Why I don't like living in the Bay Area

Some basic issues...

Last Sunday, when I returned to Arizona, I took SamTrans (bus) to Stanford Shopping Center, because my mom and I decided not to impose on anyone by asking them to pick us up at the airport. Travelling on SamTrans reminded me of why I dislike the Bay Area. I used to take SamTrans from time to time, in order to go to San Francisco--Union Square, Virgin Megastore, Japantown, Chinatown, etc. [MUNI in SF provides rather convenient bus service; one doesn't really need a car if one lives in the city and is willing to do most of one's activities there.]

Travelling down El Camino Royal, one sees an economy that is mostly service-based -- very little production being done, very little food being grown locally. Lots of people commuting, and their towns and cities developing, either deliberately or 'naturally' in accordance with a car-centered lifestyle. The downtown life has been destroyed for the most part by the automobile, even as artificial downtowns are created here and there, in the form of outdoor shopping centers or something like Santana Row. But there is no civic life to be found there, no cultural life except mass culture, no forum or plaza for people to come together as a community and be at leisure.

Having written on this many times to various friends, I'm a bit fatigued so I think I'll end here. Those who would like to know more about my reasons can read E.F. Schumacher, James Howard Kunstler's The Long Emergency or see some of the links on New Urbanism. Maybe I'll move to Idaho and try farming once I save enough money. [I don't think I've posted this link to an interview with JHK.]

Then there was the bus ride itself, which made me feel rather queasy--having a cold didn't help, but there's something about the air in a SamTrans bus that makes one feel sick... it's enough for one to choose to drive rather than take public transportation. No horse and buggy possible here.

On to multiculturalism and diversity in the Bay Area in a post to come...

Whatever I may think of the increasing number of Asian people in the Bay Area, I did see a cute Chinese(?) baby girl [all dressed in pink] at the post office today, and her sister was cute too. It's interesting how some people comment, "Someone's made a new friend," when a baby starts responding (with a smile or laugh) to whatever you are doing to catch the baby's attention... I usually don't use the word friend to cover all of the sorts associations to which Aristotle applies it, but it's not incorrect to do so... it just sounds a bit odd to me at the present moment. Haha maybe it's just the crankiness from the cold.

Tonight xiao Jimmy and I went to Armadillo Willy's Cupertino. The baby back ribs there are not so good, definitely not as good as the ones at Sunset. I would have picked something else but Jimmy said I should get the ribs. Ah well, next time I'll insist on something else. It's pretty much certain that I can't drink soda, at the minimum not soda dispensed by a machine, and probably not bottled soda either (I mean the smaller sized bottles, not the 2 L size bottles). It's not clear to me why this is so--I don't think it's because of the caffeine since the soda may be uncaffeinated and still cause problems. Ah well... soda's not healthy anyway, and it's a luxury drink in many ways... luxury in the sense that it's existence is possible only in a really "advanced" (or decadent) economy.

Jimmy brought up the fact that the Gubernator is going to make health insurance available to illegal immigrants? Something like that... given the direction California is taking, do I really want to live here? More cause for second thoughts.

After dinner we met up with Sophia and Stella at the Tapioca Express (no idea what ws stands for--anyone know? Guess it's specific to urls obtained through Website?) next to Marina Cupertino. Wow, 2.5 hours went by rather quickly, and we eventually got to talking about socializing, dating, and networking. Good conversation topic, since it lasted for a while. We then talked about the different forms of matchmaking--online services, internet networking through friends, lunch dates (like lunchdates.com or this site) and Dinner for Six, as well as speed dating. Any traditional matchmakers around in the Bay Area? Well, probably not for Asian Catholics. I didn't think I'd enjoy the evening that much, but I did--guess I'm not a complete misanthrope yet haha. Reminder: check Friendster and see who's on my list.

Didn't catch The Fountain in the theater... guess I'll have to wait until it's on DVD...