almost okay

A DETROITER IN SAN FRANCISCO
DSF Special Report!

Can you fucking believe it? I found a store on Sutter at Van Ness that sells Labatt Blue!

It's true. I was out walking Taxi in the early afternoon and saw a large store called BevMo! Yep, the exclamation point is built in. Because of my journalism experience, I quickly surmised this to be a left-coast way of saying "More Beverages!" I peeked through the door - no dogs allowed - into the cavernous heaven of angels. An hour later, I found I was right, as usual.

I took Taxi back to the apartment, damn near jogged back to the place and sure enough after ogling more tequilas than I'd ever imagined existed - Homer Simpson drool-style - there they stood at attention, proudly, on shelves under a marquee labeled "Canada": my soldiers in blue in bottled six-packs, canned twelves, and my favorite, the Big Blue. I opted for the cans, raced home to put six in the freezer and six in the fridge. Out of respect for my good luck, I went back out for tequila to plan a celebration.

TEQUILA + POLACK + BUKOWSKI = POLACKOWSKI!

I've never seen a wetter city than San Francisco. There are mini-markets everywhere and If they sell beer, they sell liquor. One, two, even three joints on each block that along with the usual Seven/Eleven necessities carry every imaginable size of every liquor: minis, half-pints, pints, fifths, half-gallons…why, once I even saw a bottle of Patron so large I couldn't lift it. The sheer number of 100% Agaves available in SF is staggering. Literally.

While my inexpensive favorite, the Sauza Hornitos is in the $25 range (like in Detroit), super premiums are cheap as fuck. A $60 Corazon in the D is only $33 here. At BevMo! a pint of the blanco was $20 but luckily I'd remembered a bodega three blocks away (not Yogi Market) near our high-tech apartment where a pint was only $17. I hightailed it over and wisely spent my money there. Thank you, God (if there is a God).

The bad news about my new San Fran lifestyle is I'm probably drinking too much. The good news is I never drive drunk - Christine and I left our rides back in the Motor City where almost everyone learns to drink and drive at an early age. Not proud to admit that - it can result in devastating consequences, of course - but it's true.

CRAZY ABOUT PASTA!

As I stood on a bus coming back from the Mission District, an older lady seated near me yelled out to no one in particular: "I like meatballs with my spaghetti!" San Fran sure has its share of colorful humans. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I like meatballs with my spaghetti, too, but you don't hear me spilling my guts to the world on public transit. Come to think of it, I haven't had meatballs in a long while...and it's funny, I don't really miss them, either.

DEMO DeMERRIER!

The wife and I have lived in San Francisco for two weeks now. There's a swell, stress-filled backstory I haven't even gotten to yet. Right now I'm just punching out demos, looking for an angle, missing Detroit, and learning to live in what some folks call the 'air-conditioned' city." Whew, they got that right. More sunny than cloudy, the high temps are rarely close to 70 and the lows are in the 50s. My kind of weather, man.

Please note the spiffy new email address: artlyzak@gmail.com or because you're no dummy you can reach me by hitting the 'reply' button on this missive. Remember I love you all, some less than others because you were swiped from previously received emails where the sender didn't use the "bcc' function. I don't even know you but it feels like we're getting along, doesn't it?

Until next time I remain,
A Detroiter in San Francisco