Ran my own section at work today. Intense. I feel lame describing that as intense but I create such extra pressure on myself when I wait tables that its just ridiculous sometimes. Unnecessary. I did well though, for a first shift, solo and no one died, Im pretty happy, especially when I walked away with around 18% of my sales, Im feeling good about it.

Much more exciting was my afternoon. The Station 40 meeting. Me walking awkwardly up the stairs, struggling to find secure bike parking and sitting awkwardly at the dinner circle but being vocal in the meeting. It was good.

Renee is a great writer. Im glad she does it and she should keep doing it. I, however, suck and should keep doing it for only one reason: to oneday be able to write something that other people enjoy reading. The sick drama of life, how the jewels of our lives are dull and lackluster in the eyes of others.


I am waiting tables at this restaurant: www.duccasf.com I like it, it is hard, but in about 2 months I will become a member of the union and that is exciting because it means good benefits, health insurance and other bonuses. The restaurant is in a hotel, which is new for me, but I like that. Today was my first day alone, without a trainer helping me. I did well for my first solo day. I was happy with my performance, though I know I could of done better. I think that this year, in my life, is/has been intensely focused upon communication and how I communicate with other, and how I learn to understand other peoples' communication methods. The experiences of living in Nicaragua, working in a place that has hundreds of employees, living with 4 strangers and moving to a different place than where I have spent many years of my life all can be strongly influenced by who I meet and I how I communicate/connect with them. That is exciting to me. A whole new city of potential friends and lovers.

The excitement of possibility.

Sunday morning. Grey SF skies, big white walls, a wooden deck and horns/car doors/city sounds in the background but a bright red sleeping bag with rainbow lining, fist sized purple flowers and an apple tree all show me that even in cities there is uncontrollable beauty to be enjoyed.

Eating avocados, yogurt, brown rice cakes, a few heirloom cherry tomatoes, jalapeno omelette's and drinking yummy coffee makes a morning. We round out the late morning time slots with bhangra dance class, paper writing, vegan sausage and a bit of wait, wait dont tell me.

Now, its off to do some flyering in a housing project and then work. Its a nice sunday. Im pretty happy. Off to meet new people, be a part of something, see what is going on here in sf as far as housing rights and anti gentrification work is concerned(or a little facet of that) and yeah, meet new people. Make and get phone calls which will hopefully lead to relationships, long standing and beautiful growing and powerful. Its hard moving to this new place, making new friends and dating. Its all fucking hard. But, as with all things I need to slow down.

Last night Todd, my trainer at work, kept saying that I was good but I needed to pay attention to detail and slow down, do it right the first time, dont make yourself worry. It was interesting and I think it applies generally to my everyday life. So, Im going to take it slow today.

So far so good!

Ooops.

In the havoc of returning from Nicaragua, driving cross country and settling into a new city I forgot to update. Sorry! But Im back now and have uploaded tons of photos from the whole summer(Nicaragua, NJ, road trip) to my flickr account. Enjoy.

Quick summaries.

Nicaragua: Amazing yet so fucking hard to go back there and walk those streets again. Feel the same eyes again on my skin and be re-immersed for days into where I lived for a year. I think just the concept of me living in one place is hard to grasp/enjoy which is why the challenge of sf is so appealing. Adding to and becoming part of a vibrant established community in the US has been high on my list of things for a long time.

Cross country road trip: Divine. Really seeing parts of the US that I had not seen before was so satisfying, the same way taking trains across India or buses across Nicaragua has been. It forced me to think about the US not just as a collection of big cities but more as a composite of many many in between places, each with their own history. This cross country road trip has set the foundation for a cross country biking trip within ten years. Excitement! Although that means I must get a bike with multiple gears. Shame.

SF: Wow. Simply put I knew nothing about this city before I arrived, had never even been here, and now I am living, working, learning, loving this little place. The first big intra-US move, also exciting/challenging. As usual being away from the family is hard but beneficial because I feel time apart makes our time together better, more appreciated, more wanted which then makes me miss them more. But, about SF, I am excited still and looking forward to developing a relationship with this place and falling in love with its mystery, history and peoples.

Tomorrow: First day at work.