joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea

I had an absolutely chaotic day, thanks for asking. I woke up early, got partially ready, took a 7:30am meeting from my hotel, finished getting ready (haphazardly), sped to the office through the chaos that is driving through SF (one ways, crazy hills, crazier bikers, far too many four-way stops), and got to the office just in time to start a full on slog of meetings.

And it really was a slog - I had meetings straight until 4:30, with far too many tasks to try to squeeze into the breaks while people were talking. Then I sped back to the hotel, ran upstairs for two minutes to swap bags and shoes, and then met John and Jess for dinner at An Japanese.

I was delighted to introduce them to my favorite secret sushi place in SF (which I believe I was introduced to by the original Jen Lui). It's tucked away into the Japantown Mall and has seating for <20 people, and the sushi is absolutely incredible. We did the eight-course omakase (chefs choice), and every bite was perfect. I don't even know what the best thing was - my least favorite thing was probably the tempura made from tiny whole fish whose dead eyes stared me down as I picked them up, and even that was delicious, so I'd say it was all winning.

We also had a delightful, far ranging conversation about life and storytelling and AI and humanity, which was a treat. And the walk back to my hotel took perhaps sixty seconds since they're adjacent, so it was about as perfect as it could be. After we all parted ways, I came back to my room, laid semi comatose on the bed for an hour, and then did an hour ish of work so that tomorrow will be oh-so-slightly less painful.

And now I need to go to sleep - goodnight!

I've hung my hat with diplomats

I had a v long, somewhat frustrating day, but it ended well enough to make up for it. I woke up early (after a late dinner, which meant not sleeping super well) for a 6:30 am meeting that the organizer no showed for, which sent me into a murderous rage. Then I did various things, got ready, and made it to the office by 9:30, only to discover that no one else chose to come in today. This is not that surprising since we're pretty remote friendly, but it did feel like a waste of my time to be there instead of ensconced in my comfy hotel room (it, even better, in bed).

But I slogged through a bunch of work and meetings, and I did get to do some stuff related to the office remodel, so it wasn't all a waste. Then I came back to my hotel, took a brief nap to make things right with the world, did some work, and then went to Piccino Presidio to rendezvous with my writing friends.

Happily, Anne, Barbara, Grace, and Veronica were all able to hang out, so we had a long, lovely dinner and discussed many writing and life topics (and especially AI, which is the topic of every conversation in SF). It was a delight to see them, and I wasn't ready to part ways ...

... But sadly all meals must end, so I came back to my hotel and immediately got ready for bed. And now I must sleep - I have early meetings tomorrow (although I declined the no show's attempt to reschedule for 6:30 am tomorrow because that's just absurd). Goodnight!

let your body move to the music

I had a very lovely day - it was almost as chill as yesterday, but the chillness was by design and not incited by a hangover, so it felt much better. I got plenty of sleep, woke up, grabbed some coffee, and took care of some tings. Then I grabbed breakfast, showered, and went on a little excursion to my favorite Japantown shops - which means I acquired some stationery and ink at my favorite stationery store, as well as some plant accoutrements and some earrings at various other stores. 

Then I came back to the hotel and wrote, with a quick break for some poke delivery. 

Eventually I retreated to senspa (my favorite place in SF), where I got a facial and a massage and spent the intervening relaxation time journaling. The treatments felt great, and I could have easily done them and then gone to bed...

But instead, I came back to the hotel, showered, got ready, and had a v late (8:30pm!) dinner with Adit. We went to Side A, which is apparently v difficult to get into - and the food was excellent, so it makes sense why they're doing so well. We shared a kale salad and an artichoke dip that were outstanding, and I had the halibut that was also tasty. And we had a soft serve swirl for dessert, which I didn't know I had been missing until it came out. 

Anyway, dinner was great and now I need to sleep because I have a 6:30am meeting that I'm destined to be surly for. Goodnight!

total eclipse of the heart

I did not mean to skip blogging last night. In fact, I woke up at six a.m. propped up on my pillows (not how I usually sleep) with the bedside lamp on and my phone on the duvet as though it had just slipped out of my hand. At that point I thought there was no point in waking myself up further to blog, so I took some ibuprofen, turned out the light, and went to sleep.

Yesterday was pretty good, though. I was exhausted from my failed travel day, so getting up sucked, but I did manage to rally in time to take a couple of meetings from the hotel. Then I ubered deep into Noe Valley to meet Heather (aka dear respected madam) for lunch at Regent Thai. Heather was the main reason I flew in Thursday - she lives in Oregon now and I rarely see her, but I found out she'd be in SF and leaving Friday afternoon, so I changed my flight to get in Thursday night so we could see each other. She was in fine form and I was really glad to see her. And I caught a ride with her to the airport so that I could pick up a rental car for the rest of this week's shenanigans.

When I got back into SF, I did another couple of hours of work, and then I snuck out to get a mani/pedi at Silk (where they still remember me and are always happy to see me). Then I walked back to the hotel, changed, and ubered to the Mission to meet up with Adit, Claude, and Chandlord for drinks and dinner.

We started at Big Finish, which replaced Monk's Kettle. They have a bunch of wines on tap, and we ordered some pimento cheese (with ritz crackers for Adit) and fries to tide us over until our 8pm dinner reservation. We heard all about Adit's woes with the new electric suv that Priyanka bought, and we discussed a variety of other topics.

Then we adjourned to Delfina, where we had a v. delightful dinner and the server gave us all gold stars (metaphorically, but definitely at my request) for being such good guests. They handled the two vegetarians and the two gluten free people quite well, and the food was v. tasty. I also had a version of an aperol spritz and my share of a nice bottle of white wine. And we ended with pavlova for dessert, which was perfect and now something that I want to learn to make.

