[+] Sunday, November 18, 2001

a little visit to San Francisco

my little visit to San Francisco was delightful. it wasn't until my last few days in Dakar that i realised how exhausted i was from this crazy year. i fell apart in a pretty bad way. if i hadn't gotten out i'm sure you'd find me wandering the main drag of Dakar doing back-up vocals for the singing tissue salesman by now.

the main goals of the trip were to see Ally and my friends, eat yummy things, and buy stuff at stores with fixed prices. all of these activities proved successful. and on top of that i fixed my laptop, cleaned some of my crap out of Wynne's apartment, sold some stuff on craigslist. and in the interest of accurate reporting i should probably add that i also watched an average of 2.5 awful new blind date shows most evenings. (please don't ask, i don't even understand myself).

being in town for halloween was a good call. we went to some great parties. my costume wasn't really a costume, just my kung-fu suit and my new cat ears. but Wynne was spectacular as a "very tall Abraham Lincon". he made the costume himself, even down to the platform shoes that he made by nailing together planks of wood and sawing them into the shape of shoes. admittedly he almost broke his neck a few times, but it's a small price to pay for such an impressive costume.

i did pretty well on the musical front too. i caught StereoLab (thanks Antonio & Randy), one of my favorite local bands The Court and Spark, Andy's new band Sinombre (very nice!). but the musical highlight had to be the Joe Schmoe show at Sacred Grounds, and not just because i play with them (hehe). it was great to see the cafe full despite the fact we'd kept it pretty quiet. i got to hear all my favorite oldies like Checkout Line, How Far, Stinky Ball of Cheese and Potscrubber Girl, as well as some fabulous new things like Other Girl, and the zen masterpiece My Car. it was just so much fun. too much fun maybe, because now i want to move back and just play with the Schmoes.

F.A.Q. - November 2001

how's Ally?

the big question on on everyone's lips of course is "how's Ally?". well she's pretty traumatised. she was so upset that she puked the night i arrived. towards then end she was all love and kitten kisses. but apparently it didn't take her long to work out i'd left again. her only comment was in the form of performance art - one meticulously shredded roll of toilet paper.

what are you doing?

i'm back in Dakar to work on some sites for Youssou. it's nice here, it's cheap, and i have a job. seems like a pretty good deal. at the moment i'm looking for a nice apartment. and if all goes well i'll have a bunch of friends in town (Rivka, Ceinwen, Hank and Gilles) for New Years Eve.

when will you be back?

i was thinking i'd be back in San Francisco around March next year, but it looks like Youssou has more work for me than i was expecting. so it might be more like April/May. i want to chill in San Fran for a month or two, and then i'll be heading to Sydney to take on an internship in my mother's garden. so far i only know how to chase chickens, but i'm a fast learner. i'm sure i'll be a composting, green-thumbed maniac in no time.

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