Cali trip

[sistawendy]

As you may recall, my son has a touch of Asperger's syndrome and is therefore passionately attached to routine. Lately, part of his daily routine has been giving the Puppigrrl her morning arthritis medication, which consists of half a chewable tablet. The start of school on Wednesday has put a stop to this: he has to leave before she gets her pill with breakfast. Meanwhile, I'd broken a week's worth of tablets in half in advance and left them in a dish on the counter. The Wendling decided to re-establish his routine by putting the whole dish on the floor for my undoubtedly delighted dog. We discovered this an hour before we were to leave. A quick call to the vet informed us that she almost certainly didn't need her stomach pumped. Over the next couple of days, we called our faithful Natasha (that's a code name) who assured us that aside from some intestinal complaints she was her usual perky self.



Made a pilgrimage to the Castro. The first thing you notice there is the rainbow flags on every available surface, even trash cans, so many that I wonder if bad things happen to businesses that don't display them. I have to say I was expecting something... queerer. Sure, there were bears smooching each other before one got into a cab and so on, but it's now a better place to find (nice) yuppie tzatzkes and furniture than it is to find leather. A destination that was my idea turned out to be more Her Nibs' cup of tea.

Passed Dark Garden corsets in the cab on the way to the Castro. Pointed it out to Nibbal Unit, who said I shouldn't scare the nice Muslim cab driver. C'mon, this is Frisco.

No dramatic declarations about the state of our marriage happened, by the way. It just didn't seem like the right time or place. Maybe the tzatzkes took it out of me.

Many of you would dig Flax Art, by the way, which is an art supply store on Market & Octavia. Pretty, pretty paper.



Santa Cruz is the apotheosis of all things stereotypical about California: the surfers, the Buddhist jargon, avocado on everything, and everyone wearing flip-flops. Her Nibs, who went to high school there, pointed out every nook and cranny and was astounded by how little any of it had changed in over twenty years. The lack of change makes some sense, though: Santa Cruz is comfortable in every way -- economically, climatically, esthetically -- and it's nearly cut off from nearby sprawling, dynamic San Jose by mountains.

Went for a walk on the beach over by the "cement ship", an honest-to-goodness concrete-hulled ship. The boat was made that way because of WWI steel shortages, used as a showboat until the Depression arrived, and now smashed by the storms of '82, partly sunk and covered with guano at the end of its pier.

Spotted exactly one somewhat gothy-looking person, and bought something in the only remotely freaky clothing establishment. I figure they need the support in a place like SC. I know I needed the gloves.

ATTN euterpe35: You need to go to Bunny's Shoes, Pacific Garden Mall in downtown SC. You'll thank me.

Driving California route 1 from SC to SF will blow your mind. Spinach fields (organic, of course) right up to the sea cliffs. The cliffs themselves. The brown golden hills scantily clad with conifers.


Considered going out tonight, but ran out of time and energy.

Comments

[tiff-seattle.livejournal.com]

C'mon, this is Frisco.

Frisco is a city in Texas.

[euterpe35.livejournal.com]

If I ever get down to SC, I will certainly check it out.

hmm... wonder if they have a website...

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

Arm-length? Opera-length? Sequined? Inquiring minds want to know! ;)

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Elbow-length stretch satiny scarlet ones. I needed them. Needed, I tell you. (Only my leather ones are really opera-length, I think.