Friday, August 8, 2008

San Francisco

Here is the blog I should have written weeks ago. But some where in my journeys I misplaced my transfer cable to my camera so I can not add any pictures. Hopefully words will be enough.

San Francisco was amazing I was shocked at how good it was. On several occasions people have said it was great but now I have witnessed it with my own eyes. 

I stayed at the Clift Hotel it is a 4 star hotel in Union Square. THe interiors were designed by Philip Stark. So you can imagine there were tons of large chairs and oversized stuff everywhere. He is so Alice in Wonderland on Acid.  The hotel had the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on. I had the best sleeps.

Research directed me away from the tourist filled streets of Union Square to the very bohemian streets of the mission district. Wow. This area is super cool. I took the BART to Mission where I met some young people (20 somethings) they invited me to accompany them on there journey. I did of course. 

We ended up  at this super cool bar frequented by bike riders. The bar was rough, the clientele was rough, and the vibe was super cool. This venue ( i can not remember the name) is known for it's Bloody Mary's, so I had one. It was ok but I was not in a Bloody Mary mood so I think I didn't appreciate it as I should have. The  bar had a strict no photos policy????? I was told this is because everyone was smoking pot and they didn't want to be photographed.  The bar had many personalities but none more interesting than the Tamale Lady.  There were about 10 people in line to secure a Tamale. So I waited. Let me bring the image to your minds eye.

Tamale lady about 50 or 55. Grey dreads heavy set with an old esky that when she opened it up it had two black plastic bags inside, one for vego and the other for meat lover's.  I paid $ 4 bucks and got a vego one. They were good.

I then went to an art exhibit. The artist takes an image digitally alters it and has that image painted  by  Chinese artist in Beijing. Yes, the exhibit was as naft as it sounds. The digital work was ok but the paintings varied based on the artist painting them.  I just find this kind of work gimmicky. 

Since I have spent so much money shopping I swore I would not shop in San Francisco. Before I go any further let me tell you how futile this is  I was in Union Square the shopping hub of San Fran but as luck would have it I ended up sleeping til very late in the afternoon and that left me with only a small amount of time to head to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to check out the Frida Kahlo exhibit. I was not disappointed it was a very comprehensive exhibit. All the works I have read about were there. The exhibit was very popular and the sessions were timed.

While there I learned that San Francisco has 3 murals painted by Diego Rivera.  This was very exciting news. 

On my way to grab a bite. I happened into Barney's. So of course I went in. Oh I remember I was looking for Wolford tights. Once inside I discovered there were no Wolford tights but there was a beautiful pair of Prada Shoes for $900. I tried them they were beautiful but high. So I decided to ring a friend for some strength. Unfortunately I rang Rachel who of course concilled me to buy them and added make sure they were in her size. Somewhere I found the strength and fled. I resumed my search for Wolford tights were I found my fourth pair of Gold shoes (on sale), a gold hand bag (on sale) and a yellow dress, a t-shirt and a pair of Diane von Furstenberg  shorts (on sale of course). But alas no Wolford tights, I did  discover that a shop existed and headed over. It was closed. 

So I went to Borders where I met a very strange man and we went to Papa Toby Revolution Cafe for a bite to eat.   The kitchen was closed but the vibe was wicked. Very bohemian and they had a mini orchestra playing. The conversation was great. The bar had a very interesting policy of asking the patrons to busk there own tables. I was starving so me and the strange man headed down the road to a Spanish Restaurant. After this I told my new friend/ that I wanted to be alone and I headed to a cute little bar and had a few drinks and a chat with a very interesting Philippino and white man about everything bi-racial and female sexuality. He was gay. He left and a very annoying Mexican man tried to pick me up. So I left and headed back to my hotel.

Monday I found my tights and tracked down 2 of the 3 Diego Rivera Murals. They were amazing of course I loved them. I love his work. San Francisco Art Institute has a great campus. WOW. If I went there I think I would be super creative.

It is worth mentioning that the whole city is filled with homeless. I was taken aback by the sheer number. You have to really desensitize yourself to it, does that make you a bad person?

The whole city also smells like pot. Not just normal pot but hard core skunk. Not in back alleys but outside Macy's, outside the Gap, everywhere. Cool, eh.

Tuesday morning I got up at 345am  to make my 6am flight to Gunnison, Colorado. Fuck it was hard. But that is another blog....