...Needs a New Pair of Shoes

My main reason for going was to hit the New Balance outlet store, since I was desperately in need of new sneakers, and I'd been having trouble finding the New Balance shoes I want in my size. (I take an extra-wide shoe, which is challenging.) The store turns out to be right in downtown SF, where I haven't really been before. It's right among all the really tall buildings. I drove around looking for a lucky parking space, but ended up parking in an overpriced garage. (I later learned that there's a less-overpriced garage not far away, which I could probably get into if I arrive early enough. Must file that away for future reference.) The garage I parked in, the "White House", was built in 1908 and is pretty impressive, with steep spiral ramps and five floors of parking. I wondered if it used to be an old factory or commercial establishment, since it has too many windows to feel like it's always been a garage.

Anyway, I couldn't find exactly the sneakers I wanted, but I found some that were almost there (although a slightly garish shade of blue) and I bought those. I wore them for the rest of the day, and they seemed to work okay, so I think they'll be fine.

I spent the next three hours walking around downtown SF. I much enjoyed Union Square, which is a little park which houses many pigeons, and which is also home to the tree which Macy's is decorating for Christmas for the city. The tree was half-decorated (the lower half; wonder why they start at the bottom?) and looked nice. Maybe in December I'll go up and see it when it's done.

I walked down to the end of a cable car line where I could see them turn a car around on a turntable so it could head back the way it came. (Yes, the tracks are double, so cars can pass each other, so I guess it didn't turn completely around, but you get the idea.) Then I walked back the other way up and over a hill. Walking over those hills is plenty of work. The one I scaled was three blocks long, and must have been about a 35-degree angle. My calf muscles could feel the effort and I was glad when I reached the top. Though, as it turned out, going down is even rougher on the legs than going up!

At the center of the four cable car lines is the Cable Car Museum, which you must go see if you ever come to visit San Francisco. Admission is free. It's the hub which powers the cables which run under the city streets and which the cars latch on to move. The cable for the longest of the four lines is nearly four miles long! Apparently a cable lasts from 75 to 200+ days, a pretty wide range of time! The Museum has several old preserved cable cars, as well as many photos and memorabilia from the 125 years the cars have been in operation. I think what struck me most was that all but one cable car of the time was destroyed by the fire following the 1906 SF earthquake, since they were all in their building and there wasn't time to move them. Apparently the current fleet of cable cars date to something like the 1920s.

I also went to the Cartoon Art Museum, which is not quite as impressive. Admission is $5.00. The museum is about five medium-sized rooms of exhibits on the second floor of a building, and one of the rooms holds a rotating exhibit. The current exhibit is Anime (Japanese animation) cels, and I am not a fan of Anime (or its print counterpart, Manga) at all, so I only gave this room a cursory look. I was more interested in the American work, which included Disney and Warner Bros cels (it occurs to me that I've never seen Disney's Sleeping Beauty), pages of original art from old comic strips such as Prince Valiant and Terry and the Pirates, various specially-commissioned works by people like Charles Schultz, Will Eisner, and the like. They also have some recent cartoons being displayed on a tape loop, and a store with cartoon collections for sale (the selection is eccentric).

Otherwise, I just walked around downtown until it got dark. I went to the base of the Transamerica Pyramid Building, which is perhaps the most recognizable building in the city for those unfamiliar with it. I passed a nice little sculpture of the Greek god Hermes stuck on an out-of-the-way corner nook surrounded by greenery, as well as a church that bills itself as the first such church in California (if I recall correctly).

I'm afraid I didn't get any pictures. I decided I didn't feel like being encumbered by a camera this time, especially since, when I started, it was actually raining. But, I had a nice time, and almost completely took my mind off my various worries.

Next time I go up I want to hit a few SF and mystery bookstores, and see the Presidio in more detail. I'm sure I can come up with other things to do, too. Like go to the zoo! Rebekah has been telling me that I should not worry so much, shouldn't feel like I always need to have people with me to enjoy the area where I'm living, and should just go out and see things. So, I think I'll try that for a bit. That's the nice thing about living in a mild climate, of course: You can go off to see almost anything at almost any time of year.

When it got dark, I decided not to hang around the city anymore (still not being very familiar with it, I don't have any regular hangouts up there), so I drove down to Cafe Borrone to read. I'm working my way through The Sandman Companion, which is okay but not especially revelatory. And I'm nearly done with Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night, which I'm enjoying, but which is not really a quick read.

Actually, while I was there, a woman asked if she could borrow The Sandman Companion to look at. It's probably no surprise that I secretly hope that perhaps I could meet "the woman of my dreams" if she sees me reading something interesting at a coffee shop, but of course the odds are pretty remote. In this case, it turns out she wanted to check it out while the guy she was with was standing in line. Turns out that he is also a Neil Gaiman fan, and apparently I missed a broadcast of Gaiman's show Neverwhere on public TV recently. Sigh. Double sigh, in fact.

Anyway, I had a good evening reading, though I did break a glass at one point. I swung by Apple to send some e-mail on the way home, and chatted with some people who were there late on a weekend because of an upcoming deadline. Then I came home and went to bed.

A good day. Not, perhaps, the best day in the world, but I'm trying to think positive.