Here's a letter I wrote to a friend shortly after moving to San Francisco. Wow, how times have changed.

Yes, I have left town and now live a block off Castro in SF. Brian took a new job down here as a Software Testing Engineer, so we moved in search of greater job fufillment, a better nightlife, and generally better fortunes. I continue to for for Adobe, but my last day will be November 10th (after 7 years there!). I start as a Software Engineer at Apple November 16th. Like Brian, I got a great bay-area pay raise that more than offsets the doubling of our rent.

So far, living here is a mixed bag, but I'm glad we're here, and I think Brian is too. People are generally friendlier (as long as they aren't driving). They say hello, they step out of the way - ya know, they're courtious. That's a nice switch from the almost caveman behavior of many people in Seattle. I guess its the long cold winters there that make folks go "ug!" when someone wants something from them.

The streets around the Castro are always full of people. There is always something going on. Drag Queens here, Bears there, Court "royalty" somewhere else. The bars are slow on Monday, but most of the rest of the week there are people to be seen and possibly brought home (though no catches yet). We have had some fun in the SOMA district, but we seem to have trouble getting down there - you have to take a cab and we never seem to have the energy when there is something that will do right across the street.

Though I never went to a bathhouse in Seattle, I don't have any complaints about the place Brian and I go down here. We've found a few nice men there to play with.

Politics here are different too. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has a gay angle on the news. The gay community in California is such a force to be reckoned with that no person can run for office, drive a bus, plant a tree, or park a car without a TV reporter doing a story on it that mentions what "gay community leaders" think of it. I like how my straight friend put it. "It's not that there are really any more gay people here than anywhere else, it's just that they're all out of the closet here." Another political reality here is that polititions seemly can't do anything here without modifying the constitution or having some sort of election on the matter. I believe that the english portions of the three state-issued voters guides we've been sent have about a total of 220 pages! Voting is going to be hard, but it has a lot of meaning here - you can tell lawmakers a lot in a single trip to the polls. All this and political pundits are saying that if we elect a democratic govenor, the next president will probably be one too. That's good, because the democratic candidate is currently ahead by about 15% with less than a week to go.

Cycling here is different too. My observations so far: - If you own cycling shoes, they are very colorful and stylish. - On the other hand, if you are wearing a jersey, It's probably butt-ugly. - You needent be white to bike here. - Unless you are an uber-cyclist, far-up the food chain, you wear something loose over your spandex (though there may be a package to be seen anyways). - Most messengers prefer to wear cutoff polyester jeans. - It sucks having the nearest velodrome 70 miles away. - Caltrain runs 66 trains a day. All of them have at least 20 bikes on board. - Caltrain riders work together to get the bikes stacked in unloading order: Every bike has a tag saying where it gets off, by unwritten biker edict. - You need only cross the golden gate bridge to get a good climb in. The Marin headlands are like a mini-hurricane ridge but with a better view.

There is no bad food in San Fransisco. Some of it is not very remarkable, but I haven't had any bad food. Groceries are dirt cheap. I almost had a heart attack when I went to the organic dump down the block, bought a pile of eggplant, zuchinni, mushrooms, carrots, tofu, rice, etc, etc for dinner and it was only $9 for enough to feed two, w/leftovers. We have many, many restuarants left to try within walking distance. We haven't eaten at one twice yet.

I really ought to run. It's a work day and I've only just started looking at what I am to do today. But it is good to hear from you, and I you inspire me to write about my life here so far. Do let me know what you want to do, and I'll be glad to help. Love, -- Kelly --