My new favorite place in the city.

So I've gone to this single area in San Francisco SEVERAL times over the last month, and each time I discover more. I've had work meetings there, met people at a bar, gone to a dance performance and just stumbled upon it accidentaly.
But on one side of the street there is the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and it's AMAZING! It has great meeting space and has some pretty awesome art, as well as being a super cool building. The first time I saw it I was on the street and saw the plain, average, not terribly exciting facade.


There's a lovely plaza area next to the church to the left. (I love that there's a Catholic church RIGHT out front of the Jewseum).
But then when I was meeting someone for drinks nearby I discovered this hidden part of it.



Those crafty Jews HID it behind the Catholics! Well done! (Wouldn't be the first time the Catholics covered something up.)


So then across the street from al this wonderfulness is the Yerba Buena Center Gardens. So wonderful, especially in the spring when the cherry blossoms are flying.



And finally I found a super cool sculpture in the garden:

SPRING!

So catching up:
I went on my first excursion to the East Bay a couple weeks ago. We had a work event in Oakland. Now those of you outside the bay area probably have a similar concept of Oakland as I did... which is to say, not good. I'd heard bad things, everyone knows there's violence, gangs, etc.
BUT. I found the good part! There's a beautiful lake with a park and amazing wonderful areas there too! Concept: SHATTERED.






Then later that week I went to Golden Gate Park. I heard the gardens should be blooming so I wandered for a few hours through the park in areas I'd never been to. I saw the Queen Wilhelmina Windmill and Tulip Garden, went to Ocean Beach for a bit, wandered and got lost in the Botanical Gardens, and found the Rose Garden (let down, this was not in bloom).







Another let down was the lack of bison in the Bison Paddock. :(
BUT there was a pond for remote controlled boats, run by the San Francisco Model Yacht Club... That's right, it exists.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Nights.

OK, so first of all I have to say this:
I LOVE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!
Being able to easily bus to events, bars, friends, etc is incredible. Also I live within block of two major bus lines that get me either downtown/SOMA or to Castro/Haight/Cow Hollow. Awesomeness.

A friend suggested a particular bar event that I went to check out tonight. It was fine. But as I went alone, it was a little awkward. It would be a GREAT place with friends. I was fine with the go-go boys dancing on the bar. The little guy in the wretling singlet was super cute. But the Panda! There was a gentleman in Panda suit. Well, what I thought was a full panda suit turned out to be a panda head along with a black suit. He was on the dance floor dancing with people and then climbed up on a block and began stripping. That was about enough for me. So I took the bus home, but stopped in the Castro.

I just can't pass up an opportunity for some amazing people watching. And my friends, the Castro on a Saturday night is about as good as it gets. There were drunken Marina girls, bitchy gays, naked guy laying on his towel on the sidewalk, classy old queens, teeny-boppers, and all sorts of other factions of humanity. BUT what I have discovered about the Castro is this: It is an incredible ego boost every time! When I was done with my circuit of the area I leaned against a wall waiting for the bus so I could maximize my view for the watching of the peoples. Within a minute of my stopping there a nice gentleman passed by and commented that I was "too cute to be standing against the wall."
"Thank you sir," is what I say to that!
Then a couple walked by and I heard one of them commenting about "the cute guy right there" and got a neck arching check from both as they passed.
So in the end it just makes for a good boost of the old self-esteem.

Then the bus came and I rode with the usual assortment of interesting characters.

The things you see in the city

I'll try to not let this become a ranting blog about all the strange things I spot on the streets, but I can't let this one go undiscussed.

At the gym today after work I see this guy getting onto the treadmill.
He wasn't overtly strange looking until I thought about context. His clothing was completely out of place. Either that or I'm just the weirdo who wears practical clothes to the gym. He looked like a total gay-hipster. or a gimpster as I think I will call them from now on.

