St. Patrick’s Dinner

On 4 March I wrote that I walked wandering through the mission stopping at the Uptown before going home. My friend had been alone in the house when I returned. I was doing some stuff and it was a little noisy after quiet time. She went to Union Square for flowers when she returned a few hours later it was a bit loud out. She took a nap for about an hour and then we went to the park to hang out before going to St. Patrick’s dinner.

We arrived in the school’s kitchen downstairs and we were told my father was upstairs. We went up and looked for our table. My mother and the family were all over the auditorium. My friend and I had to work hard to get our table because mom and my niece walked up and wanted to talk. When we were seated got us drinks. The noise seemed to follow me around.

I had to spoken to both the old principal and her husband at this point. I bumped into my father’s lawyer and he told me his son my old grade school classmate had moved in with him because of the Santa Barbara fires. I saw some of the parents of a few other grade school classmates too. I was eating pretzels by the handful. I went to the front and interacted with the one of the kids I grew up. I got a second drink as the bagpipes started. My sister and her friends sat with her husband.

When the meal was ready we all sat down. The ladies in at our table helped to keep the noise down. Some of the ladies from nearby tables laughed and pointed at me because that is what ld ladies do. The night went well and eventually my friend and I packed up and we left the same way we came in: through the kitchen.

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.

Tweed Sacramento

On 25 February I wrote that the night before I got a few texts indicating they were expecting me in Alameda. I was nearly done by then. I grabbed a few things and went to Civic Center. I ended up on a Dublin train so I texted my friend from West Oakland to find out how to get to Alameda. I rode to Webster and took a bus to the island and bought a beer on the way.

There were drinks and food waiting for me. I ate greedily. My friend’s family was watching the last few days of the Olympics. They were not impressed with my comments. Everyone went to bed and the lights all went out one by one. I went to bed around midnight.

There was noise about 10 minutes before my alarm went off. I lay in bed until 630 and did what I could. At 6:40 I was ready to go. My friend was in charge by then. I grabbed my bike and at Webster had only a short wait before I made it to Oakland.

Once there I straightened myself out and headed to Blue Bottle. I pretty quickly figured out that I could have taken Webster. I sat nearly an hour and my phone had very little charge. I had 2 cups and then went to the station.

The train arrived soon enough. I had been texting my friend. When that had passed I shut the phone off and started writing a little after getting on my train. I finished writing as we passed through Davis. The bridge into Sacramento was interesting. I couldn’t follow the service carts through the station gates so I rode through the station passages.

I went up I Street to seventh and zigzagged to Wall Art Center. That was where Tweed Sacramento was meeting. I got coffee and tried to charge my phone. I had a meal a little later. People started showing up then. Some ladies asked me from a car passing by if it was the spot where the event would be meeting and I said I didn’t know.

There were a bunch of interesting outfits and personalities. The hostess was having a meal as I admired her bike. I was astonished at how early I was. When we got ready I visited Old Gold to look at vintage clothing.

We rode in a bit of a circle but headed past 20th and T to around 30th but then we circled through one or two business districts. There was one dead end street near the railroad tracks with islands in it that we passed through. By then I had fallen into conversation with one of my local acquaintances and the one League Cycling Instructor on the ride. While speaking to my acquaintance he asked about my friend’s whereabouts and I grilled the League Cyclist about Folsom Reservoir trails.

I had been doing maneuvers a bunch in here because the ride was slow moving. My conversations with the guys had been on the north side of Capital but we entered the Capital Mall from the south. I passed next to my other local acquaintance and told her that I was going for a walk by myself near the light rail tracks.

When I returned the hostess was just setting her blanket out next to a wonderful fashion designer from New Orleans and my acquaintances. They gave me a hot toddy and samosas. A bearded gentleman gave me some curry. The picnic was a hit. It felt like all the ladies gave me a sandwich. I had to get up to eat the cake and then we all went over the Capitol steps for a photo.

The ride host and I talked for a bit while we were passing the Yellow Ferry Bridge and over to our street on the old railroad bridge. We had to navigate around construction to get to the Shady Lady. I saw one of my local acquaintances and walked up to her while she was engaging the SF Tweed representative. I sat near them and engaged the two ladies across from me that were both wearing all pink to match their pink bikes.

I got a French 75 and the ladies sat discussing fashion and corsets. The designer was telling us about her move to New Orleans. The league cyclist and I looked at rocks along Folsom lake. I told the Sacramento Bike Party representative that I wanted to go to his next event. I spoke to a couple that I had met at SF Tweed while they engaged its representative. They were doing some organizing. The host told me that he was planning on attending the Gatsby Picnic.

