"My life as a disco queen ..." "Melbourne Life - by Fi ('on her way to the UK')

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From the Web 1.0 days I bring you The Forum. To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

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28th September, 2001

Hi all,

Well, despite the fact that there are security vehicles lined up along the hilltops surrounding it, and everyone in San Francisco is convinced of it, the Golden Gate Bridge has not yet been bombed. It's amazing being here at this time ... tourists have abandoned this country, American Airlines is offering round trips from SF to NYC for US$100, every front yard, car window, office building, and human being sports an American flag, and despite the fact that the people here try to maintain a degree of dignity and unity, a tangible paranoia appears to have set in. I have heard a thousand "true stories" about where the next plane will crash, and every person in every bar knows someone who knows someone who knows where the Osama bin Laden affiliates are hanging out. Right here in San Francisco.

The upside of all this turmoil is that it is a hell of a lot easier to see the city, and you can hire a rental car and book accommodation for next to nothing. After spending a few days with my dear friend Devona in San Rafael (an hour commute from the city and about 5 degrees warmer), Mac arrived from doing the organic farm thing in Canada, smelling like pig poo and with hair down to his bum. Jokes ... he was actually fit, tanned and in fantastic spirits ...

Devona hooked us up with some tickets for a ball game ... the San Francisco Giants against the Houston something-or-rathers ... our seats were directly behind third base which was alternately exhilirating and terrifying ... balls and even bats would come flying into the crowd. I missed half the game because I was so occupied with cowering behind my beer cup in the hope it would save me from baseball missiles.

We had a laundry day, chilled, and then headed out to a fantastic club in the city called the EndUp where we boogied to a load of big gay house and attempted to brush off the advances of the big gay (semi-naked) men. Devo and I were probably the only biological females, and Mac the only straight guy, in the place, and that coupled with the fact that we were practically the only punters with our clothes still ON made us very much the centre of attention .. kinda like being in a Madonna video ... I began to fear for my dancefloor safety when I found myself sandwiched tightly between two very shiny topless men, one of whom was whispering Ricki Lake-type innuendo into my ear ... while Mac and friends Nate and Jesse looked on in obvious amusement ...

The following morning Mac and I picked up our Dodge from the rental car company, had brekkie with Shem in the city, and began our 4-day northern Californian sprint ... the Napa wine region (the only place in the US where it is still impossible to find accommodation ... we narrowly avoided sleeping on a park bench by handing over our life savings for what seemed to be the only remaining room in town .. at the oooh-la-la Marriott Hotel ... ), 2 nights in the Yosemite National Park, a jaunt across the Diablo Ranges to Montara (on the coast just south of San Fran) and back into the city.

The northern Californian countryside reminds me very much of Central Otago ... very dry and dusty, spectacular gorges, deep valleys, fruit and nut trees, grape growers, and pick-up trucks ... I spent much of the road trip living out Hollywood movie moments ... humming the theme tune from "Deliverance" wherever applicable (it was applicable lots!), eating garlic fries in small-town diners, and wondering who I was more like ... Thelma or Louise ...

Saw some pretty amazing wild fauna and flora ... I LOVE squirrels ... and survived a massive thunderstorm which totally shook the hostel we were staying in in the national park. I have never experienced anything like it before ... the lightening was pure white and blindingly bright .. and the thunder left my ears ringing ...

Back in San Rafael now .. Mac is on his Greyhound to LA and I fly to the UK on Saturday. Devona has a date tonight so I have the apartment pretty much to myself which will be nice ... and we're off to some new club tomorrow night. Heaven help me.

Hope you are all happy and well ...
Big love,
xF

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