs a good cleaning.

I don't know which City agency is responsible for studying the feasibility of placing anti-pigeon spiked wires or strips of pepper-flecked repellent tape on the hard and soft overhead poles, wires, signs and cables, but I am requesting that you look into the spikes and tape as a preventive measure.

This letter is being copied to DPW and DPH in the hope that those agencies and yours can immediately come together and coordinate an effective plan for minimizing the various public health risks at the plaza, reducing the nesting and defecating of the pigeons and not allowing these public spaces to become bastions of filth.

Please let me know by the close of business on July 1 what actions you will direct the SF MTA to take this week to address my concerns.

Regards,
Michael Petrelis

SF Pride Grand Marshal Tommi Mecca Backs Our Campaign 

One of San Francisco's most fabulous queer activists, with a long and strong deep commitment to a vast array of social and political justice issues, was honored this year by the SF Pride folks for his decades of activism as a grand marshal.

We're talking about none other than the extraordinary Tommi Avicolli Mecca, who led a fabulous contingent of activists up Market Street today for the Pride Parade. He and his merry band of fighters for justice and affordable housing for all, looked so good on the live TV broadcast and web streaming of the event, especially when they staged a die-in.

On Friday morning, Tommi graciously agreed to strike a pose before the SF Pride press conference holding a "Petrelis 4 Supervisor 2014" poster featuring two Silence = Death stickers.

We're honored that this individual, and all of Tommi's boundless energy for justice, is backing our campaign. We extend hearty thanks to him for his incredible advocacy and congratulations on a well-deserved and long over-due grand marshal slot at SF Pride.

Happy Pride, y'all!

Weekend Woof #80: Pre-Pride Bears & Boys

Happy LGBT Pride to all. I've got my latest batch of attractive dudes snapped my camera to share with you and a short video too. I can't believe this photographic series has reached number 80, when it seems like yesterday that I began this project. As always, many thanks to the guys for gracing my lens!

Does this hunky shaved head boy's blue shirt match the street furniture at the 16th Street BART well, or what?

Sorry about my camera cutting off everything above the nose of the big bear in the top pic. This beefy dude was quite a site in the meat department at Safeway!

A few fine guys of the construction worker variety seen around San Francisco in recent weeks.


We end today's edition with this video of big blond & ginger muscle bear shopping this week at the farmers' market on Noe Street.

What to Give Mike & Mike on Their 18th Anniversary? 

The answer to the header question is simple. The best gifts we could receive as we mark the 18th year since we met and became life-partner are love and congratulations.

In the week leading up to SF Pride 1995, Mike and I met at the My Place bar and transformed lust into love that has survived and flourished through lots of good times, normal everyday dealings, quite a few health and personal and political challenges, and we still laugh together as the years go by.

Mike has gone above and beyond the duties of a normal gay life-mate, and knowing me you all are aware of how challenging I can be, and stood at my side through almost-two decades. Not only that, he's come with me to see not one but two Bela Tarr films in theaters, "Werckmeister Harmonies" and "The Man From London". If that isn't genuine commitment, I don't know what is!

He is so easy to be with and has gifted me with his presents of unconditional love and forgiveness. Mike has been and continues to be my rock-solid friend, and we remain unwed. For us, a rental agreement has been more important than a marriage license.

Please join in our joy and celebration, on our 18th anniversary, and let's all have a loud and proud Happy LGBT Pride!

SF Pride's Fab Presser & Lunch: Pix & a Vid

The Hard Rock Cafe over at Pier 39 near Fisherman's Wharf was the site for today's simply fab press conference and luncheon for SF Pride. Both the formal presser in the cafe's upstairs theater and relaxed grub-n-gab fest down in the restaurant were professionally produced, yet far from stuffy.

Kudos all around the SF Pride board and staff, all the grand marshals, the media handlers, us members of the organization, and the corporate sponsors.

Before the presser started, I grabbed this photo of the mistresses of ceremonies, Donna Sachet, in red, and Michelle Meow, who is also on the SF Pride board, and board president Gary Virginia.

Outside the theater is where I snapped this picture. From the left, the proud parents of grand marshal and teen transgender activist Jewlyes Gutierrez, the honoree, and Felicia Elizondo.

On the stage waiting for the presser to begin is Jewlyes sitting next to fellow grand marshal and longtime queer economic justice advocate Tommi Avicolli Mecca.

Here we have South African-born lesbian lawyer and global advocate Melanie Nathan, also a grand marshal this year, smiling for the camera.

