The Castro

Walking down 17th Street from Haight to the Castro - and getting thereIt doesn't really show on the photo, but this local cinema was having a "Grease - singalong" night. I felt that was very appropriate :)

Rufus sings about 14th street - and even though I don't know for a fact that it's this one, I think it's a fair assumption. I forced my sister to stand in the middle of the street just so she could take this one. Fortunately, traffic was low... Just after she took this picture, a little old lady walked up to us and actually straight onto us. Pushing us aside as she walked. My sister commented on this in Norwegian. The little lady turned around - really slowly... "I've got a steel knee and I have to walk in a straight line", she explained. (Q: Did she understand Norwegian??) Then continued - "I'm 81 years old, I've lived here all my life. Tomorrow will be another fine day like this, and then the temperatures will drop". (Q: did her steel knee tell her this?) "What did you want to photograph here? There's a nice church just down ..." At this point she waved a hand in the general direction of Mission Dolores and then left us, trying to make it across the street on green...
We'd already been to Mission Dolores. Unfortunately, it was closed for some reason (though the sign stated the opposite), so we only got to see the outside.
Quite pretty on the outside too, though!

- is that bullet holes...?

Bagdad café, where we lunched. And learnt that "small portion" is actually ample...
So, was the Castro really different? Of course, there were rainbow flags everywhere. (Incidentally, last time I was in Rome, a few years back, there were rainbow flags everywhere there too - only they were symbols of peace, and used by the 'Americans out of Iraq' movement...) I saw 4-5 couples (one female) holding hands or holding their arms around eachother. I know I saw two guys in drag, possibly a third one but it could have been a girl... And there was that giant poster advertising family planning; two hot guys holding eachother and a woman standing discreetly a little way off - the tummy mummy? Other than that, it was just a really nice neighbourhood. Beautiful houses, clean, friendly, with some great bookshops (I didn't visit any other kinds of shops, come to think of it), and a lot of cute guys walking around...
Really don't see why this would have to happen only in the Castro, though. I'm all for people holding hands, whatever their preferences may be. And I really dislike people making out right in front of me even if they're as straight as nails...

Chinatown and me

I felt like I was in China. I also felt as if I were 7 feet tall. But I'm afraid these two lousy photographs were the only ones I took, I was a bit overwhelmed, to be honest... (Also, I bought winter jackets for everyone in my family, carrying the 7 of them around possibly cramped my photo-taking opportunities... But they were $13.99 each, how could I not!)
I went to the post office in Chinatown (the cards that made it to people like you were sent from here) - and immediately started looking around for cameras. Surely this was a shooting for a film "supposedly set in China"? But no, this was America, and the facts that a) I was the only non-Chinese around, and b) that I learnt "next in line" in Chinese while waiting (long forgotten now...) only added to the feeling of genuineness.
I've never been to China. But this felt like the real thing, nothing staged for the likes of me. People were going about their business - which just happened to be in San Francisco...

What, exactly, are friends for?

You know the old saying that's what friends are for. And I'm not questioning what friends are for. Not friends.

But - in the last few days I've gotten 39 friends (and counting...) on my new fav iLike. Most of them I've found and clicked on "add to friends" myself, some of them have come to me and done the same. All but one have an outstanding taste in music (= same as mine...). The last one also has an outstanding taste in music, although iLike claims we're only medium compatible. Yet he keeps listening to the same music as me, so we weren't too bothered by the score...

38 of my new best friends are male (well, I like guys, what can I say... Besides, I apparently have very manly musical tastes...). The only girl isn't just highly compatible - she's also Greek and the current leader of the iLike challenge music quiz, so how could we not be friends?!

Also, some I've added on myspace and one even on facebook. Which means they're about as good as bluddies... Some have even got their own very readable blogs, like Eric R. Now, reading his blog and knowing his music taste sort of adds to the experience!

