Author: Benjamin Trotter

Get this. Three of my friends and I are eating dinner in the Little Italy district in North Beach, at a great place called Panta Rei. As I’m eating, the slowest eater, the other plates were taken off the table, and I would assume dessert would be offered as soon as I’m finished. As I continue eating the last few portions of my Risoto with Lobster, a 28-30 year old woman approaches our table.

We all looked up as she started her message with saying, “I know this may be rude, but. . .” I was so curious as to what would follow.

“but… we’ve been waiting for a while to be seated, and would you guys mind finishing up so we can sit?”

As I take the fork out of my mouth and swallow the FOOD, we all looked at one another, and I said, “Are you kidding me? Who put you up to this?”

“No one did”.

“You can’t possibly be that rude to think that was ok to ask, can you? Where are you from?!”

“I’m from Sacramento, and FYI, city people are ruder!”

“I’m from Tennessee, and I’m a sweetie, so don’t pin anything like that on me.”

Then one of the guys we were eating with said something to the effect of, “Leave. We don’t want you here cause you’re rude.”

“Well you’re rude too, @#%%##%@.”

So, after this amazing witness to the social decline of courtesy, we decided to continue our dinner, onto a free dessert for my birthday. At least it ended on a sweet note :)

So, today, I celebrated turning 25. I decided to have a fun evening at a famous restaurant with 18 of my friends here. So, we met up at 7:30, everyone was there, and we started the dinner. The food was great, it’s an asian fusion type place. The shows were hilarious. I had a permanent smile on my face the entire night. I couldn’t believe how I really looked at all the nice friends I’ve made since moving here. I got so many nice cards and gifts, that I really did not expect. Our dinner tab was a whopping $1100. After the dinner, and having fun with the show and waitresses, we went downstairs to the club. Everyone was mingling, and dancing, and drinking, and it was just a nice time. about 11 o’clock, the dance floor was emptied, and we all wanted to leave, so we decided to go to the Castro to dance some more.

Once we got to the Castro, I was already so tired that I was ready to go home! We danced and mingled for an hour or so, and then Andrew and I went to go get some breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn’t think before we went in, that the restaurant was a cash only establishment, and we had a $14 tab. So, we put down our last cash = $12, and ran out, and had to WALK the entire way home. It was hilarious.

So all in all, I rang in my 25th year with quite a social bang, and have had the best birthday ever.

I’m ready for a kitten finally. After several years of really thinking about it, and wondering, oh should I, or should I not, I’ve decided that life’s too short to go without having something you want. So, when I return from Mexico in May, I will go to the adopt a center near work, and get myself a perfect kitten.

Last night Sam came over for the Apprentice Night at Andrew’s. Unfortunately for Andrew, he has a little satan in cat’s clothing. While trying to pet/play with Scout, both Sam and I got mamed. I always joke with Andrew that Scout needs to be put down.

I’m going to get a book on how to make sure my cat is playful and kind. Don’t you just have to manhandle it from day one?

San Francisco’s on fire! This weather is unbelievable! For the past week, the weather has been so nice and warm in the city even at nights. If I didn’t love SF before, I love it now even more, because I can walk up and down the streets in the neighborhoods at night. It’s so lively, and I love just enjoying the views of the houses, the water, the bridges, everything. What a great time I’m having here! Last night, Andrew and I spent a couple of hours just wandering the streets. It was so nice. The only thing that gets in the way of these beautiful days is of course, work. Bah.

On Saturday, my grandmother of 83 years passed away. So, Sunday, I traveled back to Tennessee to attend the funeral. The funeral was to be held in Elberton, Georgia, the place my grandparents had lived for so many years. As a child, we would always travel to this very small southern town to visit them.

My grandmother had an annurism in her brain that pretty much killed her. She had already baked a cake that day and delivered to friends, and already engaged for the night for her game of Bridge. I’m very envious of being so involved as she was, and really not knowing what hit you. Because of this, the funeral became less solemn, but more a celebration of who she was and what an amazingly long, healthy life she lead.

