- You look very California-relaxed, Richard said today as we were driving down to Ocean Beach.

It's true. We both have adopted one of the many San Francisco uniforms of nice weather: flip-flops, t-shirts printed with organic water-related features such as sea-shells or very non-generic looking jellyfish, and shorts, in my case three quarter length shorts, bought in the yoga apparel section of Sports Basement.

Well, you know that you have well and truly settled in to California when you own more than five pairs of flip flops, for both fancy and casual occasions.

songs on the old ipod right now

Havaianas - nice but dim

Oh my good lord, never, ever order your lovely havaianas from http://www.havaianasus.com/ because they are utter r-u-b-b-i-s-h, and will never ship your order, have them call them a million times to track it down, and when you finally decide to cancel the whole thing they will not refund you but just leave the order lingering and have you call another million times.....

You've been warned.

Labels

Our landlords came to say 'hello' today since they're staying in town for a few days. They gave me a hand held label-making machine because they needed to put they're names back on the letter-box. It will take my organizing to a whole different level.

IheartAlembic

The only problem with Alembic on Haight is that you end up drinking so many damn good cocktails that you feel a little rough the next day.

That is the only problem I have with that place.

Richard loves to barbecue. Ever since I first met him, he's had this man-thing about setting things on fire and throwing meat on to it and watch it go black. That's just how it is.

And as a token sign of the fact that we might stay here permanently, or at least for a significant time (as if 3 years shouldn't already have cut it) he decides to, not buy a house, but a barbecue.

There are a few arguments about the size of the thing, and where in our decently spaced but awkwardly laid out garden it should go. He thinks it would be OK right in the middle of the decking - the only flat space where the kids can actually run around without risking falling in to a formation of cacti. I think it should be pushed up against a wall, hidden away somewhere, were we don't have to pay any attention to it. He wants to put it by the french doors to the bedroom, neglecting the fact that we wouldn't ever be able to open the damn doors, I want us to forget the whole thing and just drive down to the Golden Gate Park, should we ever feel the need to eat fire-cooked shrimp and ribs.

We find a compromise and he brings the thing home. A gas burner BBQ, the smallest possible one and still the size of a Smart car, and he starts putting it together.
- How long does it take, he asked the guy in the hardware store, who's put together close to a thousand different ones.
- About 45 minutes.
- And if you've never done it before?
- An hour and a half.

Two hours later, he is still chugging away at it. This is a guy who finds IKEA shelves a hardship.
There are the occasional mutterings of "it came with the wrong screws", and "they haven't given me the right brackets", but eventually it's there - the barbecue which has become the promise of a new life, a symbol of all food-related adventures our family will embark on from now on, the piece of technology that will take our culinary skills to the next level.
- What's for dinner? he asks me as he puts the hood over it, as if it was a vintage Porsche.

I go upstairs and start preparing some pasta.

It's hard to find single, straight men in San Francisco, especially if you need to share common interests too

Heard in shop on Haight Street, between two shop assistant:
- So, he's really in to charity, and volunteer work, and the whole giving and... you know,
- Yeah, he's giving, and...
- Yeah. So we're really alike. You know, I like the whole charity thing too.
- Of course you do. You're a very giving person.
- He's not very...
- Friendly?
- Yeah. Like, not very friendly. Open.
- I have to say. I didn't really warm to him when I met him.
- I know what you mean. He doesn't give off like, a nice first impression.
- But if you have so much in common...?
- I know. The whole charity thing, it's like, we have so much in common.

I'ts so summer and lovely and sweet

Sign of times

Maybe your daughter has lived in California too long when she asks the dinner hostess if the tomatoes she's serving are organic. And chooses to get a pizza from Trader Joe's rather than take out because they are healthier.
And she's so conscious of the environment that she knows better than me what actually goes in the recycling cans.