Emma Cape of the Chelsea Manning Support Network, left, spoke about how people can help the WikiLeaks heroine legal defense team, and Dr. Ted McIlvenna, a straight Method minister long supportive of and active in the LGBT community.

These guys stopped for just a moment before heading into the presser and grinned for my camera, but I didn't have time to ask their names.

This is freelance journalist and filmmaker Khaled Sayed who is originally from Egypt and now lives in Noe Valley, so I gave him my card for my District 8 Supervisor campaign.

Here is Matthew Bajko of the Bay Area Reporter have his reputation sullied, er, enhanced being photographed with yours truly at the luncheon.



Finally, this is the video I shot toward the end of the presser and you see how well-attended it was, as Dr. Ted McIlvenna answers a question.

This Pride Weekend, and every day, be safe and look out for your LGBT brothers and sisters and our allies. Happy Pride y'all!

Fab Black Trans Activist Veronika Fimbres Blesses My Campaign

What a terrific way to spend part of my Pride Thursday, reading my girlfriend Veronika Fimbres' letter in the Bay Area Reporter today endorsing my effort to win the District 8 seat on the Board of Supervisors, under the headline "Give D8 candidate a second look".

(My fab friend, right, on her wedding day in June 2013, with her handsome hubby Randy Dolphin, smile for the camera. Courtesy photo.)

Veronika, who's been acting up for decades on behalf of so many constituencies - black people, LGBT folks with a special focus on our trans sisters and brothers, military vets, people living with HIV - had this to say to BAR readers:

In a district where there are so many new evictions, poor treatment of minorities, and the homeless being ousted, there is one clear choice currently running for supervisor – Michael Petrelis. Wait, Petrelis? Are you serious? Yes, I am. I say that you should give him a second look.

The face of AIDS and the ability to get expedient trials and medicines to the populace; Petrelis helped make that happen – in New York's ACT UP, and here in San Francisco, as well as across the nation.

He easily finds out, and tracks, the city's money: Where it is going and not going? Did you know that Pride gets the least money from the city, while bringing in the most revenue? Why is this? Where is the city's money going, and why? Petrelis knows those answers and many more.

I urge you to give Petrelis another look, and support him in his bid for District 8 supervisor. He'll work for you.

Thank you so much, Veronika, for your vote of confidence and thanks to the BAR folks for running her letter today. Huge Happy Pride wishes to Veronika and her husband Randy!

Herrera PR Pleas for Becker's Gay Marriage Book; SF Chron Bestsellers

New additional public records from San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera's staff publicist have been released to me and they show more evidence of how the office made phone call pleas to local reporters, to help promote Jo Becker's book "Forcing the Spring" during an event held in Herrera's City Hall office.

Herrera's publicist slickly told reporters and at least one activist that they were especially welcome at the book reception. The above emails illustrate how it wasn't enough for this publicist to email invitations out to various reporters, while on City time, he also was calling them trying to garner media attention for his boss, the book and Becker. It's never explained in any of the emails from the City Attorney's office why promoting the controversial book on City property was official City business.

The SF Chronicle's legal reporter Bob Egelko received special treatment and Herrera's guy also wonders about inviting a book critic to the reception. The City Attorney sure was doing all he could to generate favorable PR for Becker and her book.

The longest email from Herrera's publicist was to local gay advocate Trey Allen, in which he acknowledged the controversy swirling around the book and then says, "there were some very courageous people who took on the federal Prop 8 challenge when many LGBT leaders were against it." You don't need three guesses to figure out who one of those courageous folks is the man whom the publicist is promoting.

Despite the best PR efforts of Herrera and his taxpayer-funded staff, not to mention loads of online, print, TV and radio attention about "Forcing the Spring" and the attendant controversies, the book has not cracked the San Francisco Chronicle's bestselling books list for nonfiction hardbacks sold in the Bay Area. Yes, in the one market where you'd think the book would find many paying readers, it's not on the list.

However, the divine filmmaker and humorist John Waters' new book "Carsick", all about his hitchhiking adventures across America, has landed at number three on the local list. There's probably more insight for gays and straights in the Waters book than in Becker's tome.

DPW Cleans Up BART Plaza Bird Poop; DPH Assesses Health Issues

Since various BART officials, including gay advocate Tom Radulovich who site on their governing board, neither cleaned up the health hazards at the 16th and Mission plazas nor provided me with any communication about when they might do so, I contacted three San Francisco City agencies for help.

