I am writing from the land of palms and honey.  The land of perpetual mean light, wide streets, very few pedestrians.  San Diego is a city of trains.  Really long-ass trains.  So long that it cost me $3 in taxi fare to wait for one to pass.  San Diego is a city I’ve known since I was a young child.  I have never liked it.  It has always struck me as a reflection of what hell would be like for a person like me.  I still don’t like this city at all.  It’s creepy because there are so few pedestrians.  In New York it doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is there are people walking the sidewalks everywhere.  Here the streets are eerily empty.  I’ve never seen a downtown more devoid of people.

What San Diego does have, and which I appreciate, is the food.  The place to go for food is 5th Street in the gaslamp district.  Within a ten block radius there must be at least 50 restaurants of every type: Indian, Thai, pub food, fast food, Mexican, Persian, Retro American, Italian, and Irish.  There’s one place I’ve found outside of the gaslamp district that I really enjoyed.  The food is mostly pedestrian but the beer is stellar: Karl Strauss.  They brew their own beer and you can buy and fill growlers.

Some travel notes:

• People ignore the directions and mandatory edicts of flight attendants.  I find this disturbing when it’s for everyone’s safety like “turn your electric devices off because they might interfere with the flight signals”.

• 500 West Hotel is shabby.  There’s a stain on the carpet in my room that looks suspiciously like a male pissing contest.  My first impression was Barton Fink without the delicious antique charm but with all the sense that things happen here behind closed doors.

• I have never seen so many uncomfortably high heels in my life.  The wedge is queen.  6″ heels are the new stocks.  Heels are everything and most women are not good at walking in them.

• Tube top maxi-dresses are everywhere.  I have a word of advice if you want to wear this style: wear real underwear with them.  You’d think no one can see what’s going on underneath a maxi-dress but your butt will shimmer and shake and – oh wait, you wore that so we would be transfixed by your ass!  Job well done.

• Lots of half-naked men here.

• Lots of mostly naked women here.

• No air conditioning in my hotel.  !!!!!!

That’s all I’ve got for now because it’s 1:30 am and I have the hiccups.

Good night!