Happy new year! I spent my New Year's Eve in a hotel bed (alone) eating, watching movies, ignoring the feeling that being alone in a hotel bed on NYE was a bad omen. There were a few bad omens during my stay in California -- an earthquake, a blackout that left half of San Francisco in a creepy darkness, a particularly shattering dream, a country on high terror alert. But in the end nothing bad happened, save a slightly swollen and sprained right hand and a slightly fuzzy and unfocused jetlagged brain.
I didn't have sense to be concerned flying there -- I was unaware of the cancelled flights brought on by apparent unintelligible intelligence. I was exhausted from parties and booze and running around trying to find presents and clothes and stuff. I spent the first four days in a fog (both literal and figurative) dinners (and the ensuing wines, champagnes, vodkas, bourbon?) with Andy, Anthony, Paul, Robert and the rest of the gay mafioso-so-so. Had a lunch with Jenn who recently remigrated and was back in SF getting used to American life (and the overwhelmingly sized ceasar salads) and her new found VP-ness. Saw Kate and Anne's overwhelmingly sized bead shop, Beadissimo which, despite its costly Mission location, is the size of a small village and tried to resist all of the shiny little beads. Did Christmas with my mum and brother at my cousin's renovated neo-classical suburban tract home and was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ten Americans talking excitedly over each other. Then spent four days laying about my mother's flat -- eating, cooking, drinking, shopping. So, even though it was a good amount of time, it was a bit of a blur. Ok, that may have been the alcohol, but may also have been the sheer whirlwind of people.
It's nice to have been, and nice to be back.
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