BrockLi Soup

Apparently San Francisco has been having some power troubles, which means that I can’t use Craigslist or search Yelp. Strangely enough, the search seems to be the only thing wrong with Yelp right now: I can navigate around just fine, but I can’t find new stuff. I rarely use either site, and now that I want both of them I get neither.

My two weeks in San Francisco were not as exciting as I’d hoped, because I was working most of my waking hours. Even so, I had a good time, saw friends from college, and managed to meet some cool people. A quick summary:

• Met “the most helpful hobo in San Francisco!” as soon as I got off the BART. He suggested it would be easier to catch a cab at a nearby hotel, so I gave him two dollars.
• Met a bartender who saw my Street Dogs shirt and told me to catch Damon and the Heathens while I was in town. I looked them up on MySpace, but they didn’t have any shows listed.
• Spent my first Saturday in town on Ryan and Sarah’s laptop, doing work, chatting about life, and drinking fancy beer. Then we ate a boat load of sushi, and went to a farmer’s market and ate lamb naan wraps (delicious).
• Did dinner and drinks with Brady
• Met Wayne, a father of two and a fisherman. He’s from Alaska and used to fish for King Crab there - he even trained one of the skippers on Deadliest Catch. Not long ago, he walked from Alaska to San Francisco, and has won a number of flat-track motorcycle races in California, and several snow machine races in Alaska. His children are grown - a girl who earned her Master’s at 21 and a boy who’s still in college and “knee-deep in pussy.” His wife was as tough as a sailor and as beautiful as a model, until her death a few years ago. I’m still not sure if he’s lived an incredible life, or just really good at making shit up.
• Tried to rent a motorcycle, but it was broke.
• Had dinner with several CSHers and an old Tech Crew buddy in Tenderloin. Dinner was so-so, neighborhood was sketchy, but we had fun and got gelatto after.
• Finally found Bushman on Sunday. Ate lunch at a table on the sidewalk across the street and watched him scare the crap out of tourists.
• Saw the sea lions. There’s a lot of them, and they’re noisy.
• Met Darwin Coon, one of the last inmates to leave Alcatraz when it closed. He’s a regular at this awesome little bar in North Point. They sell his book; I bought a copy. He told me the story about the time he and a buddy stole a truckload of tires right after World War II, when they cost a fortune. His buddy broke his leg when he forgot to tie off the rope before lowering himself through the two-story high skylight, and the tires wound up on police cars (not because they got caught, because the cops bought them).
• Got drinks with some folks from the company I was working for, and learned that they’re all a lot of fun to hang out with.
• Sat next to a cute indie chick for my flight from San Francisco to St. Louis.
• Finish Chuck Palahniuk’s Choke on the flight. Wasn’t impressed.

And now, I’m back in DC and moved into a new apartment. More on that later.

I was told to grab a taxi from the airport to my hotel, up by Fisherman’s Wharf, which would run something like $60. But I’m an economical young man, so I took the BART to Powell St and got a cab there. Grand total: $21 with tip. Someone should just give me the $40 remainder for being so awesome.

My hotel is just a couple blocks from Fisherman’s Wharf. I kinda figured I’d find a dozen sushi places over there, but no such luck - not on the main drag, anyway. I stopped into Lou’s, a blues joint, and got salmon stuffed with crab and shrimp. Want to know what heaven tastes like? It tastes like salmon stuffed with crab and shrimp.

It’s only 9:30 here but I’m exhausted. I took off my belt when I got back to the hotel and walked right out of my jeans. I’m not sure if I bought jeans that are too big or if I lost weight, but I’m going to assume that the heavenly salmon took off 10 or 15 pounds.

Tomorrow and Friday I actually have to work. On Saturday, there’s this KFOG concert literally blocks away from where I am. It’s like my very own welcoming party with fireworks.

Before I go to bed, I need to do some ironing. I’m not good at ironing, but I think it will be worth it - these khakis I brought make my ass look like salmon stuffed with crab and shrimp: heavenly.

So check it out, I’m going to San Francisco for two weeks. I found out at about 9 this evening that I’ll be flying out there tomorrow at noon. Yeah, we don’t waste no time round these parts.

I don’t really know any specifics yet - right now, I’m more concerned with getting packed and working out the logistics. For example, I’ll be flying back here two days before I move, on the day I was supposed to be picking up keys, and at the tail end of the week that I intended to spend packing and selling off crap I don’t need. Not really sure how all that’s going to work out, yet.

Friends in SF, please get in touch so I have your cell number (e-mail and AIM on the About page). I’ll be working normal hours during the week at a client’s office, but I’d like to get together with everyone during the two weekends I’ll be there for.

I’m pretty psyched. It won’t be as relaxing as my last trip there, and I certainly don’t have as much time to make plans with people, but it will be a nice change of pace nonetheless.

I really need to start packing. SF folks, make sure I’ve got your number, and I’ll see you soon.

UPDATE: Just so we’re all on the same page: I am not moving to San Francisco. I will be there for two weeks for work. Shortly after returning to the DC area, I’ll be moving into a new apartment here. Sorry for the confusion.