follow the leader. being in a city where you have no idea where anything is is very disorientating. but it's also kind of nice. to just follow and not have to think about where you are. this must be what it feels like when people go visit friends in new york. every street corner feels familiar, every subway station exits a thousand and one ways. that's why, in any urban city, you need a compass. people are always talking about "north of such and such a street, west of the park." unless you're gifted with a natural sense of direction, it's nigh impossible to figure out which way is what. and most cities aren't as perfectly gridded as most of manhattan is. actually, even with perfect grids, the blocks in manhattan can be so long that you can't read the next street sign anyway.

so, i carry a compass -- two actually -- so i that i'll always know which way is magnetic north. as a society, we've lost touch with our senses of direction. simply observing the sun's position used to impart so much information, now we're lost without gps and a fold out map. everyone needs to spend six bucks and invest in a small clippable compass, preferably with a cool carabiner. maybe i should start collecting compasses and then giving them away to friends. perhaps this is my destiny.

oh yeah, i'm in san francisco. it's day seven of a ten day trip. this is supposed to be my "would i ever live in san francisco?" trip. so far i'm still undecided. but i'm leaning towards no. i like the relatively open feeling of most of san francisco, in comparison to new york, but it's still too city for me. i don't like the idea of having to walk everywhere and taking a multitude of buses. am i past the city phase in my life? did i ever even have a city phase in my life? to be decided.

nice bookstores here though. and the internet cafes. i'm watching x-men on a big screen while ibooking it in a coffeeshop. lovely. it's amazing how i can sit here for six hours doing nothing on the net, while at work, i need to get up to move around every half an hour or so. i think i was genetically engineered to sit in cafes. this is my destiny.