Saturday, February 6, 2010
Breakfast: oatmeal with fresh diced organic gala apple, organic cinnamon, organic nonfat milk; 12 ounces of V8. Lunch: soba noodle soup with egg, tofu, alba clamshell mushrooms, seaweed. Yoga stretches. Weight training: various leg exercises, crunch, superslow dumbbell press, superslow dumbbell fly. Nap. Julianne's birthday at Danae and Julianne's place, did some catching up with them after not seeing them for a long time. Left the party to hang out with quantum13, but he decided he wanted to meet tomorrow instead. Answered this question on Formspring: Question: What's your favorite type of flower? Answer: Iceland poppy.—Answered this question on Formspring: Question: Have you broken any bones? If so, how? Answer: No.—Answered this question on Formspring: Question: Who's the most overrated musician? Answer: I don't follow music and musicians very much anymore, so I don't know the answer to this question.—Answered this question on Formspring: Question: What's the best thing you ever ate? Answer: I have tasted many delicious things in my life, and consequently I think it's impossible to choose only one thing and call that the best, especially without offending anyone who ever cooked for me. Memory and eating is a peculiar thing, I think. Patrick and I enjoyed an amazing multi-course meal at Aqua in San Francisco once but because we included the wine pairing we now cannot easily remember the latter half of the meal. (Well, honestly, I've now forgotten the first half, too.) A dinner at Michael Mina in San Francisco with Patrick, Tina, and Jenny was an elegant whirlwind of flavors and textures executed with flabbergasting precision. I remember the first time I enjoyed eating polenta (Stars Seattle). But great food memories are certainly not always in the more expensive restaurants. I fondly recall a cold noodle black sesame seed salad I enjoyed several times at the (Borders?) bookstore cafe near the walk-through fountain at Westlake Center in Seattle. I enjoy eating yakisoba even though most Japanese restaurants do not offer it. I sometimes lean toward foods that combine multiple flavors, textures, temperatures, etc. without overdoing it. e.g. I might choose chinese chicken salad over caesar, tiramisu over pumpkin pie, and I think I do this because I want to recognize the challenge of the proper execution of complexity and enjoy that when it exists. I know this answer doesn't really answer your question, but it's a more truthful one than if I had picked only one thing.—Answered this question on Formspring: Question: What hangouts in SF would you recommend to visitors looking to absorb the local culture? Answer: I would want to tailor the advice based on the asker. But without knowing more, here are some general suggestions. If there's a farmer's market on this day, start your day early, arriving a little before the market opens, browse the market. If there's no farmer's market, visit the Ferry Building Marketplace instead. Take a walk in Golden Gate Park, Dolores Park, or at Sunset Beach or Baker Beach. Browse in any of the city's many museums, perhaps seeking some of the lesser-known gems like the Cartoon Art Museum. Spend an hour during the day exploring and relaxing in Union Square. If there's a street fair or outdoor public event or any unusual event, visit it even if you think you won't enjoy it. Dine anywhere along Mission or Valencia or in the Castro, favoring places with sidewalk seating near lots of foot traffic. At night, visit most any bar holding a specific event like a show or comedy or live music. After midnight eat at most any 24/7 or late-night eatery like Orphan Andy's, Sparky's, Baghdad Cafe, King of Thai Noodle. Eat at Tartine anytime it is open. Tartine is renowned and revered but there are lots of small, great bakeries all over the city—ask someone for the nearest one that has seating. Specific hangout recommendations: Harvey's, Truck, Lime, Catch, Sweet Jo's Cafe at the Jewish Community Center, Bi-Rite Creamery, Dolores Park, Dolores Park Cafe, Pilsner Inn, Chow on Church, Park Chow, Nightlife at calacademy, Friday nights at the de Young, Asia SF. For Asia SF, reservations might be required long in advance—check on it. These are all places where it's relatively easy to start a conversation with someone local, and that can make all the difference in getting a great visit out of San Francisco. If you are on your own or your party is only 2, eat at the counter instead of a table. Go out of your way to speak to people. Most San Franciscans are reserved but they can bloom quite delightfully when addressed directly. You can easily get most San Franciscans to talk by complaining about Muni. Avoid Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square, Lombard Street, the Powell and Market Cable Car turnaround—anything catering specifically to tourists. That stuff is arguably local culture and it can be fun, but it's usually manufactured or packaged in a way that doesn't show the true nature of the city, and most everyone doing that stuff is not local.—Answered this question on Formspring: Question: If you could be invited to one person's birthday party, whose would it be? Answer: This is another one of those questions that is designed to offend someone no matter how you answer. I would like to say the creator of our universe, but I don't know that anyone can say for certain that the creator of our universe is a person. Even then, what kind of concept is "birthday" to an entity that created our universe? I don't follow celebrities, and although I admire or have admired some people I don't form very strong attachments to any particular notable people enough to name someone specifically.