marry me juliet you'll never have to be alone

I had an excellent day in the city of sin. I woke up earlier than I wanted to so that I could walk to the Financial District - my old hair stylist from a lifetime ago fit me in on her day off, and I'm delighted that I got to see her and also got a much-needed hair cut. We caught up on many topics (life, covid, dating guys who were on the Bachelorette), and it was an excellent way to start my day.

Then, on a whim, I caught an uber to Hayes Valley, where I had brunch, did some window shopping, and then stopped in for a glass of rosé and some writing time at Arbor. This turned into extra rosé because the server mysteriously and miraculously said 'the manager said to top you off' and poured me almost a full glass when my glass was empty. I don't know what it is about my face, but I'm glad that my magical free alcohol power still seems to be in full force. Then I ordered another glass just because, as well as some curly fries (also just because) and they gave me a friends and family discount, so I'm v. disposed to think kindly of them going forward.

More importantly, I got several good pages of writing done, and I'm excited about that. Then I came back to Chandlord's and helped her get ready for tonight (while also napping). She had a bunch of people over for dinner - the main event, in my opinion, was Claudia, but Chandlord's friends are pretty entertaining. There was a girl who also writes romance (although hers sounds smuttier than mine), and a bunch of hilarious guys, and some Germans, and various groups of the Indian subcontinent, and a v. strange guy from Texas (definitely the strangest guy in attendance). Our conversation alternated strangely between Malala, ChatGPT, camels, and Tennessee motels, and we ended fairly convinced that AI is going to destroy us sooner rather than later. But this was all excellent grist for the book mill, so hopefully I can write this book before the end.

And now, I really need to sleep so I can pursue additional plans tomorrow - goodnight!

don't ever compare me to the rest that'll all get sliced and diced

I had a lovely day, and it was definitely better than I deserved after last night's shenanigans. I woke up this morning not feeling #inittowinit for obvious reasons (see: several glasses of sauvignon blanc), but I rallied and went to Another Cafe to write for awhile. This was one of my favorite haunts back in the day, and it's comfortingly similar to how it used to be - the upper mezzanine is perfectly quiet in the morning, and it was a good place to force myself back into the story after an extended hiatus.

After that, I came back to Chandlord's, got ready, and walked over to my old nail salon, with a stop for a quick Korean spicy pork and rice bowl (perfection). The ladies at the salon waxed my brows and gave me a mani/pedi, thus turning me into a better groomed version of myself. It was good to see them all, and even better to get my nails looking spiffy, so I'm glad I was able to get in today before my social plans begin in earnest.

Then I came back to Chandlord's again, did some laundry, took a nap, etc. Eventually, I left to rendezvous with her (eventually), but I was feeling like I needed to write some more, so I ducked into a strange little bar on top of the Stockton tunnel to write in the relative quiet of their establishment. I nursed a boulevardier for as long as I could, but right after I ordered my second (having already been there over an hour), the bartender gave me a free shot because the people hanging out at the other end of the bar were all getting a free shot and he decided to include me despite the fact that I was entirely antisocial. So, my second drink turned into a second drink + a shot of fernet, which is really not what I wanted, but I went along with it because that's what happens with me and bartenders and free alcohol.

However, it was all worth it because I got some really excellent writing done at the bar, and I hope to continue that tomorrow. I left the last half of my second boulevardier at the bar and met up with Chandlord, where I was dismayed to discover that she had ordered me an old fashioned (luckily, it was also free), and I said farewell to one of her coworkers (since it was a farewell party, although I had never met the guy).

Eventually, we escaped, and we tried to meet up with Adit, but it turned into a bit of a jhoke and we ended up at a v. weird restaurant that has a name like a taqueria and a menu on the door that promises pupusas, but instead they serve steak and pasta. And the steak is suspiciously cheap for SF - I had a thin-cut ribeye for $18, and it was good enough that it should have been more than that here. So maybe it's a front for something else, idk.

Adit did show up just in time to get some yogurt for dessert, and we talked until they closed, and then Adit drove me and Chandlord home. And now I need to sleep since I suddenly have three meal plans + a lot of writing to get done tomorrow - goodnight!

i'm gonna pop some tags

Today was full of bad global news that I almost entirely ignored - instead, I went super deep on house projects, which means I'm exhausted but also didn't have a lot of time to indulge in the long weekend make-up Sunday Scaries. I got up, made coffee and eggs, and ran to the next town over again to reconsider some cabinet choices + look at appliances. The appliance conversation was informative  - but perhaps more informative for the initial person I talked to at the appliance place, who had never heard of induction cooktops before. However, the owner came in, whom I had talked to before when I bought my dishwasher, and he was all over the induction question. I would normally prefer gas, but gas would require moving a gas line + having a gas stove without a hood since there is no hood in the current setup, and I just don't know that those things are worth doing (although, I guess, I may move a gas line anyway for a grill someday, but that's a different issue).

