City Girl

I wasn’t sure, but I was able to confirm last week that I am, indeed, a City Girl.

Right now I live in Bend, Oregon, where nothing smells like urine or garbage unless you visit the dump or a nearby farm. Even the parking garage downtown is devoid of pee stains and smells in the stairwells. It’s bizarre.

Last week I was back in San Francisco for work and I actually cried when I got to my room. I stayed in a friend’s time share and had my own apartment for the week and I was deliriously happy. It felt like my old place where I spent many happy years feeling the constant energy and life of the city right outside my windows.

That’s what I’m missing in Bend. The sound of life and energy. It’s dead quiet most of the time. If we didn’t have screamy kids next door, it would be almost completely silent, except for the sound of studded tires driving by. At night it’s so quiet it feels like the apocalypse has happened. I suspect some folks might find endless silence lovely, but I find it lonely and a bit depressing.

What I love about the city is that every moment it’s different. Different people walking by, different energy in every neighborhood, and so many different kinds of people. Every kind of people - makes the world go round (such a great song). I love the diversity and the crazy and the grit. It’s the only place I’ve ever lived that’s ever really felt like home

I’ve lived in many places (even Canada!) and I feel like I can live anywhere and be happy, but San Francisco will always be my home.

I Love California

There are innumerable reasons to love living here. The ocean, the weather, the lifestyle, just to name a few. I often wish we would form our own country, since the rest of the states don't seem to like California (so painfully jealous, which is understandable). With all its faults - get it? - California is the best and that's just the way it is.

This morning I was reminded of another reason to love living here... We're a noncompete state. That means: "An employer cannot by contract restrain a former employee from engaging in his or her profession, trade or business," as said by Justice Min Ching.

So when I'm working with a company in another state that tries to tell me it can restrict who I work for and on what sort of projects, I just smile and nod and love that they haven't done their homework. Meanwhile, I'm going outside to play, on a gorgeous sunny day in February.