i still heart new york

It has been almost five years since I left New York, and I still miss something about New York every week, if not every day. One of the things about moving every few years is that you accumulate a longer list of things to miss from all the places you've been.  

Ten random things I miss about New York: 

(1) FreshDirect.com  

(2) My doorman  

(3) All-night diners  

(4) Skyscrapers  

(5) Sunday walks through Central Park to the Met  

(6) Easy navigation  

(7) Unbeatable restaurant and bar scene  

(8) Quirky shops and boutiques  

(9) New Yorkers  

(10) Same-day book delivery from Barnes & Noble

rat on a cat on a dog

I was walking around in San Francisco yesterday, and my friend and I did a double take, because there was a man walking a dog, and on the dog was a cat, and on the cat was a rat. It was like a modern-day version of the Brementown musicians, or something. The dog was walking along quite normally, and the rat and cat were perched on top as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

We immediately whipped out our BlackBerrys to do some on-the-spot Googling, and it turns out that the dog-cat-rat-man is something of a (crack-smoking) San Francisco institution, and he makes upwards of $100 a day from random admirers and passersby.

only in america

Happy New Year!! 

A friend and I took a little road trip around Northern California last week, and in between wine tastings and crab eatings, we explored some of the lesser-known sights of the Bay Area and environs.

Only in America would there be an alley covered in people's discarded, chewed gum, and only in America would it be well-known enough that people (including us) will make a point of stopping by to take pictures of it. We bought a pack of gum, chewed two pieces, and left our mark.

Only in America would some nutjob try to build a castle (which we went to see) to rival a nearby, better-known castle (which we didn't go see), using nothing but junk.

Only in America would some weird lady (who probably has a lot of cats) start a museum dedicated to hand fans, which takes up one small room.

Sorry if you miss my old habit of posting pictures -- I really ought to start a Flickr or Picasa for this, but instead, I just post all of my pictures on Facebook. Find me there, if we know each other, and if not, you'll just have to imagine my American adventures... If it's any consolation, I take very few pictures these days -- I took eight pictures during the road trip, and they all involved used gum.

there ain't nothing like...

...green mint chocolate chip ice cream

...being able to buy everything online

...being able to buy everything on sale online

...sunny, relatively warm December days

...freshly steamed lobster, $8/pound, even on the West Coast

...driving almost 400 miles on 8 gallons of gas (yay, Prius!)

Happy Holidays!!

then and now

Six months after moving from Zurich to California, I'm back in Zurich for a week, visiting friends and checking out my old stomping grounds. Most people flock back to the States for Thanksgiving, where turkeys, yams, and canned pumpkin are plentiful. Not me. I stopped by Safeway to pick up marshmallows, canned yams, French onions, a turkey brining bag, and cream of mushroom soup, none of which are easy to come by in Switzerland, and crammed them into my suitcase in preparation for my first visit back.

Eighteen hours and two flights after waking up to go to the airport in San Francisco, I stepped off the plane in Zurich. First thought -- wow, it's cold here. I had been complaining that it was only getting up to about 65 degrees in Mountain View, and going down to the 40's at night. In Zurich, they warned us to be careful not to slip on the ice as we deplaned. Ice?! ICE?!?! Really? OK. I remember this stuff. I can get used to it again. 

Wait, ice means that it's so cold that things freeze. So cold that I have to wear more clothes. So instead of wearing a t-shirt and light jacket, I have to wear a long-sleeved shirt, sweater, fleece, ski jacket, hat, and gloves. Oh, and that means I can't type on my BlackBerry as I walk around outside, because the gloves get in the way. Part of moving back to the States and working as a lawyer is that I have become wholly addicted to my BlackBerry. This is going to be a tough week, choosing between having adequate circulation in my fingers and feeding my addiction to constant connectivity.

Walking through the Zurich airport was simultaneously strange and familiar. I've been in the Zurich airport more than I've been in any other airport in the world, and it almost felt like I was just coming back from another of my innumerable weekend trips around Europe, except for the fact that I had to wait for a checked bag full of canned goods. The announcements in German, the unbelievably clean bathrooms, the Swiss-accented English, the piped-in soundtrack of yodeling and cows on the airport shuttle -- all of these things that I hadn't thought about but felt so strangely normal reminded me that I was indeed in Switzerland again.

