Sunday, September 7, 2003
Experimented with AVS in Winamp. Oatmeal for breakfast. Dusting, cleaning, took care of paperwork while Patrick met with a language partner for studying in the Castro. Met Patrick afterwards. We went to the Autumn Moon Festival in Chinatown, an annual celebration during which the Chinese eat sweet pastries called moon cakes. As the streets in Chinatown are already quite narrow, setting up festival booths and then inviting thousands of people makes for an almost unbearable event. We navigated our way up the street with care, looking in at booths from afar. It was hard to see any particular booth because so many people were crowded in at each one and they would not leave. We waited about 5 minutes at one tea shop booth, but after that much time Patrick was no closer to seeing what he wanted to see and finding someone to ask if they had a certain kind. We had no patience for that. Volvo had an SUV at the event over which everyone climbed inside and let their babies drool on the new car smell. Western Union also had a booth. We've attended our share of fairs and festivals in the past, but this one was somehow absurdly disappointing. It's quite possible that we've become so jaded that all festivals are beginning to look the same to us. Row of boxes with people selling some thing or service. Row of overpriced food and drinks, and you're lucky if you can sit at a table while you eat. Row of portapotties with long lines. Actually, I didn't see a single portapotty at the Autumn Moon Festival. We saw a SFPD policeman on a horse, though. He was just sitting on the horse and ignoring all the parents holding small infants up to the horse so they could pet it without being smothered by the explosion of feces ejected from the horse's rear creating a pile on the street. For a few seconds, we watched some young girls in a performance troupe balance spools on a string with two sticks, but they weren't very good—more than one kept dropping her spool during the performance and Patrick turned away waving his hand: "They're no good!" I urged him to boo, but he didn't. We stopped for dim sum at Golden Dragon, which I had forgotten has quite possibly San Francisco's filthiest restroom. The food was good, as usual. I had never seen fried chicken served as dim sum before. These were large drumsticks—almost 8 inches long and dark golden brown. We were amazed, but passed them up—too much grease for us. Afterwards, we met Brian and Kelly through a cellphone linkup at Body Body Wear on 18th. Looked unsuccessfully for a garage sale because Brian was looking for picture frames. Stopped to hang out with them at their place. Kelly repainted one wall of the living room (now a darkish mustard—very nice) because the last paint job was a little uneven. (Ask Kelly how he uses no drop cloths!) Brian played Dead or Alive 3 on XBox, and I had never seen him so violent and angry. Kelly poked fun at him, and it's hard not to. I wish I had a camera trained on just Brian while he plays. Only Jeff Simonson approaches the same level of intensity of gameplay. Nina came over to visit, just like she said she would. Eric and Brian and Simma and Nico showed up as well. Chatted and played games. Gauntlet. Simpsons Road Rage. 007 something. Kelly ordered Thai food to pick up, so we joined in.