hollaaaaaaa!

i just caught myself up on L, S, and M's posts, and laughed, and then read all your comments, and cried.

i didn't really cry, but i thought it would sound good.
i miss you all! airen, expect a postcard soon. and by that i mean, today i'm going to buy one and then hopefully mail it out in the next two days.

shout outs to the tamm's, fortunato's, and townsend's, who are faithful readers of these here words from what i'm hearing. hey, townsends, you guys wanna get a place together when i get home? how about on stokes avenue? across from that place with the treehouse in the back, mayhaps?

ya'll, we are loving san francisco. as we loved portland. i can't speak for the team, so i won't, but these two cities have been my tops so far.

portland was BeAuTiFul. there's some sort of statistic connected to biking that's impressive, something along the lines of it being the most biker friendly city in the country. wait that might actually be it. listen, i just woke up, so i'm tired. anyway, we biked and walked our life away in portland. because we could. also, we reunited with my buddy jared who moved out there a year ago, and he showed us the town, man! it was great to see him. he came over for a family dinner one night, then we all went out dancing on goth night. it was weird. the thrift stores in portland were off the hooook, guys. so super cheap, so super quality. i bought a dress that would plant me right in the middle of all those hip indie kids in new york city. and a crazy gold wallet! the portland community was overwhelmingly friendly. what else? OH, they showed the presidential and vice presidential debates all OVER! the city is so politically conscious. incredible. we watched the second prez debate on a huge move screen, surrounded by drunks who hated McShutUp and loved our man.

yoga. yoga yoga yoga. lizz sean and kimbly got so into it in good ol portland. i started doing double sessions some days. the hot yogas ROCK. the intense stretching ROCKS. the centered feeling you walk away with MORE than rocks. i had spattered around with yoga in the past, but had not practiced as regularly as this till now. i fell in love, and i'ma stay in love. i think they other two will as well. i think mike's jumping on in frisco, too.

what else? OH! i played in an open mic that i found out post-set was a competition, and i won second place! i won an hour set that i could not play, as i am now 18 nauseaus hours away, but (it's 11:11. i always see it. AlWaYs.) i'm entered in a showcase now for this March. it's with 23 other singer/songwriters, and the winner walks away with $1,000, 10 hours of free studio time, and radio airplay! sick, right?! it all took place at this completely cooky bar that was filled with friends of Lizz's and kind kind hippies.

kitty posted this link in a comment. i just read it and it's so poignant and passionate. i'ma pass it on to ya'll:
http://www.lordtonymackenzie.com/desiderata.html

speaking of poignant and passionate, conor was the shiz. he cried while he sang. he talked to us like we were his straight up buddies. he loved his bandmates. SUCH A GREAT SET. long, too. like two hours, man. i guess i brought myself into san francisco without even realizing it. post-conor, i met up with some kids i know at an art gallery roller rink! san francisco dressed to the nines for this guy -- the costumes were out of control absurd. all around. we all skated our butts off, sweated our i don't even know what off, and had a great time. "dancing queen" came on and we lost our shit, obviously. gem of the night = i spotted a familiar face, and realized after a bit it was ankur from season one of beauty and the geek. i yelled his name to be sure, and when he came over it was confirmed. nice guy. he was super interested in the details of what we were doing so far from new york/jersey, and we were in the middle of some story about travel when thriller came on and he DROPPED to the floor. he then proceeded to dance the ENTIRE song out, along with half of san francisco. those f&kkers know jackson's dance. all of it. ALL OF IT. we were impressed, and we plan on learning it in entirety as well.

let's backtrack, because we can.
we got into san francisco late after day two of driving, and hit the ground running, man (keep the carrr ruunniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!). our first stop in this beautiful city was the vesuvio cafe, which carolyn and i fell in love with on our visit here. i had an irish car bomb (hey mom), because i had my first one there two years ago (hey dad).

there is so much to tell about frisco. so much, guys.
the hills are alive, that's for sure, but not with music -- with hardcore ass-shaping incline. so intense so great / if you go to pier 39 at fisherman's wharf you will fall in love with the 200-500 sea lions that hang out there barking and sleeping and competing for the best spot to lay out / i played an hour set at a bar where i competed with boisterious fun drunks taking vodka shots. luckily i was tipsy so it was super fun. at one point i said raise your hand if you can hear me -- it was a semi-rewarding experiment. after awhile i just started yelling SHOTS! and GO PHILS! after my songs. let me tell you a man who did not speak a lick of english bought my cd afterwards and THEN gave me an extra dollar just because. the bartender was sexy he had an english accent so i was obviously in / i bought a new journal cause the one i started on this trip is full LUMOS! / city lights is still incredible, we wanted to go the first night after vesuvio but it was closed. we went the next day though and believe you me i could stay in that beat literature room for days on end. so into their writing. kate if you are reading this it's so tough that you are not here with me for all the beat history here. it would be awesome to be seeing this with you through jerry's teaching eyes. god damn that man is great / we took a trolly ride all through the city, mikey passed though and met us at the end where we had 16 minues to explore before getting back in the car and parking somewhere else. the parking here is SILLY expensive ($1 for 24 minutes), so we try our best to either get free parking or get the eff out / golden gate park is the gosh darned greatest. mike and i spent some stereotypical time on hippie hill and made friends with toothless chris, who was looking out for us like her life depended on it. she was great, just like hippie hill just like san francisco just like this trip. there are some Serious thompkins square crazies in and around golden gate park. if i lived here i would sit in that park and people watch my hours away.

there are parks on every other block in SF. it felt the same in portland. green everywhere is a beautiful thing.

listen. 1/5 of me wants to stop everything i'm doing and park it permanently in san francisco. i know this was my plan over a year ago, and being here only solidifies it further. in actuality, there are a plethora things i want to do before moving my body here, but believe you me, it's going to happen.

mike is awake now, too, and sitting across from me eating some apple jacks. lizzie is reading upstairs. let me clarify: in the bed lofted above the bathroom and closet. sean, i believe, is still sleeping. but he could be playing a game of hide and seek and waiting for me to find him, and that's why he's being so quiet. on this trip i have learned anything is possible.

we're planning on going to a beach today. there's a clothing optional beach that we are wanting to hit as well maybe, and we want to bike/walk across the golden gate bridge. also these guys need to see the san fran bush man. they know he is in the fisherman's wharf vacinity, but who he is is a suprise to them (carolyn, i'ma take video). are all these things happening today? no. no they are not.

last night we found out about a silly string party at the toxic tire beach. something like that. it's shady and we're intrigued.

my fingers are tired of typing and your eyes may or may not be tired of reading.
i love you all a lot a lot a lot. especially you. and You.
shaunna -- see you So Soon! can you not wait? are you freaking? i think you know how we feel.
most other readers -- see you November 28!
M, D, J -- see you at our dinner table on the 27th!