tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:06:31 +0000Excerpts from the diary entries of a San Francisco singlehttp://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/kennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)Blogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-3567403022893730736Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:54:00 +00002009-09-03T02:17:12.737-07:00FacebookfriendsEver since I joined Facebook, I've been looking forward to the day I change my relationship status. The trouble is, I've never had a legitimate reason to. So, like a ship that had ran aground, my status remained lodged in the same spot, in perpetual singlehood.I'm not particularly unhappy about being single, mind you. I just happen to like that little candy-colored heart that precedes each http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/08/reader-i-married-her.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-7104558687072039366Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:39:00 +00002009-06-30T21:43:01.791-07:00San FranciscofriendsAt full capacity, San Francisco's AT&T Ballpark by the waterfront can accommodate 41,503 guests. On Friday June 5, although there was no game scheduled, a surging crowd rolled through its gates, filling over half the seats.That was the night Puccini's heroine Tosca and her lover Cavaradossi were supposed to meet their unhappy ends (he in a hail of bullets from a firing squad, she by leaping to http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/06/meet-me-before-recondita-armonia.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-2445556795199001241Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:33:00 +00002009-06-12T00:45:50.945-07:00Frankie NorstadadventuresmishapsAt 3:30 PM on Tuesday, I discovered Fate had decided to thwart me off my course.I was flying home from an out-of-town reporting assignment. The first leg of my journey was smooth sailing (so to speak), but the second was in jeopardy. There was a 1.5 hours delay, which would make me miss my connecting flight for the home stretch. In a calm, indifferent demeanor I found highly insulting, the http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/06/kismet-in-exit-row.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-7761825545876081606Sat, 04 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +00002009-04-05T23:02:01.427-07:00travelfriendsA week ago, FedEx delivered a tube with a roll of paper inside. Once unfurled, the taut, stiff sheet measuring roughly 30 x 48 inch revealed a labyrinth, constructed in ink with crisscrossing patterns and looping motifs. It was a work of extraordinary skill and precision, a secret garden that gave a glimpse of the artist's imagination.It belonged to Sarah H, a stranger I once met on a delayed http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/04/strange-and-wonderful-world-of-sarah-h.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-598454030384468368Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:45:00 +00002009-03-17T00:43:01.627-07:00San FranciscoHollis HawthorninspirationfriendsThis is the story about a girl and her special friends.The girl is Hollis Hawthorn, a West Coast dancer with a radiant smile and a burst of golden hair. In February, she was straddling a motorcycle, cruising down the Kollidam Bridge in Chidambaram, a major pilgrimage site for the worshipers of Shiva. According to The Hindu, a local newspaper, when a bus swerved to overtake a lorry, Hollis found http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/03/to-holli-hawthorn-with-love.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-1510543172912925506Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:05:00 +00002009-03-08T21:17:55.830-07:00San FranciscoMy sweetheart is a hippie girl and a high-tech geek. She's an earthquake survivor, a flower child, a dot-com pioneer, and a muse for a generation of beatniks. She bikes to work, buys organic, and organizes rallies to legalize same-sex marriage. She has a wild streak too. If you stumble into one of the local strip clubs, she'll give you an unforgettable lap dance that leaves you breathless (and http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/03/if-youre-going-to-san-francisco.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-1500269934816319342Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:33:00 +00002009-03-04T10:03:55.682-08:00blind datesOn Valentine's Day, about 15 minutes into the speed-dating party she'd paid $35 to attend, my friend Nika decided she'd had enough. So she bolted.She took a train across the Bay, rode a subway across town, and walked four blocks uphill to a little bookstore. There, she met me and a group of people who identify themselves as Quirkyalones. By the time she left, she was clutching a tulip someone hadhttp://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-quirky-valentine.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-5334869922434335860Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:30:00 +00002009-03-17T00:44:01.719-07:00TangoadventuresEdwardian BallI was in a dark ballroom overrun by ghostly figures. The draperies and the walls glowed with a garish yellow, as if illuminated by gas lamps caked with dust. Pale-faced men in derby hats and red-lipped women in tight corsets moved in unison, prompted by the sultry cabaret act before us. Once in a while, a whiff of Absinthe tantalized us. We were lost souls, floating in wine and perfume, swimming http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/01/lost-tango.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-7727437470833777023Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:34:00 +00002009-03-17T00:44:43.442-07:00Only Connectadventuresfriends(Despite a number of unforeseen obstacles, my meeting with Lara, a local blogger, did take place on the Saturday before Christmas. Afterwards, I invited Lara to write a post about our meeting. She obliged. Here's an account of our afternoon in Lara's words.)Quite some time ago--circa Thanksgiving maybe? My memory is terrible--I got a Facebook message from Kenneth asking if I'd be up for meeting http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-hear-punctuality-is-overrated-anyway.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-4949656920582363367Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:05:00 +00002009-03-17T00:45:04.504-07:00adventuresfriendsIn less than 12 hours from now, I'm supposed to meet a local blogger in person.At about one o'clock this afternoon, I'll be at Coupa Cafe, a few blocks away from Stanford University campus, sipping a frothy cup of Latte. I might be too distracted to fully appreciate the handpicked, sun-dried Arabica beans from Venezuela the cafe is known for. I'll be anxiously scanning the horizon for a familiar http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/12/only-connect.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-7765697524844400688Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:50:00 +00002008-11-30T23:58:21.921-08:00blind datesfriendsOn Tuesday, my friend Nika knocked on my Yahoo IM window, so we opened a chat session."I'm going on a blind date tomorrow," she said, "but I'm having second thoughts about the guy. Would you make me a rescue call?""Sure," I said. "What time?""About 4:15 PM," she said.Despite having gone on more than my fair share of blind dates, I've never had to resort to a rescue call, but I'm thoroughly http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/11/rescue-me.