His look went as follows:
- black skinny jeans cut off just above the knee.
-skin tight ironic t-shirt
-vest (seriously?)
-black fashion cap with one of those ridiculously short bills, about an inch long, and a white racing stripe down the center.
Now this next point is my favorite
-white, pointy toed, leather, wing-tip slip-on dress shoes.

Are you KIDDING me!?
I wanted to punch him.

Weekend of FUN!

Alright, it's about time for a big, busy, fun-filled weekend.
First on Friday night I went out with Rachel to celebrate her getting a job.
We went to her favorite wine bar which is now my favorite.
It's a tiny little place tucked in behind the lobby of a hotel downtown and the employees are CRAZY knowledgeable.
They have great tasting flights and a great selection. The best though was the comparison menu.
It gave a really god look at a differences among similar types of wine.

So after that fun night, I decided to get up early and finally try out my neighborhood Farmer's Market.
Yeah... That's right Minnesotan's a farmer's market in February!
It was incredible! I can't wait to summer when it's at the height of produce.
There were such great veggies and fruits available, as well as honey, cheese, wonderful artisan breads, and all manner of food to be had. I started out with a coffee and a cookie called "Alfrajoles." It was a middle aged hispanic couple running the booth and this cookie was HEAVEN! It's basically a sandwich with two amazingly wonderful, crumbly shortbread cookies, and the filling is thick, gooey fleur de sel Caramel... NOM NOM NOM. OH! and covered in powdered sugar.




After that I went in search of my vegetable needs.
I purchased a bundle of carrots, a big bunch of broccoli, two red bell peppers, two lbs. of wonderfully tasty oranges, and two onions, all for less than six dollars. All of that became a tasty stir fry on Sunday night.

OK, after the market I came home and napped a bit. I had been considering going to the Chinese New Year Parade, but wussed out. Then I got a movie invite so took the bus downtown and saw a scary movie followed by an excellent burger at Mel's Drive-In (not an actual drive in unfortunately), a wandering walk through Union Square, and some drinks at a bar in the Castro. Good Night!

Sunday I slept in and then went to explore Golden Gate Park with CJ. We walked by the de Young museum (ugly) and peeked into the Japanese Tea Garden (beautiful), found a lake with paddle boats and a fancy watterfall (beautiful) and a goose (ugly).





After bussing home, going to the gym and making dinner, I'm beat and DONE with an excellent weekend.

More fun in San Francisco!

I finally got around to buying a replacement cord so I could download stuff from my camera.
I'll keep the words minimal and just let the videos and photos do their thing.

On my first weekend in the new place I went for a walk to check out some shops...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KubLO4IY0ww


Wonderful flowers grow randomly along the sidewalk all year round!
And nearby parks have amazing views.





And this is the park atop the hill, of which, I live at the bottom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKz5PacuenM

Interesting moments

So there is a collection of events I've observed since coming to San Francisco that I just feel like I should share. There's really not much more to say about any of these, they're just odd, or interesting if either of those is the right word.

I've discovered that Public Transit is always good for a story. Case in point. On my way to a 10am meeting downtown, I boarded the bus around 9. Drunk man in the back started to get a little loud and I felt like I was in school again when the bus driver called him up to the front. She spoke to him a bit and then when he got back to the rear of the bus began yelling again. He was absolutely convinced that "The n----- stole my money!" Then the bus driver kicked him off. Drunk and disorderly at 9am. WOW.

Walking through the Castro on a Saturday night passing several bums begging I turn the corner and there is a man completely naked. Strike that, he was wearing a stocking hat with tassel. He just stood there. didn't say anything, didn't do anything, just stood. then wandered up the street a bit to stand there.

Probably my favorite was overhearing the bitchy-est little gay boy I've ever seen complaining very loudly to his friends about the cover at the club they were entering. It was TWO DOLLARS!

Finally, if I had been more drunk I DEFINITELY would have taken part in this last one. Outside a bar around 1am there was a middle aged latino man and woman with a grill on the sidewalk selling tacos. Seriously, that is like the best entrepreneurial business model ever. Someone needs to back them.

Well that's all for now. More later.