Saturday I work very early and threw on some hiking gear (by which I mean, I wore tennis shoes) and headed to… car! Yay car! Anyway, I drove through the city and onto the Golden Gate bridge. It was mad foggy so the columns looked pretty cool emerging from the mist. I drove from there on the world’s curviest road down to Muir Woods park, paid my $5 admission fee and walked around some enormous redwoods. I walked about a mile circuit of paved road, and there were like a million other people. It was like being at Disneyworld, only instead of rides and funnel cakes, there were trees. On the upside, that meant no waiting in line, but on the downside, funnel cake is pretty delicious.

After I had my fill of redwoods, I drove to Highway 1 along the coast and arrived at Point Reyes National Seashore. It was quite spectacular and I have a million pictures so I’ll let the inevitable slideshow do the describing. Unfortunately it was too foggy to see the famous lighthouse or any whales, but I got some quality time with a lot of beaches and foliage. On the way back I stopped a lot of times on Highway 1 because the fog had lifted and the views along the coast were really spectacular.

Thanks to my northern journey, I slept in very late on Sunday but eventually hauled myself over to Chinatown for lunch. I went into the first bakery I came to and got mochi with lotus and a Chinese pancake with red beans. The pancake was a little greasy at first, but if you know anything about me it’s that I’m a sucker for red bean desserts. Srsly. The mochi was excellent, excellent. I wandered around a lot of shops and stopped for lunch at the first place with lots of “Best Eats in San Francisco” type awards in the window. Name escapes me, but I had Chinese Sausage and Preserved Duck in Rice in Clay Pot. It was pretty good, and it wasn’t dessert so that was what I was looking for.

I walked north from Chinatown up into North Beach and then climbed a half gazillion stairs up to Coit Tower and took the elevator up to the observation deck. Pretty cool views. Oh, and then I went to Fisherman’s Wharf. Now that was actually like Disneyworld (rides + funnelcake + sea lions, check). Finally, I went home and did laundry on Dolores street where a hipster gave me some detergent with the caveat that it wasn’t organic, killed the earth and he suspected it might be both racist and sexist.

On Monday, it was back to work for me. I had a litigation emergency so I skipped lunch (luckily I was packing a granola bar), and then went to a firm reception afterwards with Sara and Ben at Embarcadero. Firms, they live it up. I sat on plushy deck couches in the 72 degree weather with a panoramic open-air view of the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge as waiters came by every few minutes to offer Mediterranean fusion food and refill my wine glass. It was nuts! After that, we walked down Embarcadero to Palamino and then back to the Ferry Building for Osha Thai. Super fun!

Today I went to Pick Me, the old standby for cheap sandwiches and complimentary cake. Then in the evening, I picked up Amy from the airport and we headed to In ‘N’ Out Burger? I don’t know, California thing. It was talked up exactly enough for me to be disappointed in the food, but still happy to be eating.

Since Amy is in Michigan for the holiday, she asked me to drive her to the airport and keep her car for her. So today I added some superfluous pollution to the San Francisco fog. I started by thinking of all the places I wanted to go that would be hard to reach by public transport. First on the list: Nordstrom Rack (I still want a new suit!), which didn’t have any nice suits, but from which I bought a shiny emerald blouse. I also hit the Trader Joe’s in the complex… just because I could. After that, I got back in my gas-powered Chevrolet Cobalt and headed from SoMa to Alamo Square. Oddly enough, parking was ridiculously easy. I took some of the obligatory pictures, but there weren’t many people around so I didn’t linger. I continued West to the Inner Richmond and Clement Street.

Lunch: Burma Superstar (4th and Clement), Tea Salad, Tan Poi and Ginger Lemonade. This was maybe the best salad I’ve ever had. It’s changed my whole idea of what a salad can be. And good thing too, because my name was on the waiting list for 40 minutes before I was seated at 2:38!

After my really fabulous lunch, I walked into the store next door and grabbed some shoes and a necklace ($2.50 for the shoes, $1.50 for the necklace for a combined total that’s barely more than my lemonade at lunch). Then I headed to the store next to that and grabbed some Bubble Tea with tiny, tiny bubbles. Taro Milk Tea = $2.16. Srsly! At this pace, I thought, I’d probably never leave the block (and, you know, I’d be okay with that).

So I headed to my car and drove down Clement to the Pacific and Land’s End. On one side, you can see Ocean Beach and all the surfers. Then you walk uphill and the ocean crashes against really big rocks. It’s awesome! And you could theoretically see the GG Bridge — I could see the bottom of it and lots of fog. Pictures forthcoming! I also drove through the Presidio and then up and down Russian Hill and Nob Hill. Pretty area, lots of hills! I had visions of the brakes failing and my car plummeting through the city into the Bay.

