$12.89 for a Tin of Tea...

Here I sit, sipping my $12.89 persimmon-infused stuffed-shirt tea, attempting to write up a quick summary of this weekend's fairly uneventful exploits to try and make up for the fact that I've not updated the Plague in a few days. $12.89 for a tin of tea. Really excellent tea, mind you, but $12.89 nevertheless. Being the normal cheapskate I am, I'm still wondering at the moment what compelled me to plunk down that much money for something that'll be leaving my system all too soon in the form nitrogenous waste, and I think that the answer to my question is "it seemed like a good deal at the time." At the time, of course, being "when I was at the new Ferry Building Marketplace," browsing through an impressive array of stores featuring some delicious-looking (albeit expensive) foodstuffs. If you're planning to be in the San Francisco area, I highly suggest you stop in and check it out - it's got everything from an organic bakery with delicious-looking cakes to a store specializing in nothing but mushrooms (mmm... 'shrooms), and many of the places are even vegan-friendly (but then again, what else would you expect from a hippie cultural-hub like San Francisco?). All in all, it's one of those places that I'd really like to take Jerrod to someday, as I think he'd be interested in the food and the fact that the organic food stores are riddled with little bottles of goodies that just scream "alchemy." Not to mention the selection of organic honeys that probably don't taste like beer (unlike the stuff that's currently in the honey jar at Grey Tower). Today's Father's Day excursion out to the new Ferry Building proved quite successful indeed, despite the poor choice of dining establishment we made when deciding where to have lunch today (I guess in retrospect, we couldn't have expected too much cleanliness from a raw-fish-market-cum-restaurant, especially given the goobers staffing the place). On the way back to our parked car, we noticed that we were being followed by a very interesting group of tourists who were taking pictures of the surroundings. I'm not exactly sure how to describe this group, other than the fact that "a motley crew" would not be far off the mark, as several of the men were wearing what appeared to be multicolored cloth lederhosen and hats, while others were wearing long vests made of strips of multicolored cloth. Some ported musical instruments, while others escorted the equally colorfully dressed women, who were wearing ethnic outfits of *some* kind, though I'm not sure I can pin down exactly what country features turquoise skirts, white blouses, colored kerchiefs, and turquoise-and-purple vests with numbers and letters on the backs as their national garb. I suppose, though, the fact that I found these people any kind of weird just shows that I've been out of the Bay Area for far too long - for all I know, they're probably just locals who rode in on their bikes hoping to tan their bratwursts.
And to answer your question Steve, no, I have not mowed down any tourists lately... not even these guys.
On one last and completely unrelated note: my brother is awesome. Today, my family had an early birthday celebration for me since I'm going to be working away from them during the week - and included with the gifts was a "sweet 16" birthday card from my brother, complete with pink hearts, sparkly flowers, and pastel purple borders. It was rudeness in abundance, and for that, I thank him. Not even so much for the card, but for renewing my faith in the belief that he too carries the torch of rudeness that burns brightly for all the members of my honorable chinese family - from the diarrhea factoids about dead presidents whilst dining at the Bay Wolf (to annoy the irritating loud yuppie group behind us) to the essays about lactose intolerance. Here's to you!

Further bulletins as events warrant.

P.S. As a side note, the next entry, which will likely be tomorrow's entry or Tuesday's entry, will mark the 50th entry in the Bubonic Plague Luncheonette. I may just hold off until Tuesday, such that I'm 21, and can go purchase a bottle of champagne in order to properly celebrate the Plague and my birthday all rolled into one.