Retruning to the South, not just Chattanooga (as that’s not as Southern as Elberton), was very interesting. There were so many things I saw that made me either chuckle, or realize what a different region of the country this is. After living in one of the best cities for dining, coming to the few choices that are available down there was tiring. I did see some funny signs: On a Taco Bell Sign, below the burrito special, it said : God is Good. Another sign said: TGIF : Thank God I’m Forgiven. But the funniest: Dogs and Cats can’t add or subtract, but they can multiply! Have your cats/dogs spayed or neutered. An Ingle’s Grocery store had a big, ‘American Owned’ on the front of the store. Too funny.

After the funeral, another thing that was quite touching to see, was the courtesy of EVERY car we passed during the procession. There was not one car that didn’t stop, nor one policeman that didnt’ have his hat off, and hand crossing his heart. It was truly memorable.

So, all in all, though my travel was long, it was great to partake in the celebration of all that was my grandmother, and I was so happy that I had come home for Thanksgiving, to see her one last time. I can only hope I’ll be so lucky to live a long, healthy life as she did.

So this morning, I went down to the grand opening of the new SF Apple Store. I’ve seen video of the line at the Tokyo grand opening, and while the population of SF is about 1/17 of Tokyo’s, the line was quite impressive. It went all the way up Stockton to O’Farrel, around to Powell, down to Ellis, back over to Stockton, then wrapping around the corner on to Market and down 6 blocks. ALL FOR THE STORE. Although I’m not a mac user YET, I find the whole cult type following of Apple customers quite fascinating. The fact that people began lining up for the opening of the store on Thursday, is amazing. Plus, the design, quality of people and products that Apple has is very impressive–and I’m still quite disappointed about not having any opportunities there…

What a very interesting reality show. I don’t know how many people tuned in, but it was definitely a TV night. So the end of the show was to have all of your family attend the wedding and not object, in order to win $250,000 for her and $250,000 for her family. However, the family was so emotionally distraught throughout this show, that at the end, they walked out, potentially causing the daughter to lose the money. However, I think because there was so much emotion tied up in this, that the producers probably changed it around a little bit, and awarded the family $500,000 and the daughter $500,000. I still don’t think the money made the family completely ok. It was really kind of a Reality Show gone bust in my opinion.

Obviously this is a hot topic as of late, especially with Dubya trying to ‘give what the people want’.

I was reading a funny article by a straight author writing about the issue:

But gay marriage would make a mockery of marriage! And that?s the job of heterosexuals, right? Can they possibly screw it up worse than straight folks? The divorce rate?s higher than 50 percent, and couples are bailing out of marriages quicker than ever; something like 60 percent of married men and 40 percent of married women have extramarital affairs; and their kids who aren?t busy shooting their classmates are packed with so many pills they sound like maracas when you shake them.

An 86-year-old sleazeball can marry an 18-year-old dominatrix, and that is sanctified. Larry King can marry for the seventh time, and it?s sanctified. Britney Spears can get married and annulled quicker than you can say “publicity skank,” and it is sanctified. Yet a gay couple that has stuck it out through better and worse for 40 years, being exemplary neighbors and citizens the whole while, pose a threat to marriage? It is legal for them to marry, of course, just not to each other. They could go out this afternoon and marry a total stranger, so long as it?s someone of the opposite sex. That?s the law. What?s left to mock?

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This leads to the point of the interference and segregation of Church and State. The whole issue is that the institution of marriage has been governed by both, and rightfully so–(keeps benefits, organization to partners throughout the nation). However, for the state to govern that marriages can only be between a man & woman simply defies civil rights laws. Church should be the only one that governs what two beings will be ‘recognized by God’ but should have no say in a Constitutional Ammendment. Anyone who pays taxes and has a Social Security number should be able to be recognized by the state as a couple, if they choose to be.

Tonight, I went over to Scott’s place for a Sex in the City TV Night for the Finale. It’s amazing how these TV shows come into your lives, and you find yourself attached to the characters on screen. It was actually kind of sad to know that there won’t be any more episodes. The story line really tied together well all of the characters’ lives, and of course seeing Carey ending up NOT in Paris was obviously the way to go. Well done. I will definitely have to start procuring the series on DVD.

Tonight I went to Joshua’s party, a huge event that the e-vite consisted of about 80 people who all replied yes, plus another 50 or so that hadn’t answered. I would venture to say that most people came. It was a lot of fun, and I met a lot of nice people. The view from the apartment was amazing, and it made me want even more a bigger place with a roommate. It’s just so much more like living in a house if you have a proper bedroom and living area. After the party, we started to flee the abode in our taxis across town.