Bottom of the Hill, SF—

It’s been a little over two weeks since I last saw you. At this point, I suspect you are either getting close to the end of your road trip or are in Spain. Forgive me for not knowing exactly. You are an on-the-move girl and I tend to focus where you are presently when I am with you, haha! I hope your travels have lived beyond your expectations and you continue to learn more.

Time has been going quickly here. My very good friend, Michael, from high school, moved up to San Francisco and we have been reconnecting and exploring. My car has its work cut out for it right now for how many miles I have been putting on it. Just this weekend I drove from Santa Clara to San Francisco, then to Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz, then back to Santa Clara. Both Michael and I share a similar drive and energy which results in us getting into many serendipitous situations.

Our latest was going to a punk show at the Bottom of The Hill in SF. For context, punk was fairly big where we grew up and we found ourselves going to quite a few shows growing up. It was always quite strange because we looked out of place, haha! This time it was no different. Everybody was dressed in grungy, ripped clothing and had a thin layer of B.O. Michael was dressed in a nice collared shirt and I threw on the worst t-shirt I had but it still wasn’t grungy enough.

We went to see a band called Mannequin Pussy. They are a bit more soft-core as punk goes but they were still able to create an instant mosh pit. The band performed really well. It was a tiny venue so their energy was able to encapsulate the entire room (though I now have tinnitus in my ears since it was so loud, haha). I haven’t listened to punk music that much in the past year but I since I wanted to see this show I brushed up just enough on their songs just enough to know when things were about to heat up so I could prepare for the mosh. I enjoy experiencing the music in the mosh and interacting with the crowd. To be honest, it was a pretty sweaty but the energy was unmatched.

Mannequin Pussy met my expectations, but I was impressed by their opener, an all-girl angsty theatrical satirical group. The music wasn’t very serious but they were having a lot of fun which I enjoyed watching. They played one song of their view of dating a coffee snob which I thought was hilarious. I contrasted their lyrics with how you handled my coffee-snobbish and I couldn’t stop but enjoy the differences, haha. To that end, I do want to thank you for the delicious coffee you brought me. It is now gone but I loved it while it lasted! I hope you read the back of the package before you left because it is just as dramatic as I am! If not, I will read it back to you when I see you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these small stories while you’re away. I am excited to hear more about your own!