Here There Be Pirates

At this point, I've done so much in San Fransisco that I'd have a hard time regaling you with my stories without writing one of those blog entries that makes me sound like a hyperactive five-year-old and goes "And then I did this, and then I did this, and then I..." So I'll skip most of that. Basically I've been wandering around San Fransisco, taking in the sights, drinking coffee, reading, getting to know the city, chatting with people, etc. Yesterday I wandered around North Beach for several hours and bought a couple of books from City Lights Bookstore, which is the sister store to Shakespeare and Company and is owned by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (wow...spelled that right on the first try). Was cornered between the world history/ sociopolitical commentary sections by an aging gay man who talked at me for a half hour about New Orleans before Sue called and saved me. Then I walked a labyrinthe in Grace Cathedral and wandered off to see some theatre.

I've seen a lot of theatre in the past week, most of it good, some of it fantastic. All of it fringe. Except for the opera in Golden Gate Park. That was decidedly mainstream.

San Fransisco is a beautiful city. I say that as someone looking at it through vacationer's eyes, but it really is pretty. It reminds me of those beachside towns that you find in New Jersey with their quiet back streets and the smell of salt in the air. Except on a larger scale, and with mountains. I guess it's unlike any city I've ever been to, really. It's peaceful and cozy, small and very walkable, if you can get past the forty-five degree hills. Always there's a breeze. Always it feels like fall.

Today I walked through the Mission district to Dave Egger's pirate store, which the most effective front I've ever seen to cover a writer's workshop. I bought a literary map of the city from them and then walked literally over hill and valley into the Castro, which flies the pride flag over the neighborhood as though it was a country unto itself. Then into the Lower Haight, where we were warned was not for tourists.

And there's so much more to do, and like every traveller incapable of living only in the moment, I see my time creeping steadily to an end. Soon back to Chicago where it's flat and big and unfriendly to long walks. But not so soon I have to think too much on it.