Steady as She Goes

Friday The indomitable, infamous DTG was in town and we had dinner plans. I picked him up from his swanky hotel downtown (he was in town for training.) This was his first trip to SF and he'd been cooped up indoors for three days. He, very sweetly, asked if we could just drive around. The "very sweetly" part was my first clue. DTG, much as I love him, is quite the Eeyore. One of his favorite jokes is kidding around about driving off the G.W. Parkway. Yeah, it's not actually funny (but he is 110% kidding.) It was clear that from the brief snippets that he had taken in, DTG was infatuated with San Francisco.

We drove around aimlessly (and semi-aimed) for about 2 hours. Fisherman's Wharf. The Marina (I was actually a little turned around, but I knew exactly where I was when I saw the Marina girls trying to hail a cab on the corner). North Beach, etc. etc. DTG was delighted with the hills, and how the neighborhoods changed - distinctively - every few blocks. It meant a lot to me to see him so excited about a city I'm totally diggin'.

We had dinner at Dosa. That was my second attempt, and .... not much better than the first. DTG said that his curry was "just spicy enough", which of course means it was NOWHERE near spicy enough for me. Sigh. The service was a little bitchy and pretentious, but if the curry had been kick-ass, I would have looked the other way.

Saturday I had dinner with a friend who is sliding the dial towards vegetarianish, so I picked a Middle Eastern place - Ararat. Recommend! The bar covered in winecorks is a little kitschy (in a good way) and the food was good. Our reservations were for 7:45 and we had the place to ourselves, but it had filled up by the time we left.

On to coworker's party! Our entrance was a little surreal - we were walking on the block I thought the party was on. All of a sudden, we heard it, and looked up. A party-goer inside made eye contact with us and said "Hey - there's maisnon!" Very odd. The party was crowded with little groups of people who knew each other in different ways. I like parties whether either I know a lot of people, OR where I can sort of fade into the upholestery and observe. I managed to carve out the situation I wanted.

NEXT! My friend felt it was important for me to go to a trance party before heading to Goa for New Year's. At one point in college, I was very into raves (not in the baby pacifier way.) So, ten years later - things haven't changed all that much. There is still the woman in "men's style" clothing popping-and-locking. And judicious use of hair-dye, fake fur, etc. It was a great place to observe.

I called it a night at 3:00 am (I'm getting old, I guess) and my friend walked me out to my car .... to discover that someone had broken in to it. The front passenger side glass was shattered, and they tried to take the stereo (stereo wasn't having it.) It makes no sense, but I wasn't upset: I think that I had been expecting a break-in for so long, that it seemed like a relief. Plus, the car was still THERE! Bonus! I felt a corollary to my travel maxim. Here it would be, " no one got hurt, the rest is just details."

The drive home was chilly, to be sure. Why I love my insurance: I put in a call at 4 am, and the claims guy called me back at 11 am saying, "I saw what time you called and I wanted to make sure you got some sleep."

Sunday I was, of course, stranded at home. And I couldn't have been happier. I did some cleaning, some napping, I worked out. I topped it off by walking to a little artsy theater and seeing "Little Children." Sometimes I forget how much I can walk to from my apartment (the train, the library, sushi, etc.) The day felt like a little present to myself - it reminded me of when I was in law school and would have dates with myself (Sunday brunch + matinee.)