Kommute Archives for March (and some of February), 2000
I've written a whole lot in just over a month, so I've started an archive of my earlier entries.

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Friday, 03-31-00
<evening> Balmy summertime weather! The air was soft and warm as I left work, but it wasn't a stifling heat, it was really very cozy, like drinking tea under a blanket. I spent much of the journey pointing my camera at everything, like some kind of idiotic tourist. I'm still working on my fear of photographing strangers, but I snapped a few of this weird guy who had a broken foot. He seemed kind of sad. When I was on Muni, these two amazing drunks got on at McAllister, and they talked about all these clubs that used to be there, along Divisadero. They kept saying "Yeah now this is uptown, man!" They were really bizarre looking, but I only managed to take one photo. I took way too many photos, but I culled through them and picked out a few that I liked. I like to take pictures of old signs, obviously.

Friday, 03-31-00
<morning> I love my digital camera. I didn't get a nonfat latte today, I was too busy buying heaps of batteries for the damned thing. The neoclassical XML girl was on today as well, only today she was reading a monstrously huge HTML book and a little javascript book. I took a photo of her. While I was waiting for the Sausalito bus, there was some kind of weird explosion under the street. It made a really loud POP kind of sound, and then this unwholesome peagreen smoke was billowing out of a manhole. Some guys started blocking traffic, but I wasn't around long enough to find out anymore. Once again, I took photos. At the corner of Geary and Funston, someone's scratched out the E and R from GEARY, making it G A Y. I also snapped a photo of Santa's House And now, some photos.

Thursday, 03-30-00
<morning> A very smooth, relaxed commute today. The sun is shining and people are smiley. Each of my bus stops on my morning commute is in front of a meat-related business. The first is in front of a Meat Market, the second is a big Ham place. They have a sign in the window of the Ham place: "Now Hiring fulltime positions *Cashiers/Sales Clerks* *Ham Processors* no experience needed; will train". I sort of meditate, daily, on what a crappy job "Ham Processor" must be. Both of the hipstergeeks were on the Sausalito bus, at their usual time. There was a 3rd hipstergeek today, a quasi-cyber-looking woman with really cool hair. They all got off at the same stop. There was also a very sullen little emopunk kid with spiky spiney hair, but he didn't seem connected to the others. There was a really striking looking woman who looked like some kind of neoclassical painting, except for her Gap outfit and "XML for Dummies" book. I couldn't keep from looking at her, and I think it made her nervous. Peered in to Santa's House as I passed and I saw him sitting in his coat, staring out at the water. In other news: my camera has been delivered! I can't wait to start messing with it.

Wednesday, 03-29-00
<evening> Tonight I had a change of pace as well as a change of scenery since I got a ride most of the way home with my manager. The commute is totally different in a car. We talked about work and music and money and art while listening to Dubnobasswithmyheadman, one of my favoreet albums, by Underworld. We parted ways at 6th and Market, which is an interesting area, interesting in the spirit of the saying, "May you live in interesting times." I actually think it's pretty cool. Didn't have to wait long for a bus, but it was tragically chock-full-o-Yuppies. Listened in on a conversation between two yupfems about social issues, and it seemed like one of the pair was actually kind of socially conscious in a misguided kind of muddled yuppie way. Seems like a lot of the new breed of yuppies has the same kind of urge to "do good" while shopping at the gap, driving up housing prices and pissing ME off. It's a start, I guess. Have you snuggled your yuppie today?

Wednesday, 03-29-00
<morning> I think that today's commute served as a reminder for me to relax a little bit. I've been really tense lately, and today I got myself all in a tizzy about being 30 minutes late, and, in the end, everything was fine. Sheesh! The weather is lovely and warm today, so the tourists were out en masse. Today I noticed the Emergency Phone and Crisis Counseling phones positioned along the bridge for the first time, and wondered how the tourists respond to them. One of the hipstergeeks was on my bus as well. Late like me. We're all tardy! I did, however, get to work in time to grab a sandwich from the roach coach. Cheap and unhealthy! Yay! Ooh ooh, supposedly my digital camera comes tomorrow. Swaaaanky.

