Things Repeating Themselves

Remember how Melissa and I got hit by a car last month? It happened in Japantown, on the corner of Geary and Laguna. Well today we were on Laguna again (this time at Union) and guess what? Nearly hit again. We have decided that whenever we are crossing Laguna in the future, there will be flares, trumpets, and jumping up and down involved.

The scene of the (almost) crime:


Next weekend, I am going to participate in what is sure to spark a new annual tradition throughout the nation: our first annual Groundhog Day party. I'll be partying on Treasure Island, which is a little man-made islet in San Francisco, at friends Samantha and Eric's house. The party comes complete with a custom t-shirt design by two graphic designer friends and winter and spring themed drink specials. And it wouldn't be complete without Bill Murray's Groundhog Day playing on a loop in the background.

Knitting

For everyone asking for pictures, here is my progress on my scarf so far. I even joined some friends for a knitting party, although there was not as much knitting there as planned, so I think another knitting party is in the works.

The Dark Side

There are a lot of, um-- interesting people in the city. People that are mentally ill, angry drunks, harmless vagabonds, amateur street musicians, and even improvisational body artists who ride the bus making art along the way. But my encounters with those people don't really bother me and have never got under my skin like the meeting I had tonight. I think it comes down to me not being prepared for it. Yuck.

But besides weird encounters, though, I had a great time today hanging out with my second cousins Lily and Tom, who are really cute. We had lightsaber battles, complete with a Darth Vader helmet that changes your voice a few octaves lower and Vader-ifies it. Lily, who is five, put it on an did her best evil laugh, which becomes this really funny cackle when translated by the helmet. Here is Lily and my first-cousin-once-removed (we looked it up!) Mary locked in a vicious battle:

Historic F Line

One of the most interesting mass transit options in San Francisco is the F Line. It seems like the cable cars get all the love, but the street cars that run up and down Market Street and the Embarcadero along the waterfront are pretty interesting themselves. Most of the cars come from cities around the world, and when the cars are from other countries, San Francisco has kept the original signage, so you can get on the Italian car and exit through the "uscita". It is a fun and scenic trip, but these are not just tourist attractions-- the F Line is a very useful way to get around the central and northern sections of The City. By the way, "The City" is the most common nickname for San Francisco here. I was told by everyone before I came not to ever call it "Frisco," but I have yet to hear anyone here say anything about that nickname, or about anything except for "The City."

The F Line:


Another F Line car, this one from Italy, I believe:

A Texas Christmas

I spent Christmas in San Antonio, Texas at my brother Jeremy and sister-in-law Jennifer's new house, which was beautiful, and dad and my sister Angelica stay, too. We had a very generous Christmas morning and then drove around the San Antonio area for the next couple of days looking for interesting things to do... we ended up visiting a German village, exploring caves, touring old Spanish missions, including the Alamo, and seeing an awesome jazz band play at a really cozy club. In the downtime, I also made a lot of progress knitting my scarf (thanks to my friends Melissa and Betsy for getting me into knitting!).

Jeremy, Jennifer, Angelica, and me at the Alamo:


Angelica and me at the hat store!


Two cool guys:


Jeremy and Jennifer get a box of money for Christmas, seriously:


It took me three takes to get my dad to keep his eyes open for this pic:

Taxicabs and Aliens

Taxicab drivers are interesting people in San Francisco. I try to avoid taxis as much as possible because of the high price (usually around $10 to get anywhere significant), but late at night when the buses run far apart, sometimes it is the only practical way to get around. During those times I have had to take one, I've met some very interesting drivers which make the trips fascinating:

Mr. Just-Nod-Your-Head -- This guy took me and my roommate to a watch a friend play basketball. He talked nonstop for the whole ride in the thickest West African accent you have ever heard. The only words we could make out were "stupid Jews" and "dumb Arabs".

