I'm trying to figure out how to encapsulate the terrible new-ness of the last two weeks. San Francisco is frothing with the new, but I can't really compare it to traveling because I'm not constantly on the move, and I can't compare it to Vietnam or Houston or New York or Philadelphia or London or even Baltimore because the identity of the place is wholly a creature unto itself, and besides -- I've yet to really nail down what, or whom, is San Francisco.
There are a lot of colors. Colored people, buildings, smells, lifestyles. And they're all heavily outlined and heavily colored in. The hippies are really hippies: bushy beards and glazed eyes and knotted manes – they sit with mangy dogs on street corners and cry out "give me money so I can get drunk!" and if you listen long and hard enough, they're all poets of some kind. Mostly the stream-of-consciousness, mystically high and hyped up kind of poetry. The vegans are truly plant-crazed people. The liberals are so far left they've fallen off the world's edge. There are bicycling enthusiasts, jazz freaks, photography nerds, obscure academics, and of course, technology obsessives.
It's like a Sim City game where each person I see will have a little sign floating above their heads that blares out what or who they are. Artist. Counter-culture guru. Geek. Dandy. Sure, they may have a plethora of identities, but there's always one trait that screams "This is who I am". Color-coded, almost.
And while the people are heavily colored in, the template where all these souls move are lazily outlined and blurred. The fog sweeps in at first morning's break and dissipates by midday, but the haze remains. San Francisco is blessed with water, hills and micro-climates that takes you from shorts to sweaters to coats in matters of minutes and meters. And perhaps because of the geography, its culture is similarly fluid.
You're free to color in your surroundings, bleed in the colors and be exaggerated, as wild as your imagination can expand. The city itself is sparse, comprised by neighborhoods with a few blocks worth of watering holes. But beneath the empty spaces are vibrations of personalities, of identities. Where New York is a homogeneous culture of... well culture, San Francisco is more diverse: there is nightlife and arts to be sure, but the ease of access for sailing, or rock climbing, or writing or drawing or business -- it's startling.
The colors bleed into their surroundings and cut through the haze. Not too many people color in between the lines here. New York was a place where college graduates were stuck in some negligent adulthood twilight zone. New Yorkers love the work hard and play hard mantra. Most conversations begin with how much hours so-and-so has worked that week.
Move west 2,000 miles and San Francisco is a place of paradoxical hyper-childhood, where adults often choose play over work. Most times, I've been taken aback to hear how many people have the same experiences as me – how someone has nodded, "Oh yeah, Laos was much better than Cambodia.. didya make it to Si-pha-don?" or "Yeah, I really got into biking after I came back from my trip overseas".
I still miss the density of New York sometimes, but I think that's because I've yet to identify all of San Francisco's colors.
good post mate. i can't wait to get colored myself.
Posted by: kdawg | August 28, 2007 at 09:42 PM
I so envy your experience but am eternally grateful that you allow me into it through your incredible ability to express it!!
I've resisted moving back to California even though my husband insists I'm a perfect fit with Northern California. We used to visit San Francisco often and I did like it - especially hiking through Muir Woods. But I think maybe I'm just a tad too manic to live amongst all of that color. At the same time, I think where we are living (in the suburbs of what is considered to be Little San Francisco) is far too gray.
Posted by: laura | August 28, 2007 at 11:01 PM
Hi Laura - yeah, somehow I think you'd fit right along here - not because it's manic, but because the place is not afraid to get a bit messy with its curiosity!(Oh, I love hiking through the Marin headlands and Muir woods too!)
Posted by: j.fisher | September 03, 2007 at 04:35 PM