The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

Hooray!! I know this’ll sound a little childish but I’m so happy that I finally found a WAN (Wireless Area Network) hot spot in Madison that you don’t have to pay for. What I mean is that for the longest time there were only two other cafe’s in town and you had to pay an additional fee ($12.95/mnth.!!) just to use their freakin’ service. Well, here at Muddy Waters (1 N. Randall St.) you can surf ’til your hearts content as long as you but a drink (that’s fair business). Perhaps this’ll be where I’ll be doing my FTPing for a while to come. As a matter of fact, I’m FTP’ing this from my car in the parking lot…

The small diary that I kept of out trip to San Francisco is up and completed. Feel free to take a read. In other news, I have switched my host provider for marcmanleyphoto.com to hostforweb.com. Now I don’t have to pay an additional $9.95/mnth for POP3 access to my e-mail. Those pikers over at Yahoo! “Damn ‘em Jimmy, damn ‘em ta HELL!!…” (make sure you read that one in a strong Irish accent).

On Friday I was fortunate enough to make it to the local theatre where I was treated to a wonderfully moving film, The Pianist. My prior cinematic experience was not so enjoyable. The story is of a Polish Jew during the war and his survival is a griping tale. I share no love for Roman Polanski but the film really isn’t about him; it’s about the tale of this piano player. After seeing it, it came as no surprise that Adrien Brody won an Oscar for his performance. If you have not seen this movie you really must do so.

In other news today, I did my first real photography gig here in Madison since I moved here eight months ago. I feel as if I’ve returned to being me, in a sense. Photography has been the passion that has chosen me for the past two years and it feels damn good to be active again. I felt so moved that I continued to shoot even after the event I worked at today. The days that I have pulled my camera from its bag and gone out to shoot just for the pleasure of it have been few and far between. Well, now it’s time to add the perfect cap to this day: a little Thai food and some Charles Lloyd.

It’s hard to believe but this is our last day here. It’s so wonderful here. I can’t get over the weather. I have had just the best time here. This is one of the best trips I ever had. I’m really glad that Rebeca and I made it together and that we didn’t kill each other either!

Our flight was due to leave at 3:40. We had just this morning for one last trip into the city to enjoy ourselves. The weather was perfect, almost as if the city itself was giving us a send off. We decided to make a quick trip for some last minute shopping and grab a bite to eat.

Lauren had been telling us about Nordstrom’s so we headed there. Rebeca wanted to try and buy some jeans so we also hit the Gap as well as Urban Outfitters. It’s too bad we didn’t have one more day or even just a latter flight. Kelley had given us the names of several shops to go to in the Haight but we just didn’t have the time.

After wondering around for a little while we gave up and went for lunch. The food at Nordstrom’s was excellent. The only thing they need to do there is have the elevator go straight to the floor you want. Instead, you must go floor by floor using the escalators. My foot had been bothering me so this was an inconvenience. The City Grill was on the 4th floor. They had a great view of Market Street. We ordered our food and relaxed for an hour or so. But soon it was time to head back. We walked down 5th Street for what I hope won’t be the last time.

We said our good-byes to Lauren and Tracy earlier so we only had to pack our things and wait for the shuttle. We went down early to take some last shots of the street. I looked around, taking in the last of it all. I felt like throwing my bags down and just staying. Just to find a way to make it work but it’s not all bad. I had a great time in this city. The shuttle came quickly and before we knew it we were heading out of the city. It took about 20 minutes to reach the airport. From here it was two quick flights and we were home. JW picked us up again and again much thanks.

I feel like going to San Francisco expanded me. The flip side is that coming back to Madison felt like I deflated. I know now more than ever that I can’t stay here. This place is a stepping-stone to somewhere better, somewhere greater. It’s not my intention to offend anyone who really likes Madison. Just how I feel. Final thanks to Lauren & Tracy. Karen & Max. Kelly, Tina and Anthony. And of course to San Fran…

Today is truly sad knowing that this will be the last full day that we’ll spend here. I have really become accustomed to living here, so to speak. I really like the vibe of the city here. It’s got great food, great people and it’s an all around full place to be. The weather was just perfect today. We had made plans to meet up later with Kelley but first I was to take Rebeca shopping for jeans.

We had a quick breakfast and headed back into town around 5th and Market. The Gap proved to be a bad choice, having both rude people working there and a bad selection of jeans. From there we headed to Macy’s where things did not improve. Finally we gave up on the jeans and went back to Chinatown to grab some post cards and other trinkets before coming back to Tracy and Lauren’s.

Rebeca had made plans with her cousin Roger to see the cliffs along Highway 1. She left at 2:00 and the rest of us made our way out of the house for some fresh air. After picking up Kelley, Lauren took me to see the Castro District as well as a bunch of other sights that ended with us going down Lombard Street. It’s such a funny thing. It is a really crooked street but it’s also very short. We received a call from Tina and we headed that way.

I had another nice chance to sit down and talk with Tina again, who had some very concise information about our family. I got to learn so much from her on this trip. I learned that there were many people who never left Belize, but stayed there. I have come to realize that my family is much larger than I first thought. I look forward to making contact and hopefully meeting some of these people.