I admit it, I love finding new friends. And making friends whom you already know have a great music taste is, well, great! Mine are from 15 years old to about 60 - they're from Mexico, Belgium, Iran, the US, Norway even... Excellent.

- But what, exactly, are these friends for? Do they fill a void in my social life? Will I invite them to the kids' birthdays next week? Are they already making plans to come and visit? Or am I in desperate need of a life...? For whatever reason - welcome :)

P.S. The good thing is, this doesn't really interfere with work, either. Listening to my ipod on itunes feeds iLike and keeps my new friends up-to-date with what I like even when I'm not logged in. How simple is that?

Sorry, guys...

Life as we know it has been temporarily suspended.

I've met somebody new. We are very happy together. I like...

Fooooodstuff

We did have plans to eat elsewhere, honest! But we seemed to always end up at some diner. When in Rome...

Golden Gate bridge

This was right next to the emergency phone...

.. and this is from the other side, our hosts took us out to the headlands. A bit windy, but I was very pleased we caught the only cloud that visited San Francisco that week on film. On pixels, rather, or however it's done :)

The Match

I suppose I must mention The Match.

It was a bright and sunny - and calm! - morning, and I had San Francisco at my feet. So what do I do? I walk a few blocks down from where we're staying, to the Irish the Kezar pub, to watch the Champions league final on television. Of course I do...

The pub could probably house at least a 100 people, and there were at least 200 there. Felt like more... A handful of Italians (and the referee!) and then all Brits and Irish. And 1 Norwegian. What can I say? I was home. So we played a great first half , a more untidy second half, and we lost. The Italians in the pub were ecstatic at the end, but weren't killed, so I guess you could say there was a friendly atmosphere...
Some scouser bought me a beer, must have noticed how the 50º C (122º F) in the room also got to me. As well as the singing and shouting. Yes, I sang and shouted, songs I hadn't known I knew -- and of course, our anthem. And I will get a tattoo like that one. Hubby says I can, if he can have one too. Our families will probably disallow us, but...


When I left the pub two Americans walked out just before me. "That was fun!" one said, as if he'd been to the circus. I guess he just had...


But we'll rise again, of course, both at home and in Europe. You'll never walk alone!

Is he ill?

My visitor no. 18,000 came by yesterday, from Yonkers, New York.

S/he had ended up on my page by googling for "Ronnie O'Sullivan ear infection".

I had no idea he was ill... Let alone that I'd ever mentioned ear infections! Anyway, the visitor stayed a whole 2 mins 29 seconds. Congrats - and welcome back! I'll see if I can't conjure up another disease to lure you back...

Alcatraz

The notorious island appearing!

Looming large...

Our audio tour started here. With your selection of language on the headphones, you were walked around the entire place, listening to stories about prisoners, films, wardens etc. It was brilliantly made and together with the slideshow at the pier it gave a lot of detail to the Alcatraz history.
Oh no, Clint Eastwood's gone!

Great view, at least...

But did you all know this? After the prison was closed (think it was 1963), the island was "hijacked" by native Americans - of many tribes - who felt it only appropriate that the first place you meet on the West coast was Indian land. Besides, the island had no water, electricity or sewers, pretty much like the reservations they were being sent to at that time.

They were all thrown out. But returned, a few years later, and occupied it (pardon my memory, but I think) for 15 months - which made the President issue an official apology for the genocide on native Americans, and instating a law giving them the right to be their own people and not having to be Americans... So - a historic victory on Alcatraz! With all I read about the different tribes in my time - I really had no idea...

The neighbourhood

For those with local knowledge... We were staying in Haight Ashbury, very close to Cole Valley :) In Cole Valley, looking towards Twin Peaks - and Jimi Hendrix' house on Haight
Sister and nieces in Cole Valley
Grateful Dead's house, at Ashbury and Waller

... some other beautiful houses!

