The west coast swing...

I never thought twice about having a conversation about the type of men I find attractive. I have to admit, I never thought I would ever have a guy smile, nod and then say, "really, me too."

I spent my weekend in the peninsula (thanks for clearing that up professor) of San Francisco. Where, let's face, it's not known for rodeos and hauling hay. Where the men are men and well...women are butch.

I had the time of my life.

I have never been so relaxed. I'm a very high strung individual most of the time. I stress about everything from the price of gas, how I'm going to pay my next rent check and how exactly I'm going to convince my sister that buying that trampoline really will be a good investment for the yard. (Let's face it, toss a sprinkler under there and instant summer fun.) That's beside the point. I just really felt at ease. Everyone is just so laid back and nobody judges anybody.

I think this might have been the first time I've ever walked into a bar and not worried about my appearance. Did I have on the right shirt, was my hair done a certain way, was I wearing the right shoes. I really could just have fun. More on that later.

I think people around here should take a crash course on how to be their own people and how to leave other people alone. I spent my Saturday at a huge park, which forgive me, I've forgotten the name of. It was amazing to just sit down and watch people. Some were there for the amazing sunshine, others were there to meet friends, walk dogs or just read a book enjoying the day. There was no concept of time and I thoroughly enjoyed that sentiment.

There were a few instances were I have to admit, I was shaking my head.

Then again you have to admire people with such...guts. Take for instance this person, I'll call him "Waldo" if you can find Waldo you'll see what I'm talking about. Yes, he walked around the park in these tiny little drawers. I laughed so hard I puked a little in my mouth, but he had no cares in the world. Out taking his, um, tiny underoos for a stroll. See if you can find Waldo...


The other head scratching moment was being approached by a prostitute. I couldn't help myself I judged her...I tried not to, but then she opened her mouth. This Midwesterner couldn't help herself.

Now before you panic, I wasn't approached for a proposition of that sort. She was looking for petition signatures. When asked exactly why she wanted decriminalize prostitution her answer floored us. "Because people like me need to be protected. We shouldn't worry about calling the cops if something goes wrong for fear of being prosecuted for negotiating with clients."

Ok, first of all, we weren't looking at what one would consider a stereotypical hooker. She was, well, a bit larger boned and not as cute as say an English bulldog. Just proves that stereotypes are unpredictable. Once she left I had to shake my head. Not only was she actually having sex, she was getting paid to do it. Then I had to shudder thinking about what possible clientele she would have. I wanted to lead her to the nearest community college and help her sign up for anything that would get her out of that life. Nobody deserves to be violated by ugly, desperate men.

Second of all, are you serious? You're breaking the law, but you don't want to be punished. Hmmm, "well, I didn't mean to push that guy from the ledge. He provoked me." or "I don't want to go to jail for shooting him, I mean he handed me the gun and said shoot."

After a full day of people watching it was off to grab some grub. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to food. I'm not usually all about weird things. So when the word sushi came into play I was a bit hesitant. However, this was a weekend for adventure. I'd already seen my fair share of different for the day, what was one more notch on the post. We walked in and were seated. The sushi bar was really cool looking and there was a bar right there were you could see all the raw ingredients. I started to get nervous. When our first plate arrived I stared down at the rainbow roll. It was really pretty, but I had no idea what the hell was in it, nor did I want to know. So I played fear factor in my head and shoved it in my mouth. I got it down, without gagging. Score!

The next time, however, I decided to pick it apart. That was tasty. I think the size of the first roll was a bit big for the first time out. The next plate was just fish and rice. Drenched in soy sauce everything is tasty, even raw fish. I was pleasantly surprised. My favorite was the California roll. Much smaller and very tasty. We also dined on edaname which was steamed soybeans. One soy product I can truthfully say I liked.

After dinner it was off to the bar. I'll leave that adventure for another entry.

Until next time.

-MO-
sarah