The entire time that I was in Switzerland, I made occasional trips back to the States, during which I would madly stock up on whatever things I was missing in Switzerland. This time, it's going to be the other way around. I'll be eating things that are rare in the States -- good fondue, a certain kind of salad, and perhaps some sausage. I'll go buy large quantities of chocolate to take back as gifts, but maybe eat before they can be given, and I'll consider smuggling some cheese, as well. If I can find some funky sneakers that I like, I'll bring those, too -- there is space in my luggage now that the yams and onions are gone.

It's strange to visit my old life and realize it's not mine anymore.

roller coaster

I live and work in Mountain View, about 45 minutes south of San Francisco. Mountain View tends to be flat -- you can look down the road and see all of the traffic lights for blocks and blocks ahead of you. Every couple of weeks, I make the pilgrimage up to the city to see friends and hang out with my sister and her family, and it's like a journey to uncharted territory.

San Francisco is hilly. Like, roller coaster hilly. Forget about trying to see the traffic lights five blocks ahead, you might not even be able to see the next traffic light. Getting your car up the hill to the next intersection is an agonizing approximation of the uphill part of a rollercoaster. Adjacent neighborhoods can be on sunny hilltops or fog-filled valleys. A simple drive across town involves so many quick changes in altitude that your ears pop multiple times going up and down all the hills between point A and point B. I'm not kidding. So weird.

uh oh

I check the weather forecast every day. Force of habit, I suppose. And every day, it comes up the same - warm and sunny. Granted, sometimes it only goes up to 75, and every once in a while, it breaks 90, but usually it's somewhere around 80 and sunny.

Except for this morning, the forecast said that this Friday, there is a 30 percent chance of rain. This is the first time I've seen the rain icon since moving here. I almost didn't recognize it.

Not that 30 percent is that high. And not that I'll be here to see if it does rain - I'll be in London for five days, enduring colder (and probably rainier) weather than they will be having here.

But winter is coming, as evidenced by that 30 percent chance of future rain...

now entering mordor

I live in Mountain View, which is about 45 minutes south of San Francisco. In any normal place, two places that are a 45 minute drive apart would share a similar climate. Not here.

I've been living here for four months now, and it has been warm and sunny every day. It rained once, for about five minutes, and there have been days when I have seen clouds. Otherwise, it's like the movie Groundhog Day - every day is exactly the same - except that in Groundhog Day, the weather was always cold and snowy, and here, it's been warm and sunny. I'm not complaining, I love it, it's just a bit disconcerting.

Every week or two, I drive up to the city to see my sister and friends. I toss my dog and a change of clothes into my car, as well as a fleece and a jacket for later. On the drive up, I wear a t-shirt and sunglasses, and turn the air conditioning on - sitting in a sunny car can get warm. About 30 minutes into the drive, right around where I pass the airport, however, I usually start feeling a little bit like Frodo, leaving the Shire behind for dark and dangerous territory. Driving in a sun-drenched car under blue skies, I can look ahead and see ominous clouds and heavy fog looming ahead. In the space of five seconds, I drive from perfect sun into misty darkness, and it feels like I'm entering Mordor.

Most weekends, by the time I get to my sister's place, the sun no longer exists, even at 2 in the afternoon. I hop out of the car and scramble to put on my extra layers as quickly as possible before the chill sets in. Fiver refuses to do his business, because he's too busy shivering.

Strange place, the Bay Area...

happy lungs

Some coworkers and I decided to go play some pub trivia after work yesterday, and I stopped by my apartment before heading out to the pub. While I was in my apartment, I was debating between a sweatshirt and a jacket, and found myself mentally weighing which one would absorb less smoke, and which one was already dirty (and would therefore require washing, anyways, regardless of the smoke). Then I started dreading coming home with my hair reeking of smoke and I wondered if it was really worth going out at all.

And then I remembered...!!

California, unlike Switzerland, is wonderfully smoke-free!!

I spent nearly three hours in a pub full of people, and didn't smell a single cigarette while I was there. Bliss.

five more things

Five more things I miss about Zurich:

1) Good chocolate and cheese  

2) Summer street festivals  

3) Uniform cell phone network coverage  

4) Having everything in walking distance  

5) The outdoor women's swimming pool-slash-bar  

Five more things I love about the Bay Area:

1) Readily available Lactaid and dill pickles  

2) Proximity to the ocean (and therefore diving)  

3) Testing pre-release stuff at work  

4) Unlimited cell minutes and free local calls  

5) Air-conditioned office buildings