10/3/96 - Open Up Your Golden Gate

10/3/96 - Rafe's apt., Lower Haight, San Francisco

"A dreaded sunny day, so I'll meet you at the cemet'ry gates..." Actually, today was gloriously sunny, my first nice day in the city. After waking up very hungover (I "broke in" Sean's bar, or it broke me), I did a little exploring today: Muni Metro to the Embarcadero, then walking south all the way to the Caltrain Depot. Back quickly to Rafe's to see if Sean had called (no), then to Dolores Park for a little sunbathing.

I can see that I'm gonna do my damndest not to become another pasty-faced San Franciscan. One of the main things I'll miss about Santa Barbara will indeed be the sun. But, hey, if sunny days like today happen with any degree of regularity, I'm at Dolores or some other park like that. [Yeah, right. For the first 23 years or so of my life, I couldn't've cared less if I had a tan. I finally gave in somewhat to the beach mentality my last few years in S.B., especially when I got over my fear of nude beaches, which are abundant there. Post-Ben, pre-S.F., I was a beach whore, addicted to UV and, sure, the sexual situations that unavoidably popped up.]

[San Francisco is not a sunny city. Yes, as I write this, it's 80 degress, but as a rule, if you want sun, go to L.A. I have become the pasty-faced San Franciscan I derided. Oh, well.]

I've made little progress on finding a place to live. The one guy whose place I've looked at (John, Baker St. nr. Geary)[Ugh.] is supposed to call back tonight, but he seems really flaky. The Bay Guardian and the SF Weekly were pretty scanty. I may have to wait 'til Sunday for the Chron/Ex. [Needless to say, this was pre-Web literacy for me.]

The job hunt is equally stagnant. My main worry at this point is that the [sister health agency to my former S.B. employer] will examine my claimed BA and will reject me out of hand. If that hurdle is avoided, do I want to do that kind of work? Especially in the urban jungle? Dunno, dunno, dunno.

I'm enjoying a bit of a vacation, now, though, and I think that exploring the city has its own rewards. I'm sitting on my butt too much, and would like to get out of this particular block of Haight Street a little more. It's a unique city, a place I've been tangentially familiar with my whole life, while only really discovering it and getting to know it since Rafe moved here. An odd combination which I'm savoring.

[Growing up in the exurbs an hour north of the city, I visited San Francisco maybe twice a year, to see a play or to take visiting relatives to Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, etc. We also drove thru it constantly on the way somewhere else: until around this time, I was most intimately acquainted with Park Presidio Blvd. and 19th Ave., the route thru the city's west side we used to get to the airport. Now, that route hardly seems like San Francisco at all.]

[One childhood visit to the city stands out: my parents must've known something was up, because a couple of my birthdays were spent at musicals at the Curran, Golden Gate, or Orpheum theatres. Burned into my brain was one occasion, I believe it was "Annie" at the Golden Gate, circa 1979. We were waiting outside the theatre, and a parade was going by. My birthday's in June. Yep, it was gay pride, back when it was really homespun and not suitable for small children. The sight of three queens in Charlie's Angels attire and attitude, lounging and mincing on the hood of Buick, will be with me forever.]

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