I don't want to live on someday when my motto is last week

Listening to: Carla Bruni, "Quelqu'un m'a dit (Someone Told Me)." Wow talk about being late to the party. I've been wondering what this track was since it comes up when I hit my 500 Days of Summer playlist and everytime I'm like "Man this is good." Imagine my surprise when I dig this Carla Bruni and find out she's married to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. Where was I when this happened? Bruni's a model, singer, soon to be actress, and the First Lady! Her Wikipedia entry is fascinating as it reveals her boredom with monogamy and her past romantic involvements with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, and the former French Prime Minister. What would be the U.S. equivalent of this? If Obama had been single and married Beyonce? Those crazy French. Great song made even more fun by the artist's backstory. And why are all the top hits about Michelle Obama and Bruni about their fashion face off? Really America?

For some reason, when I return to San Francisco I'm totally discombobulated. I used to write if off as just not being familiar enough with the city but after having spent half of last year here, and even having rented an apartment for a summer, you'd think I could come back and get around with some precision. Instead it's been proven that once I enter the city I lose total sense of direction and have no idea where things are. Like earlier in the week I was driving around the Mission -- where I used to live -- and kept going in circles. So when people ask me how it feels to be back, I'm pretty much capturing everything by saying "I feel lost."

Since returning there's been some jam packed activities. A long weekend in Tahoe which become more about hanging out than snowboarding. Last year we pushed ourselves to get to the slopes super early, for that fresh eight am ride. This year we woke up at a leisurely hour, ate a well balanced breakfast, did some yoga stretching (not me), and then got mentally prepared by listening to Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me." By the time we got to Alpine Meadows on Friday morning, it was just about eleven and the sun was bearing down and making everyone relaxed and sleepy. In fact, after just two runs we found ourselves on the outdoor patio "taking a break." This is what snowboarding trips have devolved into as an adult: relaxation and sunshine. Before we'd make it a point to power through from morning till late afternoon, stopping only for bathroom breaks and a little bit of food.

Actually now that I think about it, I haven't done all that much this week aside from meet up with friends and eat. But I guess that's 80% of life anyway. The absolute highlight of my first week here has been watching Wicked. It's my third time and if I didn't love the musical enough before, I'm back in love with it. Re-love if you will. We got great tickets the day of and I was able to see the performers from quite close. Hyperbole alert! I don't think any other musical can match Wicked for the amount of emotional, political, and synergistic depth. It's really sharp, don't you think (you know, black is this year's pink)? I think I need to attempt watching it on Broadway again, or maybe I'll save that for my tenth viewing or something.

Last year around this time we saw/met the SF cast of Wicked. George even semi-befriended one of them and we could have all been friends. Instead she was lame and couldn't hang out on Mondays (their day off) because of her job and instead cursed me to sit there a year later watching the people we could have been friends with sing and dance on-stage. Lesson we should have learned then: Quit the day job, hang out with the Wicked cast, feel awesome about your life.

I've noticed that people in the Bay talk about transportation a lot. There's just so many options I guess. Bikes, scooters, Zipcars, your own car, cabs, buses, rideshare, shuttles, BART, walking, etc. How you get somewhere partially defines who you are, and provides insight into your circumstance. I personally can't imagine living in SF without a car, because the public transportation is terrible and the weather incredibly unpredictable. If it's under a mile and a half I'd prefer to walk and if it's over two miles I'm driving.

The bus is a last resort and only for use during off-peak hours -- no getting jammed in for me, thanks. Lurching from block to block seems so inefficient and I often feel trapped like those poor people from Speed. I know, this is ludicrous and hifalutin to me to suggest that I'm above public transportation but seriously, compared to other major metropolitan cities, the SF mass transit system is ridiculous. And while I'm here, hailing cabs is an exercise in futility. Anyway, glad to be back Bay Area, glad to be back.