i miss

being on the bus listening to my iPod words of angry people and thrilled kids still coming in through the earphones; getting off at geary and fillmore, holding the door before and behind me, afraid of it closing on me; walking up post street, stopping by at new people and buying new orleans style iced coffee ("with half & half, please." "good choice!"); sitting down on a bench at peace plaza, sometimes alone looking up at the pagoda (ah that lovable over-the-top japaneseness!), other times with the people i worked with, the ones who made life easier when it wasn't.

the cold, moist surface of the wooden bench.
the fog, the sunshine, both.

why muni rides are fun

I was on the muni the other day. The car was pretty empty, only with a few passengers including me. A young guy with a beard was sitting about six feet away, facing my way, with his earphones on, looking down at the book he held and then around at the other passengers. I turned my eyes away, down on my book. He didn't look dangerous, but could possibly fit in the category of "weird people" who you see wandering around on the streets of San Francisco. They do no harm, but they sometimes talk to you, and if you don't want to be talked to, you better look away.

So I was reading my book, getting into it, almost forgetting about him, then after a few stops he suddenly said very loudly, "Excuse me?"

I looked up hoping he wasn't talking to me, but there was nobody else near him and he was staring straight at me, his earphones now in his right hand. I noticed his ipod, or some other kind of MP3 player, was shiny green-blue. I also noticed that his eyes looked sane, which made me feel relieved despite that I was still a bit uneasy because of the volume of his voice.

Frowning a little, he asked, "What's the capital of Colorado?"

He kept looking at me expectantly. It was my turn to frown, because I didn't know. The question was in fact so unexpected it took me a while to understand it. I shook my head indicating I didn't know.

"What's the capital of Colorado?" he said again looking away from me, toward the back of the car. A guy's voice answered, "Boulder."

"Huh?" the guy said.
"It's probably Boulder."
"Yeah, that's what I thought, but I wasn't sure."

He put his earphones back on and started scribbling in his book.

After coming home, I googled. It was Denver.

2 months in san francisco

I haven't posted for two months--and a hectic one that's been! I drove up to the bay area for job hunting, came back to SoCal, flew back again for apartment hunting, came back, and finally moved there--here--and started a new job. Life has been good, though it's getting cold in San Francisco. I can't go out without my scarf and pair of gloves.

One thing I learned about SF is--and it's pretty obvious--that it's not a great place to have a car. Parking sucks and people break into your car. "Every friend I know who moved to San Francisco with a car has had their car broken into at least once," a friend told me. And you basically hardly ever use it if you have a car. It's much easier to use public transportation. That said, I still need my car because there are certain places you need a car to go to, like, Target. I need Target in my life--life in SoCal spoiled me in that way. I've managed to limit my visit to the store once or twice a month so far, though.

What else? You hear a lot of Cantonese--if you live in the Sunset, that is. And I bought a new backpack. It's very handy when you don't drive but want to carry a lot; and if you teach, you are always carrying a lot. I need a new pair of shoes, comfortable ones, because I walk a lot. And all the walking has helped my back. I haven't had pain in a while.

That's about all of my San Francisco experience so far. I haven't had much yet. More to come, more to come...