Back from San Francisco
So I spent most of my time from Dec. 23rd to Dec. 30th in the glorious city of San Francisco. I say glorious in a half-sarcastic manner because while I enjoy San Francisco, it is by no means as much of a city as Chicago, which has become in some sense my primary residence, considering I spend most of my time there. So what did I do on this week-long sojourn there? Did I cruise the Castro picking up chicks? Did I attend the symphony, opera, or ballet? Did I visit one of the many museums? Did I shop on Market street? Did I visit Alcatraz or Angel Island? Did I walk across the Golden Gate or climb Telegraph Hill? Did I go to sporting events? To the zoo?
Surprisingly, the answer to all of these questions is "no". I stayed with my grandfather and my brother (my parents also stayed there). We ate roast chicken for dinner on the 23rd. On the 24th, we saw The Polar Express, a Tom Hanks film, at the IMAX theater in San Francisco. Then we went to PJ's Oyster Bed for dinner, skipping out on my virtually uncle Rick's Christmas party. (Rick is Marian's son, and since my grandfather and Marian are all but married, Rick is basically my uncle, and he functions as such.) Rick, possibly the only straight man living in the Castro, (well, besides his nephew Jeremy, who lives with him), is Jewish as is Marian, so this begs the question why they throw Christmas parties, which I will get to later. So, Rick throws his Christmas party annually on Christmas eve, and Marian throws hers annually on Christmas day. Now, my family has moral objections to attending Christmas parties thrown by Jews. However, these parties are the only chance we have to see Marian's family (who I like better than Marian, but that's beside the point), so we can't get out of them. However, we can get out of one, but not Marian's, so we always go to Marian's and skip Rick's, even though Rick's is always more fun, seeing as how it includes Margaritas.
PJ's is a good place, and inaugurated my treyfe consumption for the trip. (Understand that San Francisco has some of the best seafood, especially dungenous crab, in the world, so naturally I would want to consume as much shellfish as possible. Also, Chinese restaurants are quality in San Francisco, so I eat the occasional pork dish at them.) On the 25th, my parents and I watched Keeping the Faith, as there was no movie worth seeing playing at a good time in theaters. Then we went to Marian's Christmas party, where gift-giving was rampant. Dinner consisted of turkey, ham (which I did not eat), Marian's sweet potatoes (which I also did not eat), grean beans, potatoes, and salad. Desert - chocolate Santas and yule logs. Wine to drink. Fairly standard Christmas dinner, I suppose.
Highlights of the Christmas Party:
Eileen's son (Eileen is Rick's girlfriend) explained that he loves Marian's sweet potatoes (which, even objectively, are disgusting).
Not being given something excessively girly by Marian.
Lowlight:
Marian asked me if I liked the Governator and I said not much, and she went off on a rant about how Arnold's politics are so much better than the mayor's because same-sex marriage is "immoral, indecent, and disgusting." (See why it took me so long to come out?)
More later.
Surprisingly, the answer to all of these questions is "no". I stayed with my grandfather and my brother (my parents also stayed there). We ate roast chicken for dinner on the 23rd. On the 24th, we saw The Polar Express, a Tom Hanks film, at the IMAX theater in San Francisco. Then we went to PJ's Oyster Bed for dinner, skipping out on my virtually uncle Rick's Christmas party. (Rick is Marian's son, and since my grandfather and Marian are all but married, Rick is basically my uncle, and he functions as such.) Rick, possibly the only straight man living in the Castro, (well, besides his nephew Jeremy, who lives with him), is Jewish as is Marian, so this begs the question why they throw Christmas parties, which I will get to later. So, Rick throws his Christmas party annually on Christmas eve, and Marian throws hers annually on Christmas day. Now, my family has moral objections to attending Christmas parties thrown by Jews. However, these parties are the only chance we have to see Marian's family (who I like better than Marian, but that's beside the point), so we can't get out of them. However, we can get out of one, but not Marian's, so we always go to Marian's and skip Rick's, even though Rick's is always more fun, seeing as how it includes Margaritas.
PJ's is a good place, and inaugurated my treyfe consumption for the trip. (Understand that San Francisco has some of the best seafood, especially dungenous crab, in the world, so naturally I would want to consume as much shellfish as possible. Also, Chinese restaurants are quality in San Francisco, so I eat the occasional pork dish at them.) On the 25th, my parents and I watched Keeping the Faith, as there was no movie worth seeing playing at a good time in theaters. Then we went to Marian's Christmas party, where gift-giving was rampant. Dinner consisted of turkey, ham (which I did not eat), Marian's sweet potatoes (which I also did not eat), grean beans, potatoes, and salad. Desert - chocolate Santas and yule logs. Wine to drink. Fairly standard Christmas dinner, I suppose.
Highlights of the Christmas Party:
Eileen's son (Eileen is Rick's girlfriend) explained that he loves Marian's sweet potatoes (which, even objectively, are disgusting).
Not being given something excessively girly by Marian.
Lowlight:
Marian asked me if I liked the Governator and I said not much, and she went off on a rant about how Arnold's politics are so much better than the mayor's because same-sex marriage is "immoral, indecent, and disgusting." (See why it took me so long to come out?)
More later.