2. That teachers, and their unions, are what's wrong with this country...
3. That immigrants are what's wrong with this country."
-Steve Earle, getting political on stage at the Bluegrass festival at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco!
Let's back up a little bit. Steve Earle is the singer/songwriter of 'Copperhead Road', the song that I heard while in Texas that made all the cowboys and cowgirls run up and stomp their boots in unison to the accompanying line dance. They didn't stomp their boots when Mr. Earle played that song here in the park, but there was a crowd of nearly 800,000 stoners, boozers, hippies (beautiful and dirty), families, hobos, dogs, and regular guys named Steve all following along and having a bitching time!
Ok, let's back up a little more...
Salt Lake City!
Stayed with a host who was both hot and philosophical, nothing naughty happened.
Bitch and a half escaping from Utah, but after two nights of getting stranded I did NOT make it to my destination in Vegas. Cop kicked me off the highway -which, by the way, is how I made it to Utah from Miami- so I was stranded at Wal Mart for like, ten goddamn hours. Gas station host took me a town down which was an easier place to catch a ride. Long story short, I "covert camped" near the highway, I slept under bridges at other times, and even once purchased a shower at a truck stop. I won't bore you with the details of those three days, nor do they much matter at this point. I had some bad luck but in the end I made it all the way to San Diego, where I was able to catch a trolley to the border and get picked up by Randy!
Randy was true grit, but we got along and soon it became obvious that the man had a sensitive side. Not ten minutes after telling me a bar fighting story followed by "and then I shoved her mouth right into my cock"-like story, he showed me his romance novel that he was writing that was surprisingly some of the best writing I've seen all year. I only stayed for two nights but I wish I could have stayed longer because Randy was definitely a fun and engaging person once you got to know him and he showed me a good time down in Tijuana!
There was also Gal, the Israeli host who was also staying at Randy's place. He was a fun guy, and his total obliviousness to U.S. culture made me look more cultured by comparison.
Anyway, it's hard for me to linger on the "pre-San Francisco" days, because I've really been falling in love three times over in this incredible city. I was here one year ago with my girlfriend at the time and we made some beautiful memories that I carry with me coming into this city. What's so amazing about the city, however, is that even in it's 49 square mile area the possibilities to create more good memories are right behind every street corner.
I was just dicking around Chinatown, not really going in anywhere but just looking around when I stumbled upon Jack Kerouac alley. For those of you who have read "On the Road," the book was a strong inspiration for this whole hitchin thang. A quick Google search revealed that Kerouac frequented the bar and the bookstore at the end of the alley.
But enough of that... I saw fucking Steve Earle live and he was AWESOME!!! Guy's pretty far out there (especially for a country singer). I met my good friend Andrew from college at the show and we hung out for a bit. Second night I was there (Sunday), I was introduced to Theresa, Joey, and Lorrie (Rorrie, if you pronounce it with the Chinese accent). We left the festival, grabbed a drink at Kerouac bar (it's not called that), and had a jolly ol' time. They were cool.
I'm leaving out a lot but I'm a bit drunk so please excuse me. What I'm really trying to say here is that of all the places I've been to so far, I think my thumb has been most on the pulse of San Francisco. I've casually had the opportunities to use my Mandarin, Japanese, and Spanish (not with tourists I should mention), and the people are just... well, they're just cool. It's a city, just like any other city, with crazies and hipsters, and unnecessary glamour, (and lots and lots of gays), but beyond all that there's just this "coolness" in the people which make them chill to talk to, though not naive. It ain't LA where people are worried about their appearances all the fucking time and it ain't New York where it'll take you forever to get from one end of town to the other. It's San Francisco and I'm falling in love with this place all over again!
I'm here for two more nights, then I start my return journey. I'll try to find a way to be back here as soon as possible.
Signing out.
Way before Copperhead Roaaaaaaaad! (photos soon to come)
cool cool cool.
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