Half-days and lots of parties
Good evening! So in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday we had a half day at work today. Despite the memo last Friday stating that we would all be leaving at 2 p.m. like it or not, doors locked behind you, etc. etc. I ended up working until about 3:30, and several people were still there when I left. But even though my departure was delayed beyond the 2 p.m. cutoff, 3:30 sure beats leaving at 10 p.m. which has become more or less the custom. After I got off work I decided that I would take advantage of having daylight and I took a nice walk through Golden Gate Park which is only a few blocks away from my house. I walked from about 34th Avenue and Lincoln to the Beach Chalet on the Ocean side of the park, then I walked along the beach back down to Lincoln, and then back through the park to my car at 34th Avenue. It was a beautiful day, so the walk was pleasant and took me about 45 minutes to an hour. Walking along the beach I was shocked at how many surfers I saw. It's only been about 50-55 degrees here lately, so I can't imagine how cold the water must be, yet there were the die hard surfers riding the waves.
So this past weekend was great. After work on Friday we had a wonderful "Peasant Feast" hosted by the Larson family (the surviving family of Jonathan Larson, writer of the broadway musical). Most of the cast and crew were at the party along with a group of 6 of Jonathan's closest friends. Even though Jonathan passed away 9 years ago, all of his family and friends were still very emotional when it came to talking about him and the time they had spent with him. It was a very moving evening, complete with food and drink.
After the feast a group decided that the night was still young, so we went out to bar in the city. When we closed out that bar we moved across the street to another bar, which we also managed to close out. Once we closed out that bar we looked for somewhere else to go, but it turned out that the only nearby places still open were big dance clubs. I found that most interesting given that it was only 2 a.m. in a big city... seemed very Utah-like to close the bars down at 2 a.m. Not really interested in dancing, the group pretty much dispersed, but Emily (one of my co-workers) decided that the night shouldn't end, so I went over to her place in Oakland to enjoy some wine and good conversation. Finally at around 4:15 she took my back to my car which was still parked on Treasure Island. I managed to get back home at about 5 a.m., and pretty much fell right into bed.
On Saturday, I slept until about 11 a.m. At about that time my phone rang and it was our production accountant, Stevie, asking if I could come by her apartment to help her get some of her electronics set up. I managed to get to her place in Pacific Heights around noon and got her situated. After getting things set up we walked down to her local bar and had some amazing hamburgers. I highly recommend the burgers at Harry's Bar on Fillmore. All natural Montana beef and delicious. After eating lunch, I headed out and ran a couple more errands, and then walked around a cute little park in Pacific Heights. The views of the city from up there are pretty impressive - no wonder even a small apartment up there can run as much as $15,000 (no, I didn't add too many zeroes there)! Now, as if that wasn't enough for my Saturday, I also ended up going to another party in Pacific Heights on Saturday night. I was just doing a little rearranging in my room when Patrick and Christina knocked on my door and told me about this party they were going to that night - I decided to go along. It was a nice party, though with a much older crowd, and besides Patrick (Christina ended up not coming) there was only one other person there that I knew - coincidentally, someone I had met at a church function before Christmas. But it was a pretty good time none-the-less.
After such an active Friday and Saturday, you would probably think that I would try to have a nice relaxing Sunday - WRONG. Instead of sleeping in late and lounging around, I got up at 9 a.m., watched a movie, went to church, ate lunch and then took a little stroll (my first, in fact) through Golden Gate Park. Peaceful enough... but that's where the leisure ends. After that, I decided to head out to IKEA to look for a futon cover. Huge mistake. The traffic around IKEA was terrible - it took me about 25 minutes just to get from the freeway off-ramp to a parking space at the store. The place was packed - so many people. I ended up not even finding a single futon cover for sale and walked out with only a 99 cent garbage can ($1.08 with tax). I then headed over to the Emeryville Best Buy and GameStop to do a little shopping, though I ended up not buying anything. I then headed home to freshen up before heading to.... yes, another party! I went to a Golden Globe watch party at Stevie's place... good food and, of course, drinking. I have to say, it was a very different experience to watch the awards show with people in the business - the have a different perspective on the films, directors and actors that most people do. When the Golden Globes finally ended at 11, I drove home, watched an episode of South Park on TV, and then went to bed at 12.
A very busy weekend - thankfully today was a half-day so I wasn't at work for 14 hours after an exhausting but great weekend.