So I am now getting the Oakland/Berkeley experience. It is quite interesting. Yesterday, I missed the turn driving back to my friend's house. And on my way back to her neighbor hood, I passed a car that was colorfully painted, and it was being driven rather slowly, probably because of the mannequin legs attached to the roof. Head-on, the legs just looked random, but as the car passed perpendicular to me in my rearview mirror, I could see clearly that they were set in a highly suggestive position. There were heels on one pair, and the guy's legs were, I think, green. Anyway, so that's probably average for around here. Nothing special.
Also, I must generally observe that I have never seen so many clothed canines as I have in the San Francisco/Bay Area. Dog sweaters and jackets are really a big thing out here. Not so much the larger dogs, I guess, but it seems like every other small dog is somehow dressed in one way or another. As if they owners need to shield them from the harsh 40-degree weather or they might die. Which is funny to me, coming from Boston, where you almost never see a dog wearing anything other than a collar on a leash. But it's probably more of a fashion statement than anything else, I am guessing. Because the type of thing you put on your dog shows something about who you are. Or like the little dog my friend and I passed on the street last night, wearing not only a pink jacket, but silver booties on all fours. But it's Berkeley. A little bit like Harvard Square. You see it and you just keep going. Nothing special.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Bike Ride
I went for an awesome ride in the Golden Gate Park yesterday. Check out this tree!
I'm still trying to figure out what it is. Will update as soon as I know... But there were loads of them. And at one place, there is a row of them where they are all sort of bent and curved in the same direction, like someone just grabbed the tops of them all together and shifted them over while the roots stayed in place, and then, since the trunks were made of clay, fired them all in a gigantic kiln.
So Joel toured me around the park, and then we got coffee at a café right where I first found the beach on my last trip here. Apparently it is a great neighborhood hang-out - especially being that there are not a lot of neighborhood hang-outs in that particular area (the Sunset - so named, I suppose, because it faces the sunset). They have good bagels and good hummus.
Just as a little aside/tangent, I have to remember to accept help still, sometimes. It's so easy to just try to do everything or to want to refuse when people are being generous. But people are being so generous, I almost can't believe it. But I am so grateful, really. The kindness of strangers, as it were.
So, back to the bike ride. We took a bus up to a nice look-out spot, where I did a touristy, photo-taking thing.
But I guess I can allow myself to be a little touristy sometimes, just to get to know the place, I think. Although I have an aversion to being a tourist, which stems from my years in Kennebunk, where every year around April or May, a dusting of dread settled on all year-round residents, and in it was written "here come the tourists." but I didn't feel like a tourist. And anyway, Joel was filling me in on various elements of San Francisco history, such as the fact that all of the Golden Gate Park and the western neighborhoods were once sand dunes. Hard to imagine, but true.
And after I took the picture of the city, we went down a spiral ramp for pedestrians, and let me tell you, it was fun. I mean, hell's yes, fun. It was like little-kid-on-a-slide-I-want-to-do-it-again fun. You can have your video games.
So that was about it. We wound our way home through nice neighborhoods, picked up laundry, and went home.
It was a very good day.
I'm still trying to figure out what it is. Will update as soon as I know... But there were loads of them. And at one place, there is a row of them where they are all sort of bent and curved in the same direction, like someone just grabbed the tops of them all together and shifted them over while the roots stayed in place, and then, since the trunks were made of clay, fired them all in a gigantic kiln.
So Joel toured me around the park, and then we got coffee at a café right where I first found the beach on my last trip here. Apparently it is a great neighborhood hang-out - especially being that there are not a lot of neighborhood hang-outs in that particular area (the Sunset - so named, I suppose, because it faces the sunset). They have good bagels and good hummus.
Just as a little aside/tangent, I have to remember to accept help still, sometimes. It's so easy to just try to do everything or to want to refuse when people are being generous. But people are being so generous, I almost can't believe it. But I am so grateful, really. The kindness of strangers, as it were.
So, back to the bike ride. We took a bus up to a nice look-out spot, where I did a touristy, photo-taking thing.
But I guess I can allow myself to be a little touristy sometimes, just to get to know the place, I think. Although I have an aversion to being a tourist, which stems from my years in Kennebunk, where every year around April or May, a dusting of dread settled on all year-round residents, and in it was written "here come the tourists." but I didn't feel like a tourist. And anyway, Joel was filling me in on various elements of San Francisco history, such as the fact that all of the Golden Gate Park and the western neighborhoods were once sand dunes. Hard to imagine, but true.
