September 8th, 2009

Narrate like whoa

Labor Day, Labor Evening

Most of you are not familiar with Katy (starfyer), but she is a longtime friend of mine from my pre-LJ days. We met in person six years ago on a grad school visit to Madison, but we had not seen each other since. And then she got married and decided to honeymoon in San Francisco! This is why I like living here: people come here. She and her new husband, Joey, wanted me to show them around a bit, so I met them in the Mission for my traditional whirlwind tour. If you've been reading my journal for a good length of time, you pretty much know what we did!

After the initial hug and handshake, I took them to Taqueria El Toro. The Wisconsinites were very impressed with our San Francisco burritos, and I enjoyed my quesadilla. Then, of course, I showed them my favorite alley, which I have finally discovered is not just some random thing but the Clarion Alley Mural Project. Next was Bi-Rite, where I made sure to get cookies and cream to see if it was better than Emack and Bolio's (it was—cookies and cream should taste like cookies and cream, not cream with some cookies in it). We walked past Dolores Park as Joey fell in love with the salted caramel.

As I hoped, Joey was a big fan of Paxton Gate. Katy seemed creeped out by most of it. Next was the pirate store, and the girl working the counter commented on my shirt, confusing me at first because I always forget what I'm wearing. I was wearing my "I'm famous on the Internet" shirt.

"What part of the Internet? North?"
"I'll have to look you up next time I'm there."

I tried to get them mopped, but the girl didn't have very good aim. She was still pretty entertaining, though, and Katy and Joey enjoyed the pirate store, as everyone does.

Finally, I took Katy to Borderlands to buy Seanan's book. I asked if they had any copies left, and they still had the two signed copies from Saturday, so Katy snagged one. She also got them to order a book written by a blogger she read, which was cool of them.

We pet Ripley the hairless cat in the back. A girl had come in because of the "Yes, the cats are in" sign and had Ripley on her lap. Ripley, the hairless cat with hair (she'd had chemo). She had hair where she wasn't supposed to! The girl also commented on my shirt.

"Why are you famous on the Internet? For having hair where you're not supposed to?"
"No, I'm not sure I'd want to be famous for that. I'm not really famous anymore, anyway. No one knows who I am."
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you famous for, really?"
"I did stuff for Veronica Mars fandom."

After a very successful Mission tour, we had to get a picture together, so we went back to Clarion Alley and posed with a mural. Katy and Joey thanked me for showing them around; Joey preferred the down-and-dirty Mission to the fancy downtown area. I left them to Union Square, hoping they found the great glass elevators in the Westin St. Francis.

A little while after I got home, Rick (ellric) came over so I could show him the insane glory that is Shoot 'Em Up. He enjoyed it quite a bit! I would say more, but I have a full capsule review already written for the next movie post.

We went back to his place so I could show him and Lisa (danea) their very first Bollywood movie, Let's Dance...which starred a childhood friend of mine. I thought it would be really weird, but it was surprisingly less weird than expected. Turns out she's a good actress! She acts as well as any of the other heroines I've seen. Also, the fact that she was speaking Hindi most of the time prevented some cognitive dissonance, but it was weird to hear her speak Hindi-accented English when that's not how she normally speaks. I already knew she was a great dancer, so seeing her dance on film was like seeing her in her element. But it was still a little weird. The movie had more of a plot than I expected, given that it was a dance movie, but it was a very predictable plot. At the end, they dance a kid out of a coma. Seriously. I hope the movie gets her noticed so she can be in a better Bollywood flick with real stars!

"I have to say," said Rick, "your friend is hot."

I was a poor cultural translator for Lisa. I couldn't even remember how much a lakh was. It's not a thousand or ten thousand but a hundred thousand. Which makes more sense. I am a terrible Indian.