Tuesday, 03-28-00
<morning> Today's commute was thoroughly amusing. I started with a double nonfat latte at the cafe next door. Christian was wearing a *very cool* Farrah Fawcett Majors t-shirt, like an oldschool iron-on transfer, so I had to comment. "Okay, your shirt is officially the BOMB" and he said he felt he needed to work pretty hard to compete with my Dukes of Hazzard shirt, which I was wearing again today. He pointed out the latest addition to the growing snowglobe collection, and asked that I contribute. Buses were on time, saw a nutty old woman wearing a sailors hat and too much makeup carrying a plastic lunchbox. Saw her at both of my bus stops. The Sausalito bus was pretty crowded, though only one of the hipstergeeks was on board. One weird thing: These two older black guys were sitting next to each other, and one of them was grooming the other one, shaving his beard and brushing his hair and stuff. 26 giggling highschool girls got on the bus at the Toll Plaza, it was like one of those clown cars, only in reverse, and the bus was rapidly filling to capacity with highschoolgirlness. They were hilarious, talking about the bridge, asking "So, why is this bridge such a big deal?" I had one of them next to me, so I asked if they were from a school or something, she said "yeah, Mercy" which is, I reckon, some kind of catholic girlschool, though they weren't dressed in uniforms. They were headed for the Bay Model, which is only a stop before mine. I watched a couple of bookwormy busriders flirt and blush, which was sweet. He told her he'd be on the same bus every time, every day, and she watched for a long while after he got off the bus. SANTA SIGHTING at the corner of Bridgeway and Excelsior. He was dressed in his traditional Santa Coat, but it appears to have been laundered! He seems to draw a lot of attention, regardless.

Monday, 03-27-00
<morning> Had a late-morning doctor's appointment, so I didn't come in to work at my usual time. The commute is totally different at noontime... My co-worker just came by my desk and begged me to update this thing. How bizarre! It's really windy today, and the clouds were scooting across the sky really fast, almost like watching them on time-lapse photography. On Geary boulevard, I stared at this irretrievably broken "time and temperature" light-up displays. It's got the name of some healthcare group on it, but it's connected to a realtor, or so it seems. I wonder why they don't fix it, or at least remove it, it seems really kind of lame to leave it up as it is, with 90% of the bulbs burnt out. The wind was really strong crossing the golden gate, it was shoving the bus all over the place. I just checked, and apparently the bridge is built to sway up to 27 feet in heavy winds. GASP! The cloudy sky makes the water look really opaque and milky. One of these days, I'll have to take the ferry across the bay, just for the novelty of it.

Thursday, 03-23-00
<evening> Thought about maps, physical maps as well as internal, intangible, emotional maps. How a place can present a thousand different faces to the observer. Made a list of interaction avoidance strategies: Reading. Window-Gazing. Writing. Headphones+Loud Music. Gum. Sunglasses. Sleep. Thought about techniques I could use to photograph people on the bus, and wondered how best to build up the courage to just blithely snap away. There was a frumpy older couple up in the front of the bus, and they kept leaning forward to snap photos as we crossed the bridge. They had their flash on, though, so it's likely all they'll end up capturing is a big bright glare from the windshield. The city looked all flat and grey and low-contrast in the distance. A guy sitting in front of me opened up a box and took out a brand new digital camera, and started snapping pictures inobtrusively, capturing the sunset.

Wednesday, 03-22-00
<evening> Clouds, fog and coldness greeted me as I left work. It's weird working in an area where I really have no sensate cues to the conditions outside as the office has a groggy, consistent warmth to it, and i'm not near a window, so when I leave the office it's usually a big surprise. I took off after 6 to catch a 7pm showing of Ghost Dog (it ruled). A big freaky nutjobby guy sat down between me and another woman. At first he seemed normal enough, but then he started bouncing around, trying to get the attention of one or the other of us. I did my best at ignoring him. At one point, after the other woman left, he turned his entire body towards me and moved in real close, and still I ignored him. I am the queen of ingoring freaks. He was really hyper and twitchy. I probably could have come up with something more interesting to write had I engaged him in conversation, huh! At least I finally broke down and bought a digital camera.

