He isn’t actually IN the apartment yet, but he will be in about 2 weeks. I chose the new roommate last Friday. The good-looking guy had the right personality and was one of my top 3, but he recently moved here and doesn’t have a job yet. The macaron baking guy was VERY HIGH on my list and had incredible energy, but… his credit report was not up to par. Thus, I went with the sure thing – the guy who’d E-mailed his credit report to me shortly after viewing the room. He’s a little younger than I’d prefer, but he has good credit and his personality also seems to be in sync with we 2 others. He’s a graphics designer for a start-up in FiDi (the Financial District, for those of you who don’t know), is NOT a vegetarian, does NOT smoke and DOES have a girlfriend (but she’s in Germany). He already asked if it would be ok if the girlfriend comes to visit for about 3 weeks in August. That’s fine by me, as long as he’s given me so much advance notice. He assures me that she’s neat, quiet, respectful of others and is an excellent cook to boot! That’s always welcome in the apartment!
In other breaking news, A. sent me another text last night. He’d just come back from Yosemite and said that he wanted to “finish the conversation we’d started when we were hanging out.” What in the world is he referring to? The conversation about us possibly becoming lovers?! Is he crazy?! As far as I’m concerned, that conversation IS finished! I am NOT attracted to him in that way. I know as soon as a man kisses me what his chances are. His were a straight-up zero, but I’m not really attracted to him physically, either. Just because he’s “slept with most of” his “friends” doesn’t mean he stands a chance with me. That man REALLY needs to quit. Once again, he didn’t get a response from me at all.
This weekend was the North Beach Festival, one of my favorite festivals in San Francisco. In truth, it isn’t quite as much fun as it used to be, but I still indulge myself. North Beach is our Little Italy and it’s located right next to Chinatown. As you probably already know from reading this blog (and if you personally know me), the places I frequent in North Beach are Panta Rei (lovingly referred to as Panty Raid), E Tutto Qua, Ideale, Cinecitta, 15 Romolo, BaoNecci, Stella Pastry, Dell’Uva, The House, Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store and, once in a great while, Sodini’s. Some of you may have been to several of those places WITH me! Nine out of ten times you will find me at Panty Raid or Ideale. I went to the Festival both yesterday and today. I listened to some zydeco music yesterday, ate a couple of slices of pizza at Tony’s Pizza Napolitana, went to the Blessing of the Animals at St. Francis of Assisi Church, then hung out at Panty Raid. Beings St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals, it’s fitting that the Blessing of the Animals takes place there every year during the weekend of the North Beach Festival. People bring mostly dogs, but also cats, rabbits, hamsters, birds, etc. It’s nice to see the church filled with dogs playing with each other! The Blessing takes place both days at 2:00 p.m. Attending always makes me want a puppy again! I squeezed myself into the bar at Panty Raid afterwards. It was packed, but I managed to find a spare seat. The guys on my right hand side insisted I do a couple of shots of Patron with them. One of them moved here a couple of years ago from Florida; the other was from Texas. There were a huge group of guys and girls on my left hand side; they decidedly reminded me of the Jersey Shore crowd! When they noticed my DSLR, however, they wanted me to take pictures of them; they bought me drinks in exchange. The guys on my right also wanted photos. Finally, yet another couple asked me to take their photo. In the end, everyone gave me their E-mail addresses to send the photos to. Geez, I felt like a professional photographer!
I went to the Blessing of the Animals again today. The service was much the same as yesterday, but with different animals, of course! I ran around the Festival taking a few pictures, then took BART all the way out to San Bruno just ’cause I felt like eating a burger at Red Robin! That’s the closest branch to San Francisco. I had a grilled turkey burger with chipotle aioli, a little guacamole and provolone cheese on an onion bun. I skipped the fries in favor of a green salad. Then I rushed home to watch the second half of the NBA Finals Game #5. I was more than happy with the end result.
Yeah, my life is pretty exciting, don’t you think?!
The Most Requested Kisser in the Kissing Booth
Waiting To Be Blessed
Relaxing During the Blessing
The “Jersey Shore” Group
My Patron Partners
The Washboard Player
Caffe Trieste
Italian Street Painting in Progress (With Chalk)
Grilling Up Some Festival Food