Happy Summer!! Last night we went to the ballpark for an evening of opera and a picnic on the outfield. Luckily it was a warm evening and we live just across the street. Unfortunately for us, it was poorly organized and we were herded into the stadium like cattle. Everyone was hot and grumpy by the time we got through the gates. We had to find our way down to the field by wandering around in different directions and even climbing over a b*tchy old lady that didn’t want to get up for us to get through her row. Once we got inside, we found a nice spot on the field and got crackin’ on our picnic.

It ended up being quite pleasant on the field and the evening stayed pretty warm and comfortable. We watched a live simulcast of Lucia di Lammermore that was playing at the SF Opera House and it was pretty good.

The jumbotron was really clear and we got an upclose view of the performers along with subtitles. The only annoying part of the whole experience was a couple who thought it would be a good idea to have the most retarded conversation that was totally unrelated to the opera throughout the entire show. As Jesse was saying as we left the stadium, it may be worth it for us to pay for tickets to the actual show next time just to avoid the crowds and annoying conversation. All in all, it was still fun…and FREE!

Jesse’s been working late for the past 3 weeks and on Saturday, he had to go into the office for the day. So, I spent the day exploring and shopping.

In the morning, I took my first Pilates class. It’s walking distance from my place but I took the bus to save a little time. It pretty much kicked my ass but it was actually pretty fun. There were only 4 in the class (including me) and the instructor is cool. The studio is downstairs from the loft that she lives in so we were technically in her livingroom…interesting. So, for 5 bucks, I got an hour of crazy core strengthening, which I desperately need to keep my back in healthy.

Afterwards, I walked over to Market St., hopped on Muni and got off at Embarcadero for a lunchtime stroll through the Ferry Plaza and Farmers’ Market. I got some really tasty cherries that I hand picked from the pile (so they’re ALL to my liking), a huge bunch of beautiful white flowers, two yummy peaches, and breakfast. I brought my backpack and rigged it so that I didn’t need to carry anything home in my hands. They were all neatly packed, strapped, or hung from my bag. So masterful I am…check it out!

Jes and I went to Outer Mission yesterday for a little SF Carnaval experience. We rode BART (free with our Muni passes) and walked down to Harrison and 16th where there was a sea of people trying to cram themselves into the festival. There were performers, food booths, and a bunch of corporate booths ranging from Best Buy to Disneyland. There were also vendors selling all kinds of t-shirts, banners, and anything else you could think of that celebrated Brazilians, Mexicans, Peruvians, Nicaraguans, etc etc.

We watched a group of people singing and chanting while two guys performed capoeira. That was pretty cool. We also watched three DJ’s having a scratch-off underneath a different tent and that was pretty fun to watch as well. Overall, it was quite a cultural experience in the area that Vyl calls “Mexico”. It was interesting but I don’t think we’ll be returning next year.

This morning around 7:30 am, I was awoken but the sounds of screaming and whistles. We slept with the windows open last night so we were able to hear the emerging crowd of drunk pirates, drunk bees, and drunk crayons. Yep, it’s the morning of Bay to Breakers, which is a 12K “run” that give everyone in the Bay Area an excuse to dress up and drink beer in the streets for 7.46 miles. The weird part of this is that we don’t actually live along the race route. But when Koa and I went for our morning walk, there was a long stretch of costumed people with drinks in their hands walking down our street. I think they came from CalTrain and making their way up to Howard St.

So, I decided to take a walk down to the Start Line to watch the party. With camera in hand, I saw girls in skimpy outfits, a couple dudes with nothing on, and makeshift beer floats. I also noticed a group of opportunists – quite a few elderly Chinese men and women with garbage bags in their hands picking up all the aluminum cans that the participants were leaving behind. They must have made a killing today.

It’s a pretty interesting “race” to watch with most participants not even running. I’ve done it before and you really can’t count on a personal record or anything. In fact, there was a group of people carrying signs like “runners probably eat babies” and “running is a gateway drug” just to give you an idea of how this is more of a party/parade than an actual sporting event. But alas, there are many who are determined to run past the drunks. It’s as if the street is for the drunks and the sidewalks are for the hardcore runners. It’s quite a sight to see.

Some of my favorite costumes/groups: a bunch of guys dressed in all white with red bandanas chased by a shopping cart dressed as a bull, a group of people dressed as Tetris pieces, and a girl dressed as a cookie being chased by a guy dressed as Cookie Monster.