Yesterday: Lahore Karahi for lunch and the best Butter Chicken and Naan I’ve ever had, Pluto and Tart-to-Tart for dinner/dessert (meh and meh respectively). Lahore is very small, and just one guy cooking everything so service takes awhile… but man, that food was good. I mean, really scary good.

Today: Brenda’s for lunch (French soul food), which is also super small and you put your name on a waiting list outside. When we finally got in I had chicken, ratatouille, and goat cheese omelette (guess how many times I had to spell check that dish… I think you’ll be disappointed) with potato hash and the most buttery delicious biscuit. For dinner, I fed my soul with thrift store shopping — picking up 2 dresses for a “fair price.” They are super cute. Yesterday, I should mention, I also went to A Miner Miracle SHOP. It’s a charity store that sells professional-type clothing (much of it from Ann Taylor) at 1/2 price or less with all proceeds going to fund (I believe) education and empowerment programs in the community. I bought a pretty awesome coral blouse, but no new suit I am really on the verge of growing crazy with my suits.

Last Sunday I signed up for the free 2-week Netflix trial to get my fix of The Wire, and everyday I come home just hoping to see those stupid red envelopes. Everyday My Queue says they’re shipping it tomorrow. So today I called and apparently there was a “hold” on my account, and she’ll alert the administrators and it’ll be fixed sometime next week — Wednesday at the earliest? Are you kidding?

“No ma’am, I’m not kidding.”

I have no beef with the customer service representative, it’s not remotely her fault. But seriously, srsly even, this is silly. It must cost them a lot of money to get new clients, and I’m guessing not a lot of money to send emails. If I had known earlier and called Monday, I would have it fixed by now, I would have “The Wire” and I’d be super-happy. Instead, I am going to cancel my account and be bitter at them forever. Is this a good business model? Take home point: Netflix, tools. Jimmy McNulty, awesome.

I didn’t get a new suit though. That’s kind of a bummer.

Yesterday was a fun day, which started at the world-famous Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market — I feasted on really expensive cherries, really pretentious sushi-like vegan roll, and really amazing sausage-on-a-stick (spicy pork, with dijon mustard). I met up with a couple friends at the entrance, but we all huddled in the shade mostly (word, it was *sunny* yesterday). I think I must have eaten more than a few too many free samples, because I was very full by the time I left…

After I yuppied-out at the Ferry Building, we walked down Market Street to the Westfield Mall (Zorgz — 5 stories of middle-end shopping!) and proceeded up 4 escalators to the glorious Torre de Cine (not what it’s called, but clearly should be). I love movies. New Haven has no movie theaters. I was happy.

Later in the evening I went to North Beach via the kind of creative city navigation that says, “I like climbing hills that go nowhere” or “I don’t have a map.” I took pictures though, it was really pretty! Luckily, Ashley (who I was meeting for dinner) was also a tourist, and did have a map. So she was able to guide me successfully to North Beach. We went to a great candy store, then to a very adorable family-run Italian restaurant sandwiched between City Lights Bookstore and Garden of Eden Gentleman’s Entertainment. Ashley loved the bookstore, I loved the house-made pasta, and Bradley really wanted to love the ladies of Paradise. Tutto Qua, which I think was the name of the restaurant, had amazing service and was in a great location, but the portions were really quite smaller than I was expecting. The bread was excellent, the pasta was really nice, and the tomato sauce was superb — really smooth, rich, perfectly seasoned. The ravioli seemed understuffed though, and the gnocchi were frankly dense and overcooked. The pesto sauce too, maybe compared to the excellent tomato sauce, was totally underwhelming. No flavor at all, and a pureed consistency. Overall though, I couldn’t give that place a bad review. The owner came out with a big “Bona Sera!” and kept talking to us throughout the meal (he said, “Oh from Michigan? My sister, she lives in… uh… Grosse Pointe?”). We finished the night at Caffe Trieste, where Ashley had “the perfect cappuccino” and I had a slice of pie because cappuccino, kind of gross. Very homey place, totally decked out in pictures of famous patrons (Francis Ford Coppola writing The Godfather at a back table).

Today was far less interesting, I made progress on the Audacity of Hope (and with the Baracklash imminent, I have to cling to the book’s ideas), did some grocery/drug store shopping (sunscreen!), and I walked to the Mission for a dinner burrito. Man. When you pay $5 for a burrito at Taco Loco, you really get $5 worth of food. I also got a medium Horchata (and when I saw “medium,” I mean I ordered medium and they charged me for medium, and then gave me like half a gallon of Horchata). I also got a burrito the size of a 14-month-old child.

