After spending the morning walking the Mission, the birthplace of the city, I then headed north to be immersed by the retro influences of the 60′s. Besides anarchist bookstores (“We’re all volunteers so don’t steal”) and stores selling trinkets from Kathmandu, was the wafting odor of burning incenses and the not at all uncommon scent of a freshly rolled doobie.

It was certainly among the more interesting experiences I’ve had while here. If I had ever wondered where all the leather-booted, hemp-wearing, bead-adorning citizens of San Francisco lived, I will now look no further than the Haight. After the 70′s this area largely took a turn for the worst, as the hippie movement died down and mostly burnouts remained. Now, with renovations happening all around, the area is being gentrified while surprisingly holding a lot of that flower-power attitude.

At the end of Haight St. lay the vast Golden Gate Park. Although I was lacking the energy to walk it all the way to the Pacific, I did find a spot to sit and listen to the Rasta freestyling on cans and watch one San Franciscan woman go into a 3-Hoolahoop dirvish. However, the rougher elements of the drug scene did reveal itself as one drug dealer laid out another about 20 feet away from me, because of appearently unkind words at a party the previous night (“Who needs to be schooled, now? Say ‘I need to be schooled’!”).

I’ve walked a lot for the last two days, so I was glad to head back early and watch a little Veronica Mars and researching the CW, but I’ll be looking forward to spending more time exploring the Bay in the coming weeks, and maybe finally see the Golden Gate.

• Civic Center: City hall has a dome that rises higher than the Capital Rotunda in D.C. Watch out for the drug dealers and crazy hobos on the street though.
• Market Street: This is the main artery of the city. Felt like any major street in NYC, with all the craziness that I would expect. The original Gap is also here!
• Chinatown: Had great dim sum here for $7, and went to this seemingly tiny store that expanded to 3 floors of pan-Chinese goods, including these amazing $6000 wood carved statues of dragons, boats, and godesses.
• Embarcadero: Conceived as some sort of corporate Lincoln Center, this series of towers, featuring the Transamerican Pyramid, has a multilevel shopping mall and one of the best independent film theaters in the Bay Area.
• Coit Tower: Made famous by SimCity 4 (?), this tower rises above the east city atop Prospect Park. I saw my most amazing views here. In this part of the city the roads are so steep that whole sections of road turn into pedestrian steps. I was also very jealous of those who had houses with these amazing views.
• Lombard Street: The world’s most curvaceous street actually is more interesting than you might think. Although it’s a quick tourist spot, it’s definitely worth stopping by for a visit.

I have to admit, San Francisco, or at least the part I saw yesterday, was much more than I expected. I honestly kind of had this vision of huddled masses eating Tofu bars and wearing Doc Martens, with the distinct odor of Patchouli in the air (although I haven’t been to Haight or Berkeley yet). Instead, what I found was a manageable sized city (somewhere between D.C. and Philly), with a vibrant beating heart, and a California Flavor.

I met a lady on the ride back last night who asked what California Flavor meant to me. I told her that I felt like downtown San Francisco was a miniature Manhattan with happier (gayer?) people, and more vibrant colors. New Yorkers look just a bit more scowled, and even in the summer stick to their greyscale and earthtones — but that’s why I love ‘em.

I’ll have to spend some more time travelling around, but I have to say, I could almost imagine myself living here. I looked at rents in the Bay Area and I was pretty surprised at the number of apartments on the Peninsula between $1000 and $1250/mn. But just like NYC, you either live downtown or you don’t. And if you don’t, it’s a pain to get downtown – same reason I don’t get into Manhattan as often as I would like.

Anyways, I’ve decided to see the rest of the city today instead of driving El Camino, so I’m going to get to it.

I’ve been here for a little over 15 hours, and already it’s not exactly what I was expecting. Firstly, it’s freaking Cold!!! I was shivering last night and it’s late August. Los Angeles was much warmer. This is not a terrible thing though, because jeans can be worn comfortably all year round! I love jeans. Could that be part of the impetus for the founding of Gap in downtown S.F.?

