Sunday, 2 March 2003

Got it

So we did get MOO3 eventually on Thursday. I haven’t played it yet and Michi isn’t sure wether he likes it or not. Aparently it does show promise. It’s just that it has some bugs and strange quirks. But fortunately the game is highly modable and already there are lots of mods popping up on the net.

So Thursday, after we bought MOO3 (and preordered the new Zelda for GameCube. Wheee) we sat down in the sun on Union Square to do some people watching and read (Michi read the MOO3 manual and I Ender’s Game). Thursday evening we had sushi with David and Brina. We have concluded that we need sushi at least once a week. And it’s so cheap here (one of the few things that are ;).

Friday I woke up really early, around 8:15am and managed not to fall asleep again. I like getting up early. Anyway the next hour or so was spent listening to Michi telling me what he didn’t like about MOO3 :) Later that morning we did our laundry and then went down to Ocean Beach to read a bit and sit in the sun. We walked down Balboa and when we got close to the beach we saw a flight of stairs going up the cliff towards the Sutro property. It looked very pretty with blooming iceplants (not sure if that’s the official name, it’s this cactus-like, but without spikes, shrub growing close to the ocean) and other flowers so we went up there and found a nice vantage point on top of a dune/cliff. From there we could see a guy down on the beach drawing what looked like a huge snail-shell on the beach. We were lucky that we went up there. I doubt we would’ve seen it from below. It was really interesting. He must have used a rope to draw the shell so precisely. Then he used a broom and a rake to flesh it out. So we sat there for a while, watching him do his art and reading. After an hour or so we were pretty cold though because of the wind so we decided to hike further up the cliff.

It’s really nice that all the recreational areas here have all these little paths that you can explore. You’re never really sure if you’re actually supposed to be there but then you see footsteps in the sand and realize countless people have done this before you and you feel a little better. We had a lot of fun walking along those paths and from time to time seeing the artist on the beach and his snail-shell again. Finally we arrived at the top in Sutro Park. It was very pretty up there and the view was great. The snail guy was still not finished with his project even though hours had passed so we walked all the way to the top where the old Sutro mansion once stood and sat down on a bench to read some more. I finished Ender’s Game there. Then we got cold again so we went back to a spot where we could see the snail-shell. The guy still wasn’t quite done but we decided not to wait it out. We took some pictures though.

We took the bus back home. Later that evening we went to Benihana in Japantown with Brina, David and Pooh. It is one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook at your table and make this nice show out of it by doing all sorts of neat tricks and juggling with their kitchen utensils. The food and drinks were very good and we had lots of fun there. Back home we played some games and I spilled Gin&Tonic on David’s copy of Galaxy. I felt very bad about this because I knew how I would feel if somebody spilled stuff on one of my games. Fortunately we managed to save the cards and you can only see the damage if you look very closely and know what to look for. But still….

Saturday was Game Day, so we went shopping with David in the morning. Then Michi and I made a fruit salad which turned out quite nicely, if I say so myself. Shortly after we were done with that Jennie, Sam and Gwen arrived and then John and Kelly. This Game Day was smaller than the last one (which had like 13 people). The first game that got voted on was Outpost, which took us the better part of the day to finish. Kelly’s car broke down on the way to get dinner. That really sucked. I hope it was indeed only because it ran out of gas and nothing serious. Later Jennie and Kelly left to go dancing. During an Outpost break Michi, David, Brina and I played Blokus. The rest of us (David, John, Michi, Sam and me) then finished Outpost. Then we played Fist of Dragonstones and then Trans America. Then everybody left, so Michi, David and me slouched on the couch and talked. Michi also gave me my birthday present as it was after midnight, but I’ll write more about that in another entry as this one is already much too long…

  Posted by Edda at 22:00 CET