This - San Francisco - is a crazy city. I can’t make my mind up about it. Before my bike got stolen outside of my yoga class I had started to enjoy biking around it. On emptier streets, in the sunshine, near the ocean, I felt an unprecedented sense of freedom and possibility. Then, my bike got stolen and everything got more annoying. Errands took twice as long, adventures were harder to plan.

Right now, at 10:30 pm, my upstairs neighbor has decided it’s the right time to start seriously blasting (and I mean blasting) obnoxious dance tunes. I see him sometimes in the halls. A tiny man, spiky blonde hair, tan skin and enormous eyes magnified behind coke bottle lenses. He always scowls at me as though I have been doing something to annoy him. Whatever it is it can’t be as bad as what he does to me. The incessant music. At night. Always starting at about 10:30 pm. Lasting till 1 or 2 am. And if it’s not music it’s orgiastic sex screaming that never seems to stop.

Also, there’s the matter of the thief. Or the man who I think is a thief. He was fumbling with the intercom on the building. Trying to pick the lock that keeps it shut. He explained that he was trying to reprogram it. At 9:30 at night? And why, exactly?

Then again, on a happier note, this Saturday the husband and I walked from Hayes Valley to North Beach. It’s a longish walk but it’s the kind of walk that is full of spectacular vistas. You’ll see improbably steep roads, the Golden Gate Bridge, Telegraph Hill and row after row of beautiful, painted homes. On Saturday the sun was out. The sky was blue, the water bluer. We had a loose plan but the day was mostly an open ended adventure.

We got to Fort Mason and wandered into Interval which is hands down my new favorite coffee shop (is it a coffee shop?) in the universe. After that we ended up exploring a very cool book store, eating a bunch of free food at a maker fair and then getting free tickets to the chocolate festival near Fisherman’s Wharf. Once there, in the midst of exceeding our monthly recommended sugar intake, we got free tea vouchers to fancy (and, might I add, Canadian) David’s tea. The most expensive thing I bought all day was a wildly over priced honey-hemp-seed bar that was only moderately delicious.

I’ve never seen such beautiful bookstores. Or such crazy homeless people. Or had such an annoying neighbor. I think tonight’s my lucky night. Somehow (I am not sure how) I can hear the sex sounds over the crazy loud music.