I wrote to the director of the Department of Public Works, Mohammed Nuru, and the agency's public information officer Rachel Gordon on Monday afternoon and this morning received this reply from Rachel:

We will begin steam-cleaning around the outside of the station each morning, as a start, and assess progress. Crew should be out there this morning. Here are other photos of today’s cleanup efforts, including the news racks. There will be additional cleaning tomorrow, the day after, etc. BART is responsible for the plaza cleaning. However, we regularly step in to help out. Note that the new City budget, still being negotiated, may include additional funding to pay for more regular and focused cleaning of transit hubs, including the areas around BART Stations.

(Credit for all photos: San Francisco Department of Public Works.)

Two aspects in the images impress me. The tops of the news racks are 99% free of pigeon poop, while the blue caps on the short pillars in the last photo are so free of poop they're sparkling in the sunlight. Look at how clean the sidewalks are after the steam cleaning and the blue seats are free from grime. All of this adds up to a more sanitary and inviting public space for all users of the plaza.

A big and deep thank you to Rachel and Mohammed and the DPW crew members who take quick action in less than a day, and have said in writing what their plans are to keep the plaza cleaner this week and beyond. Let's all give praise to this City agency for a job well-done!

I also emailed Barbara Garcia, the director of the Department of Public Health, at the same time I wrote to DPW and she passed along my complaint to her environmental division to investigate. This morning, Barbara shared messages from her staffers about their plans, some of which I've combined here:

Yes, if there are sanitation issues, we can work with the BART Officials for abatement. Will send a staff to the site. [...] Great, thanks. Looks to me like we have to improve pigeon proofing. [...] We will do a complete assessment of all the sanitation issues.

My gratitude goes out to Barbara and DPH workers for moving in less than 24-hours to assess the public health concerns at 16th and Mission plazas, and saying they will coordinate with BART. 

Needless to say, I'm quite satisfied with the swift moves by DPW and DPH leaders about the serious sanitation issues and how they've wasted no time to improve the environment at the plazas. Let's hope the BART authorities get in touch with the leaders at these City departments, along with myself and the general public, and begin to address the health hazards on their property.

Do You Like These Proposed Campaign Graphic Designs?

This post is a combination of two posts at my District 8 Supervisorial campaign's Facebook page. Be sure to go there and like the page, read the comments and add your feedback.

Post #1:

We're pleased to announce that our friend Mitch Hightower has created several graphic images for us to consider using for the campaign. Here is one that tickled our queer eyes and we'll post a few more next week. Give us your feedback. 

Let us know what you like about the image or if it does not appeal to you. We hope to have a terrific design that looks great on web sites and also as a poster for display in windows. Weigh in on the design and wording with constructive suggestions.

Post #2:

We are grateful to all our friends and supporters who provided us with constructive feedback and ideas about our first draft campaign design. Thanks to the expertise of volunteer Mitch Hightower, who has unleashed his graphic design talents, we now present you with a new proposed campaign image.

As you see, it is a stripped down design with reduced imagery and wording, and we believe makes for a more eye-pleasing poster, featuring striking use of the color purple.

It's important for us to engage you every step of this campaign for District 8 Supervisor, so we again are requesting helpful comments about this design. Here are a few questions we'd like you to answer.

Would you print it and put it in your apartment window? Copy it and use on your Facebook page and across your social networks?

We're looking forward to your insight and commentary.

Fire Hazard at BART Plaza, Pigeon Poop Proliferates

It's been nine-days since I first contacted gay BART director Tom Radulovich, gay elected officials Mark Leno, Tom Ammiano and David Campos, and various BART officials about the health hazards at the 16th Street and Mission plazas.

Unfortunately, the gay elected leaders and their staffers have not responded to my requests to help clean up the various filth, and despite promises from BART district secretary that the agency was taking my complaint seriously, the hazards have not been cleaned up.

Today I've emailed the head of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Barbara Garcia, and the chief of the Fire Department, Joanne Hayes-White, requesting their assistance to get the plazas cleaned up. The text of my letter to them:

Dear Ms. Garcia and Ms. Hayes-White,

My concerns regarding the unsanitary conditions at the 16th Street BART plazas have been brought to the attention of the agency's leaders, however, no action has been taken in the nine-days since I first contacted BART about the health hazards at these public spaces used by thousands of people daily.

You can read my appeals to BART and gay elected officials to address this deplorable situation, along with viewing photo documentation gathered two week ago, here and here.

I was in the BART plaza close to the Walgreens over the weekend and can report that the disease-riddled pigeon poop next to the handrails by the steps and escalator is more prevalent. 

Last night, I noticed the poop is encrusted on top of the news racks near the Muni bus stop in front of Walgreens. When so much bird fecal matter is so close to where people put their hands while using the public plaza, the public health is jeopardized.

