Paradise

The Allman Brother’s Band

The week began with a three night stand by the Allman Brother’s Band at the Warfield Theatre. Greg and the boys came to town and thrilled the somewhat small crowds with all our favorites and few new southern fried jam pieces. Andy also worked all three shows so we got to hang and play which added a great flavor to the event. I also had the pleasure of making a bunch of new friends. Kelita, Heather, and Jenn showed me once again that the people in San Francisco are by far the friendliest anywhere. I was given a new nickname to add the long list of a.k.a.’s; Tigger. Those of you who know me also know that I haven’t had a drink in over 6 years (minus my yearly trip to Mexico, hey I never have to drive while I’m in Mexico), so my energy and glee spring from my heart not a bottle.

The Allman’s were so good that I was just bouncing (literally) all over the theatre. Jenn and Heather are two drop dead gorgeous California blondes that had decided to usher the show last minute. They were positioned on the master staircase leading up to the balcony, indeed a great vision to have as you climb the stairs to enter the show. Anywho, I must have bounced past them 6 or 7 times before Heather finally stopped me and asked if I was auditioning for the part of Tigger in “Winnie the Pooh on Ice”. I laughed and started to chat them up and before long we were all up in the balcony sharing the music and atmosphere. From there we moved downstairs to get a better view, the entire time I was being dragged around by Heather and Jenn like a new favorite stuffed animal.

Now a beautiful blonde blasting her way through a crowd gets slack, not the same can be said for the poor bastard who is following in her wake. I actually saw Heather cross body check some guy and of course once he regained his balance he was looking at me since Heather had already advanced another 30 feet. I smiled and said, “Kick my ass but please leave my sister alone.” Apparently that was enough to disarm him and he let me pass still drawing breath. Later in the evening as Heather and I were sharing a cig in front of the gig we met Kelita. She is from (surprise) NY and she immediately fit right in with my spastic energy and Heather’s (and this is her term) sass. We laughed and Heather felt it was her duty to get Kelita into the show. Heather worked the security guard, the ticket taker, and anyone else who listen. Kelita and I watched as Heather tried in vain. Still a good show and good time, we all exchanged numbers and agreed to re-convene at a later date for fun and mayhem. I will keep you posted and don’t be surprised to Heather in upcoming web pages and she’s even threatened to appear on our television show. Not a bad way to start the week.

I know the story above may seem like enough but it was in fact just one of many sub-plots that also ran through the beginning of the week. After the show on Monday I met Alexis out for a late burger and sundae. For now she seems amused with new computer with the camera as proved by the number of pictures of her all over my most recent pages. Monday still wasn’t over yet as Niki a.k.a. Ruby Manchester was meeting me for the late late show. She needed to pick up some of her artwork and slides. Niki appeared in our last 2 television shows and has landed a spot on another show. Yeah! We love it when anybody on our team goes on to new and exciting opportunities.

Snowy Forest made her appearance on Thursday to work on a new page of material for Leftcoastlove.com. She’s been super busy and although I haven’t seen much of her lately we still use instant messenger during the day to stay Leftcoast close J.

My goodness the week is almost over and it was also just beginning again. In fact I really wasn’t prepared for the back half of the week, I was talking on the cell phone late Monday and I did say, “I don’t think my life could get any better” to the person on the other end. Well it could, would, and did.

The Kiss

Can a kiss change you? I can’t remember the last time I received a real deep down, curl your toys, melt your heart kiss. That was until Friday. Now I’m not running over the cliff learning to fly or any other extreme romantic fantasy, but I am so warm and happy that I just wanted drop a few lines. I had almost forgotten the simple joy of the unexpected act of romance. It was a soft and tender gift that was offered with an open heart and no expectations. The more I let go the more life surprises me. It is so nice to know that someone I care about also shares warmth for me. Plus after my divorce I did begin to wonder if I would ever be “kissable” again. I have great friends and many of them are beautiful women, and while we can be fabulous friends they don’t see me as a romantic option, maybe a wise move on their part. Anywho my date and I were talking while I was preparing us dinner. I had a marinated pork roast in the oven and as we talked she drew me near. It was our first kiss and I was just amazed. I was frozen in space and time not wanting the moment to end. I had often wondered what our first kiss would be like, now it was happening and it was so much more than I could have wished for.

Details, details, details. The tilt of her head the glow in her ,eyes the way she broke for a breath then immediately kissed me again. It was a movie kiss, soft and careful but with passion that couldn’t be hidden. If I’ve learned anything over the past year it would have to be, slow down and appreciate the details. I don’t know what will happen with her and while I’m hopeful I also realize that sometimes we only have a short time with people, so take notes. Have I gone all soft and mushy? I always have been, only now I take the time to appreciate every step of the journey instead of rushing to the conclusion. I don’t want to embarrass her so enough of the kiss for now, but she did make my heart feel like Tigger.

Shop, Shop!

Saturday I was up early and met Andy for a day of shopping in Union Square. Another perfect day in paradise. Sunny and warm, I wore a tank top all day which is rare in San Francisco even in the summer. We had lunch at the Metreon where I was the recipient of a random act of excellent customer service. I was talking to the sales clerk in the Sony Style store about my new Sony Vaio and she gave a tight case for it. Yes gave it to me! What? “Thank you for purchasing a Sony.” Cross that off the list, true, Andy and I were actually looking for a bag/case for my PC as part of our shopping spree. After lunch we stopped at Express to say hi to Alexis who was trapped behind the register. She was in retail jail, 15 customers inline so all she could was wave and shrug. Peace, love, and roll on to Gucci. The Gucci store in SF is the best. I always call ahead to make sure Anne is working. Good customers get great service! She met us at the door and Andy and I spent the next hour looking at bags, shoes, and sunglasses. No bag for Sean but Andy did buy a new pair on shades and Anne agreed to call if a bag of the type I want comes in.

