All posts tagged: 2012

Post #50: Thank You!

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    So this is the 50th post of the Great Writing Challenge 2012. For those of you who are regulars to this site, you will have noticed that I’ve been stuck on the 49th post for about a fortnight. Had a bit of a freak out about it, but then I realized that I freak out about numbers and failing and whole host of other strange nonsense, and so I just stopped procrastinating and moved on. Fifty posts. It’s an achievement and I am going to bask in the sunshine of the achievement for a moment. Ah, that’s brilliant. I want to acknowledge just how much of a focus the Great Writing project 2012 has given me and how much I put into writing these posts. So many people have encouraged me along the way – even people I don’t personally know – and I am truly grateful for your support. I am also proud of achieving something I set out to do. I love writing, and it’s my life. [Source] Since the meltdown …

Post #49: Only in San Francisco…

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Ah, San Francisco. You’re a city of such contrasts. Riding BART to work last week, I noticed a woman buttoning up her jeans as she stood next to me. As you do. She had make-shift grillz and asked me for money. I gave her my usual response. She pushed on to the next carriage and left a parting gift of urine that snaked its way down the carriage floor to pool at my feet. On Sunday, the Canadian and I were afforded one of the most ‘San Francisco’ days either of us have ever experienced. Dottie’s True Blue Cafe is renown as the best brekkie in town and lines are usually over an hour long. They recently moved from the Tenderloin, to SoMa. And SoMa is obviously short for ‘So Much Worse than the Tenderloin’. So there we were outside Dottie’s new location on Sixth, minding our business camouflaged in a line of about thirty hipsters. Residents in the SRO opposite kept chucking trash out the windows at us. Local types camped out on the …

Post #48: Pancakes

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  I am writing an Annual Report. And at the moment, it sometimes feels as though I’m not even present in my own life, but I’m achieving things, so it all evens out. Happy days! I eat pretty poorly when I am flat chat, so thank christ for Food Dates with the Canadian! Otherwise all of the pictures below would feature pancakes and poppy-seed bagels. So here’s my week in food: When I can’t decide what to make for dinner (or I just can’t be arsed), I opt for pancakes. Currently, we’re on a Krusteaz Blueberry craze. And they taste so much better when you add food coloring. If I had my way, I’d eat breakfast for all my meals. And, yes, I am six years old. Tasty Wasabi Tofu Curry with a side of black rice from my new local, the Unicorn. If I were all about using ridonkulous words, ‘amazeballs’ would be my word of choice for this dish. But I am not, and I don’t. So it’s just damn tasty. YUM! Last …

Post #47: This Is Hardcore.

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  Last night, the American and I went to see Pulp at the Warfield. I’d never been to the venue before, and it’s a little bigger than the Enmore Theatre in Sydney and a little more run down. Just the way I like it. I was a Pulp fan as a teen, growing up awkward in suburban Sydney. And seeing them live was pure and heavenly and indescribable. Here’s a review of the gig, because I can only use superlatives right now (and that can get a little tiresome). The vibe in the Warfield was incredible, and I consciously soaked up every moment of the gig. Pulp sounded amazing live. And Jarvis Cocker? YES. My memories evoke a physical sensation on my skin, and the closest I have ever come to feeling it in real life is swimming in a geothermal pool. I spent much of last night feeling that same sensation. Whenever I hear ‘Disco 2000’, it takes me back to 1995/1996. It’s such a trip to have a memory bank from that long …

Post #46: Friendship

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A friend of mine is having a pretty tough time right now. She could have cancelled our plans to meet up for drinks on Friday night, but she didn’t. Instead, we found this small, quiet downtown bar and set about dissecting the problem and weighing up the options. I really felt for her. There have been plenty of times when I have been in her shoes, and everything looks so dire. And no doubt there will be plenty more. I was just happy she stuck around to talk to me about it. On my way to meet her, I had just finished a section on shame in Dr Brene Brown’s book ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’. These words were bouncing around my head, and then she said the magic words: ‘I’m just so embarrassed’. According to Dr Brown, Shame needs three things to grow out of control in our lives: secrecy, silence, and judgement. When something shaming happens and we keep it locked up, it festers and grows. It consumes us… Shame loses its power when …

Post #45: I Love Trader Joe’s!

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Where the American and I live in San Francisco, it’s much easier to buy a Coach handbag than it is to buy groceries. And in most of the cities we have lived in, we’ve lived downtown. Buying groceries was never a problem, because there were plenty of supermarkets in the downtown area to supply the urban crowd. Even in provincial Ireland. But that’s not the case in San Francisco, and is the biggest drawback to living where we do. [Source: Trader Joe’s] Most of our shopping is done at the local Walgreen’s or independent markets/corner shops. We have a mini-Safeway about a mile down the hill, and had a ridiculously expensive independent supermarket about ten blocks away up the hill until recently. Cala Foods closed for good over the New Year period, and in June, Trader Joe’s will be opening up in its place. HURRAH! In the hierarchy of local supermarkets in the Bay Area, I’d rate Trader Joe’s well above average. Some say it’s very yuppie, but it’s no Whole Foods. Shopping at Whole …