There is also a fire hazard presented by the food wrappers and newspapers that have accumulated on the cement shelf on the left of the down escalator. The fire department should inspect this area and witness not only the trash but also the cigar and cigarette butts mixed in with the papers.

In the interest of responsible public health and fire hazard prevention, I request that you take action today to address these concerns either by having your own staffers wash away the pigeon droppings and install pigeon spikes and remove the dried papers, or requesting that BART do so.

Clearly, after more than week of complaints from this member of the public, BART leaders need a push from you to make the public plaza free from health and fire hazards.

Please let me know by the close of business today what action you are taking to address these hazards to the public.

Regards,
Michael Petrelis

Weekend Woof #79: All BBC Edition

I hope you're enjoying the Pride season that's been blossoming in all sorts of ways, beautiful LGBT people and assorted colors of the rainbow. The membership of SF Pride voted Color the World With Pride as this year's theme, so here are a few BBCs - bodacious, black cuties.

Imagine my shock last weekend, when exiting the 16th Street BART concourse to hear one of Bach's cello concertos being played so beautifully. Who's performs Bach to please the pubic transit crowds? This tall dude named Corey. I was so impressed with his artistry, I stopped and listened till he finished, then tossed some bucks into his donations jar.

This fella had eye-catching tattoos on his thick arms when I saw him at the Safeway deli, but my camera didn't capture them so well.

One of my fave porn stars, Cutler X, was in the Castro earlier this week and lit up with a smile when I introduced myself. I've sent him fan notes over the years and to my surprised remembered me. Cutler, the very definition of BBC: big, black cock, agreed to strike poses for my camera only if I would be in some pics with him, so we grabbed a gay guys standing nearby to take shots of he and I together. During the shoot, Cutler turned to me insisting on a kiss and soon his tongue was in my mouth before we just locked lips!

We end this week's series with a shot of a mature dude who occasionally staffs the information booth at the UN Plaza farmer's market on Wednesday.

Thanks guys, for gracing the lens of my camera!

NYT Error: San Francisco Hasn't Closed 2 'Sex Clubs'

The following note was emailed today to the New York Times:

(Do you agree that porthole in the photo would make for a large and queer glory hole, if the glass were removed?)

Dear Corrections Desk,

Your story in the Arts section on June 21 about a floating peep show on San Francisco Bay contained an error, repeated on the "Inside the Times" page of the print edition, that needs correcting.

The caption under the photo on the index page reads, in part, italicizing mine:

An art installation on a boat filled with erotic dancers is a response to the closing of two beloved San Francisco sex clubs.

Reporter Melena Ryzik's story said:

The show was conceived by the artist Constance Hockaday as a commentary on the forces of technification and gentrification roiling this city and, especially, as a response to the demise of two beloved sex clubs: the Lusty Lady, a worker-owned and unionized strip club, which closed last year, and Esta Noche (translation: Tonight), an infamous Latino gay bar and performance space, which had its final show in March. Coupled with a recent ban on public nudity, the closings have left some residents worrying that San Francisco is losing the anything-goes vibe that made the city a boho mecca.

The Grey Lady is quite mistaken defining the Lusty Lady and Esta Noche being sex clubs. They were commercial venues where liquor was served and there was no sex allowed on the premises. [CORRECTION: Alcohol was not for sale at the Lusty Lady.] If sex was going on, the state Department of Alcohol Beverage Control would have cited and potentially closed them for violating the law banning sex where alcohol is served.

Sex clubs in San Francisco, such as Blow Buddies and Eros, cater to gays and closeted men on the down-low and sexual liaisons between individuals is not only allowed but the primary purpose of the clubs. There are no private spaces in them and all sex is subject to monitoring by the staff. So much for the Supreme Court's Lawrence decision applying here, but that is another matter.

Bathhouses, which have been banned in San Francisco since 1984 at the height of AIDS hysteria in this city and the nation, are places with private cubicles with sexual activity happening behind a door away from prying eyes.

Finally, the nudity ban was pushed through the Board of Supervisors in December 2012 by the Castro's conservative member of the board and went into effect in February 2013, so it's hardly a recent ban you report.

Please consider correcting the errors.

Cheers,
Michael Petrelis

'Redeeming the Dream': Griffin, Herrera, Newsom & Hilary Rosen

The big-name lawyers behind the Prop 8 lawsuit, Ted Olson and David Boies, have a new book out titled "Redeeming the Dream" detailing their version of events of their high-profile case that struck down the California ban on gay marriages with a Supreme Court ruling based on the matter of standing by proponents of the initiative.

