My Favorite Place in the 'Hood

A sunny day!  Hooray!  I gathered up my book and heading across the street to my favorite reading perch, the Big Wooden Box Thing Near Pier 41:

 I love reading here.  The views are million-dollar, it's sunny and oddly uncrowded, even when Fisherman's Wharf is busy.  I discovered it when I first moved to the city and worked on Alcatraz as the boats we went out on were right next to it at Pier 41.  Many days I would arrive early to spend time here...can it really be 15 years since those days?

The book:

The Best American Science Writing 2010.  I enjoy non-fiction and this series is fantastic for an overview of the year's best science writing.  Geeky but fascinating.

However, the reading was not to be today as the wind was fierce, a risk one takes on a pier in the Bay. 

Whitecaps:

It's not always so frothy, thank goodness! 

So I said hello to the sea lion neighbors and headed home:

Hello world!

Welcome to my spot on the Web.  I'm not quite sure where I will be going with all this...a little about my wanderings in San Francisco, a little about my cats, a little ranting about being unemployed for the zillionth time, a little about the treats I find in my City by the Bay. 


Who am I?  Well, those of you who are quite lucky know me as Gretchen J.  TheJonesGirl.  Gumdropgirl.  I'm a thirty-something woman living very near the Bay in San Francisco.  Living near the Bay is great.  Well, unless one's father is calling her at 6AM to warn of tsunamis predicted in the next couple hours.  But that it more than made up for with the sounds of foghorns and sea lions most every night.

Why San Francisco?  I fell in love with the city as a child, going to visit my Great Aunt Martha and Great Uncle Bob in, first, their big house in West Portal...it was so exotic to a Fresno kid.  Up the hill from a MUNI station, lots of small, interesting restaurants and shops a short walk away, the fog in mid-summer.  Later, they moved to a building near the Castro which was a dream to the teen me.  A roof deck!  Close to everything I could want.  After college, I did everything I could to move to the city and fifteen years later, I am living my dream.

For work, I am an Executive Assistant.  I like it, and it allows me free time, to not be wed to my job.  I love politics, taking classes at City College for fun, reading and playing in the city by the Bay.  I live with two very big cats and am happy as can be.

Hope you enjoy my ramblings and photos as they come, can't wait to share them...