Sunday, August 02, 2026

nothing's as it seems

I had an excellent final day in the city of sin, but I need to go to bed immediately since I have an earlyish flight tomorrow. I spent the morning doing various tings around the hotel before going to senspa for a long massage, steam room, general hangout. Then I had a very late lunch at Pizzeria Delfina, where I journaled in the sun v enjoyably. I did a small bit of shopping while walking back to my hotel, and then I rewarded my efforts with a nap.

This evening, I did some packing, and then I hung out with Chandlord. She v kindly came to the Kabuki, so we hung out at the lobby bar and ate snacks and talked about life and work (work is life) for a few hours. And then I came upstairs to finish packing, and now it's time for bed - goodnight!

Saturday, August 01, 2026

brightest light

I had a lovely day in the city of sin. I perhaps should have gone to the office, but I assumed no one else would, so I worked from my hotel instead. This made for a pretty chill day, especially since I was able to doordash a gluten free bagel with salmon, and also avail myself of several cups of the hotel's free coffee.

So I worked all day (with a secret nap break). And then I went out to Ocean Beach to hang out with Veronica. Since I went to her house, we were not at all rushed, and I had a wonderful time hanging out + eating Indian food + drinking plenty of perfectly chilled white wine. We were v overdue to catch up - I missed her on my last trip in April, and so I hadn't seen her since Carlsbad, which is nearly unforgivable. But we caught up properly tonight, and I'm v glad we did.

And now I need to go to bed - goodnight!

Thursday, July 30, 2026

love was a cold bed full of scorpions

No blog tonight - I got up, went to the office, and slogged all day (with several walking 1:1s to break things up, and also some v entertaining conversations with some of my favorite people). Then I took bart to Oakland, where I met up with John and Jess for some tasty Korean food. They were in fine form and so was the tofu we consumed, so that was fun. And then I took an Uber back to the city, where I have been lazy until suddenly realizing it's bedtime. Goodnight!

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

put your ear up to me and you might hear the ocean

I had a reasonably good day that ended well, so I'll take it. I unfortunately woke up in the middle of the night and had trouble going back to sleep, so I was dragging a bit this morning. But since v few people go into the office on Wednesdays, and since I had some stuff that required focus, I worked from my hotel until lunch. This also involved some early morning journaling, which was nice. And I got a gluten free bagel delivered, which was excellent, so I headed to the office in good shape.

I spent the afternoon mostly talking to people - since I'm here to see my team, I went for walks for the two people on my team who came into the office today, which was v nice. And eventually I left to catch the train (yay for trains) to Burlingame to see Lauren (aka Subz) at Mykonos. We have been friends for twenty-one years, which feels surreal, and she is just as great as ever. I had mdised her on my last trip because I got sick when I was supposed to see her, so I'm glad I caught her this time.

After we were done, I took an Uber back to the city of sin, and now I'm going to go to bed early in an attempt to recover from last night's lack of sleep before tomorrow's insane run of meetings. Goodnight!

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

moving out

I had a v v busy day today - my first meeting was at eight am and I only had 30min of break between 8 and 4, which is not enough. And then I dragged everyone to happy hour at 4:30, which was v nice but also continued to deplete my dwindling energy reserves. 

But all in all it was a v nice day, and I restored myself with a sandwich from Ike's when I got back to the hotel, so I think I'll survive another day. But I'm going to go to bed early in hopes of restoring myself even more - goodnight!

Monday, July 27, 2026

every second I waste is more than I can take

I had a pretty good day in the city of sin - I got up, did some work at the hotel, took an Uber to the office, and then slogged all day. But I ate a v tasty lunch and also dragged my coworkers out for coffee, which was great.

As soon as the day was done, I escaped to 20 Spot, where I met Martha for a drink. This turned into three drinks each + a shared salad, which was perhaps not the appropriate ratio, but it was v enjoyable and long overdue. Eventually it was time to part ways, so I got a waymo back to my hotel and ordered some enchiladas on doordash to get delivered shortly after my arrival. This made some progress toward restoring me, but sleep feels even more important right now, so I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

Sunday, July 26, 2026

you're putting money on red, i'm a sure bet at a losing streak

I am still v tired and all my various fitness trackers are flashing warning signs over my sleep, but I had an excellent day in the city of sin. I got up early, likely due to jetlag (since I didn't want to be awake) and did some writing in bed. Then I went downstairs, availed myself of the free coffee, and journaled for a bit. I also did some work, which I did not want to do, but that does occasionally need to happen if I want to keep my job.

Then I showered, got ready, and walked down to Divis to have lunch with Katrina at Beretta. This is one of our old standbys since we like their gluten free pizza, and it was a v chill place to spend a couple of hours (despite them acting like it might fill up, there were never more than four tables of people, which I found to be strangely hilarious). Katrina and I had not caught up in many months and so we had many things to discuss - and I'm sure we could have kept going, but at some point I started yawning (due to my exhaustion, not the conversation, since the conversation was fascinating!) and it became time to part ways.

So I came back to my hotel and started to take a nap - but then got a call from Claudia asking where I was, since her day plans had brought her into the city early. She and Chandlord and I were supposed to have dinner, but Chandlord failed to plan for it ("el stupido", as she said), and so it was just me and Claude. Since we had no other constraints, we met at my hotel at 4, and we walked over to Fillmore. We ended up at Little Shucker, which is where I was yesterday, and so I got another dose of oysters and another glass of rosé to round out my weekend.

We had a delightful time catching up, and we weren't done by the time we finished our snack, so we walked back to my hotel and drank tea in the lobby for awhile. We parted ways around 6:30, which was v. civilized, and so I grabbed my laptop, hung out in the lobby, talked to the bartender for a bit, ate some takeout Thai, and then worked for an hour. I should probably keep going, but I think I would feel better if I went to bed now, got a full eight hours, and then got up early to work before going to the office - so that is what I shall do. Goodnight!

just walk among the flowers, don't kill or be devoured

My sleep schedule is v off - yesterday I got up really early to finish packing and working, and so I was already tired by the time I had to drive to the airport. Unfortunately my Denver->SF flight was delayed a couple of hours (as expected given Denver's weather + SF's runway construction), and so I didn't get to my hotel until midnight (2am in Iowa, if you're keeping track). This really wrecked me for today, unfortunately.

However, luckily I hadn't made any hard plans - I did have to get up in time for a mani/pedi at 11, but that wasn't that onerous. Then I walked to Fillmore and browsed some shops, with some success (but not too much). And I had a late lunch at Little Shucker, which I always enjoy - oysters and rosé and fries are better when shared, but they're pretty delicious solo too.

Then I came back to my hotel and took a long nap, which may wreck tonight, but it felt necessary. Then I got a late iced latte to perk up again (also may wreck tonight, tbd). And then I wrote / worked in the lobby bar for many hours - I also ordered takeout from Little Chihuahua to eat while I worked, and it was pretty tasty.

And now I need to go to bed so that I can emerge from my hobbit nature tomorrow and take a nap - goodnight!