Wednesday, 03-22-00
<morning> Wore my k-rad Ninja Strike Force t-shirt and Christian, the guy who works at the cafe, asked what the symbol meant. "It means my kung-fu is much better than yours so back off," says me, and he laughs, "You know what, my kung-fu is non-existent but I love your explanation." Then he starts talking to a co-worker about piercings, and he waves me over, calling out "Hey! Kung-Fu Girl! What do you think, an eyebrow piercing, or a nosering?" We both agreed noserings are much cooler. There was a truly bizarre woman on Muni, she was wearing about 8 layers of clothes, with rags and scarves wrapped around her head and covering her entire face, save a few inches where multicolored mirrored sunglasses peered out. She had cardboard signs scrawled with nearly indecipherable dense text, Peoplearenarrowthinkingjudgemeandoutcastmebecauseiupsetcryingstareatmeclaustrophobia and so on. I really wanted to know what triggered her to hide like that, what was going through her mind, was it as dense and crazy as her scrawled signs? Ended up waiting impatiently with two women for about an hour for my second bus. One woman ended up sobbing hysterically into the payphone, choking out "It's totally out of my control, It's not my fault!" She told the bus driver that she'd been waiting since 9:30 and no bus had come, and he just nodded and said "I know, I know, you'll just have to call the company to complain."

Tuesday, 03-21-00
<morning> Decided to wear a particularily loud and scary shirt today, it's got bigass yellow&red letters that say THE DUKES OF HAZZARD and there's a picture of the General Lee. It's kind of atrocious, but I sort of like it, and it's comfortable. So I went in to the cafe and ordered my usual, "Can I have a Latté and a croissant to go?" and he counters with "Can I have that SHIRT the Dukes of Hazzard ohmiGOD that is so CUTE!" So I left feeling vindicated. Got to work late again, I think I'll have to go back to my prior schedule, sadly. I had the same super-courteous muni driver, but today she wasn't slow. I really wish I had a camera. I'm going to have to get one this week or something. So many images begging to be made. The view was, once again, perfect and stupendous and jaw-droppingly clear. I kept an eye out for Santa once I got in to Sausalito, but no sign of him. I did manage to watch a girl do a classic spit take, laughing and spitting soda all over the place. While I was sitting and writing in my little book, a dandelion seed landed on my hand.

Monday, 03-20-00
<evening> There was an unusually animated and gregarious guy at my bus stop, talking emphatically to a blonde woman. There was another woman at the stop as well, and this guy graciously let all the women on the bus before him, bowing slightly as each of us passed. The bus was crowded, and he ended up sitting across from me in an aisle seat, next to a young guy (I sat next to a really fidgety woman who was reading an Agatha Christie novel.) They immediately struck up a conversation, talking about everything from relationships, to jobs, to the Kids Today with their baggy pants falling off their asses when they walk and mainly about the man's life story. He explained that he'd worked as a chef and in construction and that he was learning a new trade, something about hanging awnings. He mentioned a guy from New Zealand, someone he worked with, who had a phrase for work which was enjoyable, "A piece of puss." He kept repeating it, "A piece of puss, a piece of puss" and I struggled to listen in nonchalantly. I had a little disposable camera with me (no digital camera just yet) and I took a couple of photos on the bus, and tried to take a picture of this guy. We'll see how that comes out.

Monday, 03-20-00
<morning> The fast clock/watch experiment has been interesting. The trouble is that I may very well be early, but the buses I am trying to catch are almost always late. So mostly it just results in me standing around at bus stops for a lot longer. It's rare that both of my buses are late, but today was a special day for lateness. I have the nicest, friendliest bus drivers but courtesy is time consuming. My muni driver was a real mother hen, "Watch your step, honey, hang on there, don't stress out, hold on tight." I think she must have been a new driver. My second bus was late also, but it kind of worked out. The ride was spectacular. I think the wind and the sun conspired to make the view as stunning as I can remember seeing. Everything's green and the sky was clear. NICE NICE NICE. The bridge was crawling with tourists contemplating the sights with their big tourist heads. No jumpers. I doubt people would jump on a day like today, anyhow. Apparently, statistics show that roughly 1,000 suicides have taken place on the bridge. Someone else told me that about 3 people jump per month. Statistics are handy!

Friday , 03-17-00
<morning> Tried to trick myself in to being a little early by setting my watch a little bit fast, but it only resulted in me being on-time. We'll see where this experiment goes. On-time is better than nothing, I suppose. So, it's St. Patrick's Day (big freakin' deal) and I had fun counting the number of people wearing green, I mean fully grown adults acting like they're still in 4th grade. I didn't wear green intentionally, but ended up doing so anyhow. Damnit! I was trying to buck tradition! Ah well. Sat in the back, behind a guy reading the paper, and was immediately struck by the headline Serial Killer In Pakistan To Die By Strangulation - Body Will Then Be Dismembered. What a thing to see first thing in the morning. Glee! Another beautiful day, however. The bridge was thick with tourists, all embracing in the same cheesy, rehearsed pose for snapshots, big dumb smiles on their big tourist heads. Saw the pseudo-hipster geeks, but no sign of Santa Claus. Had a glamorous nosebleed when I walked in the office. I just totally rule.

