big city girl

it seems i needed some adjustment before plunging into getting around. i don’t mind the BART, as it’s pretty straight forward, but buses are infinitely more confusing to me. getting me to ride the bus was much like getting my frightened and anxious kitties out from under a claw-foot tub and into their carrier/torture devices. the character that had that dubious pleasure of grabbing my scruff and dragging my limp body along the floor is another of my ups friends, sholley.
on the way to meet sholley:



i met her on church street where we met between our neighborhoods of the mission and the lower haight.(i found out later that to make it easier for me, knowing i was feeling anxious, she RAN part of the way. awwww.) she thinks we haven’t seen each other for 7 years, though i argue it’s more like 6. regardless:it’s been a long time, and we struck up like much less time had passed. she took me to her apartment, ON haight street. oh my goodness-beautiful. ridiculous. gorgeous epitome of what san francisco apartments should be. i was thinking about drawing a sketch of it. i might still do that.
we had a lovely thai dinner to catch up, then back to her little haven to watch the fog roll in and to learn many things about the city(from sholley and her roommies), for instance:
*the warm air from the valley rises, creating a suction that pulls the coastal air in, bringing constant weather changes in san francisco when the rest of the country is experiencing summer. when the valley cools with fall, the city skies clear and we experience a perfect summer in october.
*there’s a service of bicycle delivery people who will deliver marijuana to your door.
*a new-ish trend is men, transvestite men, dressing up as middle-aged women.
me-really? not glamorous or extravagant or anything?! like frumpy?
wise one-yeah. like...my mom.
*their back porch (that’s been burned down. twice.) is an amazing place to spy/observe people in their homes, or enjoying their serene little outside spaces.
*lower haight is pretty awesome.
the view as the fog rolls in, sholley pointing out stuff, the fog!, etc.






they told me *exactly* which bus to ride and, thanks to sholley’s iphone, *precisely* when the bus would arrive to pick me up. once i got over my anxieties about the bus, i remembered:i LOVE public transportation.
it’s such a strange, communal experience with a mixture of all kinds of people. there was a guy that got on in skinny jeans that he was wearing below his butt, with lines shaved into the side of his blonde hair with dingy used-to-be-white toms shoes (all the rage). so. weird.
i then disembarked the bus on my street (the 22 IS a great bus), walked a bit and made my first friend on the street, paul.
paul was sitting on his little step ladder, across the sidewalk from the paintings he was selling, resting against a furniture store. his paintings and kind face caught my attention. we talked of film and art and school. then he said something he’d been reluctant to say since i came over: there’s a lot of energy being imposed upon MY energy from outside. he proceeded to ‘clear’ my energy, gathering it in his hand and making me feel what had been weighing me down. i admit that i didn’t feel the energy he pulled off, but i absolutely felt lighter while he was doing it, on whatever area he was focused on. he cleared my feet and ankles one at a time, and when he’d just done one, i could tell which one it was as it felt lighter and tingly while the other one felt normal. it was crazy and people walking by thought i was being accosted by a crazy person. but it was just my friend paul.
he offered to sell me a painting for $20. some of his paintings are quite beautiful, and when i’m not financially anxious, i’m buying one.
today i slept in, prepared myself for the warm streets of the city (with layers in my bag for when the crisp fall air settles in) got breakfast and headed for the bus. on the way to get breakfast, a man, possibly german, about 45, stopped to ask me where a good coffee shop was. i told him of the ones i knew. he asked where i was going. ‘this way’, i said. ‘i’ll go with you’. ‘no. you go that way, i’m going this way’. ‘then i’ll go this way’. ‘no. I’M going this way.’ i walked away knowing i’d defeated him, seeing it when his face fell and he lost interest. weird, though.
took the bus downtown to moma to see the richard avedon exhibit. ‘are you a student?’ ‘why yes i am. here’s my i.d.’ ‘oh. well the charge is only $5 since you go to the academy’ ‘oh! fanTAStic!’
the show was quite stunning. his portraits are seemingly so simple, yet brilliant. i was surprised and pleased to see: charlie chaplin, giacommetti, andy worhol’s scarred torso, and the portraits of his father. man, it was great. being in the museum and seeing the poor guards, bored to pacing and staring, reminded me of my own days of extreme boredom. i’d have felt for them if their uniforms weren’t quite as snappy and professional looking.
i then ventured over to the georgia o’keefe and ansel adams show. i’m not terribly interested in seeing, in person, the works of these two, but thought i’d go, if only for mom and dad.
as expected, it was a geriatric convention with a maze of walkers and blue hairs. not that there’s anything wrong with that. there were some wonderful pieces, but i didn’t spend much time in there. there wasn’t much room, to be honest. and of course, the gift shop didn’t have the post cards i wanted.
it was hot, and i didn’t want to spend any time ‘downtown’, so i got back on the bus and headed home. on the way down, i had a seat and no one sat next to me. this time, i stood in the middle of the double long bus, clinging onto the metal bar, trying not to take out the little chinese lady next to me.
it was hot. crowded and rather miserable, but, i made it. and i didn’t get lost.
and it was pretty freakin great.