A fact that I wouldn’t normally like to admit I am willing to admit to you for the sake of an article. I actually planned on attending tomorrow night’s Justin Timberlake concert at the Shark Tank. I was excited as I (another humdinger) watched him perform on the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night and was actually looking forward to a night out of dancing and being entertained. Regardless of what you think of him, his music, or his taste, he is an entertainer, and they are a dying breed in this world.

As Labor Day weekend comes to a close, we bid farewell to another summer gone by.  Schools are in session, fewer people go out of town on the weekends, and we all get back to our normal routines. Though this summer was full of time at the beach in Santa Cruz or weekend trips to Lake Tahoe, there is something comforting about getting back into the swing of things. So I thought we could all make suggestions on things to look forward to this fall as our summer ends.

Last week a friend forwarded an email to me about Stanford Medical School and how they might be looking to relocate their school in order to best serve their students’ needs.  Now I know that they have filed for relocation, but I cannot find much to substantiate that they may be looking outside of Palo Alto for a home. This brings up a few interesting topics. Why couldn’t San Jose be the home for Stanford Medical School?  And in that vein, why couldn’t Santa Clara University or San Jose State open a medical school in our town? Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what major city in the U.S. finds themselves in the same boat as San Jose in that we don’t have a hospital in our city core? I can’t imagine that you won’t find a major hospital in Detroit or Chicago.

OK, so I did it, I finally did it, though maybe not for the right reasons. Nonetheless, I now have an internet profile for a dating website. Ugh! Over the weekend, I decided to both appease my mother and try something that people have been telling me to do for years.

Knowing San Jose as well as I do, I sometimes forget how people who move here view this town. My friend just moved back to San Jose after living in Hawaii for eight years, started working at a restaurant downtown, and really is starting to get to know the area well. So it was interesting when she started commenting on and questioning the status of downtown San Jose.

I spent the weekend at Lake Tahoe, enjoying the life that lake people lead, and it got me thinking: Where is our waterfront?

There is something about a body of water that makes it a relaxing and social meeting place; a place where things happen and people want to be. Though we are a city nestled in a valley and we have bodies of water that could serve as destinations, it seems no one has thought to do so.

So Barry Bonds hit another home run! Run to the TV! Turn up the car radio! He’s getting closer! He’s gonna do it! 

This is the scene for many Bay Area baseball fans, or just Bay Area residents, but the excitement they feel over this athlete is just something I cannot get behind. Call me a downer if you like, but I feel that rooting for Barry Bonds to break this historic home run record is like rooting for Lindsay Lohan to get another DUI by the end of 2007.

I know, most of you think all I do is complain that there isn’t enough to do in this town. Yet, with the city’s single biggest event—the San Jose Grand Prix—coming up this weekend, I am just a little lukewarm on the whole idea this year.

The other day, I was talking with some friends about things that San Jose could do to make itself a better place for the single folks (or even the non-singles) that live in this town.  We have already established that San Jose has lots of single people, and plenty of single men to boot, whose main complaint is always the lack of things to do. 

The other day I checked my email only to find a note from my sister with the subject line: “My Friend Tried This and it Worked!”  I wasn’t sure if it was a weight loss pill or some ointment, but when I opened it up, I found a link to eHarmony.com where I could set up an internet dating profile.

San Jose has the highest number of single men of any city in the nation.  The ratio of men to women is high, and most of those men are successful, well-educated, and have a great work ethic (depending on how you look at 80-hour weeks).  Many of the men are in their twenties and still single.  But do men in San Jose or elsewhere want to get married anymore?  In my extensive research it seems there has been a shift in the mindset of men when it comes to finding someone to marry.

This past weekend, I had the distinct pleasure (or displeasure) of driving up Interstate 5 into Northern California.  On my way up, I passed through towns like Cottonwood, Arbuckle and even a town called Weed.  After each plot of dirt, each cow and each broken down trailer whizzed by me, I began to think about how lucky I am to live where I live—where there is so much to do and not far to go to do it. Sometimes you just need to leave San Jose to realize how good you really have it. So I thought I would start a list of some things to do this summer and if you have any thoughts or ideas (which I know you always do), please feel free to tell them to us below.

The long lost question has been answered, finally!  How do we get more families and women into our downtown to make it a place for everyone?  The answer is clear:  MORE COUNTRY CONCERTS.  Who knew the answer was so simple?

The city council’s new plan for “soft” closings has stirred up debate about our downtown—what it has become and what it could be. Wrongfully or rightfully, some people are on one side of the fence, saying that downtown is a place of murders and thugs, while others wonder if it is really that bad.

Last week, the unthinkable happened.  My cell phone busted.  For some reason all the keys stopped working and I couldn’t call out, access any phone numbers or get text messages.  When my friends heard that my phone was out of commission, they all automatically assumed it fell in a bar toilet or was flung across a room in a fit of late-night dancing.  I wish I had a great story to go with it, but it just stopped working.  Then, sadly, I realized how dependent I was on this piece of metal I carry in my purse every day and wondered why.

I have been following the allegations against the De Anza baseball team closely, and in light of Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores Carr dropping the charges, I think that there are a lot of bad people getting off easy because of some technicalities.  I know it’s the law, but I find it unsettling that the members of the team that were involved will just walk away from this no worse for wear.