So, I got some numbers and some printouts of some options, and we parted ways with me promising to get back to him on what I decide. I asked if he needed a deposit or something to order things and he said that normally he would, but I'm on 'another level' and so he'd order it for me before I get back to make a deposit. There are disadvantages to living in small towns and not being able to get lots of tings / order takeout / etc., but there are also advantages in terms of just doing things on some sort of honor system.

While I was there, I looked briefly at washers and dryers, but I didn't pull the trigger because I won't be here to get a delivery and also thought it was a little indulgent to buy them right now even though the current washer is ancient and the dryer isn't perfect. Hilariously, while I was driving home, [censored] called to tell me that the dryer sounded like an airplane engine, which explains why my last load of laundry took absolutely forever to dry. So, that was a bummer. Luckily, [censored] is the kind of [censored] who has spare dryers lying around, so [censored] hauled a dryer into my basement, hooked it up, and was surprised / delighted to find that it works. A new washer/dryer is still on my list (especially since the washer seems to have something disintegrating within it), but at least we have a dryer.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon painting the ceiling in [censored]'s bedroom. It turned out well, all in all - the blue wall color that we painted yesterday is not very forgiving of mistakes (any remaining white between the paint and trim is very noticeable), so there are some places where we need to touch up, but it looks great otherwise. And I supposed I should say that [censored] was actually the one who sprayed the ceiling, but I was the one who taped most of the room and set up / cleaned up the sprayer, so I did my part.

Then I spent a lot of time cleaning up and moving tings around. I also talked to Alyssa at some point and she had me do some squats and presses, which felt good but probably wasn't necessary on top of all my other manual labor. I'm getting new carpet put in the rest of this week, so I had to get a lot done tonight - but I think we're ready.

And now I desperately need to go to bed since I need to get up early tomorrow for the carpet - goodnight!

you've been dreamless and sleepin' for years

I am in San Francisco and it feels like home, which is such a strange dislocation because my tiny town in Iowa also feels like home and there is no way for my brain to reconcile these competing desires. Today was exactly the day I wanted (other than the fact that I got exactly five hours of sleep last night). I woke up in San Bruno and had a latte and some conversation with Veronica and Adam (and their dog Gus, who realized approximately eight hours too late that I broke in last night). After we chatted, I took a v. abbreviated shower and packed my bags and said goodbye (sadly)....

And then I drove to Alameda, where I picked up Claudia (who will legally be known as Santy Claude in less than a month, once Thanksgiving is over and her true identity is revealed to the world). We left her adorable toddler and less-adorable husband sitting on the porch while we went to a tea shop, where we indulged in hot beverages while hanging out on the back patio. This trip has served, as always, as a good reminder of how v. much I appreciate the friends I have collected along the way - Claudia and I were random freshman roommates back in 1999 and could have very well found each other contemptible (or, barring that, forgettable), but we're 22 years in and going strong.

So, Claudia and I caught up in a delightful but abbreviated fashion (she had a cold, which her toddler gave her via a loving donation of spit and particulates). After, I dropped her off at home and met John and Jess at Saul's, which is the home of many previous lunches (don't call it brunch in front of Jess). Saul's has created a bunch of outdoor seating due to the panny, so we sat outside and it was pretty perfect for my usual order of corned beef hash. John and Jess also gave me the best birthday present ever - a copy of a board game called 'Raccoon Tycoon', which also involves railroads, and so hits every interest I have. So, I predict some new adventures for Wampler Family Christmas (tm) in the future.

We spent a couple of hours having brunch/lunch + gelato, and then I went back to their place for a bit more chatter. Eventually, I had to come back to SF, so I checked into my hotel, took a nap, and bailed on dinner plans with Chandlord due to extreme exhaustion. The panny has left me unable to deal with so much socializing, and I have to work tomorrow, so I indulged in a lowkey evening of unpacking + talking to my parents. I also had a late dinner + wine at the bar where I had my last hotel bar experience pre-pandemic - I am pretty sure it was the same bartender, but instead of talking to a stranger who had dated someone in the Denver mafia, I talked to a stranger whose wife was at UCSF for a brain tumor. Separately, I am 99.5% sure that someone else at the bar was someone I had had a v. bad first date with years ago; I  compared notes with the bartender, who was reluctant to say anything at first bc she's been burned by secret shoppers in the past, but our resulting conversation was hilarious.

And now, after fully reimmersing myself in my San Francisco ways, it's time for bed - I'm back to work tomorrow, and that requires some amount of focus. Goodnight!

lawyers guns and money

I had a long but lovely day. Today started with interrupted sleep - my carbon monoxide detector chose 4am to give up the ghost, so I had to figure out how to get it to stop chirping so that I could sleep. I also had a meeting with my boss at 8:30, so I had to get up and get with it earlier than usual.

Despite all that, my day was good (albeit still too many meetings). At some point, [censored] rolled into town - he is visiting for the weekend, theoretically to take a vacation but mostly to fulfill a bunch of house projects for me. Yes, this is a good thing, [censored] can come back anytime.