Everyone went back to trading stories about fashion. I decided this was a great moment to order my second drink, so sat next to one of my local acquaintances. He introduced me to the bartender. When I finished my drink I said bye and rode away. I managed to catch the 5:40 pm Capital Train within five minutes of its departure.

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 Arrived in Sausalito

On 19 February wrote that the morning before I wrote this I sat drinking coffee with my friend while she made a meal. She had offered to make me something but I declined. Instead I got us ready for our Larkspur test ride.

I brought our bikes outside and attached the panniers, which I packed before we quietly loaded up. We did everything expertly. We saw a guy with a trailer at Valencia. We talked to him as we went down Market. It was cold and I kicked myself for forgetting gloves. However, the traffic at that time was really great. The going was slow because of my friend’s back wheel. I had to pump up our tires so I was able to figure out that her equipment had wedged her break shut.

We quickly grabbed coffee and put money on our clipper cards before we loaded – I dragged the bikes down stairs – and then fixed I her break. She was quietly looking out the window at the other end of the boat. I hung out with her for a bit.

When we arrived in Sausalito. Then we got our equipment organized and had quiet time as we rode up Bridgeway. I showed her City Hall and at Molly Stones I got us some drinks before we rode to our picnic spot. I was surprised at the weather – it was forcing us to ride a lot slower.

We arrived at the spot faster than I had anticipated. I propped my bike up, unpacked and put a blanket down. I went for a short walk to view the marsh but could still hear our picnic site. We threw stones into the water after that. They made loud splashes. I got some fresh air and it was really great being out. We had made the trip so many times it was splendid. We ate food, had a drink and generally had a good rest.

We consulted the ferry schedule and determined the next boat was sooner than anticipated. We made a quick decision while riding away to take the shortest route, climbing from Blythedale to Horse Hill in record time.

The ride through Corte Madera was good. I went slow because of the circumstances. We had to check on some noise but it was fine. We went under the freeway and over the creek without incident. The ferry terminal was mostly empty in the boat left a bit late.

On board I broke out the second can of drinks – gin and tonic. We quietly ate and played with the folding seats. My friend asked about cargo bikes on the boat. When we were getting off the boat some nice passenger took our photo.

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 View was Great

On 17 February I wrote that the previous morning my friend and I had coffee. She told me that she would meet me in The Sunset. I tidied the apartment - I had rendered some chicken the night before and it had needed to be addressed. After I cleaned up I tossed the garbage. I walked with a bag full of stuff to work kicking myself for not having brought a backpack.

When I got in I waited for a few things - checking in with people. I got coffee and by 11 I ran to the apartment for lunch. I had wanted to eat one thing in particular but needed to tidy and clean first. I took 45 minutes to to get back. I finished up a few odd jobs for the rest of the day glowing from the run.

I took an express to mom and dad’s house in the Sunset and tried to get the downstairs room organized but ran into problems. I went upstairs and help with the noise twice before mom helped me figure out where some sheets were.

We had a quiet dinner before I wound the room down. Then I convinced my friend to walk to 30th for the view and have a drink. We got a good talk in. She said stuff, I found the appropriate things to say in response and it was good. The view was great we talked about good stuff too.

I told her communication was really important if you want to sing together and get a recording contract.

We returned to the house. The walk was nearly 2 miles. I had a beer before going 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.

Buy Sparkling Wine, Candy

On 14 February I wrote my friend wished me a happy Valentine’s Day. I took it easy and went ot work on a good note. I rode to work and was had such an easy time I actually felt productive. I had coffee and interacted with coworkers. I had a slice of pizza for lunch and when my work was done I headed off to buy sparkling wine, candy and get some fresh air.

The ladies were all there at the the apartment so I had a cocktail and listened to them discuss tweed. One of the guys showed up and we drink rose cuvée. When everyone left I wound the house down.

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.

Randal Museum

On 11 February I wrote that we were up several times and I got up at 8:30 and we went to get going to meet the group at Duboce Park. I grabbed what I needed and later we walked out of the building with our own bikes. That went well but it was only fitting for a small ride. We went to Verve and then to Duboce.

The bike coalition people were in charge of the ride. He was a bike seller and she did educational programs. We were going to Randal Museum. There was a waiver and then we took a picture. From there we climbed Henry and Roosevelt. I only made it direct because everyone else had to rest.

At the venue we locked up and listened to the band and speakers. It dawned on us that we wouldn’t see the inside of the museum until much later. I tried out the GSD and then our acquaintances rode away with us.

One of our number needed to meet his coworkers so we escorted his wife home. We then went for coffee which turned out to be OK. It was noisy.

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.