I said my final good-byes to Tina and Anthony. We came back to the house, where Rebeca had returned. We took Kelley home and headed for the movies. It was sad to say good-bye to Kelley. I realized that despite the years that we’ve spent apart she and I have so much in common. If there’s one thing that this trip has done for me is it has shown me how great my family is. I have felt starved of a sense of family for years. This trip has given me some of that back. We ended this evening with a final movie outing to see Pirates of the Caribbean. Man, I don’t wanna leave…

Today was really a great day. We really got a chance to see some amazing things. Tracy and Lauren took us to see some of the really nice sights that San Francisco has to offer. But before all that we had to eat.

Rebeca and myself headed off to Mel’s diner, down by the Metreon for lunch. It was loud and had crappy service but I was really in the mood for a cheeseburger. We both had the Avocado Burger with fries and a Coke. This did not settle well with Rebeca as it caused her some serious indigestion for a day or so. Oh, well. What you do for cravings.

After lunch, Lauren picked us up and we headed off. We made a quick stop to grab Tracy who had gone out to play basketball. We drove through the Nob Hill and Russian Hill districts. We eventually made our way down to the Pacific. It was great. I haven’t seen the ocean in years. I have had a fascination with the ocean ever since I went to Maine as a kid but this time it was different. It was the Pacific not the Atlantic. I walked right down the sandy beach to the edge and took a couple of shots. It was great to hear the surf rolling in. The point we were at was also the farthest point west of the Lower 48. Pretty neat. We ended the day trip with a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge. It is truly an amazing sight.

We spent about another hour touring along the beach and stopped for ice cream. I took a few more shots and then we made for town again. Tina (my cousin), had called and we were to meet her back at Tracy and Lauren’s for dinner and cake. The last time I had seen Tina was at the Mignon’s funeral.

I had a great time talking with Tina and her husband, Anthony. He is a huge guy, standing a full six feet eight inches. We sat around talking for hours about the family and everything else. I learned a lot of new and interesting things about my family that I had not known before. It was a really good night, the least of which
was capped by Tina’s 7-Up cake!

We spent out first night at Tracy & Lauren’s. They live in a really cool condo just off of the main downtown area. One of the things I noticed most about the place was that as you walk in the main door there is a set of about five or six black and white photographs along the wall. They are shots of what the building used to look like and also during its renovation into becoming a condominium.

They live up on the third floor. Their place is nice and open, having two levels. The floors are wood. All the cabinetry is also wood. In many ways it reminds me of my brother’s place. There are toys and small robots all over the place. So, many, many thanks to Tracy and Lauren for allowing us to stay with you guys, extending our trip, and truly making it wonderful.

We tried to wake fairly early today. We got up around 9:30 or 10:00. After we showered we decided to see Berkley. I had heard many things about this small college town and we both wanted to see as much of the Bay Area as possible.

It took us about 30 minutes by the BART to reach Berkley. We passed through many other small parts and then also West Oakland, which looked like Detroit but with better weather. We exited the train downtown and were right on the main street.

Needless to say, it took us all of an hour to see what Berkley had to offer. Being that we live in a college town, it wasn’t very interesting. There were lots of coffee houses and restaurants but not much else. Boredom quickly set in and we sat down for lunch at an Indian buffet. The food was very sub-par. The building also had no AC, perhaps to add to the authentic feeling of really being in India. We finished our meal and decided to go see a movie while we were here.

The League of Extraordinary (Extraordinarily Old) Gentlemen was about as fascinating as Tomb Raider 2 but without Angelina Jolie to look at, as Rebeca pointed out. Sean Connery is just getting a little too old to be doing action flicks. The theatre itself was also pretty bad. It was like watching the movie on a big TV with one small, lousy speaker. After that we had had our fill of Berkley. We made our way for the train, hoping to reclaim something of our day.

We arrived by the Embarcadero sometime between 4:00 and 5:00. Rebeca had still not seen much of the city so we toured it again. I had a chance to stop and talk with a photographer couple that was selling their prints down there. They spotted my camera and sparked up a friendly conversation. Sheila was kind enough to give me some good ideas for locations as to where I could go to shoot the Golden Gate Bridge. I purchased a couple of prints and then we walked on.

The Embarcadero is such a cool area. I love being near the water and the ships. We passed by the areas where people get on board for tours around the Bay Area. I finally got the spark to get my camera back out and start shooting. Eventually we made it to Pier 39, otherwise known as Tourist Hell.

Pier 39 is the one area of San Francisco that San Franciscans avoid. It’s filled with tons of stupid shops, trinkets and all other kinds of crap. So we stopped here and walked around for a bit.

Rebeca needed to have her film developed so we dropped it off. It was also getting later on in the day so we decided to give Lauren a call and have dinner at Scoma’s. It took an hour to get in. It’s right down on the wharf so the crowd was thick. We eventually got in. Dinner was good. I had scallops. Ahh…, it’s good to be in San Francisco.