Category: My San Francisco Chronicles

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My San Francisco Chronicles weather

Every other day weather.

Weather is a rather boring topic, but it’s something we notice daily anyway. This week’s weather in San Francisco has been rather amusing. Monday, it was nice and sunny with a breeze in the air. Tuesday, there was rain and gloom. Wednesday seemed just as nice and sunny as Monday was. Thursday was rainy, windy, cold. And now today, Friday, it is partly cloudy but the skies look happy. No sight of rain today!

I think this is the first time I have noticed the weather to do this. Last week the weather was pretty consistent with staying gloomy and rainy. The week before was very consistent with sunny yet cold days.

Most people have the misconception that it is always sunny and warm in all of California. I guess they don’t realize that there’s a rainy season here, too. I have heard some native San Franciscans say that it’s rather usual for the city to have downpours during this time of the year, but apparently in the past few years there have been rather dry winters. Hmm. It’s interesting–I find I have pretty much become acclimated to the weather/temperature here, and now the definition of “cold” here to me is 40-50 degrees. Meanwhile, I know I have experienced much colder temperatures, but I feel like I have forgotten how that feels like now.

Anyway, sorry for a lacklustre Friday post. Have fallen behind on current events lately, so I shall need to catch up over the weekend.

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Busride Observations My San Francisco Chronicles observation transportation

Bus Observations.

I was on the bus today, taking the #47 back home. I didn’t really realize until later that I was surrounded by a rather eclectic crowd of people. There was a guy sitting beside me, who looked normal/sane at first, but after I sat down beside him, I realized he had a bit of a nervous tick and kept babbling on about random things–like about the weather in Chicago. I wasn’t sure if he had an earpiece on and was on a cell phone, but I think the whole time he was just talking to himself. Hmm.

Sitting across from me were two young girls, maybe around high school age. One had weird eyebrows and the other looked scenester/hip. Sitting near them was this scraggly, kind of dirty looking man in a long leather jacket; he was chatting and getting a little cozy with this Asian woman who looked a little scared, tired, etc. She wore a fur coat and snowboots, but was wearing a short dress/skirt. From the way these two were interacting, it seemed like the woman was probably a prostitute and the man was her customer. I highly doubt they were actual lovers, since I overheard the woman ask the guy what his name was (yet all this time, the guy had his arms around her and everything).

Then sitting beside me were two young women, maybe in their twenties, gossiping about their previous night’s adventures upon Treasure Island. There was definitely a big “San Franciscan” feel to the whole scene, and for some reason I still felt a little surprised by the diverse mix of people on the bus. I guess it’s mainly because I felt like I was the only “normal” person there, but then again, others probably thought I was weird as well. Oh well.

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My San Francisco Chronicles

San Francisco Public Library: Dream Haven

Wow, just wow. Today I went to the SF Public Library (Main branch) and my friend was not joking–the place is overwhelming in a very good way.

I entered through the Larkin Street entrance and was just amazed at how large the place was. Back east, my public library was small–granted, it was a decent size for the town, yes–in comparison with the SF library though, the library back east is a molecule.

There are around six floors (I think? I didn’t study the map hard enough because I was so overwhelmed) of books, books, and more books. There’s also a cafe, a bookstore, and you can check out magazines/periodicals/DVDs/CDs/etc. Wow, just wow…I had a hard time figuring out what all I wanted to check out since I was in shock most of the time, haha. It was as if I were in a candy store (oh that old cliche….).

Anyway, I ended up checking out a couple advertising/marketing books and a novel. The library has a program called “SF Reads” where, for a month or two, the library features a book recommendation for SF people to read and talk about. I find it a very clever and motivating idea; hell, this might be how I can get myself back into my reading habits.

Sigh. I think I’ve found a new love.

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My San Francisco Chronicles weather

Bay Area Deluge.

I woke up this morning and looked out the window–saw that it was still raining. However, I didn’t know that the rain/wind was so bad until a few hours later, as I watched the rain almost fall horizontally.

SFGate has a nice, detailed article about this wintry weather. Heh, funny to me that people are saying “this is wintry weather” when I used to worry about snow and such back East. Still, a whole lot of rain is no fun, and it literally rained out a few errands/activities I was going to do today. I’m not going out when I have the option of staying in!

Unfortunately it still looks like the rain decided to come to me…in my apartment. The vent above my stove has been leaking for the past few hours. I went out briefly to Safeway to buy some small groceries and came back to hear the sound of “Drip…drip…drip.” I didn’t know where it was coming from until I walked into my kitchen and saw the stovetop and side of the refridgerator were wet! Ugh. I immediately called the rental office downstairs, and they sent someone up to check on the vents. They said they’d update me on what they decide to do….I sure hope I can cook tonight. And I sure hope the rain clears up so I can go out tomorrow!

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Busride Observations Chinese Culture My San Francisco Chronicles rant reality television television transportation

Tila Tequila’s breakup.

I read on Tila Tequila’s blog the other day that she and Bobby had already broken up.

Some would say it is sad, but…in some ways, I was expecting it. I didn’t think the relationship would end so quickly, of course, but I didn’t think it would really last in the long run. Due to Tila’s heightened celebrity status and Bobby’s tendencies to be jealous, I can see why the relationship didn’t last.

Some people speculate this is all a “scam,” that Tila wasn’t really interested in Bobby in the first place. Some are saying that Tila is coming back to MTV for the second season of “A Shot at Love”. I’m not going to speculate at all and just let the poor girl be. There will always be critics in the world I guess.

In other news, today I nearly fell out of a bus. Seriously, every time I ride the bus through Chinatown, I feel like it’s the worst time to be on the bus. Yeah, so I’m Chinese, and I’m pretty much “in” with the people who frequent Chinatown. But come on, people, learn some manners! They always crowd onto the bus as if it’s the last boat leaving the mainland to America (so harsh yet so true…you’d have to be here to see it). I was trying to get off the bus at my stop, but so many of them were looking at me as if I were telling them they needed to get off the bus and walk or something. They wouldn’t budge to let me out! So I had to push my way out, and I was nearly dangling out the door and feared I would fall out. Luckily, I escaped with no injuries, but I was pretty pissed off when I got off the bus. I’ve braved that crowd many times already since I’ve moved here, but for some reason today it seemed a lot worse than usual.