However, this visit isn't actually free, because I went to see Micky and the Motorcars with him, which is a country music band that I would never listen to if left to my own devices. The concert was at Globe Hall, which I've also never been to - turns out they serve barbecue and a full bar, and then the concert is held in a room directly adjacent to the restaurant. So we got there early enough to have barbecue and a drink, and then we went into the concert area just in time to snag one of the last barstools along the wall.

I thought both the main act and the opener were clearly v. talented, so I enjoyed myself a lot. I also thought that several of them looked like Lord of the Rings characters, which was apparently not supposed to be my takeaway.

But now I'm exhausted from lack of sleep last night, and I have to get up and get some tings done tomorrow - goodnight!

i've been waiting for the tides to change

It's Monday, and a fairly uninspiring Monday at that. However, the day went pretty much as planned from a work standpoint, which I will take. And since I had a relatively light meeting day, I secretly absconded to a Starbucks in the late afternoon - it was my first time working in a coffee shop in almost sixteen months, which was bizarre in its own right. The clientele was also bizarre - a girl came in from the patio to complain that a man was staring at her, and a barista had to go out and talk to him (but he must be a regular, because the barista called him by name, and the barista didn't seem to make any attempt to shoo him off). I often err on the side of sympathizing in this kind of situation because I've seen my share of creeps in the world - but the girl was wearing a dress that was literally see-through and also cut so low that I was pretty sure I could see areola, and also I had previously vacated the patio without looking at her because she was loudly listening to music, so my sympathies are pretty dim. But this is a good reminder that 1) leaving the house is good for people watching, but also 2) leaving the house means running into weirdos.

sssanyway. After my excursion to Starbucks (which I made to beat traffic), I went over to Caroline's to hang out for awhile. We had a drink on her patio, then had dinner at a chicken and waffle place in Lafayette. I did not have the waffles, but I did break my gluten fast with some chicken tenders. They weren't really worth it as I thought they were a little dry, but the fries were good and Caroline's company was excellent.

Then I came home, took care of some tings around the house, and did some day job work. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

the water is warm, but it's sending me shivers

I had a lovely day - it started a bit quiet because I was so tired and so stayed in bed until after nine, but then I rallied, ate some oatmeal, took a shower, and drove to Colorado Springs to see Barbara. We hadn't seen each other in several months, since I've been in Iowa a lot and have generally not been available in person or virtually recently, so we were way overdue to catch up. I met her at her permanent house, which she has temporarily vacated for a massive renovation - the renovation is getting close to done, and the kitchen is so gorgeous that it makes me want to demo and redo my kitchen immediately.

So, Barbara gave me a tour of her house, and then we went out for brunch. The food and the juice at the place we went were really good - I haven't had breakfast out in awhile, so the skillet hash hit the spot. Also, the waiter was a little hilarious in an almost-too-much way - he complained deeply about how much some other tables were demanding of him, but also offered to add vodka to my juice if I met him in the employee parking lot. I'm taking that as a sign that nature is healing and that I will get back to my usual 'odd interactions with strangers' game as soon as things open up just a bit more.

When we weren't dealing with the waiter, Barbara and I had a delightful, meandering conversation about life and writing, which is what I always enjoy about spending time with her. We went back to her house and hung out some more, and I would have liked to stay all afternoon - but it was raining off and on and I was flagging, so I said my goodbyes sometime after three and drove back to Denver. On the way, I talked to my parents and was shocked to hear that they were about to eat some of the boneless skinless chicken breast I left in the freezer - I'm hoping this isn't a sign of some dire personality shift.

I basically collapsed into bed and took a nap as soon as I got home, which is not what I normally do at six p.m., but that's what I did today. Then I made myself some boxed gluten free mac and cheese, which is not exactly a delicacy, but it hit the spot. I also planned some stuff for this week, did some laundry, and talked to [censored] about our plans for next weekend, so at least I salvaged some productivity tonight.

And now I think I'm going to fold towels and then perhaps read and go to bed - goodnight!

so don't delay, act now, supplies are running out

Today had some v. strange moments. I had a few good meetings in the morning, felt v. professional, etc....and then at three p.m. it utterly devolved. I had organized a few fun events for the Boulder office, and today was a mixology class (which I of course put myself into, since I wanted to do that rather than paint or decorate cookies or whatever). Thirty-some people dialed into the call, made small talk, etc. - and then the bartender showed up, and he was perhaps the most ridiculous stranger I've interacted with in a year. He was just so strange and bizarre and hilarious, and clearly all of us were stunned and yet simultaneously enjoying it. We made some 'winter warmer' that was basically hot chocolate with bourbon in it, and then the second drink was a cranberry margarita. I only made the winter warmer because I was pacing myself and needed to drive later, but all in all the event was a smashing success.

After, I hung out (virtually) with my friend Tomas, who happened to be in the same event - we finished our drinks on screen together and caught up on life. And we realized that part of what made the event was so weird and wonderful is that we just don't have those weird serendipitous interactions with odd strangers anymore - I can't think of the last time I truly interacted with a stranger beyond a few minutes at the grocery store (or, I guess, the weirdo painter dude yesterday). I want that back so badly, but today was a v. entertaining glimpse of something akin to 'normal' life.

sssanyway. After I hung up with Tomas, I ran a couple of errands -  mostly picking up an order that was waiting for me at Nordstrom and also returning an online order. Then I came home, ate some leftover beef stew, did a bunch of laundry, talked to my mom, and generally took care of many house tings.

