"In the conditions of the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, the city, c'mon"

Tonite's title comes from the Common song Chi-City. I love the song and I really love when it hits that part of the song. Obviously he's referring to Chicago [a great city in its own right], but the city that speaks to me in that way is San Francisco. I spent another amazing weekend up there, in a place that always feels like home as opposed to some place I've left and am no longer familiar with. I'm sure part of it has to do with the fact that I was always learning about new things there...so even if I come up on something new it doesn't feel foreign in the usual sense. But there's a lot I do know and love. I actually had the chance to really just hang out in the City on Saturday and it was wonderful...really, really making me want to move back.

Anywho...the usual list of highlights:

• getting asked for directions twice while standing on the street with my rolling carry-on bag [who asks someone who is clearly traveling for directions?]
• hotel upgrade to the suite with 2 huge flat-panel TVs within 15 feet of each other, a stereos system, a shower and a separate tub, and a collection of CDs
• Kobe beef bacon cheeseburger and gyudon beef for dinner
• hotel goods as a present [i wish it was my idea...but it wasn't]
  
• lots and lots of shopping [premium jeans for me...but no winter coat]
• meeting some new ppl
• the guys winning in Taboo [I consider myself the difference maker - and "darling"]
• white elephant exchange, stealing the present i brought, and not getting anything except a box of funny cards in the end [not even the pooping reindeer!]
• strolling around a bit

It gets harder and harder to be away from such a great place where so many great ppl are, but I'll be back for New Year's eve and I'm sure again not long after that [by then I'll have earned 2 free round-trip tickets on Southwest...suhweet!] At the end of the day I feel like my real life is the time I spend up there [as well as the rest of my time traveling and being out & about], while my time here and working is some falsity. Maybe not falsity...but not a reality. But hey...i guess it's all real, all a part of life and all I can do now is work hard and continue to enjoy my free time. What comes next [be it now or in a while.

Some pics from the weekend as well as some black & whites I shot a little while ago up on the flickr page. I left my camera in the car so I didn't get any pics from the party...sadness. I should probably get some sleep after a fun and full weekend.