Haecceity.nu

I read Allison’s blog post today about an older man who sat down next to her in a cafe and started to talk about his life. It made me really, really miss New York City.

I’ve often encountered people like the man she talks about in New York, on park benches or in a subway car, outdoor cafes or just waiting at the bus stop. I miss hearing their stories, however ridiculous they can sound. I haven’t encountered anyone like that here in San Francisco, though admittedly I don’t spend as much time as I used to sitting in public spaces. I walk to work, so I don’t sit on a subway or bus for hours of my day commuting. The weather is cold enough here where I wouldn’t want to sit in a park reading, and even if I did that would mean leaving Louie inside the apartment by himself.

I lament the fact that this has happened—I actually miss my commute because it gave me extra nap time in the morning, and plenty of time to read books. I miss running into people I knew from high school on the bus and complaining about how packed the subway is to a random stranger squashed in next to me on the train.

I also miss looking up and actually seeing the tall buildings stretch into the sky and poke the clouds. Here, it’s foggy in the early morning and in the evenings. The sky is often rather grey at these times, and while the buildings DO still “poke” the clouds (if the clouds aren’t already swallowing them whole) they’re not nearly as tall as the ones in New York. The space around is almost too open for me and I find myself longing for the comfort of the buildings padding my view on all sides.

Is that strange?

So last week my company had an overnight trip to Healsburg, CA—which is about 2-3 hours north of San Francisco—to celebrate it’s 2-year anniversary. Healsburg is in Wine Country, so after the ride up we had dinner at a winery and partied.

The next day we went for a canoe trip on the Russian River. I shared my canoe with the girl who sits next to me at the office, and we did pretty well! We paddled 5.2 miles from star-to-finish without capsizing or getting stuck more than once. We also only stopped to take a break once. I think the total time it took us to do was 2.5 hours and we were in the middle of the pack—so not last to arrive to shore! It was a lot of fun and I’d totally do it again anytime.

However, the same day I got back home from the trip I was walking to my apartment from picking up some stuff at Walgreens and I ended up slipping on a crosswalk and falling on my ass, with my right leg sliding strangely underneath me. My pinky toe took all my weight as the rest of me crashed down on my leg, so it hurt the rest of my walk home (2 blocks!).

The next day it was bruised and swollen and it still hurts like hell. I think I broke it or sprained it or something, but there’s no way to tell which. :( Treatment is the same for either, anyway. I’m trying to be careful about walking on it but I do have to walk to-and-from work every day. Argh!

I hope it doesn’t take forever to heal.

So I started my job last week. So far things have been going well and I’ve been kept very busy with various projects. My work started appearing in games this week, see if you can guess what I did!

I got my business cards yesterday, too, and decided to mail a bunch to family and friends back on the East Coast. If you’d like one, email me your address and I’ll send it along.

I love postcards. Every place I go I buy at least one pack/book of them. I have postcards from Greece, Italy, England, and France. From the US I have Hawaii and Chicago, IL, and of course New York City and now San Francisco.

The one thing that saddens me the most about the rise of the internet and email is the downfall of snail mail. I used to LOVE getting letters and postcards as a kid, and actually still do today. I had pen pals in grade school, but it’s hard to have a pen pal now when everyone would rather communicate through email or IM.

I came across this website, Postcrossing.com, a community where you can send and receive postcards from all over the world. So, you know, I had to join. I’ve sent 6 “official” (ones that are registered into the system and tracked) postcards so far, two of which have been received. I’ve also sent one “unofficial” postcard as part of a tag thread on the Postcrossing Forum. So far I haven’t received any postcards myself, but I’m really looking forward to when I do.

If you miss snail mail as much as I do and/or collect postcards, I’d recommend joining Postcrossing. I’m having a lot of fun with it. :D

After literally a year of searching for a full-time job, I’ve finally nailed a position: You’re looking at the newest web designer at Ngmoco:). (It stands for “Next Generation Mobile Company,” if you were wondering.)

My first day is June 7th! I’m really excited. I can actually be a real adult now!