one more time into the belly of the beast...
7:27 p.m.
ok, you're probably getting sick of all this vaction stuff, but here goes...
sunday...left around 9am...got to the city around 2...it was foggy crossing the gg...
it's still gorgeous...
taking pics at 55mph without the camera strap wrapped around my wrist is just plain stupid, but...
hmmm, i guess you can tell where i was...
got to the triton, there were people all over the place, at first i thought maybe they were on strike...the really big hotels all are, and the workers are sitting outside them banging on pots and pans, kinda a tribal drum circle thing, i guess to discourage people from staying. i passed a few going down post, it sounded pretty cool, actually. anyhoo, there was a big art show with over 20 artists going on at the triton, the whole second floor...it was kinda like being at a whorehouse, you'd look in the open door and see if you wanted to go in...
checked in, was up on the 6th this time...right across from the suite graham nash decorated. called leesa's room on 3, went down there. smoked some pot, i had a little too much...we went to chinatown..oooh stoned in chinatown, yet again! it wasn't nearly as crowded as july, but we were going into all those stores filled with stuff, it was too much for me...sensory overload, i was getting twitchy. we were looking at the wooden bugs in the window of one place..leesa's daughter wants to be a COCKROACH for halloween! a free spirit, just like mom. there was a table of those bugs in there, and leesa asked the old chinese gentleman if those were cockroaches or crickets....damn, no roaches.
ok, stoned, in chinatown, with leesa, looking at bugs...this is about what i expected in a weird way...it took me about a half hour to come down to some semblance of normal...
here we are in claude alley, the cafe is closed on sunday, dammit!
we walked around for a bit, went to that halloween costume store i saw on bush last time...wow, 2 floors, lots of stuff...i was sorta looking for a gold shirt for the concert...nope. the boys and girls working there were all very nice and very cute!
walked up bush to the broadway stairs...i just love that spot...do i look like i belong there?
that's right by the tunnel top bar...and across the street down the block is steve's french church...we went past that, and i kissed my hand and touched the wall...leesa did the same and said "yes, god, please get us home alive tonight!"
doug arrived a bit later, with his 16 year old niece and her friend...cool girls...they went to see the pixies in berkeley last week! we went up to my room and chilled a bit...then went looking for a place to eat...here they all are on the corner of bush and grant...
god, leesa has nice boobies...haha! remember...gay, not blind!
had a great meal at bangkok best down the hill on bush...
then headed to the fillmore, doug drove. hung out outside, they were frisking people. put my camera in my sock. me and the kids went for a walk up fillmore a few blocks, through japantown, it's safe there...heading south would have been scary. i saw where the design within reach store is...got a furniture boner. went back down to the fillmore, went in, walked around. it's a lot smaller than i remember...last time i was there was with sheila for p.i.l., 20 yrs ago...got lightly frisked, was asked if i had a pocketknife on me. the kids went their own way, they didn't want to hang with us old fogies...
the show was great....i don't think i'm even gonna try to talk about it...it was historic, a religious experience..it closed a 30 year circle in my life...here's another picture of johansen...
old and young, everyone was singing along. a girl that is a dj at kalx at berkeley and a guy from sacramento both asked for my email, cuz they wanted pics...i've already sent them both cd's...that felt really good! i took at least 130 pics, most of them are really great.
after the show, doug dropped us off at the hotel, he had a 2 hr drive back to merced. went up to leesa's room and had JUST one toke, that was just right. talked for a while, then went to my room...spent about 18 bucks on overpriced munchies..oh well.
leesa was gonna get up early and go down to cafe de la presse for breakfast at 7am and head home...she invited me to join her, but i didn't think i could get up that early...ha! i was awake at 6...went down to the lobby, got some coffee, and sat out front..had a cig...grant st. is nice that time of morning. went back to my room to call leesa, but she had checked out already, i know she wanted to be home when her daughter got home from school.
i was on market st. by 7am, i had a wild idea to go down to the chronicle offices and see if they needed any pics from the show...that was a big waste of time, i couldn't get hold of anyone till 9am, when i finally got into the lobby...got the voicemail for that guy who does those smartass interviews in the pink section, left a message...went to show, great pics, leaving town, blah blahblah...left there and went back to hotel. never heard back, oh well.
checked out at 10am, went out to the haight and hit amoeba real quick, bought a live dolls thing that sounds like shit, and "house tornado" by throwing muses, been wanting that on cd for a long time...ate at macdonalds there, cuz i parked in there again...well i ate in the car in the lot. i had to poop, and saw one of those public pissoirs across the street...ugh, a bit scary in there, i hovered over the bowl and plopped...and the door doesn't close all the way, there's like a half inch of daylight showing...weird. at least it was free, i thought you had to pay.
went to design within reach, i had something i wanted to look at...saw something better, but it was 2700 bucks! it's a low console thing with drawers, perfect for my tv and stereo, but....ouch! great stuff there, though, the girl printed out specs for the piece for me, and i got signed up for their newsletter...
headed home...got very sleepy before ukiah, i was yelling at myself to stay alert...got spiced chai, a chicken sandwich and an ice cream bar...amazing what a few minutes off the road and some sugar and caffeine can do...
got home around 5pm, the cat was like "oh, were you gone?" but shit, now ANOTHER of cathie's cats was in the house...sleeping on my bed! punkin, or whatever her name is...she ran, cuz she doesn't really know me.
whew, down and back, that was a fast trip. that whole area around the triton is getting so familiar to me, i dig it.
next weekend (oct. 15 - 18th.), though...the trinity alps!
i can't wait...
ok, i'll be back in a few days, let's see if anything interesting happens around here...i'm very happy, life is sweet, but...i'm confused. PLUS, i've been, getting a daily horoscope email thingy, that was a big mistake...you KNOW i think it's bullshit, but it's so fucking generic, it can't help but fit somewhat, and i haven't been liking what i've been reading. so...i think i'll get rid of that...i mean, if sunday's had said "BAD day for travel", i wouldn't have stayed home, ya know...
ok, kids, see you in my dreams...or will you see me in yours? oooh, i wish...*sigh*...
love ya's,
- m.