Thursday, 03-16-00
<morning> Oh, late late late. Consciously decided to leave a little later than usual, take the next Sausalito bus. Screwed that up but good. Wound up missing both buses. I had a pile of new comic books with me, and my walkman, but I couldn't be bothered to fish them out of my bag, so I just sort of stood around, looking for the damned bus. Bought a sandwich. Listened in on two very chatty women talking about haircolor products, but they weren't terribly interesting, and then one of them got on the Sausalito bus with me and spent the entire journey standing at the front of the bus, yammering at the driver. I caught a little of their conversation as I left, it sounded like they knew each other fairly well. They were discussing the merits of working from home. It's a gorgeous beautiful sunny day, and I am totally overdressed. pant, pant, pant. I'm afraid I might end up getting a tan or something, I've been getting too much sun! aieee! Santa Alert: Observed Santa walking along Bridgeway, and again, the Santa Coat was nowhere to be seen! He was, however, clad in a red Members Only jacket. Perhaps the Santa Coat is a seasonal thing.

Wednesday, 03-15-00
<evening> The Ides of March, Indeed. Drank beer on my employer's dime, which was cool, but it required that I stay late in the general vicinity of work. The drinking free beer thing was nice, but I found I had almost nothing to talk about with my co workers, so I pretty much kept my head down while I doodled in my sketchbook. Hooray for me! Left feeling a little unstable and maudlin, pissed off that the buses only run once hourly after 6pm. It was a totally gorgeous night, though, and it cleared my head a little, and the scent of those same night-blooming flowers was everywhere again. The bus ride was uneventful, the driver kept the stupid fluorescent lights on for the entire trip, so windowgazing was pointless. While waiting for Muni, a woman said "hey, what's up, you need a transfer or anything?" and held out a big sheaf of Muni transfers. I held up my bus pass, but thanked her anyway. She gave a few to some other people waiting there, though. I don't like coming home so damned late.

Wednesday, 03-15-00
<morning> Beware the Ides of March. Woke up angry because of stupid household stuff. Blech. Finally decided to cut my damned hair, though, and it actually came out alright. Plus, it was totally gorgeous and sunshiney and springlike when I stepped outside, so my mood improved dramatically. At the cafe, some yupoid woman had dropped a big pile of cash on the floor, and didn't seem terribly impressed or grateful when I pointed it out to her. Seems to me I could have had a big wad of Free Money, but I was all kind and courteous and stuff. Stupid me! While I waited for my second bus, a guy holding a coffee cup asked me whether or not the bus driver would allow us on with our cups, and I told him that it was really no big deal, and not to worry. He said it was only his second time riding this bus, and seemed really grateful to talk to someone. Now the neophytes come to me, a seasoned commuter, for guidance and wisdom. MWAHAHAW! Also, only one of the pseudo-hipster geeks was aboard. Perhaps the other one is dead or something. SANTA ALERT: Santa was seen walking along the waterfront - without his customary soiled Santa Coat! What can this mean?!?

Tuesday, 03-14-00
<evening> Stayed at work until 7, and when I left, walking outside in to the crisp cool evening, breathing in the scent of fresh earth and looking up at the stars was remarkably refreshing. The bus came right away, my timing is getting pretty accurate. The bus was super humid, and dark, and nearly empty. I nudged open a window and watched the scenery, thinking of photos I want to take. The scent of some kind of night blooming something-or-other was thick in the air, maybe lilacs or jasmine or something, it was really heady and strong. I wish I was the sort of person who knew all the names of flowers, I always envy people who can name flowers, as if they have some sort of mystical arcane knowledge. I have a few friends who have inexplicable stores of encyclopedic knowledge about obscure subjects, and they're great fun, especially when you know someone for a while and then they just whip it out of nowhere, completely baffling you.