Given how much money Olson and Boies raked in on the case and with this book, it might be more accurate to subtitle it "Cashing the Check". Kudos to the Washington Blade for uncovering the $6.5 million paid to the lawyers' firms.

I popped into a bookstore yesterday and scanned the index, and was immediately struck by a few things.

First, big-ego San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is omitted from the book. His out deputy attorney Terry Stewart, who did the heavy-lifting in all aspects of the case, is mentioned about half a dozen times. Given this omission, don't expect Herrera and his staff to turn their office into a boutique PR firm to promote "Redeeming the Dream".

You'll recall Herrera expended much staff time and City Attorney infrastructure on the taxpayer's dime to stage a photo-op for Jo Becker and her book "Forcing the Spring" at his City Hall office. That's somewhat understandable considering Herrera was a key hero in Becker's account and she got a single citation in the Olson and Boies book.

No surprise seeing former Mayor Gavin Newsom, who touched off the Winter of Love and thousands of gay and lesbian marriages at City Hall, shows up seven times. That must hurt Herrera's ego since he's had moments of rivalry with Newsom about getting credit for who did what on gay marriage from San Francisco.

I glanced at a few references to Chad Griffin, the gay Hollywood political mover and shaker who launched the nonprofit that funded the paychecks of Olson and Boies and the lawsuit over the years as the case worked its way through the courts. As expected, the lawyers have nothing but the highest praise for him, but count me among his critics who would argue he's not our most effective advocate.

The book jacket contains a gushing blurb from Washington super-lesbian Hilary Rosen who's identified as a CNN contributor and Democratic Party strategist. What I find curious is she wrote that Olson and Boies are "a powerful duo that has accelerated approval of marriage equality not just in the courts, but it the living rooms of America's opinion elites." Rosen has long been the powerful person pulling the strings and setting the agenda at the Human Rights Campaign and while I agree that Olson and Boies nudged many elites to back gay marriage, the same cannot be said of HRC.

Speaking of HRC, let's see if and how they gear up their public relations machine to promote this book.

Silent Gay BART Leader Ignores Health Hazard at Plazas

For gay men of a certain age who lived through the AIDS plague years, I have certain expectations of them especially if they're an elected official or the executive director of an advocacy nonprofit or in rare cases both. They should be active in addressing health hazards at public spaces.

(Photo credit: Jason Paladino of Oakland North.)

Tom Radulovich, behind the mics, whom I've been acquainted with for many years, is one such gay man. Since 1996, I've voted for him as a member of the BART board of directors but a future vote if he runs again is unlikely given his silence this week about the deplorable unsanitary conditions at the 16th and Mission BART Plazas, which are in his portfolio.

It's not just that he's ignored the health hazards I've brought to his attention and his lack of response to my questions to him that concern me, but also the fact that the filthy situation at the plazas has existed for quite some time under Tom's watch. Why has he allowed the filth to reach this sorry state?

But he's not only a BART director but also works as the executive director of the Liveable City organization where part of the agenda includes the following, bolding in the original text:

[C]reate great stations that provide efficient and accessible transit connections and great public spaces that serve as centers of community.

Hello, Tom? Take a good look at the 16th Street Plazas and tell me how Liveable City has addressed the station and public spaces there, please. Nice words, but where's the action?

While he's not responded to my questions, I did hear from his Liveable City colleague Susan King, whom I've also known for years, and she wrote to me on Tuesday saying:

Tom's been in City Hall all day for the Board [of Supervisors] hearing on the CEQA [environmental standards] appeal of repealing Sunday Meters. We have a number of meetings tomorrow during the day but he should be more accessible tomorrow.

I thanked Susan for her note and unfortunately didn't hear from Tom. However, I've received replies from Kenneth Duron, BART's district secretary, the first came on Saturday:

Your email will be shared with Director Radulovich as requested. A copy will be provided to the Maintenance and Engineering Department for investigation and response. 

Duron sent this yesterday:

Members of our Operations group, Police Department, and office of External Affairs have been advised of your inquiries of Director Radulovich. By copy of this email I will ask that a member of staff contact to provide you with the contact information you seek [for who is handling requests for cleaning]. 

I passed through the 16th Street plazas yesterday and the health hazards I documented and blogged about here, were still very much present.

All of the stakeholders and users of the plazas, from the low-income residents of nearby SROs and homeless people and techies and tourists to every BART rider or Mission neighbor, deserve plazas that are sanitary and regularly cleaned, and monitored by the BART director responsible for their upkeep.

Tom Radulovich, your silence is harmful to the public health. Please speak up and answer my questions.