But now, it's past my bedtime and I have a lot on my list tomorrow, so I think it's time to sleep. Goodnight!

you don't want to hurt me but see how deep the bullet lies

Today was a normal day that ended in bizarro-land, which is how so many days used to end when I lived in San Francisco. I awoke this morning and lazed about until it was time to get ready, and then I had just enough time to pull myself together and check out of the Kabuki before meeting up with John and Jess (and their little monster, aka Ian) in Sausalito. They had sailed there from Berkeley last night, and so we met at a weird but delicious diner that was walking distance from their berth in Sausalito. It turned out to be a lovely morning, and I really enjoyed hanging out with them, and Ian really enjoyed butting his head into my shin, so I guess we all won.

Then I drove back across the Golden Gate and went to Fort Mason (one of my old haunts), where I grabbed a green tea at The Interval at the Long Now (weird name, just go with it) and journaled for awhile. This felt so much like my old life, and so much like home, that I'm still emotionally processing how much SF feels like home and how much Denver feels like...not home. But I choose not to examine how the human feces and earthquake potential feel like home, and how the free parking and hot bearded men feel like not-home....better to just think they're equal, and ignore the repercussions of my choices.

ssssanyway.

After Fort Mason, I checked into my hotel, then had a late lunch and an even later coffee with Vidya (aka Chandlord). Then I made slides for several hours. Then I went to the bar and kept working on slides, but I also met a woman named Candy who used to date the mafia of North Denver (as did her mother), and who married someone else for twenty years but clearly still felt like the cute mafia boy was the love of her life, and who bought me a glass of wine and called me 'baby girl' when I left the bar. So I guess we clicked, and I guess I still have my ability to go deep with strangers, which I haven't done nearly enough of lately.

sssanyway again, I now need to go to bed - I have a big presentation to my VP tomorrow, and I need to be all in on my charisma in case she hates the content. Wish me luck - goodnight!

no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike

I had a glorious day in the city of sin - but it's always glorious when I can just walk everywhere and not drive, as opposed to my horrendous commutes from days of yore. I woke up in time to keep my facetime date with Barbara, which I think shocked her - she assumed when I made the plan to call her at 9am my time on a Sunday that it wouldn't happen, and in many cases she would be correct, but I hadn't talked to her in forever and she's taking a trip to India in the next few days, so I wanted to catch up with her before she left. This was a delightful way to start the morning, and set my mood up perfectly for the rest of the day.

After that, I showered, then went to Olea for brunch with Tom, Julie, and Deano (aka the drunk freshmen, although Deano's real name is Brian and he wasn't one of my freshmen, and also they all have quite successful / high profile jobs now, but I can't stop myself). It was super fun to see them, so I'm glad we were able to get together. Then I came back to my hotel and talked to my parents, and then I did a bit of journaling until it was time to pursue my next slew of engagements.

I got a manicure this afternoon at my old nail salon - they were super surprised to see me, since I used to go in religiously and then suddenly disappeared for a year and a half. But it was nice to see that most of the usual suspects were there, and they do such a better job on my nails than any other place I've ever gone. I was feeling nostalgic, so I got the same color that I had when I went to Bora Bora (pacific sunset) - and yes, it's ridiculous that I remember that, but I remember the names of colors that I like.

sssanyway. After that, I wrote for a bit at Peet's, and then had dinner and a drink with Claudia and Sam. We went to Wayo Sushi, which usually is quite slow, but we were the first people in and so were the first people to get sushi, well before the sole proprietor started backing up on speed. Then we had a drink at Lush, where I was hit on by a fifty-year-old former heavyweight boxing champ who told me to look him up online, which immediately led me to the discovery that his boxing career was cut short when he served thirteen years for illegal drug possession....so in other words, I still got it.

sssanyway again. I'm now safely ensconced in my hotel, and it's time for bed so that I can go back to the grind tomorrow - goodnight!

it's all coming back to me now

Today was yet another crazy day - I was going to say that my brain finally reached its melting point, but it perhaps reached boiling point instead, since I felt like everything was turning to mist and disappearing into the ether. I woke up at six, after not enough sleep, and was out of my hotel and in the SF office by 7:30, where I managed to get some stuff done before starting meetings at nine. Most of my meetings were okay (although at some point my face was so annoyed-looking that someone laughed at me), and I had time for a quick lunch with Alice and Chris, so I guess it could be worse. I also had four iced coffees, which kept me awake but may have contributed to the feeling of disintegration...

...but I managed to leave around 2:30 to come to Santa Cruz with Grace. She met me at my office and we grabbed snacks before heading south, which was probably a critical mistake - by the time we actually got out of the garage, traffic was horrible, and it took like forty minutes just to get to the freeway. So, the drive to Santa Cruz took over two hours, and it's a good thing that I was the one driving (even though I felt like my brain was oozing out of my ears) since Grace doesn't know the east side of the city from the west side of the city (I shouldn't publicize that, but I want to remember it because she was shocked when we were suddenly in Daly City and I found that to be incredibly funny).