Getting there

Waiting for the airport train
Boarding! Niece and sister...
Holland seen from above...
Pretty crammed for space, yes...
One not-quite-so-gay-purser, he's holding up his wrists, see...?

AF 083 - San Francisco to Paris. Last things first...

So... After the holidays, my sister and nieces left me stranded at SFO all by my lonely... Well, actually they were there too, heading to Colorado (of course), and I had Rufus strapped onto my ears so I wasn't that lonely... The plane below is the one we took from Amsterdam to San Francisco, but that's beside the point. It's the same kind...

Anyway. Imagine 11 hour plane ride alone. Even before you board you're kind of bored, right? Then, the cruel facts. I can't not share this with you. And I swear, I'm not lying, not even exaggerating. And yes, I made it home alright. Well, I made it home! Here's how it went...

I check in at the assigned desk. I find my gate, and wait. I observe the other passengers. (I also observe that the people at the gate - and later in the plane, the pursers etc. - are the same ones that were at the check-in desks. Air France short-staffed?)

* A long-haired, tanned guy, in shorts and a leather Crocodile Dundee-hat, twenty-something, is sleeping heavily, snoring, with his arms around a bag evidently full of boomerangs and surf gear. I'm guessing he's on his way back to Europe from Australia... When the plane's about to close its doors he comes rushing in so he obviously wakes up at some point.



* The cute gay couple, probably French, holding hands while they're waiting. I'm wondering if maybe they were in the Castro this morning, as I had been?

* The repulsive 50-something guy, with dyed black (BLACK, PITCH black) hair - not too much of it, though, so he'd sort of combed it forward from his neck... And tight-fitting black trousers and shirt. Oh, and the unavoidable gold chain around his neck. I thought to myself it would be just my luck to end up next to him. Oh, had I just...

Finally, the gates open and we all rush in to our seats. Even though I checked in ridiculously early I'd forgotten to ask for a special seat, so was - of course - put in the middle of three. A Frenchman - completely normal looking (to begin with) comes to sit by the window. He's no sooner seated than he starts picking his nose. Digging, rather, with an incredibly long index finger. And whatever he found, he put his glasses on to examine more closely. Then put another finger into the other nostril. I quickly turned from him...

... to the guy sitting by the aisle. A huge big Frenchman (not actually fat, just huge! His hands were the size of small planets). And that smell...? Ok, I thought, he just sat down, probably couldn't help himself, broke a little wind... Uh-oh, again? And again?? I turned my head away, but couldn't bring myself to face the guy by the window, so stared straight ahead. I swear - my neighbour kept it up for the entire 10 hours!

Three rows in front of me was the one cute gay guy. His partner nowhere to be seen, but - lo and behold - he appeared something like ten rows further up. They asked the pursers (who were extreeeeeeeeeeemely helpful, for some reason**...) to be relocated, but of the 4 people sitting next to them - noone would switch. So instead of sleeping in eachother's arms, or at least having someone to talk to, they ended up like me, bored to death and staring straight ahead for ten hours.

Oh yes, at least we had favourable winds (the plane, that is! Not me...) and the plane ride only took 10 hours instead of 11. I met up with the black-clad, bejewelled weird-haired 50-year-old by the free drinks table, he seemed totally ok. Just my luck...

Thanks to Rufus, I survived, though - his latest album is absolute genius!

** I've travelled by some airlines, and I've seen gay pursers before. Air France has got to have the most extreme, though - I was utterly taken aback by the fact they actually managed to poor coffee with those wrists!

I need to travel more...

create your own visited country map

- I also need a LITTLE more time before I can relate any San Francisco details...

San Francisco loves us!

Producing the nicest weather ever, according to the locals.

And we love it right back! The city is absolutely fabulous. Just thought I'd let you know! Oh, and my sister and nieces say hi too :)

It's that time of year again...

It's the 17th tomorrow - globally, I guess, but over here it's our national day and much ado as well as much to do... I've just baked two cakes in between working, and will start ironing shirts shortly...

