It's summer in San Francisco, which means mist and bitter winds, and wearing my down-filled jacket on my nighttime adventures, and considering turning on the heat but huddling under the comforter instead. Today was a classic reintroduction to my life in the city of sin. I woke up to fog and gloom, and I messed around for a bit before taking four loads of laundry downstairs and then going to the grocery store to stock up on the bare essentials for the next few days (I leave again on Tuesday, so I don't need much).
The morning continued in this vein - some housekeeping, some desultory internet procrastination, some drinking of coffee, etc. But I had to get my act together and pick up Chandlord at 1:15ish - we had a date to organize someone else's wedding, and that required going up to Guerneville and tasting someone else's food. This, of course, is a reference to Ritu; there were a few dishes from our tasting in February that the kitchen needed to retest, and Vidya and I were tapped to be the testers. Since it was all Indian food (chaat, samosas, paneer, biryani), Vidya was more important for this task than I was, but I was quite happy to eat all of it. And I was happy to see the people at the ranch again - I think it's going to be a really fun wedding, and if I don't misbehave myself too badly, I think they would let me rent a cabin there during the off season for some hermity writing time this winter....
But winter is not just coming - it's already arrived. We grabbed some coffee and left Guerneville around 4:30, so we were home around 6:15, and the fog descended upon us as we crossed the Golden Gate. I dropped Vidya off at home, then came to my own home and intended to do all sorts of things, but basically did none of them since I decided instead to take a nap, mess around, and read all the horrific early tweets from the Dallas shooting (reading post-shooting tweets is, tragically, something it seems I could do every day).
I took a break from mourning, though, to have some much-needed family time. I'd asked Adit if he wanted to grab dinner, which was a no, but he was free for a drink after 10:30. Vidya was also out and about, so I met her slightly earlier at the Vestry (after taking a lyft where my driver started going off about the Illuminati, which was somewhat surprising), where I had a glass of wine and she had a cocktail and we started to talk about life even before Adit joined us. Our conversation continued through our drinks there, and then on to Monk's Kettle, where we split a bottle of gamay noir, and where Chandlord had a veggie burger and Adit and I split some risotto, and where we had cheese for dessert like we were a bunch of Regency dukes. We had a long-ranging, rambling conversation about life and friendship and balance and local politics and homelessness and anger and global minima, and it was all very soothing and very familial even as it wasn't all entirely uplifting.
But by 1:30 the monks were ready to be rid of us, so we stepped out into the mist, said our goodbyes to Adit, and then Vidya and I shared a lyft to our neighborhood. And then I should have blogged, but I was so tired that I fell asleep on my couch. And now I'm going to go to bed in earnest, and hopefully get some glorious sleep before tomorrow's adventures (lunch with a near-stranger, housekeeping, perhaps various other exciting things). Goodnight!
The morning continued in this vein - some housekeeping, some desultory internet procrastination, some drinking of coffee, etc. But I had to get my act together and pick up Chandlord at 1:15ish - we had a date to organize someone else's wedding, and that required going up to Guerneville and tasting someone else's food. This, of course, is a reference to Ritu; there were a few dishes from our tasting in February that the kitchen needed to retest, and Vidya and I were tapped to be the testers. Since it was all Indian food (chaat, samosas, paneer, biryani), Vidya was more important for this task than I was, but I was quite happy to eat all of it. And I was happy to see the people at the ranch again - I think it's going to be a really fun wedding, and if I don't misbehave myself too badly, I think they would let me rent a cabin there during the off season for some hermity writing time this winter....
But winter is not just coming - it's already arrived. We grabbed some coffee and left Guerneville around 4:30, so we were home around 6:15, and the fog descended upon us as we crossed the Golden Gate. I dropped Vidya off at home, then came to my own home and intended to do all sorts of things, but basically did none of them since I decided instead to take a nap, mess around, and read all the horrific early tweets from the Dallas shooting (reading post-shooting tweets is, tragically, something it seems I could do every day).
I took a break from mourning, though, to have some much-needed family time. I'd asked Adit if he wanted to grab dinner, which was a no, but he was free for a drink after 10:30. Vidya was also out and about, so I met her slightly earlier at the Vestry (after taking a lyft where my driver started going off about the Illuminati, which was somewhat surprising), where I had a glass of wine and she had a cocktail and we started to talk about life even before Adit joined us. Our conversation continued through our drinks there, and then on to Monk's Kettle, where we split a bottle of gamay noir, and where Chandlord had a veggie burger and Adit and I split some risotto, and where we had cheese for dessert like we were a bunch of Regency dukes. We had a long-ranging, rambling conversation about life and friendship and balance and local politics and homelessness and anger and global minima, and it was all very soothing and very familial even as it wasn't all entirely uplifting.
But by 1:30 the monks were ready to be rid of us, so we stepped out into the mist, said our goodbyes to Adit, and then Vidya and I shared a lyft to our neighborhood. And then I should have blogged, but I was so tired that I fell asleep on my couch. And now I'm going to go to bed in earnest, and hopefully get some glorious sleep before tomorrow's adventures (lunch with a near-stranger, housekeeping, perhaps various other exciting things). Goodnight!
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