SF outing

[tarigwaemir]

Haste Street on the Feast of St. Edward the Confessor

Met up with ladydaera today in San Francisco and felt incredibly happy to see a familiar face again. Talking with Daera is good for me: she's relaxed and keeps up a balanced life, which in turn motivates me to whip mine into order. Anyway, we ended up going to the farmers' market in the Ferry Building, buying new shoes, eating bubble tea and pastries at the Westfield mall, and finally catching a movie at the Metreon. Yes, I actually went shopping for shoes voluntarily, and no, the sky hasn't fallen yet. I bought a very nice pair of casual flats with straps, since I was getting sick of wearing the same pair of sneakers day in and day out. (Speaking of which, I need to wash my sneakers.) Also, there was a Beard Papa's in the food court of the mall, so Daera got a cream puff and I got a chocolate fondant. Which turned out to be a huge mistake, since I'd just had a bad case of indigestion from yesterday but it was still delicious. >_<

We ended up watching Eastern Promises, which stars Viggo Mortensen and is about the Russian mafia. The movie turned out to be more gruesome than I expected but the plot was interesting, the Russian accents were awesome, and okay, it's about the Russian mafia, enough said. If I ever write that series of Gokusen AUs with Yankumi as the scion of different mafias across the globe, I can include the Vory v Zakone in the list. Missed part of the movie though due to the chocolate fondant, alas. Maybe that's why the movie felt a little short to me.

We also visited two bookstores along the way, and I picked up the new Temeraire book, Empire of Ivory, as well as Orhan Pamuk's The New Life, which begins with the sentence, "I read a book one day, and my whole life was changed." How could I resist? I also want to read Pamuk's The Black Book, but that will probably have to wait. I really ought to get a library card before all this compulsive book-buying gets out of hand.

Walking around in downtown San Francisco reminded me all over again how much I miss being in a city: the tall buildings, the streetlights, the noise and pace of pedestrians on the sidewalks. I suppose I'm irredeemably urbanized after all.

For tomorrow:
[ ] go to Mass
[ ] grocery shopping
[ ] laundry
[ ] clean house
[ ] start on NSF proposal and personal statement
[ ] read papers

...Will I have time to run to lab and analyze data? I also probably should run that PCR reaction that I've been pushing off all week. -_- But at least there's the weekly Skype session with schwimmerin and Nan! ::misses roommates::

Yours &c.

Post-script: You know, I'm starting to worry that I've inherited my mother's digestive troubles. ;_; Whatever happened to the cast-iron stomach I developed in college?!

Post-post-script: Apparently there is a viral transcription factor inhibitor called Zhangfei. How awesome is that? There are also (viral?) capsules named Guanyu too.

Comments

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

I <3 the Ferry Building farmers' market! It was the only thing I got out of the flat for today--I had to get some bread and other groceries, after which I schlepped back home and into PJs for the rest of the day.

[troisroyaumes]

The prices were a little too expensive for our budgets, but we went around to all the stalls and tasted all the free samples. I had no idea that there were so many varieties of olive oil! Also, some of the peaches and nectarines were huge. Definitely a wonderful place. ^_^

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

It is expensive (and most of the fruit are so big and heavy that they come out to more pounds than I think they will)! It makes me wonder why, because the farmers' markets in Rome were just as good in terms of produce, and lots, lots cheaper. Like, 1 kg of peaches for 1.50 EUR cheaper, compared to $3.00/lb. I don't mind it too much, because the quality is good and most of the stands are small farmer operations, but I wonder why the food and political cultures here don't support small farmers better. I don't know much about agricultural subsidies in Italy, but I don't think the farmers could survive selling fruit for 1.50EUR/kg without some government aid. Or maybe general cost of living is lower.

[troisroyaumes]

It could partly be the cost of living in SF, because I remember that farmer's market in Davis Square (in Somerville, near Cambridge) was supposed to be much, much cheaper than the supermarkets. But then again, Europe is probably better in general in legislating government support for agriculture, given the stronger socialist presence in politics there.

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

I recently saw an article that said that the EU spends more per farmer per acre in public subsidies than the U.S. does, but they are more sensible about applying those subsidies. I suspect those subsidies go to small farmers rather than industrial agriculture giants such as ADM, which is what happens in the U.S.

Still on for Saturday? :D

[troisroyaumes]

Of course! ^_^

[mercurysblood.livejournal.com]

Zhangfei did not suppress LOL

[troisroyaumes]

Bizarrely appropriate, isn't it? XD

[emblem.livejournal.com]

Oh, NSF. *COMMISERATES*

And those are some sweet names. <3 Have you given any thought to what you'd like to name something you discover?

[troisroyaumes]

::clings:: I don't want to go through this application rigmarole all over again! T_T

Haha, if I continue working with yeast, I doubt I'll discover a new gene but if the occasion did occur, maybe I'll name it after a Lord of the Rings character. (Although knowing scientists, there probably are genes named after Tolkien. ^_^) Then again, most yeast names are awfully boring. Incentive to work on Drosophila instead? XD

[aishuu.livejournal.com]

Just a quick note - we're not going to be posting at answer_key since the style's different. We're going to be using fifthmus itself. ^_^

[troisroyaumes]

Oh, okay, thanks for letting me know! ^_^

[derlirum.livejournal.com]

I went there on my last business trip. It was fun. Admittedly, the groceries there are expensive, but they are delicious! (I bought some apples and artisan cheese and shared it with friends. Needless to say, it was awesome.)

I didn't know you could buy shoes there, though. ^^

Next time I'm in SF, we should hang out!

[troisroyaumes]

Oh, didn't make it clear; I bought the shoes at DSW Shoe Warehouse near Powell St., not at the farmers' market. ^_^;; But I did buy one of the books at the bookstore in the Ferry Building.

Next time I'm in SF, we should hang out!

Yes, we most certainly should! XD