Mr. Too-Much-Information -- He brought me home from buying a microwave at Best Buy and his idea of friendly conversation was going into the graphic details of his sex life. After everything he said, he would laugh uproariously and turn around and look at me for support, leaving me wondering who was driving. Thankfully it was only five minutes in the taxi!

Dr. McCrazy -- I rode with this guy tonight and he takes the prize for the craziest guy I've met in the City so far, and that is saying a lot. He explained to me how alien beings are controlling all of humanity using anthrax powder on our paper money. Not only that, but the minivan
in front of us was monitoring our conversation because the government and the aliens are trying to keep track of his movements. The rest of the country is also working with a group called the Syndicate preparing the way for more anthrax powder. He warned me to be careful if I want to avoid becoming part of the Syndicate as I was getting out of the car, and I wished him good luck.

Hit and Run!

I was walking from Japantown to a bus stop nearby tonight with my friend Melissa. Our bus was across the street, so we started to cross the intersection, following the walk signal. We are halfway across the intersection when an SUV runs into me and knocks me down. I crash into Melissa bringing her down too, and with her on the ground and me most of the way down, the car's back wheel runs over my foot. As I slowly start to get up and recover from the shock of the incident, the guy drives away. To be fair to him, I kind of gave him a little wave as I stood up, which I probably wouldn't have done if I had been totally with it. Thankfully, both Melissa and I are fine, but my foot has a light throbbing pain which I have a feeling will be worse tomorrow.

Hmm... I am wondering how long I will be scarred with an irrational fear of crossing the street? I definitely found myself freaking out a little bit walking the rest of the way home, and there was even a second where it looked like we might get run over again. Then again, maybe it's not so irrational!

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, behold the intersection where our hit and run took place:

Japantown!

One of my favorite places in San Francisco is Japantown, mostly due to two things there: anime and Japanese food. The mall there is home to Japan Video, my link the renting and buying anime-- Japanese cartoons. Japantown is definitely not the authentic ethnic enclave that Chinatown is, and it might be more accurate to call it Japan mall, since the majority of the neighborhood is the Japantown mall. The shops around the video store in the mall serve tons of treats like green tea ice cream and mochi, a sweet rice confection.

The plaza in the middle of the neighborhood is centered around the Peace Pagoda, which is all decked out for Christmas right now. Speaking of Christmas, the temperature here recently has really been putting me in the Christmas spirit... brrrrrr!

Trip to Southern California

My cousin Mary and I went on a surprise trip this weekend down to Yorba Linda, east of Los Angeles, to visit our family. We helped decorate my Aunt Martha and Uncle Jim's boat with lights for their neighborhoods annual Christmas boat parade, then joined them all for a big party they were throwing at their house for friends and family. I met up with a lot of family that I had not seen in many years, if ever. I discovered my new favorite holiday drink: hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps... perfect for the cold weather that night when it started raining while we all ourside watching the parade go by!

Jenny and Mary decorating the boat:


The boat decked out during the parade:


Driving back to the airport this morning, we drove by the snow-capped peaks of the San Bernardino Mountains. I made up a little panorama of the pictures I took of the mountain as I waited for my plane at the airport: (click to enlarge)

Oh, The People You'll Meet

I continue to meet interesting people in even more interesting ways here. A few weeks ago I met a vagabond on the bus named Tree. He had his guitar with him and we began talking about music, and traded playing songs on the guitar during the bus ride. I keep randomly meeting him around the neighborhood since then, including at my laundromat. A few days ago we went down to Union Square together and grabbed a tea at Borders while he told me about his fascinating life living on the street and traveling the California coast.

Tonight I was doing my laundry at the laundromat in Cole Valley (the same one that I met the girl that I went on a few dates with), and I was standing outside reading Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. A guy in his 50s or 60s came up to me and just started talking about how he knew Kurt Vonnegut's son Mark when he lived in a commune in Canada in the late 1960s. The guy was also a sound technician for the Grateful Dead, so he told me a few crazy stories about his life on the road with the band.

My famous Cole Valley laundromat: