Flop on the Bar

On the eighteenth of October I noted that on Friday in the after noon I left at three and my friend said she was at a thrift store.  I was on a slow train.  I took BART to 16th and saw an old college classmate on Clarion.  He said the annual festival was the next day.  Charlie met me at 17th and we went to Thrift Town and later to the Uptown.  The bartenders told me a story about a rival bartender doing a belly flop on the bar.  I noted that Fernet likely had an artemisia in it.  my friend and I went to the grocery store and had baked brie and salad for dinner with her roommate.

On Saturday morning I had baked eggs, bacon and potatoes with my friend before her old coworker asked us to meet her at two sisters.  We were conflicted because we had other things to do.  We walked to Dark Garden to drop off material for a corset and then we looked at shoes before going to the bar.  We were really anxious about organizing the a bike ride.

When our acquaintances showed up I noted that I would check with my riding partner about the film archive.  I also texted someone I knew about the Tonga Room.  Meanwhile they assured us that they would provide us with halloween costumes.  Later we walked through SOMA to Rainbow and got some gluten free pasta.  I found a grip of herbs with artemisia in the scientific name.

At my friend’s I made dinner and sought to get her done with organizing the bike ride as nicely as possible.  In the end I made a picture and she posted it.  It was around then that she agreed that we needed to go to a different bike ride--our acquaintance’s birthday bike ride.  So we rode to Dolores Park and met the group and by then our anxiety seemed to have passed.  We interacted with the people when they showed up and everyone was enthusiastic.

There were a lot of new people and I did the sweep when the ride was under way.  One person was wearing this super giant skull that made riding dangerous.  I noted that out of all the new people an old acquaintance of mine knew most of them.  We rode to pier 54 then and looked at the floats from Pride.  We played on them after I shared the cups I had brought for wine.  Some guy asked me about my Surly.

We rode on past AT&T then and finished the ride at Pier 7.  One of the new people told me she was from the Richmond District.  She and my friend discussed Tango for a good while.  I congratulated the birthday boy and his wife and then rode with a bunch of people to the Embarcadero.  I tried to get my friend interested in having a snack at Willows but that didn’t happen.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I discovered that my arm and chest were achy.  I met my friend at Flore.  However, they made huevos rancheros with flour tortillas.  We went to the bank and a thrift store on the way to Sunday Streets where we saw a ton of Bike Party people.  My friend told a Democratic Party canvasser that she didn’t like the mayor.

I had called mom and made plans for seven and after we had coffee my friend and I rode the Wiggle to Page.  Once we were at my parents’ house my friend and I made meatballs, pasta and asparagus for dinner.  We talked about about the cousins my father had seen at the car show.  We went on to discuss our cousins.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

We sang Mr Sandman

On the fifteenth of October I wrote that I left the office around 330 and took the stairs.  I was out of breath as I rode to Amtrak.  I followed the Christian trail until I got spit out on Tasman.  I bought a ticket and boarded. At Coliseum I went over the stadium bridge to 66th Avenue where some lady said I had to get out of her way.  After that I followed the trail along the bay where I had to catch my breath a bit.

I had to backtrack on High and once on Park in Alameda I spoke to my friend because I couldn’t find a store to buy shorts from.  I rode to her sister’s place then.  Once there I said hi and went on a three mile run.  When I returned my friend’s brother-in-law and I went to the store for a couple of bottles.

While I watched my hosts make dinner, we sang Mr Sandman and ate grilled peppers.  The meal was salad and rice with a few flourishes.  Later we had homemade ice cream and pie and discussed our plans for the month.  After that we rushed for the bus and I forgot my shoes.  We got on BART at 12th and got on our bikes at Civic Center.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Tunnels had been Renamed

On October twelfth I noted that I had not gotten up early enough to catch the 620 bus to Santa Rosa so found myself an hour later waiting with my friend in Civic Center for the next bus.  Thankfully, there was room for us when the bus arrived.  We talked to the driver about BRT and I talked about MAUP on the bridge.  We couldn’t remember if the tunnels had been renamed.  A guy got on with a bike at San Rafael and we got a new driver.

In Santa Rosa my friend left me alone in a parking lot until she was able to show me where the Flying Goat was.  We had coffee and I had to catch my breath there.  Then we had to search for Joe Rodota trail. As we rode through Sonoma County on it I noted the trail is strangely separated from the functions in the surrounding areas. Santa Rosa and Sebastopol were both originally rural but only one has become more urban.  However, there is no connectivity between the different zones. There were four places where we had to leave the trail and cross a freeway on ramp to continue. As we transferred to the more rural areas in Sebastopol, we also crossed three bridges.

