The first thing I dropped into SF for was houseboating year two. It was a slightly different lineup, and this time we invested in both a bigger boat and one with a top deck jacuzzi. I had this whole theory about the inevitable decline each year of group trips, but this one was spectacular. Everything exciting about last year's trip was amplified and being a more experienced crew, we knew how to iron out all the kinks. It felt like two days was actually too short, as another day or two of relaxing would have been nice, but between the jumping, swimming, singing, dancing, flip cupping, and having funning, there was just no time.
Sidenote: I was horrific at flip cup -- in contrast to last year -- and I was equally inept at beer pong. It's been awhile since I've been so terrible at something that everyone made fun of me. I mean, I usually try to avoid those situations. The whole point of life is to not do things you'll suck at right? Or was it to not suck in the first place? Anyway, this time out even my buddy, a sweet sweet someone who won't be named, turned on me and berated me for my inadequacies. That's okay though, I understood. In the heat of competition, it's sink or swim and I definitely sunk (the whole team). Why was I so bad? I have no idea. But if there's a year three of houseboat, I'm coming for redemption. While there were many highlights of the trip, one of mine was everyone getting invested into doing the cup song thing from Pitch Perfect. I don't care if it's overdone, my greatest dream was to have it happen. And it did.
You know you wish you were there to learn it too.
Every weekend in SF was jam packed with stuff. In-between it was major laundry and recovery days. George had cleared out all the stuff in the front alcove where her desk usually sits. She announced that she wanted me to have all my stuff in there and that I should drag the tatami mat into the room to sleep. I refused, because it was too far from the action and not in front of the TV. I took to calling the room "the doghouse" and used it as a staging and storage area, but didn't cave in to her demands to be relegated to the time out room.
Also the first day I was back in SF, coming off the high of a beautiful warm weekend on a lake, I was all like, "I'm ready to move back!" A few hours later, stuck on the wrong bus down to the Mission, all the things I detested about San Francisco came rolling back. Of course, that was before AMR lent me his spare bike. Riding around New York all summer had been super fun but now it was an essential part of my transportation. Without a bike to zip me from George's to AMR's, I would not have survived.
To live in San Francisco would require like every mode of transportation possible. Walk, bus, bike, drive, board. The costs must be enormous. Also we/they started playing basketball in the Mission on Tuesday nights. There's a beautiful near empty court right on Valencia and it's lighted with glass backboards. I only got to stick around for two sessions but so far the enthusiasm has kept up and if it keeps going, it's my number one reason for re-visiting. I don't recall there being a time when we had enough people wanting to play sports altogether in SF. Next, next, I got next!
On weekend three, we drove forty minutes south to an YMCA campsite for our friend's wedding. I knew Camp We+Do was going to be incredible because Stef is just the type of person who would know exactly how to make a camp wedding be perfect. Back at Michigan, Stef was literally the coolest person on campus and it was intimidating just to talk to her. I remember when she left a super nice message on my web page's guest book back in the day -- yes, web page -- and it was like "Stef knows who I am!" Fast forward many years and I was gearing up to attend her wedding.
The whole thing was inevitably amazing. Each detail was perfect and when the saxophonist burst out of the tree stump squawking out Estelle's "American Boy," that was the capper. Best wedding ever status. I mean, the ceremony itself was already reaching Hall of Fame levels because two guitars strummed a few chords and then Stef's family started off singing "Edelweiss" as the whole crowd joined in right when Stef and Mike walked in. All of this happened under a canopy of lovely trees. I haven't been touched watching two people get married in awhile, but this one almost made me shed a tear. For some reason, half of our friends sitting next to us had no idea what was going on. "Why does everyone know the words to this song?! I'm so confused." A group viewing of The Sound of Music was clearly in order.Also, shout out to the debut of AMR's handmade boomcases. We had them on the houseboat but at camp they were even more of a hit. Speakers in a vintage suitcase? I've never felt cooler holding luggage. Speaking of music, the second night of the wedding, we danced from like nine in the evening until three in the morning. No stops, barely any bathroom or cigarette breaks. The music was that good, and the freestyle saxophone guy was killing it. Stef and Mike found him playing during Pride and hired him for the wedding. It was an incredible touch. The whole atmosphere of that night was magical.
Having already hit up a summer camp earlier this year, I think it should be an annual must do event. Since there's no cell phone reception and no schedule, camp is just a glorious time to be free and to have fun. I highly recommend summer camp for all of life's ailments, especially if you're planning a wedding.
Last thing. During afternoon activities announcements, my friend said that they were looking to organize a Dirty Dancing flash mob. Needless to say, I could not have been more excited. Re-enacting Dirty Dancing at summer camp! That's the dream! Under the guise of a yoga class, a dedicated group of us got together and practiced an impromptu routine set to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." It came off perfectly, complete with some leaping (off tables) and twirling. Ultimately I declined to actually perform because it was only the girls doing it, but I recorded some footage and boy did I make sure I knew the moves. My only regret is that JonG was laid low by allergies, otherwise he would have replicated the Patrick Swayze moves. I mean, during practice he got up off the bench and showed us the proper steps ("No no, that's wrong, it's this move...") and literally every girl swooned. Dirty Dancing man, whew.
Videos:
- Houseboat: Cup Song | Heads Up | Dancing (via George)
- Birthday Ride
- Camp We+Do | Dirty Dancing
- Mission Basketball
My original flight out had me leaving a few days before Jasmine's thirtieth birthday. Influenced by George's poor decision making, it was clearly the wrong move. George had told me that I should just leave SF after the wedding but it didn't take long for me to realize that it was just an attempt for her to rid herself of me. Jasmine's birthday weekend was going to include too many festivities to miss out on so I just bought another ticket back to New York while ditching my original non-refundable one.
Fantastic decision obviously, as it's not every day you get to attend a birthday roast and toast. It takes balls to put yourself in front of people and have them say mean (but hopefully nice) things to your face. Like one of the video roasts declared, "Cuz Jasmine has the biggest *bleep*!" Haha, the best.
There was more of course. Old friends, new friends, camp friends, lots of naps, movie nights, Hello Kitty karaoke, birthday dinners cooked by top chefs, a lot of stuff. Fifty-five entries worth.
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