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bai.

I love farmland. It’s all about small pleasures at the world’s largest corn maze.

Wow!

This actually aggrivated me a little. They actually list “restrooms” as one of their attractions on their websites so I went in thinking, “sweet, I can pee in peace” and guzzled down the Starbucks before heading over. Mistake.

That’s two weekends in a row with port-a-potty situations for me.

We started out with a bunch of energy.

Children of corn…

Traipsing through…

We found treasures along the way.

That was towards the beginning of the maze, which means that some poor girl must have gone through with one shoe.

A little bit lost… Vanessa and I discovered early on that we lack the “explorer” gene and left the mapping to the men.

The happy adventurers at a checkpoint! There were three checkpoints along the way where you could climb up high and survey the lay of the land.

We finally made it out!

Then we bought pumpkins. That’s what hurdy gurdy men are for.

A groundhog even popped his head out to bid us farewell. Until next year, little guy!

This was my first year at the Treasure Island Music Festival and it did not disappoint. Major highlights were She & Him, The National, and Silent Disco. Silent Disco = seriously cool: it’s a sectioned off area where the DJ’s spin music that is being broadcast through headphones that they hand out at the entrance, so everyone dances around to the music in their heads and, if you take them off, it looks like everyone is going wild to silence.

Ian and I kinda got into it. A lot. They also had some cushions for people to kick back and watch the silent revelers.

I loved the live energy of She & Him. Zooey Deschanel jumped around all giddy-like and seemed to be having good, honest fun. It’s refreshing to see an actor-turned-musician actually into what she’s doing and not just sitting on blasé star power.

It was wet and cold so she was wearing a superfly military-chic coat, which looks excellently similar to a ModCloth coat I’d been eyeing and pushed me over the brink into impulse-buy as soon as I got home.

M. Ward also got his moment to shine singing one of my favorite songs of his, ”Magic Trick” and also did a particularly lively rendition of “Roll Over Beethoven.” Awesomepants.

We also spent some good time in this creeptastic little cove with games and oddities. I want to live here.

And I want to take this rotating shiny skullface home with me.

Happy glowy!

Here some of my journal entries from 15 years ago when I was 12. I think I thought I was a special child but was more of a “special” child.

… [missing pages] OJ trial to see if he was guilty or not. We also learned about him in PE. I am tired of him. At least we didn’t have to play football. Ooma and Boompa visited today. They gave me peanut M&Ms  and a Snickers. They also gave me five dollars to buy a book with. Today I bought a tape of spooky Halloween songs and Cinderella. I want to hug an elephant. Today I got a letter from my core teacher Mrs. Peterson. She said I was doing a good job.

October 4.

I started my dreams diary today. It looks like this one but its all different colors. I am eating a lemon french Jennifer candy. Katie likes them. I hate homework and am still reading Patty Reed’s Doll.

Excerpt from the dreams diary (where I wrote down the dreams I’d had the night before):

On the night and morning of Oct. 3 and October 4

———————————————————–

I had a dream that mom and dad were divorced. Mom was the Queen of America and dad was the King of England. But my dad wasn’t my real dad. He was someone else. Mom had already re-married to Ned, my real dad. I had just bought the piano book of Cinderella and there was a really pretty song in it that I can’t remember right now. (In real life the song wasn’t in the movie.) It was a song where Cinderella’s stepmother wanted her to ring the church bell twice to let everyone know that today was Sunday. Cinderella didn’t want to because she was afraid that she would wake up sleeping people. Her stepmom said that she could either do that or work at home which was really awful. Instead she decided to attend church, which seemed unheard of since she was in rags. Anyways, my dad decided to proclaim war on America. He messed up and proclaimed war on himself. I went to visit America and my mom. My stepdad was just leaving for a plane trip. My mom wanted to let me try caviar. When I said “Caviar?” She said “Did I say Caviar? I meant to say escargot.” I looked at her frying pan and she was frying what looked like little eels alive. There were a lot of them and they were rolling their eyes and snapping their sharp teeth. I went away. When my mom servied it up for me it looked like cooked zuccini, so I ate it. Then I went to England. Osage was in England. I walked around it with Matt. He started talking about escargot and I wanted to throw up. Dad had declared war on himself accidently so the ground was made of purple clay and the people walked around in a daze trying to catch me. The only way to get them out of the daze was to sing. I dove for my Cinderella piano book but I couldn’t get it so I sang “I’ve been…” [pages missing]

Excerpt from my regular, non-dreams journal October 5, 1995:

Mom talked to Nancy Thurin today just to say that at Christmas if they were in California they could stay at our house. Do you think that a bright blue and black striped tiger would look cool? I do. Or maybe purple and black or neon pink. I always thought lacewings should come in different colors. I would like a purple cat or a red turtle. The greatest would be a blue elephant and a yellow mouse. We looked at a worm under a microscope today. I worked with Gerrine. I grew rather fond of the little thing. We also looked at a rabbit’s tongue.

Excerpt from the same journal, October 8, 1995:

Mom said I could have a Halloween party on the 21st. We went to Richmond. I didn’t like it. Matt and dad went sailing and mom and I went to the mall. Mom bought me a cute shirt with Meeko and Flit on it in the Disney store (Pocahontas just came out).

