So happy that I made the last minute spontaneous decision to go to San Francisco for the weekend. Left work early on Friday and was down in the Bay Area in 2 hours. Funny, I saw my friend, Russell, the night before and told him about the great deal I found..and he bought a ticket too. I got there around 7pm and greeted Willie with a big 'ol hug...so nice to see him. It's been about a year since we last saw each other, back in Boston. We ate at this yummy place called House for dinner and just chatted the rest of the night. I couldn't believe how foggy that city gets at night...one can just get drenched with fog.

Saturday, headed down to Pier 39 and saw a gazillion sea lions and harbor seals hanging out on several wood planks. Back in '89, after the earthquake, about 15 of these huge adorable creatures came over to the pier for refuge...that 15 soon turned into a few hundred...which is what it is today. Later that afternoon, I went over to my friend Andrew's place--he moved there from Seattle just a few months ago. Turns out he lives only 5 minutes away from Willie..in a great house with a nice view. Bar-B-Q and karaoke. So happy to have seen him and be able to catch up. That night, saw a great great scary movie: The Others..it had a nice twist in the end. I don't want to give it away: go see it.

Sunday, did the whole Alcatraz tour which was really interesting. There was a guest author at the prison who happened to be the youngest guard to ever work there...fascinating to talk to him about his experience...then walked all over the place, finally eating a yummy Burmese dinner with Willie and his roomie, Cindy.

My little brother, Aaron, turned 22 on Saturday..eeks, I can't believe he's that grown up.

Saw "The Amazing Race" last night, the latest reality TV show: this one involves 12 pairs of people who race around the world from place to place. The last to arrive at each place gets eliminated. What I found most interesting was the relationship in each pairing: mother/daughter, grandparents, engaged couple, married couple, separated parents, working mothers, frat brothers, lawyers at the same firm, etc. It was fascinating watching the dynamics within each relationship...gotta wonder how this series will make or break some of these people. Who would I pair up with if I did this? It's hard to say. The first person that comes to mind is my college roommate, Anna...but part of me wonders if I could get through something like this with my brother.