Andy can’t go downtown without hitting the magazine rack at the Virgin Mega-Store. They carry all the club and DJ magazines from the UK. I think I’ve learned Andy’s secret for sniffing out new stuff before it is played here. I plunked down $17.99 (plus tax) for a new DVD. The Who and Counting Crows are playing a show July 3^rd right up the street from my place. Jimmy the Jag and I already have our tix. The DVD is a concert of Pete Townshend performing songs from the Lifehouse project (many of these songs eventually became the Who’s Next album). The London Chamber Orchestra is backing and the performances are so phat. I have watching and listening all day, Baba O’Riley is tracking as we speak (type?). This DVD is getting me jacked up for the show and I just love the music of Pete anytime, any form, any media.

Macy’s found me Saturday and I found my new watch. I have been looking for a black faced round watch that is elegant but wearable (read under $350). The new Guess Collection has just a watch and now it is mine J. Computer case, DVD, and now a new watch, is the GNP moving? On the way back Andy brought me to a store called Rolo. So f*in’ cool. I bought two Japanese t-shirts that reek of coolness, hipness, and more importantly fun. There is a current fashion trend in Japan that involves limited edition clothing. Artists and designers have created a buzz by producing limited runs of items and then moving on. After market madness and hording have hit. These shirts are slowly making their way here and I snapped up two realizing what I had stumbled on to. How cool, I had read all about the trend in a recent issue of Vanity Fair and now I had a table to choose from. Bags in hand we finally made our way back to Andy’s to review our haul and show Bill (Andy’s roommate) all our goodies.

Drive Far Then Wet Your Pants

Andy had plans for the evening and I was scheduled to pick up Alexis for some after work (for her) high jinx. Alexis lives in the city and she often says she misses driving so we changed places and headed north. It is one of those California things. Most people whom ask me about living in Cali want to know how often I go to the beach. I always say how easy it is but I do it far too infrequently. Tonight we made the trek. I liked being the passenger and Alexis hammed it up nicely opening my door and taking my jacket before I entered the car. People thought we were whacked but I liked the attention! As a passenger I was able to take some pics of the trip over the bridge. It is the San Fran landmark and I always wanted to take pictures while driving the span. We made our up the very very very twisted two lane road to Stinson Beach. The sun was about an hour from setting and we started to walk and talk. I was still all a buzz from my kiss and Alexis was only too happy to let me run at the mouth. The beach was perfect and before long we had stumbled onto a secluded beach area with little tide pools and perfect sand. The sun was setting and I snapped a few pics to capture the moment.

Now we were really hungry and it was getting chilly so we decided to head further north and grab dinner in a sleepy beach town. We walked and walked then we realized we had actually hiked almost a mile from the car up the coast. The friendly walk was now a chore. I was joking that a day with Alexis also included a brutal leg workout. Walking in the sand is tiring, after the first mile. Noses running and glad to be back at the parking area we begged a picnic group to spare a napkin or tissue. They did and we stayed and played with their dogs for a bit.

Once back to the car I waited patiently as Alexis forgot to open my door. She regained her bearings and quickly apologized and let me back into the car. Half an hour later we found that sleepy beach town with a restaurant/bar/hotel. We were the last couple seated for dinner but they were still great hosts. The meal was awesome and I was commenting on a sign that read “Personal Emergency Exit Only” posted on a back door. What would a Personal Emergency that required a separate exit consist of? It was one of those moments when I was actually thinking out loud. The couple across the way chimed in and before long every one in the dining room was talking with each other.

A red faced Rubinesque couple was celebrating a birthday and they were quite drunky. The birthday wife decided to interview the other couples having dinner. She asked crazy personal questions, so Alexis and I upped the ante. When asked a question we made up an answer. We claimed to be an English teacher out with his, finally graduated, student who was also now 18. We were up here alone since we didn’t want to be seen in the city. We had been good for years and now we could finally be together. The dining room gasped and Alexis made goo goo eyes at me. Another couple picked up on our riff and they added their own flavor to the mix. They were both married to other people in the mid-west and were meeting here to have hot sex for the weekend. The room gasped again. The drunken couple bought it all and we had all we could do to keep from giving it away. Dinner ended with dessert, as it should, and we made the drive back to SF without incident. Alexis did want me to mention the drunken woman had a bad case of the hick-ups. Alexis suggested that she put her fingers in her ears and drink a glass of water (that her husband would hold for her). Well this couple couldn’t quite grasp the concept and the scene devolved to the woman sitting in chair with one finger in an ear and her head between her legs as her husband poured the water down her shirt.

To finish the evening we ducked into the coffee shop on the corner of Fillmore and California streets to unwind. We also wanted to review the pictures we had taken at the beach. I just love my new pc because it is actually portable and useable. One coffee and one tea, not a tough order but the customer in front of us decided he would take 30 minutes to figure out his order. He also had a friend with him so we dubbed them Bert and Ernie. Bert and Ernie took forever to place their order because they wanted to know the nutritional value of the oatmeal cookies; they needed to see the coffee filter in the machine, they wanted to check the temperature of the dishwasher, they wanted to know where the clerk went to school, etc. It was painful because the poor clerk just wanted to pour some coffee and go home. We finally got our order in and we relived the evening and laughed as checked out the pictures. Rock shows, new friends, long drives and some romance for Leftcoastlove himself, a week in paradise indeed! Peace and love people….. --sean--