The Horchata was really good (I have nothing to compare it to, but the starchiness and the sweetness came through nicely without either flavor being overpowering). And while I prefer El Farolito, the al pastor at Taco Loco seemed a little better. They lost me at the rice, which was just okay. The salsa was not as spicy as I like it either, although the cilantro was noticeably fresh. I’d go back, but I wouldn’t eat the whole thing again… still, I think I live the perfect distance from the Lower Mission. I can get food from there anytime I want, but I don’t have to feel bad about it. I walked half a mile uphill both ways to get that burrito, I’m sure I burned it all off.

“It’s meant to be!” Amy encouraged through my cell phone.

“If one more J passes, I’m taking it.” I had waited in the Civic Center station 25 minutes until the J (which runs down Church) came to take me home. I had watched 3 N lines pass me by. Once I was safely squeezed into my J, Amy called to say, “let’s have dinner!” and I stepped off to switch lines. I left work at 5. At 6:15 I was a fatalist in 3-inch heels.

In the intervening time, I had watched 5 J lines pass with no sight of an N to take me to Amy. Which brings me to my point: it’s far too easy to point out that a city so passionately committed to environmentalism has a mass transit system that would be more efficiently run by rabid baby squirrels. What makes me angry is that nobody else seems to care. These Californians are too busy being laid back to be incensed at the violation of their basic human dignity. I’ve lived on the East Coast too long… or I’ve lived with a car too long. I miss my car

Anyway, when J line number 6 emerged, I said, “screw it” (possibly out loud) and jumped aboard. I called Amy back and confirmed, “it wasn’t meant to be!” We fought over apologies; she tried to claim responsibility for the non-existent N, while I countered with what I felt was the stronger claim of being irrational. And that’s how I ended up with Frozen Ravioli for dinner. Let me tell you, the stuff is actually quite good.

Lunch, on the other hand, was great. E&M Sushi — the Friday special was a Bento Box with 5 pieces of vegetable (and one massive piece of shrimp) tempura. That comes with a nice serving of rice, salad, and 4 pieces of california roll for $6. Great deal if you’re in the mood for fast, cheap sushi. Would I say it was the best sushi ever? Well. Service was great, and they insisted on giving us green tea ice cream on the house. In truth, however, the tempura was soft and a little greasy (though anytime you fry delicious vegetables, I mean, that’s going to taste good), and the sushi didn’t seem like anything you couldn’t get at the supermarket. But you really can’t beat that price with a stick.

In conclusion: cheap and delicious sushi is good, but so is carrying flip-flops to work.

Friday (June 13): Lunched on my leftover pasta primavera (mmm) and leftover Pad Thai (also mmm). Then I had a hot dog and garlic fries for dinner at a classy joint called AT&T Ballpark. The food was overpriced and the plating unimaginative, but what a view! We had seats in the View Reserve and the players looked itty-bitty, but the park looks out onto the bay as the sun was setting behind us. Really awesome. A’s trounced the Giants.

Saturday (June 14): This day is lost to me as I spent most of it couped up writing about enactment costs (?). Presumably I ate, but I honestly don’t remember what (probably frozen ravioli).

Sunday (June 15): The lack of natural sunlight started to get to me, so I think I looked out the window at some point. No, the good news is that my wonderful roommate took pity on me and suggested we order in a proper dinner (I got a really good Cesar salad and an okay pizza out of the deal). I can’t remember the venue’s name, but they had your standard “creative” pizzas (ours was chicken and pesto). The pesto was tasty, but nothing extraordinary and the chicken was very dry. I’m very particular about the crust, and this one didn’t do it for me. I’ll stick to the Have for great pizza.

