Enemy Territory
Guess where I went today? Enemy territory.. aka, the East Bay! Thus, I thought it was only appropriate that I wore red.
The day started pretty early with a 9:30 trip up to Stanford to pick up Carrie. She needed a ride home for the weekend and she also wanted to show me a glimpse of her past, so for our first destination, we ended up going to her old high school, the College Preparatory School, in the Rockridge area of Oakland! Yes, that's right. She went to a private school; you heard it here first. And it is every bit as preppy as it sounds. Seriously, the school looked like a ski lodge more than anything. Each building is a separate department -- chemistry, math, dance, music, etc. and they do not even have a cafeteria! For someone who went to the largest public school in the entire state of Nevada, this was a shock. However, as small as the school was, she managed to fortuitously bump into two old friends -- a student and a teacher -- so that was kind of neat. The strange thing was it's Saturday and it's summer, so maybe she is just really popular, I dunno.
Our next stop was just down the block from her school, and it was a pizza place hangout by the name of Zachary's. The surrounding area and the shops kind of reminded me a bit of Downtown Palo Alto, but perhaps maybe not as upscale. Actually, come to think of it, DTPA's as nice as it gets. Since the day was still young and we did not want to overload ourselves with the greasy goodness that is a deep dish, we opted for a small, thin crust Hawaiian special. Luckily for us both, that was enough to hold us over for the fun that we were to expect next in you know it: Berkeley, California.
Now for those of you who know me, you know that I do not yet have any beef with Cal. Why should I? I have never even set foot on campus except for this one time briefly at one of their student unions for a map sale (okay, don't ask, I'm nerdy like that). That is why I did not even know that they have a river (or.. some people might call it a small creek) that runs straight through. When I discovered this, Carrie thought it might be a good idea to go closer to the bank so we can inspect it. Bad idea number one. Honestly, it would not have been that bad had I just strolled alongside it like any normal person would. However, I had the sudden desire to scale the stream, as if to prove to her that I am manly enough to do so or something. Bad idea number two. But oh ho, of course I could not just do that from where I was standing, no. So I decided to take a couple of steps back, up the hill a little bit so I could get a running start. Bad idea number three. As it turned out, I cleared the water okay. In fact, I got so much clearance that I actually surprised myself and forgot to stick my landing. For a brief moment, and by brief I mean maybe a few milliseconds, it was pure elation. I did it! Look at me! Who rocks your world, Carrie? Unfortunately, my victory was short lived as Sir Isaac Newton failed me once again. Momentum and gravity decided to gang up on me at about the same time, so I fell awkwardly right into the dirt, with nothing but my elbows and my face breaking my fall. Smooth, Felix, smooth. What takes the cake was that she then had to walk me to the library so I could wash myself up and so she could ask the receptionist for some bandages. Sigh. Not the way I had envisioned it when that brilliant idea first came to my head. Argh. You win this round: Berkeley 1, Felix 0.
After that little episode, we decided to take it easy and so some lounging in the grassy knoll was followed by a quick Starbucks trip, which was then followed by a walk to Telegraph Ave. so that I could get in some hippie sightings. Much to my dismay, the day would have to end because my parking meter was running out of time, so we decided to take her back to her place in Oaktown. That in itself was its own little adventure, since it involved meeting the mother for the first time! But alas, that story will most likely have to wait for another day..
The day started pretty early with a 9:30 trip up to Stanford to pick up Carrie. She needed a ride home for the weekend and she also wanted to show me a glimpse of her past, so for our first destination, we ended up going to her old high school, the College Preparatory School, in the Rockridge area of Oakland! Yes, that's right. She went to a private school; you heard it here first. And it is every bit as preppy as it sounds. Seriously, the school looked like a ski lodge more than anything. Each building is a separate department -- chemistry, math, dance, music, etc. and they do not even have a cafeteria! For someone who went to the largest public school in the entire state of Nevada, this was a shock. However, as small as the school was, she managed to fortuitously bump into two old friends -- a student and a teacher -- so that was kind of neat. The strange thing was it's Saturday and it's summer, so maybe she is just really popular, I dunno.
Our next stop was just down the block from her school, and it was a pizza place hangout by the name of Zachary's. The surrounding area and the shops kind of reminded me a bit of Downtown Palo Alto, but perhaps maybe not as upscale. Actually, come to think of it, DTPA's as nice as it gets. Since the day was still young and we did not want to overload ourselves with the greasy goodness that is a deep dish, we opted for a small, thin crust Hawaiian special. Luckily for us both, that was enough to hold us over for the fun that we were to expect next in you know it: Berkeley, California.
Now for those of you who know me, you know that I do not yet have any beef with Cal. Why should I? I have never even set foot on campus except for this one time briefly at one of their student unions for a map sale (okay, don't ask, I'm nerdy like that). That is why I did not even know that they have a river (or.. some people might call it a small creek) that runs straight through. When I discovered this, Carrie thought it might be a good idea to go closer to the bank so we can inspect it. Bad idea number one. Honestly, it would not have been that bad had I just strolled alongside it like any normal person would. However, I had the sudden desire to scale the stream, as if to prove to her that I am manly enough to do so or something. Bad idea number two. But oh ho, of course I could not just do that from where I was standing, no. So I decided to take a couple of steps back, up the hill a little bit so I could get a running start. Bad idea number three. As it turned out, I cleared the water okay. In fact, I got so much clearance that I actually surprised myself and forgot to stick my landing. For a brief moment, and by brief I mean maybe a few milliseconds, it was pure elation. I did it! Look at me! Who rocks your world, Carrie? Unfortunately, my victory was short lived as Sir Isaac Newton failed me once again. Momentum and gravity decided to gang up on me at about the same time, so I fell awkwardly right into the dirt, with nothing but my elbows and my face breaking my fall. Smooth, Felix, smooth. What takes the cake was that she then had to walk me to the library so I could wash myself up and so she could ask the receptionist for some bandages. Sigh. Not the way I had envisioned it when that brilliant idea first came to my head. Argh. You win this round: Berkeley 1, Felix 0.
After that little episode, we decided to take it easy and so some lounging in the grassy knoll was followed by a quick Starbucks trip, which was then followed by a walk to Telegraph Ave. so that I could get in some hippie sightings. Much to my dismay, the day would have to end because my parking meter was running out of time, so we decided to take her back to her place in Oaktown. That in itself was its own little adventure, since it involved meeting the mother for the first time! But alas, that story will most likely have to wait for another day..
