Saturday. Lower gas prices, which means the economy continues to fall. Cuts both ways, does it not?

Up this morning with the alarm, dragging just a bit, but out the door to breakfast and back by eight this overcast morning. Not a bad day ahead I'm thinking, heading over to San Francisco for two festivals I've photographed in the past. Hup, hup and all that, get the brain around the idea of poking my nose out across the bay. It isn't that bad, but sometimes I wonder, this timid approach to travel and to, well, life? Probably. We'll think about it, but not today, it's the weekend, after all.

I'm going to skip out on the Pistahan parade and photograph the festival tomorrow, take in the Nihonmachi Festival early this afternoon, the exact opposite of what I was thinking yesterday. Hi, ho. I have this habit (I was going to say terrible habit) of arriving earlier at events than makes any sense, but I'll put off leaving to arrive at say one, the festival itself starting at eleven. I say that confidently, but will probably get antsy and set out sooner.

If you set out early you could catch the parade as it passes on Market and then catch the Geary bus to Japantown for Nihonmachi. Placate your need to set out early and still arrive at a reasonable time at the festival.

Later. So, we headed over to San Francisco by bus and by BART, arriving on Market Street fifteen minutes before the Pistahan Parade was to start. Why hadn't they roped off Market? The hell with it, I took the 38 Geary out to Japantown and arrived, well, early. Not so early there weren't plenty of people there, but early. My perennial early. Seems no way around it.

Still, not as big as last year's I was thinking. The number of booths and stages, anyway. There's the Pistahan thing going on over at the Yerba Buena Center and the three day Outside Lands Music Festival cooking in Golden Gate Park, not to mention the other weekend festivals, musicals, art showings, poetry readings and salt shaker expositions, all of them competing for people, so maybe that's a reason. And, well, maybe I don't remember how it was last year and maybe I arrived too early and didn't seen how it fleshed out after I left. Still.

Back home at three feeling pretty good, no more tired than I've felt after my short walks around the area here this last week. Which is why I suspect I should just ignore these things and get on with it. I have no idea how many miles I may have walked in the last four or so hours, but more than just down to my morning restaurant and back.

You didn't stop to sit?

Well, for that lemonade at Nihonmachi. And that Mocha Freddo at Peet's. One must keep one's energy up - hup! hup! - and there was a certain amount of relaxation on BART and the bus. Oh, and the bus. The 38 Geary coming back to Market Street from Japantown was amazing. A three section bus loaded to the point it couldn't take anymore people onboard was sitting there as I arrived at the stop, a second three section bus right behind it. I managed to get in the last section of that second bus, had to scrunch to allow them to close the door.

They talk about the San Francisco Muni and how it's damaged. Damaged isn't the word. It's been damaged for decades and I'm wondering if it ever really worked. A third world bus system in a pretending to be first world city.

You've got that wrong. It's the third world that has their buses in order anymore, it's us in the U.S. who've dropped the ball. The buses and the bridges. And the roads. The trains. The airports. And the....

Indeed. Now it's my turn to say “shut up!”.

Later still. The muscles a little stiffer now, but nothing out of line. A walk down the hill for sushi and sake, back now feeling upbeat, ready for what may come. I need to spend my time on the guitar this evening, no reason to let that lag, particularly as I'll be out shooting again tomorrow. Two hours on the guitar is the target. Hard to make it up if you fall behind. I know, more of this hup hup stuff, but it seems to be on my mind.

Some things don't change.

Fair enough. Fair enough.