But then she scoffs down two chocolate chip cookies and and proclaim hamburgers to be the best food, and she whines because she has to walk four blocks to the playground, and why didn't we take the car, so you know that she's just a normal 7 year old.

another song on the ipod

stuff on my ipod right now

Some reasons for moving to San Francisco #1-26

• Thriftstore shopping in the mission
• Farmer Browns - mojitos, jambalaya, sweet potatoe fries, corn bread, atmosphere, great service - and someone told me the fried chicken is Ok too.
• The views from Tank Hill
• Louis' Cafe by Sutro Baths on he tip of the edge of the world. Enjoy a great fry-up and gorgeous views at the same time.
• Out the door in Westfield Shopping Centre, food that is meant to be eaten, all of it, just dig in - it's lush.
• Aquatic Park at sunset. It is a bonfire of light for the eyes.
• Walking around Stow Lake early in the morning.
• The parrots at Telegraph Hill. If you're lucky you can listen to them cackling in the tree by Coit.
• Opening game at the AT&T Park. I haven't been, but people swear by it.
• Order the Cau Cau at La Mar Cebicheria Peruana and just enjoy
• Cole Hardware in Cole valley has Everything - and I mean Everything, you might ever need.
• Bagels and latte at the Zorba Cafe on Hayes and Gough
• In some morbid fashion, Alcatraz is a hauntingly beautiful monument.
• Tong Kian, Geary and 23rd. Dim Sum heaven.
• With the sun comes the people and everyone is lunching, brunching, running and walking the dogs.
• The mezzanine is pretty cool, is it a night-club, is it a music-venue, who knows.
• SF cablecars. It's a classic, never gets boring.
• Hanging out in Golden Gate Park never gets boring
• There's always sunshine somewhere in the city
• If you find a deck-chair in the Park Chalet garden, you get out of the wind and in to the sun, which is always nice
• Let's Be Frank hotdogs - and the super friendly, cute guys serving them
• The percussionist on Market and Powell. It's a San Francisco soundtrack.
• Sliders and a Bees knees at the Alembic, Haight Street
• The trams on Market Street to Castro are really, really beautiful
• The wind down Crissy Field messes up your hair in a cute way
• The Pacific fog really does look like it does in Vertigo

Economic gift-sense

I get a phone call from a 800 number. It's from a cooking magazine that we subscribe to.
- Thank you for your continued support in our publication. As a sign of our appreciation we will send you a cook book with all the most popular recipes from the last ten years. Now, we will send it to you free of charge, and should you wish not to purchase this book, you can send it back to us, free of charge. Should you, how ever, wish to keep this book, all we ask is that you pay 22.99 plus tax and the shipping charge of 8.75.

This is giving in the economic crisis.

My life is so boring

Why do I always pick the wrong line at the cashiers?
Always.
Today, at Andronico's I pick the shortest line and start unloading my cart. I have tons of stuff, the woman in front of me has next to nothing. So why does it take fifteen minutes? Because they talk. Her and the cashiers clerk. They talk about the weather, they talk about the wind. They talk about his daughters graduation and they talk about the wine he'd like to serve. Meanwhile, he's tending each and separate item, slowly, and carefully. Until they're done, which is when the woman remembers that she also have six bottles of wine to pay for, and they have to scan the labels, each and everyone of them.
When she pays, the check won't clear, they talk about checks for a while and then they decided on a credit card instead.
The other check-outs are empty by now. The clerks are bored and have nothing to do. I am stuck behind the woman and her bottles, waiting and hoping to get my shopping out to my car this side of 35.

Pre-school ****

I am in the pre-school jungle looking for programmes for Finn.
It's not easy.
I go to one open tour of a pre-school not too far away from my house, which I like, and immedialty get a good feeling about. So far, I have applied to three. The mother next to me on the sofa has applied to seventeen.
How do you even find seventeen schools that you like, and feel comfortable sending your child to?
I mean, first you have to find the type of philosophy and attitude towards child development that corresponds with your own believes. For us, that leaves out church affiliations and Montessori. You also want to find a school where the teacher ratio corresponds to the number of students. You'd like healthy lunches to be served and and a general feeling of well-being amongst the children. And for me, personally, it is also important that we don't want to go through the stress of having to potty-train before starting. That seriously whittled down our choice, from around 89 choices to 4..... which doesn't leave us with much to choose from.
Bearing in mind that on an average, each pre-school has five-six applicant per space, we're in the s***.

We also didn't start applying when I was pregnant.
We're bad parents. Finn is 18 months old, and his academic future is already ruined.

I go