Thomas Wolfe Can Kiss My Ass!

When I took my new job, I switched my schedule around with some of my colleagues. It didn't matter much to me at the time, so I didn't pay attention to the dates. When I looked at the schedule for another reason, I found out I had last week off. I talked to Sue, who told me to come up and take her to wine country. In floating the idea to some of the SF crowd, I found out it was a good friend's 25th birthday. That clinched it.

I went home again.

With all appropriate apologies to Mom, Atlanta, and San Diego, San Francisco is, for now, home. It felt like I hadn't missed a beat -- which was wonderful in some ways, and downright frightening in others. It was nice to be caught up on the gossip and drama in just a couple of days; it wasn't so great to be caught up in it. I enjoyed seeing all of my favorite bartenders; but didn't need the returned intensity of my unrequited crushes (nor the predictable random meeting after a night of sappy proposals to him). It was exciting to meet a beautiful man at The Mix again; not so great to have to take him to Beck's motel. I really wish I were kidding about that last one.

Part of me didn't want to leave. It reminded me of my first trip home from college. Erie seemed welcoming, and comfortable, and easy. Baltimore, back then, seemed lonely, and foreign, and hard. Like San Diego now, in some ways.

But just like Erie, I left San Francisco for a reason, and it hasn't gone away. As with my crush, it would probably come quickly to the forefront as soon as the welcome home party wound down. I needed a new job, and new challenges. The nice thing is that if all goes well, I'll probably be able to go back to SF someday.

So, thanks to Sue and Bob and "J and K" (and Becks, of course) for putting me up. Thanks to my old friends, including but not limited to: Chad, Dan and Donnan, Kel, Nick, J-C, Pauly, Phillip, Wes, Kyser, Arthur, The Sins, The Pups, The Mix and Badlands (and bartenders, two in particular) for showing me great time and putting up with me. And thanks to all the new people I met who have given me even more reasons to come back. I had a great time, and hope to see you soon.

BTW -- Some of you could f*****' come to SD -- I have a guest room and a guest bath w/ whirlpool jets. Hell, we could even meet in LA.

I actually shot this photo on the way to SF. I saw the sunset from I-5, but there were no exits or turn-offs coming up. So I snapped this from my window going 85 mph. Not bad, eh?