I have spend most of my time in California quite cold actually. Constantly cold. I brought two sweaters with me and a jacket and I’m practically wearing all three. Oase’s home office is air conditioned like a meat locker and my sister’s place is near Monterrey and even though it was remarkably sunny (normally fog galore) I was always cold. My sister never uses her heater either, I guess she is just used to it. Now I am the only member of my family who still lives in the Northeast and yet I am the person most bothered by the cold, and heres why: In the northeast you are cold when you are outside. Your cold is a matter of moments as you traverse from one place to another, or wait for your car (your car – I don’t have a car) to warm up…. but then the rest of the time, you are toasty warm. Your home, your workplace, the stores you frequent – these are all warm places. Warm and extra cozy considering the difference between them and the barren outside. (And when its really cold I’m not even cold outside cause I have flannel lined jeans and a huge goofy parka to wear, under which you have only an undershirt on and still be roasting)  Now here in California, its mostly hot throughout the year, and so the whole universe is built to avoid warmth. It was 46 today and I swear the A/C was on at work, set to “70” supposedly. So at home in the Northeast you really do live your life in the 70s, minus some cold hands or ears, for minutes at a time. But you have a coat on, you have a radiator to love you at home, a fireplace at some friends house or restaurant. I have spent this whole trip at like 55-60 and its wearing me down. — And while my apt is always too hot – I see mirages sometime in the middle of the day — but man I cant wait to have my 76 degree furnace of an apt back – tshirt and boxer briefs – hell yeah.

Otherwise – had a nice, if short, trip to San Fran on Saturday. This was precluded by me introducing myself to The Silicon Valley by driving around looking for a Starbucks (Wi-Fi) I needed to plan out my day in SF and so there I was, in Silicon Valley, unable to find a STARBUCKS.. IN SILICON VALLEY. When I finally did as I was trying to U-Turn I found some sourdough bakery with free wi-fi and real breakfast which meant I happily got to spend no money at Starbucks.(Push Back) At least now I have seen the Ebay complex. Drove across the Golden Gate bridge and gazed at it from its overlooking cliffs as I tried to forget how much I dislike tourists. Then I hit SFMOMA which was wonderful. Saw a great early Pollack, tons of amazing photography (& a Weston Mexico exhibition!), and they had this incredible videography piece in which this guy named Phil Collins (no, not Phil Collins) tapes a whole bunch of people singing karaoke to the Smiths – which was like a simaelotaneous (I fucking HATE spelling that word – seriously – fuck that word with its perfect meaning yet its pervasive impossibleness) love letter to humanity and humanity loving music. Just a funny joy to admire. Way to go Art, you rock! And they had lots of postcards so my bedroom witll be happy. Finally I met up with the seldom seen and always engaging Jordan Pierce, who I took out for dinner and then ended up on a cable car with as a result of my inability to read my map – but it was a happy accident and I got to see the Crookedest Street and wish I could afford a home in SF. (also there are still peep shows and nasty characters in absolute downtown San Francisco – which is astounding. It reminded me of the New York of my childhood. That kind of shit was pushed out of New York and Boston long ago. Now its all condos and, of course, Starbucks. Stay gold San Francisco! Keep on truckin, or err hookin…)

I rebuilt my sixth computer of the year, for my sister, who was using it only as a DVD player since she doesnt have the internet, because she is insane. Anyway I souped it up and installed all the video game emulators with all the games we used to play, and apparently she has been up every night since playing Castlevania and The Legend of Zelda (She’s never even played the SNES Zelda either – my god that was an awesome game) Running out of time in the year, but I still have two more re-rebuilds to do, which will bring me to 8 for the year a record I have no intention of making a run at again. And actually if you include rebuilding two computers for myself, that would bring it to 10. Damn.

Saturday – Saturday – Saturday – Saturday – Saturday – Saturday