"If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"

The spirit of the flowers is alive and well says a scroll taking the form of a bathroom stall. I know bathroom walls say many things, but how can that not be true? It can't. Based on the content of the wall post, you'd bet I was in a bathroom in San Francisco, and you know what? You'd be right. Yep, good ol' San Franny... she's treating me real well I must say. We pulled up two days ago, and are staying with a real chill group of girls (one will make mac and cheese for you at 12:30 in the night and you don't even have to ask!- that's hospitality). The city is kinda hard to maneuver through. I can attest, as I got lost looking for a drinking well the other night. I just wanted to find a bar and was strolling through neighborhoods desperately looking for a neon light in the shape of a martini to guide me. Well I found one eventually, almost at my whits end, as disconsolate a mood as ever. But I got to talking with the bartender about what the city has to offer, and as luck would have it, I met Phillip. Well Phil and I introduced: "Hi, I am Zach." "Hey Zach, I am Phillip." - that sorta thing. Formalities aside, we proceeded to drink ourselves into a great time. Phil gave me his history, and I gave him my future best I could see it. I told Phil lots of cities look and feel the same to me at first. He said, "of course they do at first. Whatcha gotta do, and I'll letcha in on a little (Phil)osophy, is you gotta look for the soul of a place- and you know where that is? Its in all the people that make it up." Well, I thought ol' Philly was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I bought him a beer, he'd by me a beer, "and so we danced." He is the most knowledgeable former hippie I have ever had the pleasure of talking to at the Pig & Whistle.

The next day Brett and I scoured the town as far as we could walk just taking in the sights and sounds ol' San Franny has to offer. I'd say it was a jaunt, but Brett has already informed me that I shouldn't say we are jaunting anywhere, "not that there's anything wrong with that." He didn't quote Seinfeld there, but I can imagine he would. I think by the end of this trip I'll have said it enough that it will drift into his subconscious and he'll accidentally say we jaunted from a to b and I'll laugh and laugh. "Checkmate," I'll say. Well we both wanted to quench our thirst we'd worked up from all the walking so we stopped at the Bean Bag Cafe. It suspiciously lacked bean bags. One person bemused, "There are no bean bags here." I liked here for her attention to detail. We spent the remainder of the evening drinking in merriment with the new roomies.

This morning I woke up and went to get coffee with Audrey (one of the new roomies). We were having a good chat, but the old man next to us made the day. He interrupted to inform us that I look just like Gene Kelly. The same Gene Kelly that he coached and helped become the dancer he has become known as. Before we knew it, he was talking about Dean Martin, Condoleezza Rice, Romania, and a lot of other fantastic stuff. He said he was over a hundred years old! Needless to say, he was really spinning that yarn. Loved every minute of it.

I like how close the buildings are together down here. Primarily because I have this idea that everyone is real neighborly to each other and they all get to know each other real well because of the proximity, and it all works out real well. Plus who doesn't think of Full House when they look at these kinda buildings?

What ever happened to predictability?
The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV.

Everywhere you look , everywhere you go (there's a heart).
There's a heart
A hand to hold onto.

Everywhere you look , everywhere you go.
There's a face
Of somebody who needs you.

Eveywhere you look,
When you're lost out there and you're all alone,
A light is waiting to carry you home,
Everywhere you look.
Everywhere you look.

Lots of kooks here in San Fran. It is great.

Maybe the next blog will have something important to say, but it'll probably be more of the same rambling, so if you're ok with that, great. if not, try harder.