The weekend I went to the Bay Area and caught something

The headline is supposed to make Nick laugh. I hope he gets it, but I picked up a cold yesterday and haven't felt quite the same since. Yes, folks...I have made my way back from the Yay (or Bay Area) of California. Good times were had, a few pictures were taken, and I finally got to visit a state west of the mountain time zone. People say things are different out west and they were right. While I couldn't discern any fundamental differences in the way things are done out, the whole area just gave me a different vibe. I deem Northern California "hella tight." This edition of Leftover Chinese will summarize the trip as usual....brief, rambling, trite, possibly funny, or awful.

- Night One featured a reunion with my buddy Adam and former roomate Jon. I had not seen Jon since May. I had not seen Adam since April...of 2000. Those two guys were always interesting to figure out. They came from Cali to attend college in Wisconsin. Together they always had a certain swagger about them. Things finally started to fall into place. For the last five years, they were in my realm. As soon as I got off the plane, I was in their realm.

- This was not a vacation, merely a chance to hang out with two of my closest friends from school for a few days. The balance between 'touristy' things and just kicking it was suprisingly even. That was a good thing.

- Even though we were at a loud place on night one, Adam and I had a good talk about things...throughout the rest of this excursion, we had deep conversations about the past, the present, and moving in our different directions. We haven't communicated too much since he left college in Wisconsin, but in hanging out with him, it felt like nothing changed This reminded me that Adam and I are still "hella tight."

- Gratuitous use of the term "hella" is still rampant in Northern California.

- When in the States, Adam resides in the Berekely Hills. I was blown away at the use of real estate on these steep hills. Another thing that blew my mind was the mazelike street system. You could lost for an hour trying to get from point A to point B. It was like driving a car through a world in some ultra cool RPG game.

- The first night featured the most partying of the trip. I awoke the next day with the rare hangover.

- I got to match a few more faces with names we midwesterners got to hear about Jon and Adam's exploits in Cali. The stories they told us were always off the wall. Meeting 'nato' was a trip. That guy matches the stories....

- The Cal campus was really nice. I excpected to see more of a hustle and bustle, but the entire campus was laid back and nobody seemed in a hurry. I've learned that trees really make a campus look pretty.

- I purchased Breakin' at this store. It was a part of the 'walking down Telegraph' portion of the trip. I finally got the best breakdance movie in the world on DVD. Adam purchased a copy of it as well. He's apparently going to use it as a way to woo a girl back in Ethiopia. More power to him.

- In terms of its fans, Pac-Bell park is to the Bay area as Wrigley Field is to Chicago. People come to the park to be seen, and to say that they got to see the team's superstar slugger take an at-bat. In their cirles, saying that they saw a Bonds or Sosa homerun legitimizes them as a fan of the team. I noticed this right away. It was no surprise that when Sexon hit a homerun in the top of the first, I was the only one clapping in my area. No one else bothered to boo, clap, shake their heads, complain, or anything else that fans so when the visiting team does something. A woman turned around and gave me the "oh my, that monster behind me is clapping and therefore a threat to my enjoyment of being in pac-bell" face.

- I really enjoyed the lay of the land.

- The three bridge tour featured the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate, and San Rafael Bridge. All are works of art. I guess all I can say is, look at the pictures (well, the golden gate bridge is the only one I took a few pictures of up close).

- Jon's Dad has a blog

- Jon and I threw the football around during sunset in the Marin Headlands. That meant that we got to do two things that we always did when we were roomates: imaginary baseball and imaginary football. Before you know it, we'll probably play dominoes, baseball, and pool.

- We played dominoes.

- We played 'strike-out'...which happens to be 3x3 baseball.

- We played pool and Jon was victorious over me for the first time since we made pool playing a competition between us.

- Jon and I enjoyed the things that made us "hella tight" over the years.

- In setting up a barbeque at Jon's buddy's place (which happenend to be a boat with amenities sufficient to live) we went to the discount outlet grocery store and found Pig's Eye Beer. A 24-can case was 8 bucks. We all had a laugh about that one. I looked at it and said: "what the hell is this? Where do they make this?" Keep in mind that we were at an outlet store. I notice that it is made in Lacrosse, WI. I had never head of it while at school. We all had a good laugh about that one. It turns out that it was brewed in St. Paul, MN for a long time until the brewery closed down. The brand re-opened up not ten days ago this month in Wisconsin. While still new, I should have heard of this beer by now. Further research yielded the fact that it is licensed to be sold in seven states. California was not one of them. We all had a great laugh about that one.

- Touring Jon's boyhood home and having dinner with his parents = more pieces falling into place.

- Touring Adam's American home and him letting me sleep there while he was in San Diego for two days = more pieces falling into place and my ultimate gratitude.

All in all I had a good time. I'm sure I'll add and edit this post a few times this week, so check this post out a few times. All in all...Northern California was "hella- er....total classic action.

Pictures

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .