For a long time i’ve really wanted to try out Critical Mass. it’s this crazy bike ride that happens the last friday of every month in downtown sf. they gather a huge crowd of thousands of people on bicycles and everyone rides their bikes downtown during rush hour traffic. in a way it’s a protest against so many people driving cars. finally, last friday i got to try it.

It was so dope! people totally go all out and attach huge speakers to their bikes so they can blast music, others dress in wacky costumes, and everyone just basically goes totally crazy. it was just so nuts to be biking through the city and taking over all the streets. people had no regard for red lights, traffic, or anything. there were just so many people that the cars had no choice but to give bikers the right of way. we would take over all the lanes in the whole street.. and it was such a trip to see the street of downtown sf filled w/ nothing but bikes. we even biked through several tunnels. anyone who’s honked their horn in a tunnel knows how crazy it sounds due to the acoustics…. well, imagine a tunnel filled w/ screaming people , clanging bells, hectic drum beats! so dope!

the whole time i just kept thinking… dayum, how dope is it to be living here in sf. san francisco is so damn cool cause all the time you get to try out new experiences that are very out of the ordinary. Experiences that make you think “this is so random! does this kind of stuff happen anywhere else?” it has something for everyone and the cool stuff is never-ending.

-v

this weekend i went to club icon, the club that used to be the edge in palo alto. It has been so long since i have been at any mainstream club type of event, and after this weekend i can definitely remember why i dont go anymore. yeah, i did overall actually have a good time, hung out w/ friends, got to listen to veanne spin a good set but the place itself was just so damn cheesy.

first off, the place had a dress code. of course, as usual, i came there wearing shorts and as soon as i saw the dress code sign, i knew there would be problems. while in line i saw the two guys at the door grumbling to each other, but in the end they decided to let me in… of course they had to throw in the snide remark of “hey guy, next time you come back here, try to wear some pants". uh, yeah, thanks. there wont be a next time. the idea of someone else deciding what they think i should be wearing is just fucking ridiculous. who the hell do they think they are? how shallow can a place to be to decide whether or not people can come in based on what kind of clothes they have on. sheez.

once inside, it becomes fairly obvious that everyone there is probably just as shallow as the people working the door. everyone is dressed to impress and is out on the prowl. people are dancing, but really it looks like they’re going through motions to make themselves look cool. *sigh*. everything just seems like a high school dance.. and they’re even playing the old cheezy hits from those days to make it even more so. so, i didnt talk to anyone there that i didnt know, but i did overhear this great conversation when i was in the restroom… “yo man, wasssssup wit’ your girl???” “yeah, you know, i’m gonna hit that shit, then make her swallow that shit, and then wear her panties on my head! yeahhhhh". wtf?? what is wrong w/ these people? and as i walk out of the restroom, i see him give his girlfriend a big sweet hug. awwww.

anyways, all of it was pretty weak. really confirmed just how whack a lot of these mainstream places are. makes me glad that i never went in that direction…

-v

this weekend was actually really cool. usually there’s some cool stuff going on here and there w/ breaks in between… but this time it was pretty much nonstop fun.

i got the 800$ check from the guy who hit my car! so i can finally afford to actually spend some money!

friday: steph and i went down to brian and kare’s house to hang out w/ them, jamie, tom, aaron, and joey. we saw the movie “red dragon” and then all hung out for a bit and drank beers. it was cool to hang out w/ some of the south bay folks that i dont get to see very often. joey, of course, comes to sf pretty frequently so i get to see him quite a bit.. but the other are incredibly lazy and rarely are down to make the trek up to SF. it really sucks cause i feel like i was really starting to get close to these people before i moved northwards.. but now the longer i live up here.. i end up seeing them less and less and i totally feel like we’re starting to drift.

saturday: steph and i took the N judah today and went to go see the blue angels. it was way funner than i expected it to be. i hadn’t had too much of a desire to see the blue angels.. but when we got there, they turned out to be totally amazing. the roar of the jets sounded so damn cool! after that we went to Litquake. it was this event where a bunch of authors read excerpts of their stuff. We went cause dave eggers was gonna read there. it was dope to see him read cause he’s totally my favorite author right now. Next we cruised down to san jo and had indian food w/ elena and patrick. afterwards we watched some tv back at elena’s. just like yesterday… it was cool to be able to just hang out w/ friends and not have an agenda. i’m totally down for bars/clubs/etc.. but it’s definitely nice sometimes to be able to just kick it.

sunday: in the morning i got my copy of “you shall know us by our velocity” signed by dave eggers. dude.. he’s so dope!! next erica, robert, and i went down to santa cruz to hang out w/ sharon. we spent the day hiking around, skipping rocks, checking out the mysterious building at 519 fair ave, and then eating at saturn cafe. sharon is another person who lately i dont get to see too often./ she’s always too busy w/ school. sigh. so it was really cool to get to hang out.

ok.. i’m kinda rushing all this cause i need to leave the computer.. but that pretty much sums up my weekend

-v

This weekend we went to Medeia’s pantie party. I usually am kinda resistant about going to parties where you have to dress up. i’ve never been into dressing up and other than halloween, i try to avoid it if at all possible. But i think i’m coming now to realize that parties where everyone gets dressed up usually end up being totally wild and crazy and hellza fun.

After pre-drinking at Yan’s new place, we set off for the party wearing all sorts of random nonsense. kevin and i both were wearing 3 pairs of boxers, each pair hanging a few inches lower than the previous, instead of pants. Steph was wearing a bra and panties on her head. Some of the guys w/ us were wearing panties and bras on the outside of their clothes. basically, we looked like total freaks.

We get to the party and it’s full of people wearing very little clothes. And as the night went on… people ended up wearing less and less. People would get to the party fully clothed, and within minutes end up wandering around pantless. One dude spent most of the night wearing just a sock. Yes, *only* a sock… and soon he wasn’t even wearing that! Oh yeah, and this party had pantie punch: a huge cooler filled with juice, sherbert and tons of liquor. every group of people who came to the party contributed a bottle to the punch.. so as the night went on, the punch got stronger and stronger. and there was a pair of *gasp* panties in the punch. i can only hope that they were brand new and not used YUCK!

In next to no time, everyone was completely obliterated. most of us really don’t remember too much of what happened that night. just bits and pieces… Colleen opening bottles w/ her teeth, steph telling the dj over and over that his music sucked, some girl begging natasha to hook up w/ her, random people rolling around on the kitchen floor, me running into people i knew in high school, everyone making out all over the damn place. basically, it was all nuts. put a bunch of half naked people in a house full of alcohol… and you know the party is gonna go off!

-v