And after I took the picture of the city, we went down a spiral ramp for pedestrians, and let me tell you, it was fun. I mean, hell's yes, fun. It was like little-kid-on-a-slide-I-want-to-do-it-again fun. You can have your video games.
So that was about it. We wound our way home through nice neighborhoods, picked up laundry, and went home.
It was a very good day.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
In Dreams
I am now dreaming in hills. It's like dreaming in a different language. You know, I wake up with the sense of hills going up and down under my feet and cable cars and buses and buildings. It is all new and I am just learning how to speak the topographical existence. And I know this is obvious, but maybe the most fascinating part is that the hills don't change. Not that they should. The hills were here first, and then there was a city. You yourself, as an unfettered human being, are a little more unsteady on a hill, but the fact is, the hill ain't going nowhere. And so you go back to find the same thing on the same hill every time. Incredible. I don't know why I am so taken by this. Maybe it's because people aren't like that. The topography of a person can change so that you have to learn your way around all over again, just when you thought you knew where you were going. Or maybe that's just certain people. I don't know.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Couch Surfing
Couch surfing is great! Well, I haven't been on a couch yet, but I signed up yesterday, and I am going to have my first experience on Monday. Hostels are nice, but it will be nice to be in a real house for a change...
Transportation
I guess when you are a single female, lugging around a massive suitcase, people are inclined to be helpful. First there was the guy who carried my 62.5 lb suitcase up all the 150-plus steps at Porter Square T stop, since the escalators -- ALL OF THEM -- were broken. I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted. Then the next morning, a taxi driver took pity on me and didn't charge me for my ride around the corner to the T stop. The train was also free on New Year’s Eve, which had nothing to do with me, but I just see all these as positive signs contributing to, “Yes, you should go to San Francisco - NOW,” says God. Right.
So, for all of you who are going to visit me here some day, I recommend JetBlue, if you can get it. On my last flight, I took AirTran, and they were not nearly as nice. The seats were uncomfortable and the cabin was freezing. Plus, I had to change planes in Atlanta. JetBlue is friendly, comfortable, has better snacks, AND they are inexpensive. It’s a good deal. They should pay me for saying that. They didn't, though.
Not only that, I had awesome seat neighbors on the plane. Not that I can guarantee the same for you, but you never know. We got into a deep discussion about social ills and mental health. It was great. And I got a bit of reading done as well.
Getting from the plane to the hostel was a small adventure, though. First, I got lost on my way to the baggage claim because it was really far off from the terminal and in a basement and really badly marked. And then I had trouble finding the right place for the Door-to-Door van service, which was also badly marked, plus the guy who gave me weird directions. When I finally got there, I was referred to the first van that I saw. But then it was just me in this gritty vehicle that reeked of stale cigarettes and a driver who didn’t understand English and he couldn’t find where I was going on his GPS device. When we finally took off, the guy drove like he was sitting on a pile of fire ants. I felt like my life was in danger and I held on to the seat for dear life, looking for any way out. I thought I was stuck there, but then we passed another pick-up spot before leaving the airport, and I told the guy to stop and let me out, because I saw a van for a different company that I wanted to take. I think he was all too happy to oblige, because he seemed stressed out by having to speak English and not knowing where the Hell he was going.
I liked my second driver a lot. His name was Mustafa and he appeared to be of Latino descent, possibly Mexican. He was probably a little older than my parents, with a full head of thick, grey hair. We had a full van and I was the last drop-off, being the farthest away. He asked me where I was from and why I was here in SF. I was going to make something up, but then I decided to go with the truth. What did I have to hide? So I just told him I was here from Boston to look for jobs. He asked if I had just finished school. Yes, basically. OK, and what happened? Bad boyfriend? I hadn’t said anything about it. Funny you should ask… So I gave him a skeleton version of what happened, though I never mentioned the fact that we had been engaged. I didn’t even want to get into that. But at the same time, I made sure that he knew I had wanted to come to San Francisco anyway, and I probably would have done it even if Dan and I had stayed together, but now seemed like a pretty good opportunity to do what I had wanted to do for the last several years with nothing holding me back, really. Was he a jerk? He asked. Well, I wouldn’t say that… I didn’t want to say anything really bad about Dan. Why would I? He sounds like a jerk, he told me. And we talked about it a little bit more and he showed me pictures of his three-month-old grandchild, one of which was taped to the dashboard. I especially enjoyed the one of the little baby dressed up as a pea-pod for Halloween. When he dropped me off, he said, “I’d like to meet this guy of yours so I can kick his ass,” or something to that effect. That’s OK, I said, he’s the one who gets to be in the cold in Massachusetts. Then he gave me an extra discount, owing to the fact that I would need all the help I could get while I’m on my job search. No arguments there. I told him I’d wave if I saw him driving around town. So I have now made two new friends in San Francisco. I think I’m off to a pretty good start.