Update: I've just finished ironing those shirts. It's now 1:14 AM, 17th of May. Hoorah! And there will be much rejoicing - from me - in exactly 11 hours and 46 minutes, when it will all be over at our school... Now, I will of course enjoy watching the quads' first parade, and helping Jakob sneak out of his 4th (he hates it). I'll also meet everybody I know in this place within a 2 square mile area and 1 hour to catch up with them all.

Hoorah.

Now, I read today that Rufus will be touring Europe while I'm in San Francisco. So much for the daydream... BUT ---- I've got tickets for his concert in Gothenburg on July 1st! I'm so excited I've been grinning like mad even through all the ironing! Finally, I get to see him... (Incidentally, we saw Robbie Williams in Gothenburg July 1st last year, is this becoming a tradition? I can live with that...)

The 'film shooting'

This Monday the film team showed up as we arrived from school / work etc. The interviewer / director, the camera man, the sound man and the producer. The director had stopped by a few days earlier so the kids knew her a little. I still won't pretend the dinner conversation was free and easy as there was bright lighting, microphone and camera in between the pots and pans... After the dinner we all left, and the film crew first came with Anna and me to her ballet class.

From the filming of the ballet class


Afterwards, they went off to film Thomas, Mathias and Filip's football practice, while I went back to get Jakob and his best friend (who's with us most days after school). And they continued to film Jakob's training while I brought the other one's home.

Later, when everyone'd returned, and the kids were in their pyjamases, they were interviewed about "life, the universe and everything" - and more specifically, what life was like in a big family like ours.
The kids being interviewed downstairs - the sound man (by the wall) had an excellent sense of humour, and the kids loved him :) After spending the last few hours with them, the kids weren't really nervous about the interview either. And when everyone was in bed, they interviewed us about the same things.

The programme will be sent sometime this autumn. We'll be on for something like 6 minutes - so a few hours of shooting, 2 visits to us and calling the parent of every child on ballet and football (about 60) - quite a lot of work for so little! The whole programme is about half an hour, and is about children and stress. Apart from us, there'll be a sociologist talking about this, and a feature from the States (where else...) about personal coaches for kids, to make sure they'll end up super stars. Or something...

Anyway, it was a fun experience! Everything was so professional and well-planned and all, I'm impressed with the production team :) And we'll be able to see the programme when it's put together - to see if we approve. When it's finally aired, we'll let you know!

Excruciatingly embarrassing moments # 4711

(I did tell you of another such moment earlier on.) This isn't exactly a brand new embarrassing moment, but it feels fresh in my mind...

I was about 10, old enough to know about common decency but obviously not such a fan... I was with my mum, visiting one of her friends. Deep in the couch, reading a magazine while they were chatting. Now, this friend is perfectly adorable, warmer and more friendly than most. Yet this day what I was about to notice more about her than this, was her body shape.

She's big. She was, then, huge. I'd never really thought it over. But without looking up from my magazine, I said "this really really fat woman is dancing ballet!" - then immediately realized this woman wasn't even as fat as our friend. I quickly thought I'd add "but she's dancing ballet!", but didn't think it would make things better. I thought about adding "but she's at least ... kilos!", but I was sure our friend would weigh more. My mum gave me a look that kept me silent, and eventually (after what felt like months!!), they started chatting again. I felt numb. I felt like I weighed a ton, only - sadly - the floor didn't open for me.

Later, my mum said that our friend probably took it as a compliment, that I didn't think of her as fat. I appreciated the consolation efforts, mum, I'm still not sure, though, I just hope she's not still thinking about it the way I do...

Ok, we went for it

The television company will be at our door in about 45 minutes. Better get home from work! Tell you all about it later...

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liverpool's in the finals!



This was the last time we beat Chelski in the semi finals (2005) but the singing is just as magnificent as it was today, "the special one's" sour expression is priceless..