10/17/2013: SF seems like another world. I didn’t realize the cold fog of summer lifts
in the fall – clear blue skies and warm.
We walked along the Embarcadero, stopped & had a drink in a
waterfront cafe, walked through the Ferry Bldg, where I spent a ridiculous amt
picking out heirloom dried beans (and an accompanying cookbook, of course)
& having them shipped. Beautiful
sunshine.
We walked into
Chinatown & at at ZY Restaurant, which had vg cold house noodles &
chicken w/ hot peppers (I just looked it up on Zagats – it had good rating –my
main criterion had been that it was v. busy & had lots of Chinese
clients. Food so spicy my feet curled
(happily))
10/18/2013 A wanted to wk out
at the gym today, so I got up, trotted for 20 min on a treadmill watching first
a news show, then a show abt picking out the perfect wedding dress,
breakfasted, wrote in diary for a while, till A picked me up at 11:30.
We headed down to
visit Ben
(goodness, the link shows a news story abt Ben’s departing Google for FB) at
Facebook for lunch. A had been a
little late picking me up, and then there was a traffic jam on 101, so we were
45 min late (A alternately texting Ben as he drove (I sent one text from A’s
phone, that I thought was admirably worded & punctuated given how we were
bouncing around, but A said not a v. high threshold). Ben v. affable, and a good listener (he’s
also grown about a foot since I saw him last).
There are screens to sign in on (that ask for name & email). I was slow because I’d taken off my reading
glasses to hug Ben, and then forgot where I’d stashed them. Ben took us to the cafeteria – which had vg
and v healthy (free) food. I had steamed
pea tendrils, multi-colored carrots and some kind of portobello glop, washed down
w/ water w/ fruit essence.
A talked abt work,
we talked about what ailed healthcare.gov.
I asked about Ben’s work, which is monitoring the stability and
performance of FB. He took us on a quick
tour of a bunch of buildings, which are like a fort – they’re open on the
campus side, which holds multiple free
food options, a coffee cafe, a woodworking shop, a print shop.
Ben walked us out,
and A and I set off for the Cantor Art Center in Stanford. Huge painting of the Stanfords on the lawn in
spring. Leland died of typhoid in
Europe. V. odd portrait of Mrs. Stanford’s
jewels, ultimately donated to Stanford to buy books. V. impressive Asian religious art, also
Micronesia.
Conv in the car abt
Alex’s family. She’s doing the tailgate
at tomorrow’s Stanford game, which involves a trailer with grill, furniture,
tent, alcohol. The family invited me (A
was originally supposed to help Alex, before he remembered I was coming), but A
& Alex thought far wiser to introduce parents when S present to provide
non-partisan conversation. (And of course I wouldn’t understand a thing that
was happening).
Alex’s Dad is the 2nd
oldest of 4. A gave him Nate
Silver’s book for Xmas, he read it & they talked about.
Alex’s Dad is up
shooting game (it’s the opening of some hunting season) and will fly down for
the Stanford homecoming game – the family always tailgates. They host 50+ people. When Stanford played the Oregon Ducks, Alex cooked
roast ducks Chinese style & hung them from the tent. I was awed.
I took Alex & A
out to a v nice Italian place (whose name escapes me) – had tomatoes with a
cheese that’s a combination of mozzarella + cream (burrata) . Quail and
then an excellent hazelnut dessert.
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