Appearently, San Franciscans are quite the gastronomes. I was driving down El Camino Real, and came upon this whole-in-the-wall rib joint called the Rib Shack. For $18 I stuffed myself on delicious beef short ribs and some of the best potato salad and chili beans I’ve had in a while. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when I’m taking El Camino from Millbrae to San Jose. From what I’ve gathered, it’s basically the main strip on the penninsula, so maybe I’ll get some of that juicy Bay Area flavor.

Today I’m going to hit downtown, and do some of the touristy stuff. I’ll report back later.

About 8 months ago, this interest led me and my friends Jason and Frank to build what we have dubbed InvestorGeeks, a site dedicated to the pursuit of understanding how to make money on Wall Street. Having just recently begun to actually purchase stocks, I can’t really give you a status as to how I’m doing, but I can say that overall I’m breaking about even. (which actually means I’m down a little bit

I really think this is one of the most fascinating things a person can do and I invite you, when I’m not posting here, to come check out InvestorGeeks as there’s always a flurry of activity happening over there.

In our digital universe are millions of people desperately endeavoring to leave evidence of their individual existence — their uniqueness. We create art so that remenants of ourselves will remain for our decendants.

We are a race of explorers fueled by the desire to leave our mark above all else; a mark that we are not unimportant; a mark that we are not insignifcant; a mark that, all told, will speak to the true nature of our individual spirit.

We are frustrated at our daily endeavors because we are unsatisfied at the meaninglessness of our daily routine. What does it mean if we make someone else a dollar? We thrive for social contact so that we might leave our mark on others. So that we will not remain unimportant, without impact.

Could our worst fear be that of the castaway on a desert island? That we would be deprived our ability to create anew? What is the enjoyment of life if it does not leave a permenant record? How can we progress if no one ever moves us forward?

But our desire to create is our curse because we confuse it with the need to gain possessions. We say, “How can my mark be left if my life ends without artifacts?” So we work to acquire possessions, failing to make the mark we truly desire to make – a mark that enriches existence, and not just quantifies it. Possessions are artifacts of the most generic design. They are mass produced evidence of our desire to consume, and not create.

We are builders, explorers, creators, patrons, friends, and lovers. If we spend any part of our time not leaving a mark in a way that truly matters, what is its purpose? We may climb many mountains, we may excel in our professions, we may live free from care, but if we do not make a lasting difference then what was the point of our lives? We leave, at the end, with little else to show for it than ash and bone.

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Hobbies of the moment

1. Stock Club. Myself, Frank and Jason (a friend of Frank’s), started putting together a stock club (located at InvestorGeeks.com). We believe that the way to wealth and a good retirement lays in the ability to invest wisely and beat the street with solid returns every year. However, as novices to investing in securities we’ve all been struggling individually for the last few months trying to learn what opportunities are out there. The purpose of our group is to help each other pick out the high growth industries and companies within those industries that will outperform the market as a whole. Additionally, we hope to create a readership for ourselves that will also help in our discussions. I’ve really been pumped by it recently and I hope you’ll stop by!
2. Stay Current. While many people dismiss reading about current events and topics in newspapers and magazines as not really reading, I think that successful people as well as successful investors need to understand the zeitgeist of the nation in order to really see where society is headed. As such, I will continue to read my favorite magazines and news from around the world.
3. Trip Planning. Costa Rica is only a few short months away! It’s time to start planning and there’s no time like the present.

So here I am, now in the real world, and after being at work 50 or 60 hours a week, going out with my friends a couple times, and poof! There’s my week. What, with the other activities I’d like to do, like reading, working on my web site, and try to learn this stock portfolio thing, I really am very restricted to only one activity a week. It’s aweful. Perhaps if I worked less.

So anyways, I’m going to Costa Rica in February and we’re going to be doing some volcano hiking, so I’ve started walking/running to get in shape (not a light undertaking mind you). What am I to do? Excercise is a really big time commitment, isn’t it? I have to block out an hour a day 4 days a week, and not to mention waking up at ungodly hours of the morning… it’s going to be a struggle to fit it in, and get motivated on top of it.

Am I a pessimist? Possibly – although I like to think of myself as a realist. I have 3 months, and I’ve heard if you do something for a month it becomes a habit. If that’s true, let’s see how this next month goes.