the apartment hunt, tori's st. patty's day dinner, and the cafe

apartment hunting is something i have never done in my 33 years on this planet. i have always lived under the auspices of other's living arrangements, save for my single with a bathroom in college.

i have to say that the process is time consuming, tiring, and interesting all at the same time. with all that technology offers, there is still no substitute for actually going around, casing potential spots, ringing the building managers, and then meeting them face to face.

building managers seem to be code for interesting character. there was the really sweet, british sounding woman who made an appointment with me but was never there. there was the disgruntled 30-something guy who didn't even show me the space. there was the yellow-toothed guy who grunted the available apartment numbers at me.

good times.

tomorrow morning the couple sounds interesting. sweet folks. 9 am.

after driving about east oakland, downtown oakland, and lake merritt region, i went to alameda, saw signs and called.

i spoke briefly with my father and then headed to the alameda beach.

my violin was in my car and i wanted to introduce her to the water.

my g string is just WAY the hell off. plucking it hurts my ears. i tried fine tuning the strings, but my intervals are off. *grumble*

so i practice reading and finger placements.

the sun was beginning its descent behind the hills on the peninsula.

i played a bit of the more challenging exercise sandy has given me. the note reading is becoming easier. my foot-tapping of the 8th notes is not accurate, but it's coming along.

what i enjoy is that i don't feel impatient with myself in this pursuit. i want to improve and i am satisfied with my progress thus far. i don't know if i can name any other part of my life where i allow myself any slack for not knowing. i'm rather impatient with myself.

after that i spoke briefly with michelle. she's having a potluck on sunday. i may stop by. i found out Deepa Mehta's Water is playing at the Castro theater. I have been waiting years for this film. At least since I saw Earth. I first became aware of her work in 97? 98? Fire enthralled me.

But anywho...I felt numb. No settlement on house and work feels strange and I am floating in this forward motion, but not feeling that I know to what end. I remember that Tori is having a St. Patty's Day party. Yeah. Let me call her...

I wanted to be with friends, but not really. I wanted to be a stranger in a familiar place.

So I called Tori, despite my phone having 1 bar of juice left. I got her address, asked what to bring, and voila! down the 880 I drove to cross the 84 to go to Palo Alto. Corned Beef and Cabbage and an intimate gathering of friends. I brough Irish Soda Bread. (is that redundant?)

While the Beef cooked in a large pot filled with carrots and potatoes, I gave hugs all around, met Tori's ADORABLE bear of a dog named Samson, and cradled a cup of tea for the evening.

When the food was served, a hush came over the room of about 8 of us. We were noshing and noshing hard. The beef was tender, the cabbage and carrots and potatoes were a lovely, steaming collage of vegetables without being overcooked. My tummy was SUPERhappy.

(tired...long story short)

- We jammed to some old school rap with Fat Boys and the track "Sally, That Girl"
- I began to drive home, but felt lonely for a dance club, and so I took myself to the Cafe for 40 minutes
- Danced, though confined by my cords
- Drove home.

Yay Friday. Now for sleep.