When we got here, I simply had to lie down for ten minutes because I couldn't function anymore, and that was just enough to revive me and get me out the door. We are here for a writing workshop with Elizabeth Gilbert and Cheryl Strayed, so we went to the center (which is gorgeous), checked in, had supper (mindfully, of course), and then listened to their evening talk. It was really good and really entertaining, especially since they're well-spoken and have a great connection, but it was a bit annoying (really annoying) that they made several derogatory comments about romance novels (which of course Grace and I angrily debriefed about later). Also, the crowd is exactly what you would expect - a lot of white women, 30-55, bougie enough to afford to spend several hundred dollars (on registration, not counting flights/hotel/food) listening to two other bougie white women talk about #livingyourbest life. But I'm probably going to get a book out of this experience, so no regrets.

But now I need to go to bed immediately - goodnight!

if dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts

I had a jam-packed day in ye olde Iowa. I woke up in time to do a bit of day job stuff (which is neverending) while sitting on the porch and playing with the kittens - three of them let me hold them today, which felt like a victory even though I'm severely allergic and should have left them alone.

Then I drove down to the round barn to check out the festivities there and say goodbye to my parents. They were hosting a garden train exhibit today, which coincided with a local celebration - the trains came mostly from some group based in Des Moines that my dad has recently joined, but there were quite a few local visitors streaming through. My dad had somehow conned Aunt B into coming down and helping to sell tshirts, so I gave her some business (but not enough to get a free jar of honey from her bees...but since I'm traveling carry-on only and she'd already given me honey in Colorado, it's okay). I also saw Uncle Mark v. briefly, since he showed up as I was about to leave. The trains were pretty cool and the barn was a good location for it, and I got to see how to learn morse code (reader: .. / -.. .. -.. -. .----. - / .-.. . .- .-. -.).

But I couldn't stick around - I had plans with [censored] that required me driving over four hours, so I had to say my fond farewells to southern Iowa and drive to northwest Iowa instead. The drive was uneventful; Iowa is perhaps at its best in September, so it was quite pretty the whole way. That is, until I got to Sioux City, which was my destination - the hotel is perhaps the worst Holiday Inn I've ever seen, and [censored] and I somehow got yet another room with an air conditioner that is broken in some unique way (not as bad as the one in the room we somehow always get in Texas, but not great).

However, we're not here for the hotel - we are here because we saw Counting Crows, with Live as the opener, at the Sioux City Hard Rock Casino. How Sioux City has a Hard Rock, I don't know. We got here in time to have a quick dinner at Perkins (v. midwestern), and then we went to the concert venue. When we got there, we discovered that our 'VIP' seats were folding chairs on a dais bearing the brunt of the sun, so we got a drink and stood in the shade. And by 'we got a drink', I mean I bought a strawber-irta, showed it to [censored], [censored] said, 'doesn't that have gluten in it?', and so [censored] drank a strawber-ita while I went back and got a vodka cranberry.

Eventually, though, the sun subsided while we watched Boom Forest (yeah, I don't know), and so we took our seats in time for Live to start. They were really good, at least for the songs I recognized - I love all the songs of theirs that I know, and we were glad they played 'Selling the Drama' in addition to the other three or four songs that everyone knows. During their set, an increasingly drunk woman was cheering for them with increasing frequency, to the point that it almost seemed to be what she did whenever she exhaled. Luckily for us, she reached almost-passing-out stage and then was hustled out by security at the beginning of Counting Crows' set (during 'Angels of the Silences', which seems appropriate). So, needless to say, the people watching was fun.

Counting Crows played for almost two hours, and they were wonderful - they hit a lot of my favorite songs, including 'Mrs. Potter's Lullaby', 'Omaha', 'Round Here', 'Angels of the Silences', 'Colorblind', 'God of Ocean Tides', 'Palisades Park', and 'A Long December' (and a few others that I either forgot or didn't particularly care about). I felt a bit melancholy during some of the set - many of these songs are inextricably linked to moods or memories from high school or college or my early twenties. I also saw Counting Crows in 2002, I think, which feels like a lifetime or two ago. But the melancholy was worth it, and I totally loved the set, so I'm glad we came.

Of course, this was the most inconvenient concert to get to, since it required a flight and a four hour drive (and a three hour drive to the airport tomorrow), and [censored] had to drive a couple of hours, and we're staying in a mildly terrible hotel. But we agreed it's not the dumbest thing we've ever done - dumbest thing ever is tied between when we took a five-hour detour via Casper due to I-80 being closed for snow in Wyoming and the time I drove from Chicago to Walcott after my flight was canceled for weather and then we drove home together in a crazy blinding fog to make it in time for Christmas. And neither of those resulted in seeing Counting Crows, so this is clearly a winner.

