Californified, Day 1

monshu came over this morning on the pretext of "helping me pack" so that I could jump him before I left. Afterwards, we grabbed breakfast at Tweet. It would've been far nicer without the shrieking toddler two tables over. He said, "I don't understand why parents can't get their children to be quiet." I pointed out that the kid, who he couldn't see, was too young for effective correction. The real problem, IMHO, was late-birthing yuppies attempt to continue living their pre-parental livestyle.

This was balanced out by the parents who sat behind me on the plane. The father actually apologised in advance to my seat neighbour for the baby's kicking his seat and offered to switch if it got to be too much. I leaned over and complimented the guy, who said that for years he cringed whenever he saw parents bring a baby on a plane. Why didn't Selfish Yuppie Mom learn anything during those years?

Other than that, the travel was uneventful. I was seated right by a monitor and could not get myself to turn away. Tragic. We got in a little early and the Fabulous Girlfag and her wife picked me up at the airport. Their place is pleasant enough, just off Cesar Chavez (or "Army Street" to you old timers out there) in Bernal Heights. We took a little stroll in search of lunch and settled on El Patio, a little Salvadorean place dominated by a very loud jukebox. (It seemed to be on some sort of a timer, because every quarter hour or so it blasted out another vile Bee Gees tune and had to be put down.) I ordered pasteles, papusas, and custard-stuffed banana cakes--the last of these surprisingly savoury--and washed it all down with a homemade tamarind drink.

After this, I settled down with the Girlfag in her living room and we went at it like two Furbies. Only dinnertime put a stop to our jabber, a sprawling reunion featuring her two sons (one of which lives in the Mission) and my ex Monkey Boy, who used to provide live-in babysitting, plus his boyfriend of several years. (Her daughter and her Justin Timberlake look-alike boyfriend stayed home.) After much discussion and preparation (some things never change), we ate at a Thai place in Inner Sunset, Sukothai, and closed it down. I have nothing bad to say about it, though I will remark that several dishes read better than they tasted.

Now my hostesses are off having a chat with MB and his man for which they didn't want me around. Don't know what that's about and not going to pry. I'm just going to wait for my stomach to settle and then collapse like a tower of old laundry into a bed downstairs.