Tuesday, 03-14-00
<morning> Today I saw a man without legs taking his dog for a walk. At least I assume it was his dog. I watched a shambling old junkie nearly nod out and fall over backwards, as well. So, take those images and make up your own stupid metaphor for life. I've got other stuff to do. Today there were far fewer people on the Sausalito bus, and far more on the Muni bus, but they were all quiet and orderly. I watched a big lumbering tour bus driving alongside my bus as we neared the Golden Gate bridge, and I could see the tour guide in the front seat, and I watched his lips moving as he spouted tidbits to the passengers. I got to thinking about landmarks, and how differently you view a place when you've just arrived as opposed to how it appears when you're thoroughly familiar with it. There's something almost dreamlike and surreal about how a city reveals itself over time. Apparently my grandmother, who travelled extensively, had a technique for getting to know an unfamiliar city. She'd hop on pretty much any crosstown bus and ride it from end to end, and then hop on another until she felt she knew some of the sights. My grandmother was pretty cool.

Monday, 03-13-00
<morning> The most amusing stories from my daily journey seem to come primarily from riding Muni. Maybe it's because Muni makes people goofy or something. Today there were some really funny loud kids making my ride more enjoyable. The boy kept threatening to kiss the girl, and started to grab on to her and squeeze her and rough house, and their dad said "Naw naw, you aren't old enough to be kissin' on the lips, and stop bein' so rough with her! She's not your brother!" and the boy said "But she's mean!" and the father said "Well, we're all mean sometimes, but we try to be good." Then the kids started going off about wanting Noisy Shoes, NOISY SHOES, NOISY SHOES!!!, imitating the sounds they make when you run and stuff. I was smiling during the whole ride. Saw the pseudo-hipster geeks again, still no idea where they work. My anonymous co worker described one of them as looking "like a serial killer". Hmm. My Latte was tasty, thanks for asking.

Friday, 03-10-00
<evening> I Left work pretty damned late because I am a dedicated and efficient employee. Ha ha! No, seriously. The sucky thing about working late is that the SF bus only runs like once hourly after 6pm. That just bites. A co worker, also working late, ended up on the same bus home, and I happened to have a printout of this here commute journal thing, so I let him read it. He seemed to find it amusing, and he showed me a book he'd made, a compendium of email he'd received from a friend who was in China. I think it would be interesting to read my own letters, all printed up and bound together like that. Not because i'm completely self-absorbed or anything, just because it would serve as a really interesting document of my life, like a journal only less intentional. More like a snapshot than a portrait, I suppose. After my co worker read my commute thing, he said "oh, great, tomorrow you'll write something about me talking your ear off," but eh, he didn't really talk my ear off. It's all good. It was raining when I got off the bus near Market and 7th, and had to walk a few mildly harrowing blocks through one of the less savory sections of the city, but I survived alright.

Friday, 03-10-00
<morning> Yay for living next door to a cool, non-Starbucks cafe! I have a routine now, for my morning commute, and it all starts with a great big Latte. Now that i'm a "regular" on the commute scene, the bus drivers make chit-chat and other passengers mutter pleasantries at me. I feel like a movie star! I keep seeing these two pseudo-hipster geeks get off one stop before me in Sausalito, and I kind of want to know where they work, but I haven't worked up the nerve to ask. So, the mystery endures. Nobody did anything crazy or weird today, and the scenery was merely scenic. COME ON, PEOPLE!! WORK WITH ME! Actually, a thought: I really hate people on tour buses. There has never been a more pathetic, low-impact, non-confrontational and cowardly group than Tour Bus People. A big fat super-monstrous "luxury" coach chumped past me this morning as I waited for my prole bus, and all these ugly, complacent eyes gazed at me through their gaudy tinted windows. I wanted to toss sausages at them just to make them do something. Yech!

Thursday, 03-09-00
<morning> I love it when bus riders talk to the driver, especially when it's some kind of crazy talk. Electric buses are so quiet that any conversation whatsoever is essentially public anyway, but there is a special breed of loud, opinionated freak who seem to relish the opportunity to declare their beliefs to the world. Today, it was an informative lecture on the finer points of Car Ownership: "You see, if you own a car, you gots to pay the price, man! Thass all i'm sayin! Gas! Man, Gas is what it is, see, you gots to pay for GAS! I don't want to get in the way of your personal freedom or nothin', man! See, man, what you need, man, because of the Gas, is one of them 'Lectric cars, man! Yeah! I seen a thing about them 'lectric cars, see, because then you don't got to pay for the GAS! yeah!" - very edifying! As I was waiting for my second bus, giant double Latté in my hand, it was all sunny and yet it was raining. Weird! I looked for the rainbow, but all these big dumb buildings were in my way. Weird weather was the interesting part of today's bus ride. And ginormous coffee, too.