But now I need to sleep - I have to get up in time to shower, pack, have breakfast, say farewell to [censored], and get to the airport so I can go to California. Goodnight!

heat of the moment

I had a gorgeous day - or at least a gorgeous evening, once I got through a whole lot of slogging. But the slogging included a lunch with Aga, Chris and Alice - Aga left the team a few months ago, and when she told her new team that she had to go to a different building to have lunch with 'tiki boss', this apparently confused them. Who knew that tiki boss as a brand isn't really something that people in corporate America are accustomed to?

But I left the office around 4:40 and went to the dirty dirty east bay to hang out with my college friends. I never go to the east bay willingly, but the people I wanted to see are mostly there, so I put in the massive sacrifice and made it happen. We had a dinner reservation at 7:30, but almost all of us met up at East Bay Spice Company for drinks first. So I hung out with Jess and Chandlord (hereafter called 'Zoochander' because Oniel made it happen), and then John showed up, and Claude and Sam came too. The cocktails there were v. delightful - especially one that had carrot juice in it and so looked healthy, but also had mezcal and two other liquors and so was completely, definitively not healthy.

After two drinks and my discussions of Johnny Depp and Steven Seagal, we went to Saha - a tasty restaurant that also happened to be the only place where I could get a reservation for seven people with only 24 hours' notice. Oniel was the only person who couldn't make it to drinks, but he met us at the restaurant - I hadn't seen him in many many months, so it was super exciting that he was able to come out. So the seven of us all did the three-course menu, and we split two bottles of wine, and we shared the chocolate mousse that they brought me for a birthday dessert + some Syrian cheese thing that made for an incredible dessert. I also practiced 'man hugs' with Oniel, although that meant I mostly tricked him into hugging me for real. We also all laughed about many things, especially the guy who had a Volvo parked outside, which led him to confront us about it since the restaurant window was open and he apparently knew we were talking about him. Oops.

Then we all adjourned to John and Jess's house, where I had some port while discussing the Human Centipede and a bearded Ellen DeGeneres - as one does. And then Zoochander and I rode back to the city together in a lyft that made me mildly carsick, but I shall survive. Happy early birthday to me - goodnight!

dreaming about being a big star

Time for bed - but today involved a lot more fun than previous days, so that's pretty #winning. I woke up this morning, showered and packed, and grabbed coffee at Philz before enduring the drive from MTV to SF. When I got here, I had meetings straight from 9:30 to 4:30 - but then I successfully escaped, drove to the Kabuki, dropped off my car and checked into my room, and got ready to party.

The first party was at Smugglers' Cove with Alice and Aga. Actually, the first first party was the four minutes I spent waiting for an elevator, during which I heard every excruciating detail of a screaming match between what sounded like a mother, a father, and their teenage/college age kid, who was upset that they were making him wear dress pants instead of jeans because the only dress pants he had with him were either too big ('a garbage sack') or too small ('they're crushing my nutsack'). Hearing a mother scream at her son about his nutsack and him getting over it is really not a good way to start an evening, I've got to say.

sssanyway. Once I escaped, I went to Smugglers' Cove, where I had a couple of tiki type cocktails with Alice and Aga. It's the end of an era since Aga is moving on and I got reorged anyway, so we hung out and it was generally delightful (especially when Alice taught me how to pronounce 'Prince of France'). Then I met up with Lauren (aka Subz) at Monsieur Benjamin - it was one of those ridiculous SF dinners where everything was tasty but understated and somehow still cost $150 despite feeling relatively casual, and this is why I live in Colorado now. But Lauren was, as always, wonderful, and I'm so glad I got to see her for a couple of hours in the midst of the madness that is my current life.

But now I need to sleep so I can further other mad plans tomorrow - goodnight!

the petrified forest

I'm still in Glenwood Springs, but the weekend is drawing to a close and I just had to do a couple of hours of work, so I guess it's back to the grind tomorrow. But today was great - I got up and had breakfast downstairs, and then Heather (aka dear respected madam) and I went to Iron Mountain to play in their hot springs. Katie had recommended it, and she was totally right that I would enjoy it - a dozen or more small hot pools scattered over a delightfully landscaped area with a direct view of the Colorado River. The pools were between 99 and 107 degrees, with lots of natural minerals, and I felt like I was in the Old West attempting to recover from consumption.

So we sat around for a few hours, alternating between sitting in pools and lounging on chairs. I could have stayed all day, but unfortunately it started raining around the time we were ready to eat lunch. So we huddled under a canopy and ate along with everyone else who was trying to escape the downpour, and then we ended up coming back to the hotel.

