couch sitting among more exciting activities

though i have been couch sitting quite a lot due to my unexpected sickness last week, i was still able to enjoy the holiday weekend. contracting some sort of viral illness wasn't all a surprise because of my high pace of life leading up to this summer and the thousands of people i have been around since i arrived in san francisco (conference and public transit) not to mention the entirely new environment and new lifestyle.

even though i have joined the ranks of the commuting elite in san francisco, taking the BART everyday into the bustle of downtown, my pace of life after the workday has slowed down considerably which has been wonderful. i love being able to come home and want to hang out with my family, cook dinner, and watch Fox Soccer Channel. i love being able to watch the sunset from my aunt and uncle's deck in an old rocking chair with peeling white paint. i love being able to walk outside and pick blackberries and logan berries, bring them inside and make a fruit crisp with them. i love being able to sit on the couch and read for pleasure with a glass of lemonade. i love being able to go on runs and view the entirety of the city of san francisco from the top of the hill. i love being able to journal and reflect and make lists...

this weekend was a great mix of lounging and exploring. i've come to terms with the fact that i will not be exploring the entirety of the city in a weekend, so i've just been taking it slow and taking it all in. aunt ann says that she didn't even really have a grasp on san francisco until 10 years after she moved here so i think it's an accomplishment that i can have my bearings and be able to master BART in two weeks. on friday after a blissful, slow, lethargic morning of no work holiday, i dragged Dylan out onto a walk with me. he had to get a book and I wanted to go check out a bead store on 24th Street. we made our way through the neighborhood, me pointing out countless antique stores and asking dylan about his opinion on restaurants as he bopped along listening to his techno electronica rap music in one ear bud. we got to 24th street and discussed our family, school, and friends while we were serenaded by a bluegrass band in front of an empty lot. i looked in my bead store and saw many pretty glass creations but did not purchase. we continued down the street, accompanied by young couples and baby strollers and stopped at a neat used book store with a very helpful, quite attractive employee who was intrigued at my interest in finding dorothy day's autobiography. they didn't have it in stock. then dylan introduced me to cactus tacos at a mexican restaurant down the street and we ended our excursion by stopping for truffles and gelato at the corner of sanchez and 24th. we got a triple scoop of mango, pomegranate, and blackberry/chardonnay which really did taste like wine.

the next day, after ann/steve/dylan left for the airport at 6:30am, i slept in and woke up by watching "the devil wears prada" for free on on demand. then i hopped on BART and traversed across the bay to Berkeley. there, in the land of bikes, farmers markets, used book stores, trees, and birkenstocks, and co-op living arrangements, i met up with my long-time friend from elementary/middle school, sam. we hadn't really hung out since middle school so have not ever really had a mature, adult, intelligent conversation but have always shared an interest in academia and booklearning. it was comfortable company and i was very glad that i was able to fit in with her circle and that we were able to catch up in such a congenial way. we bought lettuce at the farmers market, made salad with her friend alyssa, ate some fantastic veggie bbq patties with avocado, tomato, and onion, ate some more dessert of chocolate fondue and cherry/blackberry pie, and ended up at the bluff to watch the fireworks show. the group participated in the typical "american" tradition of watching colored lights in the sky and discussed the fact that of course we would celebrate our country by shooting off gunpowder and potentially violent substances. after, we wandered the neighborhoods and played apples to apples in a quaint, colorful berkeley artist apartment.

the next day i went further east on BART to visit my friend Andy from Seattle. they were in the midst of moving everything out of his childhood house so we sat at the kitchen table and played a poker-like card game with his friend. all his aunts and uncles buzzed around us and i sipped sparkling berry lemonade. i headed home after a few hours as they lifted heavy furniture into moving vans.

i'm now preparing to leave miss piggy the guinea pig in an empty house for a week as a travel down to claremont, CA for a drug/alcohol prevention conference for high school and middle school students. i will be a staff leader and have NO idea what to anticipate. so more to be discovered. please excuse the previous post if it is not working correctly. it doesn't show up sometimes, so i might fix it soon. safe travels!