As we were wrapping up dinner, John showed up, which meant we had to keep the party going (no regrets there). So we moved to another bar whose name I do not remember (although I believe it was Wildhawk), where we all had cocktails. We stayed there until midnight, and Claude and Chandlord both left, but John, Adit and I continued on to Beehive, where we had another cocktail. John and I also had tequila shots given to us by a woman who claimed she was trustworthy because she was a lawyer, and then we all reminisced about times when we've suspected we were roofied. And then I got back to my hotel around 1:30, managed to wash my face, and promptly passed out.

This morning was rough, no doubt in large part because one is not supposed to drink a variety of white and red wines + aperitifs + bourbon (with a teabag in it) + tequila over the course of an evening. It also didn't help that I woke up to some suspicious messages regarding my credit report being checked for a credit card application, which I did not do. So I spent some headachy time freezing my credit and making phone calls to ensure the credit card wouldn't get opened. I don't think anything truly bad happened, but still, it was an annoyance I didn't want to deal with.

At some point I grabbed breakfast at the buffet downstairs, and I continued to laze in bed and do various mundane tasks until it was time to get ready to see Katrina. I went to her house first to see all the new and interesting things she's gotten up to in the last few months. Then we walked to Nopalito, where we caught up over some totopos and panuchos, which were v. tasty. It was great to see her, as usual, and it was nice to reflect on life together.

Then I came back to my hotel and took a v. long nap. When I forced myself to wake up I still wasn't rallied enough, so I canceled on plans to grab a late (after 9:30pm) drink with Adit and Vidya since my body would rather sleep and be sober tonight. Then I grabbed a solo dinner at the bar at Tailor's Son, which I've always wanted to try. They're usually slammed, but tonight the bar was weirdly quiet, so I ate a perfect seafood risotto and also half of the budino (chocolate mousse), and it was divine. I also journaled and soaked in the feel of being somewhere new (to me) and buzzy, which I do not get in ye olde Iowa.

And now, I'm going to go to bed and hope that I can do all the things that I want to go tomorrow if I get some quality sleep tonight. Goodnight!

rise with fire

I am safely ensconced in the city of sin, after an absolutely brutal day of travel. Most of my trips have been relatively smooth the last few years, but today I got a notification that my flight to Denver was delayed two hours just as I was parking at the Des Moines airport. This resulted in them rebooking me on a later Denver to SFO flight (and, insultingly, booting me out of business and into economy). I did get to have a burger in Des Moines, so at least I wasn't starving. But they boarded us earlier than necessary so we could sit on the plane for like an hour before taking off...

And then when we got to Denver, my later flight also ended up being delayed over an hour, and much of that delay was spent needlessly sitting on the plane. And when we finally got to SFO, there was a baggage handling delay...and so all told, my trip door to door from my house to my SF hotel took thirteen hours, which was far longer than I anticipated.

But, I made it and so did my bag, and now I'm going to bed - goodnight!

song to say goodbye

Today was kind of rough - I was not at all in it to win it, but I had to get up and take meetings starting at 8am, which is obscene from my viewpoint. And then I slogged all day despite not wanting to. I took a break to talk to Veronica, and then I did a bunch of random house stuff, made fresh pasta to go with last night's sauce, and then ate with [censored].

After that, I took out my trash, paid some bills, discussed various tings, and then worked for the past two hours in a very surly fashion. And now I need to go to bed - I only did one of the tasks I meant to do tonight, which means tomorrow morning will be painful, but I'll survive. Goodnight!

blessed with lucky sevens

I was as productive today as I was unproductive yesterday, so on the whole the weekend was pretty good. Yesterday I basically did nothing (which I'm sure isn't actually true, but my memory is blanking) - although I did go out to Mom's and grill bratwurst to go with the potato salad and baked beans that she made, and that all turned out quite well.

Today I woke up determined to be in it to win it. I did some outdoor stuff before it started raining, and planted the tomatillo my mom found for me on Friday (I had bought one tomatillo and planted it already, but discovered belatedly that you need two to cross-pollinate each other). I also added some twine to my raised bed to support my peppers, which have been slow to grow since it's been a little cold but are starting to hit the point where I can incorporate them into this Florida weave method that I'm trying. I was going to do more, but it started to sprinkle...which turned into a rainy day, which was too bad.

But I did manage to do a bunch of stuff indoors, and I cleaned my balcony so that I can enjoy it more as it starts to heat up. At some point [censored] helped me to plant my lilac bush, which was v. exciting. And I made chicken alfredo with bacon and mushrooms for dinner, which I think repaid [censored] for the planting assistance (if such repayment is possible).

And now, I need to go to bed since I have unusually early meetings tomorrow and need to be focused for them. Goodnight!

that's my will and testament

I had an okay day - it was four weeks today since Dad died and I was most certainly not feeling in it to win it at work. Nor was I ready to wake up - but I had to get up and go to town for allergy shots at nine, with at least got me out of bed and dressed even if they also made me itchy.

When I got home I did a few hours of meetings and tings, but I sloughed off a bit early so I could think and chill. Then I met Hannah for dinner - we went to The Brick, which was actually pretty good, but it's also true that the the entrance is pretty unappealing (which I'd heard from someone else - you walk through the exhaust from the kitchen fans, which is certainly not ideal). We had a tasty dinner, and their service was so fast that we weren't nearly done talking, so we can be back to my house and sat on the balcony until ten pm, which was lovely.

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!