Back to the dreams journal:

Some background before we start: when I was younger I LOVED animals and wanted pets more than anything, but my parents weren’t into the whole idea. Their compromise was to let me volunteer for the local animal rescue, which meant that I could foster litters of kittens until they were old enough to be adopted. That way I got to have pets at least for a little while, and my parents were happy knowing that it was temporary. I would take care of the litters of kittens in my room  and take them to the local farmer’s market adoption days until they were adopted. My favorite litter was this little group of five kitties that I named Pinto, Magic, Snickers, Dustbuster, and Maestro. Every night, Snickers would curl up and sleep on my stomach and Magic would sleep on my pillow and I really wanted to keep them and I think it gave me a little bit of a complex. Hence this dream. Fostering kittens was a really good experience though, I wouldn’t change anything.

Night of Oct. 16 and morning of Oct. 17

———————————————–

I had a dream that mom, dad and I lived in a trailer near the creek. Somehow, there was a shortage of something and we couldn’t use our car. Mom got a train that wasn’t used anymore and rode on it on some old tracks that aren’t used anymore. Sometimes mom would have to jump out of the train to change the tracks once in a while. She did this at the creek and some kids at the swimming pool watched her. Mom and Dad knew I liked Disney hand-held games, and bought me Snow White and the Lion King. I was still fostering Snickers, Pinto, Dustbuster, and Magic but not really. They had to be in this store at Stoneridge Mall. The store was owned by Ashley Rieger. The kittens had to be living in a dollhouse. They wouldn’t get adopted. Kayte said that if they didn’t get adopted, she would foster them, and if they were able to, I would foster them. I couldn’t because they had to stay in the store. Erin said she would take one if someone else would pay for them. I said no. I wanted them but couldn’t have them.

I don’t remember who Ashley Rieger is but maybe I had a complex about her too.

Reading these old journals and remembering how random my sleepbrain was inspires me to start keeping track of my current dreams and find out if they’re less fanciful and more “adult.” Right now, I’m thinking probably not. Last night, I had a really vivid nightmare wherein my boyfriend admitted to me that he had once gone through a “phase” where he thought that he’d like to eat human flesh so he and two friends murdered a lady and started gnawing on her but he got really turned off by how voraciously his friends were eating her, so after a few bites of his own, he decided it wasn’t for him. I need to stop watching zombie movies before bed. It’s October, what can I say.

always-tete via dirty pretty things

• Nook - a cozy cafe in Nob Hill with nice happy hours and free wifi

• Goat Hill Pizza - a spectacular pizza joint in Portrero Hill that offers Neighborhood Night, all-you-can-eat pizza and salad for $10.95. They literally walk around with oodles of different types of pizza offering them to you until you fill up and waddle out.
• Hang Ah Tea Room - If I were dying, I would opt to have my last meal here. I’ve been coming with my family since I was maybe 7 or 8 and it’s so deliciously wonderful dim sum that I still drool just thinking about it. They don’t do the typical dim sum walking around with trays thing anymore, but they keep the dim sum menu in tact with unrivaled pork buns and hum su gok. Swoon.
• Hahn’s Habachi – sizzling bi bim bop. Wurd.
• House of Nanking – just down the street from City Lights Books… let them order for you. The waiter will size you up and bring the most delicious Chinese food (other than Hang Ah’s ) ever.
• Hyde Street Raw and Seafood - good happy hour deal on oysters. And it’s right on a charming neighborhood-y part of Hyde with cable cars going by. Pretty.

• Polkers – good Polk street diner food, perfect for combining with Polk St. boutique shopping.
• Saigon Sandwich – don’t let the Tenderloin location or suspciously cheap $4 sandwiches fool you – these are the best Vietnamese sandwhich evar. The constant line out the door is reassuring that it’s not all in my head and no one is getting sick from it. The hours are problematic though.
• Steps of Rome – classic North Beach Italian, complete with authentically flirty Italian waiters and wobbly sidewalk seating (or was it just the wine?)
• The Westfield food court – food court needs a new name, this food is too good. Any place that has an Out the Door is a cut above. List of yums.
• Miller’s East Coast Deli - this place kind of reminds me of the 2nd Ave Deli in the Eat Village (NYC). Big honkin’ slices of meat on sandwiches and good deli style comfort food.
• Osha – good Thai chain in convenient locations around the city. The Embarcadero one is a good crowd-pleaser when you need someplace nice and easy to meet people.
• La Boulange - I’m a sucker for French style cafe eateries, even if they’re chains. Yummy for brunch.
• Frjtz - mussels, crepes, Belgian fries, and oodles of dipping sauces. Nom nom nom.

• Pacific Heights – just go here. And eat. And shop. There are too many good places.
• Same with the Marina
• Luna Park – my hands down favorite brunch place in the Bay Area. $9 bottomless mimosas, 2 for 1 bloody marys, yummable foodstuffs.
• Cafe Claude - fancyish French, with live jazz. Good for special occasion or romantic stuff
• Street - I think this is American. Food is a little overpriced and spare but yummy, and they have fun cocktails.
• Ferry Building - for small nomables, or farmer’s market fare on the weekends

• Samovar - the location right next to Yerba Buena Gardens is really beautiful for sitting outside on a nice day; nice for relaxing after combing the MOMA all day.
• The Liberties - unassuming pub food in the Mission at the cusp of Noe Valley, where the more relaxed neighborhoody hipsters are. Also less that one block from The Lone Palm, one of the most chill hipster hideouts in the city.
• Tartine - Mostly baked goods but they have sandwiches and stuff. Those tastey lunchy items that most bakeries have.

Gold’s Gleam Top from Modcloth

Sweets Shoppe Dress from Modcloth

Time Flies Watch from Modcloth

Slow and Steady Watch Ring from Modcloth

Skull on Pearl Chain from Topshop

Super Long Chain Tassels from Topshop

Leopard Fur Headband from Topshop

Cream Eyeshadow in Heavy Metal from Topshop

Kohl in Pewter from Topshop