When we got here, I showered, then spent some quality time talking to my parents (Happy Father's Day, Dad!), then generally hung out while Heather got a pedicure. Then we walked down the street and had dinner at The Pullman - I had a v. v. delicious Colorado bass with rice and mushrooms and tons of garlice, and a mediocre glass of wine, but the fish was good enough to make up for it. Then we came back to the hotel, hung out in the lobby for awhile, and then came upstairs, where we watched TV and I worked.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

you said, "baby, we don't speak of that," like a real aristocrat

I am in a castle in New York, and it is weird and wonderful and terrifying and we're probably all going to get murdered. There are four floors and an attic, and half the time when I'm looking for one room I end up in another one. There is a koi pond outside, and the walls are covered in vines, and my room includes a carve-out for the turret, which is entirely useless. Somewhere deep in the bowels of the house, a guy named Raj lives with his little dog - he is perhaps, theoretically, here to take care of us, but that so far has mostly meant that he turned on some very loud house/club music around the pool and left it playing for ten hours. #priorities

This morning was an exercise in pain - I got approximately four hours of sleep since I worked so late last night, which meant I was dragging this morning and left later than I wanted to. I still made it to the airport on time, but I had to eat my beloved Cantina Grill (which, let's be honest, isn't that good, but I keep going back) to-go at my gate area since they were boarding while I was walking up. But my flight was uneventful, albeit slightly delayed. When I got to Newark, I rendezvoused with Barbara, and we picked up a rental car. Monica met us at the car, and I drove us to the castle - it was about an hour in rush hour with crazy directions, but I managed it without killing us, so I feel quite smug about that.

When I got here, though, I was feeling a little cranky - tired, hungry, and in need of making some quick decisions with minimal indecisiveness. But it took like thirty minutes to explore the house - Stephanie had arrived first (I don't really know her, but she's super smart and seems fun, so that's great), and she gave us a tour of what she had discovered (did I mention that there is a massage table hidden away inside a vault in the basement? this place is SO WEIRD). Then we chose rooms, and then I got mildly annoyed trying to get people to look at apps on the phones to figure out if we could gets lyfts and Instacart (answer: yes), and then I drove Veronica, Monica, Christie, and Barbara to a grocery store so we could stock up. As usual, we bought way too much stuff. We also had to go to a liquor store, since you can't buy wine and groceries at the same time - tragic.

Then we came home and ate dinner at 9pm - Stephanie had picked up groceries before us and made some super delicious chicken, salmon, rice, and veggies, which was yummy. Veronica and I polished off a bottle of pinot grigio in short order, not even delaying to greet Anne, Grace, and Tina, who arrived a little after we started eating. We're still missing Deb, but 9 out of 10 made it tonight, so that's pretty good (unless you're Deb).

Anyway, we stayed up until after midnight sitting around the dining table, which is in a crazily paneled room with little heads carved into the walls (yes, my young adult novel will do super well here). Of course, there's also a salon that is perfect for plotting historical romance, should my heart desire. But fun needed to end since we were all tired, so we went to bed...or tried to go to bed, but instead spent an hour laughing hysterically when Veronica found something that was a cross between a centipede and a demon in her room, and it vanished while she and Anne were arguing about whether to kill it or whether to catch and release it (hint: if it's a demon, never opt for catch-and-release).

But now, I really need to sleep - I doubt I can get the eight hours I desperately need, but I'm going to make a valiant effort. Goodnight!

riding in the radio while we destroy the world

I'm in Nebraska, and it's just as annoying to be here as it always is. However, I should count my blessings - I made it to North Platte without incident (other than the insect genocide committed by my windshield), and tomorrow I'll be in Denver and ready to start a new chapter (and by that I mean drink rosé with Katie).

Today was the end of this edition of #smalltownlife. I woke up in Iowa and spent a couple of hours taking care of tings - I wanted to leave my room in a decent state, so I straightened up, took out the trash, organized, and tossed whatever I didn't want to deal with into [censored]'s pile (that's mostly a joke). I also had breakfast with my parents - I don't know if my body is prepared for the bacon shortage it's about to undergo, but #noregrets.

Then I lazed about for awhile, since the idea of getting in my car was strangely unappealing - but sometime after 1pm, I finally left my ancestral abode and waved goodbye to my parents as I drove away. My car is packed to the gills with stuff, which is strangely a good thing since it means nothing is moving around (and so nothing is making noise). I had a lot of miles to cover today, and I probably should have left earlier. But I made it to North Platte in record time - I stopped a lot less than I usually do, but I lost a combined total of 40mins to 20mins of bathroom/caffeine/gas breaks + 20mins of delays due to construction on IA-34 + I-80. Still, making it here in 7.5hrs was pretty decent...

...so I checked into the same hotel I stayed in back in June (remember that?), and then went across the parking lot to have a 9:15pm dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Oddly, the bartender there remembered me - I've only been there once before, but when he handed me the drink menu, he said 'you're a red wine girl - I remember you'. I'm somewhat saddened that my haggard, road-trip-weary face is the only thing he knows, since after seven hours in a car I look like someone who could give road head in exchange for meth [editor's note: I have no personal experience with any of this]. But he's right - I'm a red wine girl. So I had the same chicken I ordered last time, and a glass and a half of pinot noir, and we discussed Colorado - he's moving there next week, so perhaps I'll run into him in a bar in Colorado somewhere (in fact, he said as I was leaving, 'hope to see you again, but I hope it's not here'...which is a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly, since I never really want to come to North Platte again).

And now I need to sleep - Denver and all sorts of adventures await. Goodnight!

