i left my heart in..... george has lived in the bay for about five years now. i've visited the area maybe three times in my adult life. none of the motivating reasons behind my visits have been related to her. when i tell people that my sister lives in the bay and that i never go there, people are shocked. "you don't visit your sister? san francisco isn't that far away, why don't you ever go see her?" well, the answer is: she comes to visit me. and really, what would i do in san francisco with just george anyway? hang out? we might kill each other at any given moment, why risk it? but now that george has been michiganized and lives with jon g, together, they constitute enough of a reason to visit the bay -- not to be overlooked here is the fact that victor and ameer live in san francisco also. so, off to the bay.

i've always held a semi-resentment for the bay. it's supposedly this wonderful place. the perfect blend of urban life and california aesthetic. the bay is eclectic, educated and invigorating. the weather isn't comparable to southern california but it's better than the east coast. san francisco is the jewel of the eureka state. but i've never had much interest in it. applying for colleges, the one school i definitely didn't want to attend was berkeley. i'm not sure why. i knew no more about berkeley than i did about most other colleges, but all i knew was that i didn't want to go there. eventually in life however, you start to meet people who are from the bay, or people who want to move to the bay, and everyone ends up loving the bay. so i had to know, "what is this bay love about?"

i think i got a taste of it this weekend. the only places i've really been to in san francisco is some of the outlying suburbs, a touch of oakland, and fisherman's wharf. none of that was enough to open my eyes to the wonders of northern california. but this time around, even in one and a half short days, we got to see some more of the city. municipial transportation is still a bitch, pollen kills me, and taxis can be impossible to get, but san francisco seems like a most interesting city. haight street seems to have great shopping. random little stores here and there are cool. san francisco has culture and parks and good places to eat. san francisco has a pulse. i think the chinatown in san francisco is excessively big -- or we just passed through it too many times maybe. nobody likes walking through chinatown, nobody.

the thing i think i like best about san franciso is the architecture. just weird mish mashes of building types and fronts. there is no shame in having pink walls and gold columns next to green shutters. it's part of the style. i like that. san franciso, if nothing else, is interesting to look at. and i've not even gotten a proper introduction to places like the mission, to the book stores and the non-touristy areas. there's so much more there to explore. so yeah, i'll have to go back, if only to rid myself of my unfair prejudice against san francisco once and for all. [pictures]