Living in a Fantasy World
This may come as no surprise to many of you but I can get worked up rather easily. Plant a seed in my head and my mind starts wandering immediately.
I alluded to this yesterday in my blog, but Randy and I were talking on the phone over the weekend about his current trip to San Francisco and our future trip to San Francisco in July. He mentioned that his friends out there kept asking him when he was going to move back (he lived in southern California as a grad student and in northern California after getting his Ph.D). Randy said he didn’t know – but didn’t rule out moving back someday. So, we started talking about all of the “what if’s.” What if we’re together in 5 years? What if he gets a job out there? What if, what if, what if.
Of course, that got me to wondering if I’d like to live there again. It’s been nearly 10 years since I lived there and that’s been more than enough time to dilute the negative memories and only retain the positive ones (a skill I seemed to have mastered throughout my life). So, I kept fantasizing/daydreaming about the idea of moving back and began weighing the pros and cons (Pro: moderate climate, change of scenery, and Cons: distance from family/friends, cost of living, I’ll never get better employee benefits than I have now).
Then there was this looming March cold front barreling through the northeast….single digits with windchills hovering around MINUS 20. That could sway almost anybody into wanting to move.
But I stayed at Randy’s last night. And this morning, while eating breakfast, I looked over the photos he took of San Francisco while he was out there last week. And it reminded me of one thing:
San Francisco is butt ugly.
There, I said it. I know I’m in the minority here since people always seem to leave their heart there…but the city itself is just flat-out ugly. The distant vistas are beautiful. Stand on a hill and look at the mountains of Marin County (a region north of the city) and it’s gorgeous. But the city itself – your immediate surroundings – are heinous. Randy had photos from various hills (and from his friend’s condo) and all you see is a sea of white buildings. The only sprouts of green are in the major parks. Otherwise, it’s literally a sea of concrete and stucco as far as the eye can see. Add in the telephone poles and electric bus wiring above the streets and you get one big unnattractive jumbled mess.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m dying to go back to visit. But those photos this morning should be enough to eliminate my relocation fantasy…at least for now. I mean, next winter is only 9 months away.
3 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Yay! Don’t move!
So…wanna do dinner on Wednesday before I go teach at Lesley?
First, from yesterday – love, love, love Match Game – Charles Nelson Riley rules, and Brett What-Was-Her-Name. Grew up on that shit. And, sorry, Alex Trebek all the way. Bob Barker, despite his animal rights work, is a real bastard, and sexually harrassed the “girls”. SF – I agree! I was so disappointed when I went there for 2 weeks – I expected a much more beautiful city. There are neighborhoods, rich & funky, that have beautiful bldgs, and the parks are nice, but overall it’s stucco and ugly. Though the surrounding areas that are rural are some of the most beautiful places I’ve seen. But, still…you don’t live there. So no, don’t you dare leave us! Though it’s conceivable I myself could face such a dilema – but even worse, LA! yuck. I’m sooo East Coast. I think you should go to Germany, Austria, Switzerland – of the three, I guess I’d say Germany most, though Switzerland is damn perfect looking. I’ve been many times so if you want you can pick my brain about it. Germany is the most friendly of the three. Oh, of course Brad has really lived there…..
So it’s Dr. Randy? Cute & Smart, you devil Karl.