So, for all of you who are going to visit me here some day, I recommend JetBlue, if you can get it. On my last flight, I took AirTran, and they were not nearly as nice. The seats were uncomfortable and the cabin was freezing. Plus, I had to change planes in Atlanta. JetBlue is friendly, comfortable, has better snacks, AND they are inexpensive. It’s a good deal. They should pay me for saying that. They didn't, though.
Not only that, I had awesome seat neighbors on the plane. Not that I can guarantee the same for you, but you never know. We got into a deep discussion about social ills and mental health. It was great. And I got a bit of reading done as well.
Getting from the plane to the hostel was a small adventure, though. First, I got lost on my way to the baggage claim because it was really far off from the terminal and in a basement and really badly marked. And then I had trouble finding the right place for the Door-to-Door van service, which was also badly marked, plus the guy who gave me weird directions. When I finally got there, I was referred to the first van that I saw. But then it was just me in this gritty vehicle that reeked of stale cigarettes and a driver who didn’t understand English and he couldn’t find where I was going on his GPS device. When we finally took off, the guy drove like he was sitting on a pile of fire ants. I felt like my life was in danger and I held on to the seat for dear life, looking for any way out. I thought I was stuck there, but then we passed another pick-up spot before leaving the airport, and I told the guy to stop and let me out, because I saw a van for a different company that I wanted to take. I think he was all too happy to oblige, because he seemed stressed out by having to speak English and not knowing where the Hell he was going.
I liked my second driver a lot. His name was Mustafa and he appeared to be of Latino descent, possibly Mexican. He was probably a little older than my parents, with a full head of thick, grey hair. We had a full van and I was the last drop-off, being the farthest away. He asked me where I was from and why I was here in SF. I was going to make something up, but then I decided to go with the truth. What did I have to hide? So I just told him I was here from Boston to look for jobs. He asked if I had just finished school. Yes, basically. OK, and what happened? Bad boyfriend? I hadn’t said anything about it. Funny you should ask… So I gave him a skeleton version of what happened, though I never mentioned the fact that we had been engaged. I didn’t even want to get into that. But at the same time, I made sure that he knew I had wanted to come to San Francisco anyway, and I probably would have done it even if Dan and I had stayed together, but now seemed like a pretty good opportunity to do what I had wanted to do for the last several years with nothing holding me back, really. Was he a jerk? He asked. Well, I wouldn’t say that… I didn’t want to say anything really bad about Dan. Why would I? He sounds like a jerk, he told me. And we talked about it a little bit more and he showed me pictures of his three-month-old grandchild, one of which was taped to the dashboard. I especially enjoyed the one of the little baby dressed up as a pea-pod for Halloween. When he dropped me off, he said, “I’d like to meet this guy of yours so I can kick his ass,” or something to that effect. That’s OK, I said, he’s the one who gets to be in the cold in Massachusetts. Then he gave me an extra discount, owing to the fact that I would need all the help I could get while I’m on my job search. No arguments there. I told him I’d wave if I saw him driving around town. So I have now made two new friends in San Francisco. I think I’m off to a pretty good start.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
More pictures
My brain hurts from job surfing.
So I am going to post some more pictures!
These from my first glorious full day in SF
View of the Golden Gate Bridge from
where the hostel is at Fort Mason
A sailboat on the bay. Um, it's January.
I have to keep reminding myself...
Yes, this is Alcatraz
No, this is not where I am staying
Close, though!
I think this is an actual aloe plant - and this is only a small bit of it.
The whole thing looks like this:
It's like some sort of omnivorous Jurassic snail creature or something...
I love it.
So I am going to post some more pictures!
These from my first glorious full day in SF
View of the Golden Gate Bridge from
where the hostel is at Fort Mason
A sailboat on the bay. Um, it's January.
I have to keep reminding myself...
Yes, this is Alcatraz
No, this is not where I am staying
Close, though!
I think this is an actual aloe plant - and this is only a small bit of it.
The whole thing looks like this:
It's like some sort of omnivorous Jurassic snail creature or something...
I love it.
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