Best Fake Tales of San Francisco, pt.2: I HATE My Socks

So, last time we spoke I was on the Bay Bridge making my way to down town San Fran. Following my internal SF radar/compass I found my way to the Museum of Modern Art. I wasn't sure as to what the rules there were about taking pictures, so I decided to keep it low key and, also, is it like I have to share everything? If I liked a picture, can't it just be left at that?


But this is a picture from inside the big pokey metal thing. If you know what I'm talking about.


But I have to admit that I saw the most incredible thing in my whole life there at the MoMA. And that's barely hyperbole. Certainly my absolute favorite video installation in the world, that's for sure. Let me tell you about it. It was called "Cyclorama" and was by a fellow called Marco Brambilla. The piece is a little circular room with nine monitors in its walls. The monitors show the view out of the windows of 9 different rotating restaurants in North America (and, despite past experiences [you really should click on that link], I remain fascinated with rotating restaurants and would go to one again.) The videos are in perfect synch speedwise and time-of-day wise, so at first you think you're watching the view from one restaurant from nine perspectives . . . but then you realize it's nine different views. Anyway, it was SO great. I kept coming back to it and watching it over and over.

Another blogger had this to say about the Cyclorama.

And here's a little video I took of it that does it no justice.

After I was done with the museum (it was really hard to pull myself away from the Brambilla) I wandered about downtown SF a bit.





Cupcakes? Cupcakes? How bad does San Francisco have to want to be New York?

Now it is time to get down to some serious, serious business. You may or may not know, but I have a Favorite Friend named Rebecca who lives out in San Francisco. You might say "What do you mean you have a Favorite Friend named Rebecca? I've never heard of her, and I certainly have never seen her on your blog." Then I would say "Well, you might not have heard of her because she lives in San Francisco BUT also, you're being lazy, because she's been on Steady Mobbin this time and this time [and if you want to remember about the time I met Vince Vaughn you should really click on that second link]."

Anyway, Rebecca's being an SF resident was one of the many good reasons I had to go down to the Bay last week. Another good reason is that Rebecca has this roommate named Betsy and ever since she got this Betsy I've been hearing about this Betsy and about how she is Great and about how she takes lots of photos. . . perhaps more photos than I do? (From here on out a good number of the photos on my blog are going to be borrowed Betsy photos, you can tell if a picture is a Betsy photo if it is squarer, because mine tend to be really rectangular, but there's some exceptions to that) Anyway, I decided to meet Betsy properly and we went over to the Hyde Street Bistro.

This would be the one and only Betsy the Great and Famous.


And yes, if you know the Bistro, you'll notice that we're eating under the stairs.
Maybe you already know about the fork thing they do with dessert at Hyde Street?



I feel this photo requires no explanation. No explanation at all.

After dinner it was time to be reunited with Rebecca and to meet Cameron.


Soon after getting to their place Rebecca got her hands on my camera . . .






If you leave Becca and Betsy alone for one minute your camera fills up with shots like these . . .


Becca and Betsy were pretty hard on themselves about the photos they took of themselves, they were like "Dang it, I know we can be cuter than that!"


"Remember that time we took that really cute picture on my phone?"


"Oh yeah, we were so cute that time."


Then I was thinking that I wanted more attention, so I said "Hey, can I show you something I hate?"


And Becca was like "Yes please!"


"I hate my sock! I have the world's worst socks!"


"It's like someone just made tubes out of sock material and when they got to the end, they didn't know how to finish a sock off, so they just sewed them straight across . . . leaving my socks with square toes that poke out at the sides!"


"And then they were like, 'Hmm, I've seen socks with grey heels, let's make ours like that!' except the grey part doesn't even line up with the heel at all!"


"I mean, who makes a square toe?! Come on!!"


"To top it off, they don't even fit well!"


And then Cameron was like, "Dude, why you gettin' so upset about your socks? You know you could just go buy socks that you like."


We all had a good laugh.


Then I was like, "Maybe I'll stay up all night reading David Foster Wallace in Portuguese?"


And Becca was like, "I don't know, it's sort of late."


So we all called it a night. And since I'm a good guest, I left the girls with a really appropriate present when I took off the next day. Oh, and PS, Rebecca and Betsy just started their own blog, but I don't know if it has "gone public" yet . . . as soon as I find out it has I'll post the link and then you'll never even want to come around here again (because their adventures will be so much better than mine).


Although it took me a million years, I went back to Concord that afternoon and found everyone working in the backyard. I was going to hold off on posting these photos until tomorrow, but there were some complaints about a lack of pictures of grandchildren in my post yesterday.






The yard was full of rocks!


That night we went out for sushi as it has long been my dream to eat sushi with Cory. Kristen and Cory are braver than I'll ever be when it comes to where they'll dine with children.




Blake gave his chopsticks the old Edwards try.



Here's a video of Blake working the chopsticks, it's pretty much the same as those two photos, but includes motion and sound. That's what videos are, really.

Kristen and Cory's version (fairly similar, but includes photo of some mild-Uncleing on my part) of these events can be found on their blog.

Next Time: I star in the Chinese New Year Parade! (I'm not even kidding!) And I go to the Crush party!