The Yule Blog

I have now had the pleasure of a live music event at the Warfield: A great venue with the completely fabulous 'pound it into your head' rock of Queens of the Stone Age. No need for a dealer - I got quite high just breathing in there. Then onto a very cool cocktail bar in the Mission (hispanic trendy area in south SF) to top off my first proper night out here. I did a spot of Christmas shopping on Haight Street. I know it's now a little 'cheesey' but I love the string of independent shops, like a cheescloth, tie-dye, organic, yoga, flowers-in-your-hair-hippy-heaven. You can almost hear the ghosts of Janis, Jimi and Jerry. It's Ben and Jerry's on the corner of Haight-Ashbury these days unfortunately: times change.

Things are all good in my new home. The housemates are fun. I get fed daily by one of the best chefs in San Francisco (I know, talk about dropping on!) and we drink champagne and talk politics and just about everything else until 2 or 3 in the morning. And I get to do dog-walking in Alamo Square overlooking the painted ladies, one of the most famous sight-seeing spots in the city. Seriously... it's all good.

I went back to my old haunt of Venice Beach for Christmas and caught up with friends. I still love it but continue to dislike LA in general. Arron still insists that I sound like Nigella Lawson. How little she knows! Dave needed some friend support to do a major family Christmas and I ended up meeting most of them (every phillipino in LA, I think) and being fed enormous quantitles of delicious phillipino food. Dave almost managed to poison me with seafood but disaster was averted when my super primed senses spotted the tell-tale shrimp smell. If you remember my trials in Peru from last year you know that I don't want to be going there. His dad loves the pokies, so Christmas evening we drove to Las Vegas to meet more family. Barry Manilow was on: seriously tempted. "Hey, Baz! My name's Mandy. Sing it to me!" We were sitting atop the Stratosphere Bar, great view, easy jazz, and it started to snow. Apparently it only happens a handful of times a decade. Jill and I had some lovely walks along the beach and went to a really good comedy night in Hermosa Beach where Jay Leno plays every Sunday. All good times, but I have to say that as I was sitting in the bus and I saw the San Francisco skyline in the distance my heart skipped a beat. Perhaps I've left my heart here already?

"Isn't it nice that people who prefer Los Angeles to San Francisco live there?" ~Herb Caen

Anyway... Ano Neuvo!