last day

Today I went to the beach,  bit of a head ache due to bad management of vodka orange. I was supposed to meet some other poets at City Light but my day has been too tiring.  I stupidly assumed that you could find food near the beach.  So between 11 am and 7 pm I didn't eat,  and I swam. Just once. Of course I got pestered. Find it quite difficult to quite relax. Got pestered yesterday too. Hm... 

I had a Hitchcock moment of course,  being near the bridge... Vertigo. It was a bit of a trek going there and I had to trespass but it had to be done! And I got some help from an inner city kid from LA. Very happy about that. Meeting young hyppies on the beach was fun too.

in the Mission district

Mardi

Meeting another photograph this afternoon.  We will to to the Mission for a walk.  Should be nice. Will try now to go to a museum of native Indian art if there is one.  Then, if I find the time,  back to Oakland for the museum there.
Intrigued (and horrified) at the difference in fees from one university to another. Stanford,  Harvard. Do they make you pay the price so that you think you're at Oxford or Cambridge? (and we are already so expensive I think! )

Above

Above politeness
Above good and evil
In your bubble limousines
You surf the streets
Surf the streets
Collecting
Us in apps for sale.
Drink, oh drink babe,
NSA is good for you!

Vu dans le métro

Art

if you love

If you love stones more than people
Building on sand you don't see
If you love your car so much
You won't stop at the stop sign
For the passer-by that I am
If you think saying it's lovely
All the time will stop you
From feeling like shit
If you're afraid of leaving
Your stuff on the sea side
While you go swimming
And off in rented gear you go
Into the sea into the sea
And told me later you did 3 miles whatever
The sea, the sea, that really tried her best
To kill me #fail
I am ready.
And here I am,
The day after,
Walking on art, crying
It's an earth quake really
You won't see it you won't feel it
But an old lady, second name Elizabeth,
Took me for a tour. Thank you.

Monday, au boulot!

Today two visits to libraries: St Mary's college and Oackland main public library,  the two will be quite different from one another I'm sure.
Couldn't shower today my towel is gone so my hair look weird as they have still sea water in them. Oh well. I hope no more stuff will be stolen!
OK here we go. On my way to the other side of the bay.
End of day. Though I have not walked as much as the other days, I feel quite tired.
Perhaps it was the intellectual effort in visiting other libraries. Very good day, and for photographs too I think. Found at last a cheap, quiet place where you can eat. Nice fresh tacos.
Really liked Oakland.  Would like to go back to the museum. Also should go to the native American museum,  I hope there is one. And the oriental museum.  If I find the time. And go swimming on the beach. There should be a nice view of the bridge and the waves are not high.  Well we will see. As usual, swimming in a sea you don't know is a question of tactic. And knowing if you can do it or not.

walking back (the making films building)

dimanche

Today I went for a swim in Aquatic park. Bloody cold. But still people should get used to it rather than renting these swim suits. I went swimming twice.  Bad idea.  Took me a while to get my warmth back the second time. But now I feel nicely relaxed.  I'm in an Irish pub on vodka orange and soon to come nachos,  Irish version.
Earlier I went through little Italia and past the bookshop I already saw yesterday,  quite a famous bookshop which went all the way to high court as a publisher. Apparently a poet runs the place,  oh I must go back there! There's also this pub where you have this Chinese woman speaking Russian,  oh I must go back there!
And yes! I had a Vertigo trip, went to where James Stewart used to live, the flat is still there but it has changed a bit, and of course the trees! There used to be no trees then.
So yes,  went to the shop and bought an anthology of poetry pubished by them. And, after,  yes! I spoke a bit of Russian!  :-) Was nice.
Then I walked back to the hostel. I feel nicely tired.  Will try to go back swimming but this time without forgetting a towel! And I will go early afternoon when the sun is shining.  That will help!

Next to my hostel, yesterday evening

I don't give a fuck - zombie (need I say more?)

Le Saturday

In Castro. No I have not spent the night here,  promise! Though one of my room mates may have... hehe,  didn't come back last night.
Yesterday I found a nice house for Dolores O'Brien,  my character.  She'll be living near here,  opposite the school in 17th street, not far from Sanchez street.
And this morning before arriving at the Mystic cafe for a well deserved break fast,  I took the 5 bus from Powell station and exited at Divisadero street in order to be Dimitri,  another of my character. He has to walk from there to the Castro theatre,  took me 20 minutes, will take him longer as poor SF has suffered another earth quake then.
Anyway,  where should I go now?  Perhaps Mission as it looks so close on the map!
Plenty of time before my meeting with the photograph Dave Glass, met through Flickr. Here is a link to his wonderful look on the cityhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/daveglass/
Later. Had a great time with Dave. We spoke of films set in San Francisco,  ah Vertigo! And we spoke also of politics and religion, of life in America compared to Europe. Then he showed me Paris in the 1970s and Leeds. (The pictures should be on Flickr)
Then went for a walk at the United Nation monument, read the text on the pavement and thought yeah wishful thinking. Around me tramps, so many,  are they just from the region or from other states too? Drug dealers, drug addicts, tourists, a few youngsters and that's it. There is a cafe,  closed,  and pigeon shit everywhere. Where is the trickle down effect Margaret Thatcher spoke about?  South you have fb, google, oracle., microsoft and on the U.N. monument: shit. (What did that British judge say? "Don't do evil?  Well you certainly do in my books!"

Friday night

Went back to hostel to discover my pair of sandals got stolen... oh well could be worse. I then decided to walk all the way to Castro.  It wasn't difficult,  I just had to walk market street. Castro,  once again a disapointment. I just stayed for one drink at Twin Peaks which seemed to be full of tourists. Then took a bus thinking it was a tramway -I know I know,  maybe that drink was strong!-and got lost somewhere near Buena Vista garden,  which,  bythe way, has a crap vista as the fog was there.  But it was great to be lost. Found my way back to Castro and took the tramway at last,  well when it arrived. Transports here,  it is said, are not bad for American standards... thank god I live in Europe! The metro for example is quite sovietic, almost no advertisements, which is great,  but compared to Kiev or Moscow, it's really ugly.  And so rough,  hardly no seats. I wonder how old people survive.  Probably not. And two carriages only the other day going to Castro.  Tokyo feeling.  BART better and Caltrain impressive! (made in Japan though).
Might try to go for a swim tomorrow morning,  famous last words,  or the day after tomorrow, yeah even better.

another day in paradise

I'm having lunch in the heart of Silicon valley at Mountain View in a Greek coffee though we could really call it geek coffee,  quite a few guys with their apple laptops. Very rich place here,  similar to Palo Alto where I was before in order to go to Stanford university.
Had a beginning of a nice conversation with a war veteran on wheel chair but he had to rush to get his bus. Too bad.
Had a mini conversation with one of my room mates yesterday who's deaf but she lip reads well and I think understood all I said. I'm glad I read this blog from a deaf guy from England who said he didn't like it when people where speaking louder! I also used my hands a lot,  invented my own sign language.  Anyway she's German and her sign language must be different. Deaf people should have their own Esperanto perhaps.
Ok will go back now,  my face is burning but some fresh water should do me good. Will try to go for a swim now :-)
Operation going for a swim completely failed,  instead walked walked walked,  got a little lost,  arrived at the at&t stadium as well as I don't know how many fans, nice to see black,  whites and spaniards together,  rich and poor. That's really something I find tough here: one block and it's posh house wifes being picked up by their chauffeurs outside Jimmy Shu, and the next block it's tramps, a smell of urine and marijuana and needles on the pavement.

San Francisco day 2 (the day after)

Bad bad idea to drink a bit of alcohol yesterday after most of the day spent walking.  I went everywhere! Spent some good time near the civic centre as part of the book is set there: went to the libary, took a few pictures, went all the way from the hostel, which is on Minna st and ninth st, to the Ferry building to have lunch with a friend (thank God we shared this ceasar salad, the portions were enormous!) and I realised I knew this place thanks to the film Interview with a vampire as the opening scene starts from there,  went to Union square and spent time at Macy's (as one of my characters works there! ), went to Chinatown, went to little Saigon (not sure where it is now!), took an escalator in a skyscraper in the financial district to see the view thanks to a guy met on the street who told me about that: many buildings have a top roof garden and this is indicated by a sign on the door,  then took the tourist bus, "went" to the summer of love place, Golden gate park, the golden gate bridge (that was scary!) went back to Union square, took the metro at Powell station and arrived at Castro, bit of a walk there then bought a vodka ice and drunk it on the street (not sure this is allowed but I didn't get into troubles that's the main thing) and therefore today I have a headache. Oh well it is getting better by the minute.
Cold here,  bought socks and a sweater in great haste yesterday after the bus trip. One minute it was sunny and shiny,  the next foggy, very foggy.  The bridge looked stunning!
Today well I will take the bus again well maybe not sure in order to go to fisherman's wharf,probably a very touristy pplace but nevermind. I need to know this city by heart and from now on will take the bus (metro was a nightmare anyway!  Only two carriages I thought I was in Tokyo! ) Then this afternoon I'm going to Berkeley university,  I will take the Bart system (no no it is not a train with the effigy of Bart Simpson!) and then and then no idea!  Perhaps try to hear the orchestra? Pierre Monteux, the conductor of the premiere of le sacre du printemps was the conductor here for a while! :-) In Berkeley now.  People a lot more friendly here because I have to say so far I'm not too impressed. Grumpiness level high,  annoyance on the street level very high.  Am I in Paris or what? but must go back to the grumpy and annoying people now!  Surely it will get better. And perhaps it's the difference between small towns and big cities, after all there is a difference between London and Oxford... must make the most of my tourist bus ticket! Or, if I feel courageous I must find a living space for Dolores O'Brien in the Mission district.  You don't know who Dolores O'Brien is?  Neither do I,  she's emerging from my brain slowly,  but surely. Yesterday I found the perfect place for Oprah Jackson, another one of my characters. End of day now.  I walked from south of Market to Ferry then to the Fisherman's thingie (what is the fuss about this place? ) then slowly but surely I made it to Nob hill, passing Coit tower! Oh don't you just love this place? We should have names like that in London or Paris!

San Francisco!

Yeah yeah yeah... the original idea to go to San Francisco was a crap one... I got dumped at 3 pm on a working day last year yeah yeah and decided to go to the city where my ex now lives, send an email to ask if she'd like to go for a coffee,  maybe. Crap idea though,  because after buying my non refundable ticket I saw her again.  Did she see me did she not,  not sure but there was no answer to the email I sent.
But here I am now and the city is so big it is very unlikely we will meet.  And if we were too well I hope I'll be strong enough to give her an oxford cut (ignore her).
Lots of things planned: visits to libraries, meeting people including those only met through Flickr! Going through streets I'm speaking about in my book and I hope and I hope lots of writing!