Wednesday, 03-08-00
<morning> Muni was interesting, as usual. About one stop after I got on to the "standing room only" sardine-style bus, the driver launched in to a passionate tirade about some weird unknowable Muni stuff. She kept repeating something about how her leaders were all behind her, which undoubtedly has some kind of bus-related meaning, but after yesterday's disappointing election results, well... At this point a big yuppie dumbhead took this as his Big Opportunity to be "droll", commenting, "Ah, yes, my first day back," loudly and to nobody in particular, "I had to put my car in the shop, decided to ride the bus. My, my. It's like Street Theatre! Yeah, Peaceful, Mellow old San Francisco, hawhawhaw". What an idiot. I did end up talking to another of my commute buddies, gave her a dime for the bus. I'm getting better at making bullshit smalltalk conversation. It's sort of a survival skill. Talked for a bit with a window washer about the weather, late buses, jobs and gas prices. Very inconsequential.

Tuesday, 03-07-00
<morning> Left just a little too late to catch the bus I needed, and since it was Election day and I'm such a good citizen, I went ahead and voted. Voting is really cool. Makes you feel like such a good kid. So just as i'm leaving the polling place, a bus comes. This very strange woman holding a handful of weird yellow flowers gets on with me, and she sits down next to some well-meaning guy who asks her about the flowers: "Are those Mimosas?" and she mumbles "No they're Acacia." and he says "Oh, well, they're very nice..." and she says "They're what Noah used to build the Ark" and he says "oh." and doesn't say anything much else aside from "excuse me, this is my stop" and she responds "I just think it's interesting that they were growing over the fence and they're what Noah's Ark is built out of, don't you?" and "Jesus Loves You" then she asked some old Russian woman if she needed a maid. I missed my Sausalito bus, but I was prepared, having brought comic books by Ivan Brunetti, which are both hilarious and dense, and filled my little heart with sick glee for the 25 minutes I had to wait for the next bus.

Thursday, 03-02-00
<morning> drizzly pissy grey rainy crap. Stood around at the bus stop, getting to know the sights, sounds and scents of my neighborhood's least lovely corner. Waiting for buses... Man. I want to get a cumulative stopwatch to count the number of minutes in my life i've spent standing around waiting at bus stops. Usually, when it rains, everything smells lovely, fresh and clean. Today the rain makes everything smell like a wet dog. Saw an old black woman with astonisghingly sad eyes, felt a little guilty about wanting to photograph her. Luckily I had no camera.

Monday, 03-06-00
<evening> Encountered the Russian on a later-than-usual bus, skillfully managed to avoid his notice because he was asleep, and ducked down as he got off the bus. Very mature, i'm sure... A strange red-haired girl said "Hey, you! How's it going?!", and I was friendly but baffled, and she added "Well, it's just I see you all the time on the bus, I figured I should say hi!" and I agreed. The city skyline took on the color of coral in the sunset. When I got to my house, Pippilina and Archie were on the steps playing a Cello and a Guitar, respectively, and the guy was there with my kozmo video rentals - Wargames and Dolemite and To Be Or Not To Be.

Monday, 03-06-00
<morning> For some reason lately, sweet little old ladies have been coming to me for bus-related advice and directions. This is only noteworthy because it's a radical shift from the standard suspicious contempt which was afforded me in the past. I am starting to get to know the weird little idiosyncrasies of all the freaks who populate my route, and I sometimes wonder if i'll ever talk to any of them. When I cross the Golden Gate and it's covered in tourists, peering down over the edge and gawking, I sometimes secretly think, "jump! jump!" I keep wondering if i'll ever get stuck in gridlock because some chucklehead has decided to snuff it. Morbid, yes.