Monday (June 16): Today was Sergio’s first day at work, and Valerie and I thought it would be cool to go to a Turkish restaurant. It was ex post described as “a long walk through a pretty bad neighborhood for decent food.” This about sums it up — I had chicken and pineapple wrapped in a bread thing. The pineapple was canned, the chicken was a little dry, the seasoning was a little lackluster and the consistency of the bread made it difficult to eat. The presentation was beautiful, the restaurant was cozy, and the prices were reasonable, but if you’re going to serve not-great food, probably better to do it in a non-restaurant fashion. I wouldn’t have thought twice about this dish if it had been $4 from a cart.
Tuesday (June 17): Lunch: Pick Me Cafe. Wow, this place is really a gem. Leif even described it as having a “really bad business model.” Their sandwich of the day is $3.29, and it’s really good! Most of their ingredients are organic (or something), they put tons of them on, and the bread is really good quality. I had a huge loaf of really crusty, hearty sourdough with turkey, jack cheese, sundried tomatoes, lettuce, normal tomatoes, other stuff. Leif got a sandwich stuffed with veggies (including artichoke hearts, which are in the optional veggies along with lettuce and peppers?), a drink, chips, and a piece of carrot cake for $5. Anyway, great deal, and very quick friendly staff. Dinner: Cafe Ramind (Hawaiian BBQ). See, I want to give this place a good review because the service was so friendly and the interior is so cozy (especially considering this is in a Tenderloin place, where coziness is not often a priority). I’m trying to be totally objective. The sandwich was pretty delicious, and the prices are very reasonable. I’ll go back at some point for non-sandwich food. Dessert: AT&T Park. I’m not sure whether it was cracker jacks or kettle corn, but it was OK. The Tigers, on the other hand (who I was like *this* close to in the lower box behind home plate) were really great! They routed the Giants, even Kenny Rogers managed to advance the runner (and the man is not a hitter).

Wednesday (June 18): Lunch: Larkin Express Deli. This is a combo deli/Burmese food place. So you can get your turkey sandwich at the same place you get your… Burmese Food. I had this great fried rice with chicken curry. The rice was amazing, really wonderful texture and flavor. I was really impressed with the chicken, though, the curry sauce was tasty (probably nothing spectacularly inventive, but solid) and the chicken was really hearty chunks of tender breast meat.

Thursday (June 19): Lunch: Lee’s Sandwiches, Dinner: El Farolito. I met my former roommate for lunch, and told her that since the Tenderloin was most famous for Bahn Mi, that’s probably what she should eat. I really didn’t think I would say this, but I like it better than Saigon Sandwiches. It’s a little pricier (a sandwich will run you a full $2.90), but the meat was a little trimmer, and I liked the bread better (super tasty and the perfect texture for a sandwich). What really does it though: the seating. The place is huge inside, stocked with so many items, it looks like a grocery store. AND they have bubble tea. Not the best bubble tea I’ve ever had (I like my pearls a little more al dente, and the creaminess on this one was over the top), but I’m very particular about that. For dinner I walked down to the Mission for a burrito at El Farolito near the BART. OMG, delicious! All the ingredients were so flavorful and the tortilla was the perfect texture. I need to go there more often.

I intended none of the cooking to happen tonight, because I had leftover Pad Thai from Thai House Express — which the menu claims was voted Best Pad Thai in the City by the Bay Guardian. Best Pad Thai in the Tenderloin? Okay. Best Pad Thai on the block? Sure. Certainly the best Pad Thai on the Menu. But I don’t know about the whole city. My noodles had a very al dente quality (and I mean, very al dente), which made eating the meal a challenging and somewhat messy endeavor. And while I dug the flavor of the sauce, it wasn’t subtly incorporated into the dish — more doused on hardcore. I also had issue with the way my shrimp were prepared, pretty flavorless and covered in globs of sauce. BUT, I’m not going to deny it was good — just not the best I’ve ever had. Good enough, however, for me to pack up the leftovers and vow to eat it for dinner. Just as I was about to descend to the Muni station, though, I had visions of it sitting in the office refrigerator cold and lonely. I said I would hurry home and cook something, but half an hour later the station announcers were still telling me about a jammed door at Powell street blocking all outbound trains. I jumped on the BART instead (how hard can it be to walk 6 blocks?), got thoroughly lost in the Mission for my failure to read street signs and ended up at a tiny, tiny corner store that sells pumpkin flowers at 8/$1. So not a bad turn of events after all.

*this is a flagrant exaggeration, pumpkin flowers lose out to Christmas, LOLcats, and hulu.com

If you are a family member, you may have noticed the updated design. Pretty sweet, right? Totally accidental. I was trying to add a map to the sidebar, and the layout got horribly messed up, so I decided to just start fresh. So there’s still no map, but I know the ins and outs of WordPress a little better. Which brings me to the point — this blog gets a lot of hits despite not having any interesting commentary. I thought it was due to how often I fiddle with it, but I just saw this: “Just a note: we don’t count your own visits to your blog.”

Now I feel obliged to write something interesting:

Did you know that federal courts are courts of limited subject matter jurisdiction? But state courts are courts of limited personal jurisdiction. To successfully bind the parties with a decision, a court must have both subject matter and personal jurisdiction. The more you know!