We were in Sebastopol when my friend took me to a thrift store, which she called “burner.”  We then went to another more giant one. I was frustrated by the bike locking.  Our route to the party involved an approached to 116.  Later we continued on to Lynch and some crazy hills. We had to make some turns near the cemetery and then climb the hill out of the Atascadero Creek.

When we arrived at the party, my friend’s sister met us at the gate.  I had to wait for them but I settled on the porch after I interacted with some friends. I got lemonade and later we went to the pool and sat at the picnic table eating chips.  We drank some whiskey and new people sat with us.  A little later I went down to help the cooks and get some air. They were smoking meat.

When I returned there was a pinata in place of the table next to the pool so I got a cocktail.  When I returned to the pool I noted that the swimmers were not happy with the temperature so I asked the Host the turn on the hot tub.  When it was working I told all of the kids with squirt guns to go away. Later I discovered that this caused an ever greater number of children to show up and it started to not be so nice.  Ironically one of my acquaintances said she had gotten into the tub because she had gotten time off from her daughter.

Later I had another cocktail and interacted with people in the house. They had made ice cream.  When the food was ready I got in line and ate it with a bunch of people on the steps.  The food was good.  A couple of the kids were interested in the ice cream maker.  It was a little bit after we had eaten the ice cream that we decided to go. I took the time to say bye to as many as possible.

The hostess took photos of us as we got our bikes out to hit the road.  We did the crazy hill and cemetery in reverse.  Back in town I noticed that I forgot my stuff and we had a while to ask my friend’s sister but she never replied.  I noted later that the ride was alright with a few exceptions.  There were some really sketchy people on the trail in Santa Rosa and the 101 underpass at the River trail was also terrible. We had missed our bus and decided to go to the brewery.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Trike O’Rama Stuff

On October eleventh I wrote that the day before we suggested that my friend’s roommate come with us.  I borrowed his hat.  We passed an estate sale on our way to Falletti’s. Traffic was really light.  We had to buy barbeque stuff--we went into the store twice.  We rode the Panhandle to the Dahlia Garden. We found the group pretty easily.

We set up our barbeque stuff on the grill and then signed up for a trike slot.  Our mushrooms and sausages were cooking when some guy with kids asked for one of them.  He was constantly insisted there were no sweets.  It was around then that an old coworker showed up.  Her boyfriend was had been the organizer’s classmate.

My friend and I were in the same bracket because we had signed up late. I thought that she had won partially because I had a non-competitive moment while riding.  She went on to compete against a designer wearing purple and later she raced the lady that had eventually won the competition. My friend told me she thought the starting position for the bike determined who would win.

I was sitting with a group I called them the peanut gallery because they were sitting on the course and we're really critical of the other riders.  One was dressed as the “Pittsburgh-ler,” which meant she wore a lot of black and white stripes.  Later, I stood with the organizers and some others.  My friend and the lady in purple really enjoyed interacting.

They were both wearing purple but had a lot of other things in common.  Later they waved checkered flags at the the podium for the winners.  At the end there was an honorable mention for a guy dressed like a knight.  I also got to know a photographer and a few others.  I gave the Pittsburgh-ler a checkered flag and later she put on a fashionable blazer that was also black and white.

As the party moved along friend's bubbly ran out and I recieved a beer cozy. Some people had other Trike O’Rama stuff.  The winners all got mugs which had not yet arrived.  I helped with clean up and then met the organizer’s family.  We went to North Beach via Alta Plaza.  My friend was really impressed with the view.  After we took some photos we continued to Broadway and she didn’t like the intersection at Powell.

We parked at Grant and Green and walked to Peña Pachamama. My friend had done a tango thing there.  We were eating at the bar when we realized we were going to have trouble doing anything else. We went back to get the bikes and braved the turns to Stockton and went through the tunnel.  We had to go through Union Square because of construction. The ride down market was fun.  We were asleep at 11.

We Ended Up Greeting

On October tenth, I wrote the day before I left at three o'clock. I took the VTA and trains to 16th and I stopped at my friend’s.  She was getting ready to go babysitting.  I had brought her a bottle of Fernet. We went to the pizzeria where they sat us in front of the door. I wanted to sit next to her so we ended up greeting every customer as they entered. When we finished my friend learned that she wouldn’t be baby sitting after all so she got her bike and we went to East Bay Bike Party.

We caught a second train at West Oakland because we discovered we didn't need to transfer at 12th. At San Leandro we talked with a music bike guy and a bunch of us rode to Bancroft. I had gotten a text that said we were going to Toyon Park. We found Bike Party there on Bancroft and followed the group there. The cops were waiting but weren't terrible.  We got a route sheet from an acquaintance and walked around til we found the guys.

We split and the ride headed to the next stop-- Heron Bay near the San Leandro Marina.  I tried to show my friend my left/fast, right/slow strategy but she didn't care.  We got lost in the crowd.  At the stop stood around and made plans to go to Bay Fair.  We rode across the Estudillo Canal and through the neighborhoods to Hesparian where I cracked a beer.  We chatted on the train until to Civic Center BART and then took Polk to Market.  I was asleep at midnight.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

The Mount Tam Train

On the ninth of October I wrote that I left at four.  I sat in MV until the train came and got the bike from DC.  At 24th I discovered the happy hour wasn’t for another week so I went to Hayes Valley and got a few things and waited at Two Sisters.

When my friend arrived we took the Wiggle.  Our mutual acquaintance let us into her beautiful house and showed us around her work room and their bikes.  Her husband hadn’t ridden in more than a year.  We went up and saw an ancient picture of the Mount Tam train.  Our host was cooking and there were a lot of cheese snacks left from his recital.  the ladies looked around the house and we chatted.

We sat down at the table and each of us talked about work.  The house was extravagant and beautiful with qualities similar to those of my friend’s place.  When we got going our hostess let us out through the back door and we took the Wiggle.  The only hard spot was the transition from Guerrero.

In the morning I was able to catch my BART train only because it was late.  I arrived on the shuttle and no one was in yet.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Phone Tower Going In

On the eighth of  October I noted that I had left the office the day before and took the VTA at around three.  On Brotherhood some guy yelled at me.  I had entered the westbound lane off the ped crossing and two cars behind me didn’t like that.  Later, when I stopped to catch my breath on Sunset, I noted that the Raccoon had been removed from Lake Merced Bl.

At home I looked at my projects and then went to the grocer.  My friend called to say she was waiting for me at the house.  On the way back I saw my sister taking her kids to the hamburger place.  After we settled into my room my friend and I went upstairs and started dinner.  Dad said by and went to a meeting.  When my sister came in her children swarmed all over the house.  We all left mom once the lasagna was baking.  My sister went home to hear what had occurred with her husband’s hearing to stop a new phone tower going in nearby.  My friend and I went running.

I made some cocktails when we got back and we sat and ate with mom and talked about children and mom said stuff about me and david as children.  I did the dishes and later we sat with mom in the living room.  Later I went down and posted.  I didn’t get any time to do anything else even after I left my friend with mom in her study.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I was up at 7 and rode with my friend to the Mill.  We had anticipated hanging out with a mutual aquaintance but she called off.  Once we started eating, we looked at our schedule instead.

We took Fulton and Grove to CIvic Center and I said bye to her.  Then I dropped my bike off at DC and made my transfers to the VTA.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Guy Hit my Bike

On october 4th I wrote that I couldn't find a replacement frame for the Rockhopper and decided I might just want to get the frame welded. I left with enough time to visit the clinic and noted that the lady who had told me she would get my previous records no longer work there. However, she had gotten my records for me.  I noted that the attendant went and got them for me.

I went to the bank then and afterward climbed up to 16th Avenue where some guy hit my bike and started to yell at me.  I suggested we call the police but he left. He had two toddlers in the backseat.

I continued to 9th Avenue where I got a haircut. I discovered my friend was going to meet with her roommates so I decided to spend more at the barber instead of visiting her.  Afterwards, I got a falafel sandwich and as I was leaving I also got into a yelling match with the owner of Fresca because they we're double parking.

I went to Southern Pacific then because I thought there was a happy hour but I discovered I was wrong.  So then I climbed back to the Western Addition and found the Pig and Whistle for Transit Riders Union pub crawl. A pianist I know sent me a message when I stopped halfway to catch my breath that he said he would be late. I also talked to many fellow TRU members and leadership.  I spent a lot of time talking to a software designer I know.  When everyone headed to Clement I was talking to a candidate about his run for mayor.

When I finally went out and got my bike the TRU group was still waiting for the bus. I got to the next bar early and sat with a lady from Sweden. She was interested in the event and I told her about it before heading upstairs.  There I had some of the original directors fries and to talked with my pianist friend and others.  The TRU director had a raffle and right before I left the editor for Streetsblog suggested I go to his meet up at Boozeland.  I went to Milk Bar then but my other pianist friend wasn't there. I texted him and he said he wasn't playing for another week.  I was asleep at 12.

On Friday I got up around 9.  My friend had planned on going to the DMV but she met me and her associate at Blue Bottle instead.  After that we went to Twentieth Century but our companion said she needed gluten free options. So we went to Arlequin and she found a thing she liked.  Later we walked a bit and hung out with her cat.  My friend and I decided then to go to the costume shop.  Then we walked two Cliff’s and found stuff she wanted.  We then walked to cafe nearby and a thrift store where I found a great jacket.  Later I tried to get her to go to the Streetsblog Happy Hour but she had stuff to do.

I arrived at Boozeland a little early so I decided to go to the library. I found a bunch of great books.  One was called SF Thoroughfares. I also looked at the Sanborn maps. Back at Boozeland my riding partner was there. I ordered and then we went to the back when we where we found the guy from the Streetsblog Podcast, the outgoing editor and a few others.  I talked to one guy a whole lot.  One of my acquaintances had been interacting with a supervisor’s staffers.

Eventually three of us rode to Divisadero. My buddy got a burrito and then we went to Panhandle where we met a bunch of acquaintances.  I was wearing my tweed blazer even though it was Pirate Night.  We rode through the Panhandle to Stanyan. I heard later that a girl had run the stop light there and had gotten hit.  She survived apparently.

We took Arguello and descended to Crissy field.  I hung out with a bunch of people I knew and a few new ones too.  The ride went to Fort Mason then and I saw some friends that I had known on Bike Party for years. There was a fashion show which was interrupted by the police. My buddy and I tried to leave with my riding partner but we lost him and his wife but they found us at market.  My buddy and I had beers at Beer Hall then. I was asleep at midnight.

On Saturday I was up at 9:30 and my friedn suggested we go to eat before the birthday party at her old job site. We went to Craftsman and Wolves and the place was a zoo.  We had muffins that had an egg inside of them.  We rode to the party and I helped the father.  His wife needed a cake knife so we went to the other building.  We talked to an engineer there and she showed me the building.  Later we had to get her story books so we went to another office. I hung out at the barbecue grill for a while..

Later I headed off to City College and since my friend had to pick something up she followed me to Harrison. At City College I went up and signed in for a workshop. We were still doing introductions. During the first hour there were a lot of comments and collaboration.  We went through our wallets for the ice breaker.  Later we made posted notes and I made a whole lot.  We also filled out a questionnaire about race and discussed the results. During the break the professor had me give him my key.

When the workshop continued we got into a discussion of race which focused on privilege and nationality.  I'm noted the term racialization but was uncertain what that was.  There was also a presentation where we listed out different varieties of oppression. I identified gerrymandering and geo-demographics. I got to know an organizer during the second break.  We then sat through an exercise called the fishbowl where we discussed gentrification and displacement.  After that we looked at web maps and discussed data development.  Finally we talked about developing a map project.  This was where I pushed Critical GIS theory on everyone.  When we finished I left without any follow up.

I went to Four Barrel where I called my sister and my friend. I arranged to see mom on Sunday then and made plans with my friend.  She said that her high school classmate was coming over and that we would not likely be going to Peaches Christ that night. When I got to her house they were in the living room drinking wine and having fun.  We talked for a few hours and then walked to the ramen soup restaurant, which was really good.  After that we walked to a place that had cake.  Even after the old classmate my friend and I were still engrossed in conversation about books.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I was up at 10.  My friend let me know that she wanted to get me coffee but we decided to go to the Mill instead.  We rode up the Wiggle to Buchanan and doubled back through the tho farmer’s market.  The Mill was packed so we went to Matching Half. I called the Cliff House and confirmed my reservation.

Later we went to a couple of bike shops. Avenue Bikes had a tire and a fork that I thought would work.  We went to see mom then.  After talking to her about photos and other things we went to the Cliff House. They didn't have our reservation but seated us.  The meal was great.  My friend loved the view and I people watched for a while.  There was a group celebrating a birthday party next to us.  After that we went to my house and I wrote in my notebook.

Later I wrote that I did my transcription and sat with mom and my friend.  I had been organizing and dad had texted.  We made sure mom was settled and headed out to Walgreens and then had sliders at Social Brewery.  We discussed my problems with planning.  We rode through Kezar and down Page.  I noted the Laguna crossing is not fun. Later I started reviewing the transcription and went to bed.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Bechamel and Machiavelli

On the twenty-seventh of September I wrote that I typed up my notes and said bye to the parents.  I made certain my friend was on the same page for Wednesday. I rode past cops with lights on at 19th, 16th and 9th Avenues on Irving and then stopped at the bank. I went to my friend's. She was watching a BBC production from Agatha Christie.  We ate butternut squash and discussed bechamel and Machiavelli.  her roommate came in to talk about stuff. The tree of us spent the rest of the night enjoying the breeze finishing a bottle of wine in the living room.  I was asleep at 2.

I was up at 9:30 well rested.  I made grits, eggs and coffee for my friend.  Her roommate said he slept like a log.  After we cleaned up we went to Ma-Velous but they were closed.  So, we hopped the Pittsburgh train to Rockridge and used Bike Link before going to Highwire. We got coffee, fruit and water and stopped at the bookstore before we rode to Lake Temescal.

We rested at the Ievee and later borrowed a picnic table before we rode to Montclaire.  We took the stairs to the Shepherd Canyon Trail and looked at the informational stuff and I had to catch my breath. The path was really great.  We stopped on Gunn and interacted with locals and looked at the cap on the old tunnel.  Then we rode up to Arrowhead and onto Skyline. There we rested for a long time, looked at Diablo and drink some whiskey.

From there we rode Skyline to Redwood Park and got a map before taking a bike trail.  We interacted with a family hiking on the path. We stopped a few times before getting to the Observatory.  There we got water and made a sandwich at a picnic tables where we saw the hikers again. We rode Skyline back to Castle and went through Montclair and under the Highway. We went through Oakmore and then Piedmont and found a cool Park on Hamilton. Then in Lakeshore we had Indian food and then west to 19th Street BART where my friend had trouble with her Clipper card but we still made the train.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

We Rode our Bikes

On the twenty-sixth of September I noted that my friend and I went to Japantown to meet her old coworker.  He had just closed a deal and wanted to take everyone out for Karaoke.  We sat with people that we didn’t know.  My friends voice was cracking during one of the songs that she had done.  I did Nights in White Satin.  We decamped to Festa and had a few more.  We got along with the host’s neighbors.  I was in bed around 230.

In the morning I was up at 930 and learned that my friend wasn’t entirely well so I made her breakfast and then we sat in the living room.  Her roommate left during that time.  After I cleaned up we rode our bikes to 9th for lunch at Social.  I came up with the idea of inviting my riding buddy out but we later learned that they were out of town.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Camping in Angel Island

I wrote that I did a few more things before I left.  I took VTA and the trains to DC where I added time to my bike and continued to Powell where I bought the one pair of Sketchers that I felt were suitable.  I went to the Ferry Building then and looked at Twitter before getting my friend at her pier.

We ordered empanadas and had beers before getting flowers and hopping a Two.  Traffic was terrible and my friend fell asleep.  When we got off we walked to to see my mom.  My sister was there.  We gave mom the flowers and interacted for a while.  My nephew was camping in Angel Island.  She shared a video with us.  I asked mom about stuff and clarified some of what I had heard from my sisters and father.  That was when my sister left and my friend and I spent some time asking mom about what she liked to eat.  I asked about my brothers and we talked about that for a while.  She said that she had spoken to my uncle.

Eventually dad came in and I had to reorganize to get a seat for everyone.  I ended up sitting next to mom.  We had been discussing what he liked to eat.  He had brought mom some chocolate.  We talked a bit more about that but it segued into mom and I poking fun at dad.  My friend and he talked a bit.  I went into the hall a little and when I came back I asked dad what he liked for dinner.

My friend and I made to leave around then and dad knocked over a vase.  My friend figured out how to clean it up and then we said bye.  We walked up Divis and down McAllester to the Greek place there and split a meal.  We walked to my friend’s place then and interacted with her roommate.  The other roommate had a friend over.  I went to bed around 1030.

I woke up a few times before 830 and had coffee with my friend at Four Barrel.  We had coffee and went to 16th where I caught my train.  At Mib I experimented for fifteen minutes with the time it takes to walk to Burlingame.  I decided I would need thirty minutes.  I caught the train then to MV and the VTA to the office.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.

Mixing a Drink

On the twenty-third of September I wrote that the day before I had had juice after the shuttle and caught the trains to the bike and had no trouble with the ride on Font to the house.  I went running but the exercise was abbreviated.  I then spent about two hours alone posting and listening to music.  I was mixing a drink when my sister came in.  We sat at the table after she had had a meal and ate chips. Dad came in a bit later.  They went to bed and I watched TV until around 1130.

In the morning of the day that I wrote this I was up as late as I would allow myself.  I asked my sister to look at the machine that dad had left running when he had gone to the hospital to be with mom.  She texted me when I was on the 48 to say bye.  I texted my freind on my ride to DC and Mom on the trains.  While on the VTA my friend and I agreed to meet later and head to Kaiser.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.