the adventures of edi: first couple days in the city

my first day, i woke up repeatedly after 6am, but didn’t get up until 11.44. i unpacked some, charged my camera battery (having vowed never to be caught without it again after failing to capture a spectacle on the sidewalk right outside my door) and left for breakfast around 1.30, ‘cause that’s how i roll. i wandered down the street to boogaloo. it’s apparently delicious and it was recommended i go. so i did. i can count the number of times i’ve eaten out alone on one hand. i enjoy movies alone, but eating? there were a couple of other people eating alone, which made me part of a club of solitude in dining which i appreciated. i also appreciated that the guy that took my drink order had curly, red pig-tails. my breakfast WAS quite delicious. scrambled eggs, home fries and vegetarian gravy over a delicious biscuit.
i then went wandering around valencia street. stopped in an organic, all-natural baby store which was crowded with tiny, screaming babies and their cooing mothers. some sort of class was happening, maybe. it was as overwhelming as the price of the $122 sweater for toddlers. (though, to be fair, it was on sale for 50% off. still. expensive sweater.)
there were many beautiful people on the street, living their lives. a huge man, smiling broadly at his children getting off the school bus. little elderly, hispanic ladies.

i made it down to my most favorite store anywhere, ever: paxton gate. it’s the store i’d like to style my studio after. taxidermy, animal skeletons, mounted insects, curiosities, tea, exotic botanicals, etc. it’s quite awesome. i got to quiz the counter guy about mounting bugs and cleaning dirt off of skulls. based on the research i did in their front display, the skulls i found (in the remnants of the porn shack’s fire next to the farm in sebastopol) are of a raccoon and a grey fox. or some sort of fox, anyway. very exciting.
kitties getting comfortable

today was day 2. day of anxiety. anxiety about transportation. about finances. about being a lone, naked mole rat above ground, away from my natural habitat.
but maybe this IS my natural habitat.
i saw dolores park today. tuesday, early evening, and it’s literally swarming with people. people with their dogs. people jogging. people playing tennis. throwing a frisbee. but mostly people just lazing about in great clumps. i can’t wait to see what a sunny, weekend day is like.
amid my anxieties, the sidewalk spoke to me. it read: your heart is fearless. a couple feet away were some jellyfish stencils sprayed on the sidewalk. thus far, the city has been as accommodating as i’ve asked it to be, and even when i haven’t. the sidewalk was an important message for me today. all will be just as it should be.