dude, where's my heart? Oh no, I think I left it in.....

SAN FRANCISCO


That's right kids. I am back from my week in the City By the Bay, which I vote to rename the City You are Thankful You Don't Have to Drive a Manual Transmission In. I was out there visiting Sydney, a magical creature who somehow convinced me to get on a plane again even though after this last year I am getting tired of removing liquids from my hand luggage and putting my seat in an upright locked position. Although going through Customs entering America is not an unpainful experience, I am thankful for the fun technique of trying to surprise terrorists with questions they are not expecting. Right after, "what is your reason for visiting?" I got asked "Do you like seafood?" I was like, ooh, ooh, I know this one!!

She mainly got me there by uttering the words "Sufjan Stevens" who we have already discussed. Turns out it was The Best Concert Ever, complete with an orchestra, choir, and butterfly wings on all the performers. It rocked my socks SO HARD. We even had our very own balcony like the grumpy guys in the Muppets, and it was from this balcony that Sufjan had hundreds of inflatable supermen thrown onto the audience during "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts". We got to throw some of the supermen and even got to keep one. We saw many a concert over the week, also including Architecture in Helsinki and Clap Hands Say Yeah (poor sound quality and distant seats, but cool theater and not sparing with the funk) and most excitingly, a punk rock show at a seedy bar in the Mission featuring The Phenomonauts, a space/rockabilly/punk act with amazing costumes and bad jokes about binary.

my fortune cookie did say "robots will rock you"

And besides just rotting my brain with music, I actually filled it to capacity with culture on expeditions to the MOMA, the De Young (actually better than the MOMA) and to fun design stores.

syd wonders where the tiny people are who made these chairs

finally, a safety pin you can find when you need it

Truly, a week of art, music, shopping and stuffing my face full of bakery goods and saltwater taffy.