Google knows that I have arrived in Singapore. When I logged in to write this, it had a helpful tip: "Why not blog in Malay? With over 220 million speakers around the world, and a rapidly growing audience, Malay content could be the next opportunity to get you new readers. You can create a new account or use your existing AdSense account to monetize your Malay content. Get started now."

If you'd like me to blog in Malay, let me know! 220 million people is certainly more than the current audience of my blog....

sssanyway, I'm incredibly tired all of the sudden - likely because it's 10:47pm in California and 12:47am in Iowa, and I've been running on fumes for days. My flight from SF to Hong Kong to Singapore was surprisingly smooth - I got as much sleep on the SF->Hong Kong flight as I've ever gotten on an economy flight, and the food was pretty good and I was relatively comfortable. I did just a bit of work, but I mostly ignored the real world and daydreamed/slept/watched TV instead. The transit through Hong Kong was annoying, only because it just meant getting off the plane, having to go through a long security line, and then getting back on the same plane (which was cleaned in the interim) - but I got Starbucks, which was good.

Then I spent the flight from Hong Kong to Singapore watching 'Kingsman: the Secret Service', which was totally ridiculous (which means I liked it). And I've spent the past three hours in Singapore trying to stay awake, but also trying to relax and not let my jetlag convince me to spend $400 on moisturizer (but it's duty-free!), which has meant wandering around and sitting at a restaurant and listening to some British-type bros be broish (odds that they are on my flight to Bali: 82%).

But now I should go board, and go to Bali, and hopefully discover that my lodging for the next week is as good as it looks in the pictures and not some third-world nightmare (odds of that happening: insignificant, but not impossible). Goodnight!

i was too strong, you were trembling

Today was fantastic, despite the rain. I woke up, showered, ate some eggs, took care of some business-y things, and then ran out the door to drive west, and west some more, until I came to the end of the city (and the continent) and reached the Legion of Honor. Okay, it's not quite on the ocean, but it's close. My friend Veronica and I met there for another writing/museum date, and it was just as fabulous as the one we had at the de Young a few weeks ago. My membership gets two people in for free to either de Young or Legion of Honor whenever I want, and this is turning out to be an excellent writing date strategy.

I vaguely prefer the cafe at the de Young...but Legion of Honor has all the old European art, which is my jam. Also, the sandwich I had there (warm chicken, brie, and pears on gluten free bread) was one of the most delicious things I've had in forever. And, best of all, I had some entertaining convos with Veronica, and saw some art, and wrote ten pages (including some lines with some guy named Titus, who just kinda showed up and stole the show), so that was pretty awesome.

We parted ways around three, and I came home, took care of some tings, and then got a mani/pedi. I haven't had a mani/pedi since August, so my hands and feet were feeling pretty gnarly, but the good ladies at Silk cleaned them up for me (and my manicurist told me a v. entertaining story about the only time she ever got drunk and how she thought she was going to die; she asked me how many times I've gotten drunk, and I was so taken aback that I only said 'more than once').

Then, I was planning to have a low-key night at home (mostly because I was so sick this last week that I didn't make any new plans; the only things on the docket for this weekend are things I've been planning for awhile). But Claudia texted me while I was getting my nails done, so she ended up coming over (and bringing an awesome bottle of wine), and I fed her the bolognese sauce I made last night (it was incredibly delicious today - definitely something that benefits from sitting and melding for awhile). We had a lot to catch up on, since we've both been traveling and I haven't seen her since my birthday.

So we had a v. lowkey catchup and drank the bottle of wine and sat around until almost 11:30. And then I was going to go to bed immediately, but instead I wasted time online - which I'm way too prone to do anyway, but it feels even stupider at one in the morning. So now I need to sleep so that I can write before pursuing my social plans tomorrow - goodnight!

cut your teeth

Yesterday was great for writing, and today wasn't. I woke up with grand plans (despite too much coughing), but I got sidetracked by some administrative stuff, and then I couldn't get in the zone. Finally, I walked over to Fillmore and tried writing at Starbucks - but I sat next to the wrong person (a slightly batty old woman who might have been in the early stages of dementia, or maybe just doesn't have any social skills), and she kept trying to talk to me. I still got two pages, but that was a far cry from yesterday's productivity.

Then I stopped at Whole Foods on the way home, which took too long since it was peak time. Then I made soup, which also took way longer than anticipated - the recipe claimed 45mins, but it took more like 80. The soup was an attempt to rid myself of this cold once and for all - I can't have chicken noodle soup, and I'm avoiding corn, so chicken tortilla soup was also out. But I made some paleo-type chicken soup with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cauliflower, and other herbs, and it turned out pretty well. I thought it cooked down a little too much, so I added some extra liquid before storing it - but otherwise, it was what I wanted.

As I was getting ready to eat it, Chandlord showed up unexpectedly, so we caught up for awhile. After she left, I was going to write - but it still didn't happen, and now I'm tired. Tomorrow's another day, though - so I'm going to take my cough and my surliness and go to bed. Goodnight!