Friday, 03-03-00
<evening> Left a bit later than usual, watched the day drain out of the sky, the dying rays of the sun casting their glow on the distant hills and all that sentimental shite. SANTA ALERT: dressed in his customary uniform of a tattered and filthy Santa coat, hot pink shorts and a serious belly/bowlful of jelly, the Sausalito Santa Claus was seen hitch hiking towards Santa's House, carrying a grocery bag. It is unknown at this time whether or not the bag contained toys for good girls and boys. In the 15 minutes I was able to observe him, nobody stopped to offer the Jolly Old Elf a ride. The bus ride was without incident, though the view was really spectacular at twilight from the bridge, all the twinkling fairy lights of my amazing city glinting through the gloom and mists hovering above the water's surface, the final moments of sunset glowing with dusky, somber hues. Every time I cross the golden gate bridge, it feels like i'm riding through one of those cheesy postcards they sell down by Fisherman's Wharf. Cheesy and Beautiful! Took the bus through the creepier heart of the city, past my usual stop and in to downtown. Raar.

Friday, 03-03-00
<morning> At least it was all blue skies and sunshine, that's all I can say for my hellishly lengthy commute today... And another thing, muni is evil. Muni is always making me late. I normally don't give a damn if i'm 5 minutes late, but in this case, if I miss my bus, I get to wait around for 30 minutes until the next one comes. That's what happened this morning. The stupid electric contact thing got disconnected and the bus driver had to go out and hook it back up, and while he was doing that, I watched my bus zoom past, a couple of blocks ahead. HATE HATE HATE. So, muh. Nothing really interesting today. Watched some pigeons sitting on eggs, making a nest over the nail salon. Ended up sitting behind a creepy old woman who was wearing thick nasty perfume which reminded me of the smell in a funeral parlor in Texas.

Wednesday, 03-01-00
<evening> I no longer take the 5pm bus because I don't want to encounter the Russian Guy ever since he'd called and I pretended not to be me. The bus was wicked crowded, which is not cool. I generally head towards the rear of the bus, slump down in a window seat which is comfy, plunk my crap down and take up a generous slice of space. There were no good seats left, so I ended up sitting in the dumb uncomfortable sideways seat. My favorite game is the "staring at a spot just above a person's head until they get really uncomfortable" game. The rules for playing are quite simple. You need only yourself and a host of strangers to play. If you look like a freak, or are really attractive, you already have a considerable advantage in the game. Step one: find a person who is staring at you, either deliberately or accidentally. Step two: Let your gaze drift around lazily and then suddenly jerk your gaze to a spot *just* above this person's head, or just past it, whatever. Step three: See how long it takes them to get intensely uncomfortable and turn away. People are funny!

Tuesday, 02-29-00
<evening> Every day I pass a lot of weird stuff along my commute through Sausalito, but none is weirder than Santa's House. I don't know the details, but I've seen this shambling old hippy guy wandering around wearing an extremely soiled Santa Claus costume jacket over an equally grubby t-shirt, and I think he lives in this place right on Bridgeway, and it's got gaudy christmas-type decorations all over it and big faded letters which read "SANTA'S HOUSE". I have seen the filthy Santa coat hanging out of one of the windows, so I assume that there's a connection. Sausalito is weird!

Thursday, 02-24-00
<evening> Took the same, earlier bus home, didn't notice that I was seated across from the angry middle-aged guy i'd beaned on Wednesday. Traffic was heavy, and I looked across the aisle at this guy, recognized him and shrank back a little in my seat. He was reading a Russian newspaper, and gestured to me to take off my headphones, asking, in a thick accent, "Do you remember me?" and pointed at his head. I said that I did, and that I was sorry about having beaned him, and all. He started asking questions, "Where are you living?" vague answer. "You work in Sausalito?" vague answer. "You live with people? With boyfriend?" uh-oh. Yes. Absolutely. (in fact i do not live with my boyfriend) "You drive car?" no. "I drive. Have car." smile, nod. "Can I have your phone number?" eh... Why do you want it? "Because, I like you, I like you, I ask for nomber, yes?" uh, i'm not really comfortable with that... "So, give nomber, I call. I hear man's voice on phone, I (gesture) heng-op. Ok?" uhm... "Come on, my stop is soon" sheesh. This is where I lame out and write down my phone number, messily, and hand it to him. After explaining that he takes the same bus every day at the same time, adding that we can ride together every day, he gets off the bus, and about an hour later, the calls begin.

Wednesday, 02-23-00
<evening> Took an earlier-than-usual bus home. Lurched in to the back seat on the evening bus, walloping a sleeping middle-aged guy in the head with my heavy backpack. Apologized as he glowered at me. Felt goofy and oafish for remainder of trip.

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