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-6263609131653524380Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:21:00 +00002008-11-30T23:59:06.375-08:00DatingfriendsMy friend Sasha, the author of To-Do List (Fireside, November 2007), routinely solicits and publishes curious lists from strangers on her blog. Last week, she decided to feature the words of wisdom from a group of college juniors who put together a brief guide called "How to be sexy: for men." It ran:Accessorize ... once in a while, wear hats, watches, etc.Ask girls out!Be a gentleman. Open doorshttp://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/11/decoding-sex-appeal.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-9094994350486180184Mon, 13 Oct 2008 06:53:00 +00002008-12-01T00:00:02.642-08:00DatingadventuresfriendsLess than 24 hours ago, I was 2,100 miles away from home, dangling on an apple tree (not by accident but by choice) in an orchard outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My friend Bunny (a nickname selected with her blessings) and I arrived in style. We came by rail, sitting on straw bales, in what the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum volunteers good-humoredly referred to as "the hobo car" (at $12 a headhttp://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/10/song-for-bunny.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-4570111775790117073Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:43:00 +00002008-12-01T00:01:02.991-08:00blind datesadventuresfriendsThe quiz master, a young Irish man, had a cavalier air that made him the envy of many men in the room. We were fighting off our predate jitter, hoping we wouldn't come across as a bunch of ill-informed idiots to the attractive women we were trying to impress."OK, folks listen up," said the quiz master. "The first round is going to be general knowledge, then followed by the Olympics, Madonna ..."http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/08/search-for-intelligent-life.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-6558448265770344487Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:50:00 +00002008-12-01T00:01:45.642-08:00blind datesadventuresfriends"Have you done this before?" asked Lara, the tall, dimpled hostess running the DateSwitch party."I've gone to a few events, but not the ones organized by this company," I replied."Well, they all kinda work the same way anyway," she said.She seemed relieved that I wasn't a virgin (a speed dating virgin, that is), perhaps because she wouldn't have to explain the protocols to me.I was glad to find http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/07/once-more-unto-breach.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-4201273247805019258Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:42:00 +00002008-12-01T00:02:17.347-08:00mishapsLate one night last week, while perusing the list of scrabble challenges available on Facebook, I came across one issued by Claudine. She was a fresh face university student with a sprightly smile, crowned with velvety brown hair. So I quickly snatched her game up before anyone else did.I opened the game with zone (26 points). She countered it with coquet (30 points), a flirtatious verb. My next http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/06/claudines-game.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-8635407726355678493Tue, 20 May 2008 03:48:00 +00002008-12-01T00:02:47.928-08:00activism(Image of the Irrawaddy River from Manas Dichow's S. E. Asia photo set on Flickr.)On May 2, while you and I were sound asleep in our warm beds, a monster ripped through the land I once called home.Like a mythical serpent awakened from its long slumber, it whipped itself into a frenzy. Along the Tamil Nadu and the Andhra Pradesh coastline, the Indian ocean writhed and spewed frothy waves. Then, http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/05/full-fathom-five.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-3569358118998244542Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:10:00 +00002008-12-01T00:03:34.693-08:00San FranciscoDatingfriends(Image: "Candy Ass" by Robert Deyber from the artist's Web site.)The rules of my pseudo-date with Sassy are as follows: (1) we're going to dress up; (2) we're both enjoying our blossoming friendship, so we're not going to force unwarranted romance upon it; (3) but if she starts quoting Shakespeare, especially Romeo and Juliet, I can't be held accountable for my subsequent behavior; and (4) if I http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/04/play-date.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-945706755307016258Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:01:00 +00002008-12-01T00:04:01.376-08:00San FranciscoactivismOn Thursday, as I sat in my bed, 7,400 miles away, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers were pouring into Tibet's capital Lhasa, with orders from the Chinese Government to quell the protests using lethal force. Merely three miles from my apartment, somewhere inside City Hall, the Mayor and his aids were plotting out the parade route for the Beijing http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/03/politics-can-break-your-heart.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-6056854108969240616Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:21:00 +00002008-12-01T00:04:37.221-08:00San FranciscoDatingfriendsA few weeks ago, Beth, a London blogger, issued me a challenge. From beyond the River Thames, she tossed a meme scuttling across the Atlantic. "Post seven things you approve of," she directed.When a tall English girl with a dimpled smile commands, I'm inclined to comply. The trouble is, I don't fully understand the mission. So I decided to follow the meme back to its origin.Backpedaling along thehttp://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/02/way-of-pillow-warrior.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-2029412924369380818Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:27:00 +00002009-03-17T00:46:17.436-07:00DatingadventuresfriendsShe said I initiated the poke fest. As I recall, she reached out to me first. Strangely, neither of us remember poking the other one first. So we decided to blame Facebook.I proposed the ludicrous theory that, somewhere in Facebook's source code, there's a rogue application that's been randomly matchmaking people. It might have begun as a computer glitch, an algorithmic anomaly. But left http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/01/more-than-words.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-7632185558879673716Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:34:00 +00002008-12-01T00:05:41.577-08:00San FranciscoDatingadventuresTen days into the new year and I had yet to come up with my list of resolutions. The sensible thing to do would have been to sit myself down in a quiet cafe, consider my own aptitudes and talents, and dash off ten or twelve items I was reasonable certain I could do, like lose ten pounds or learn to speak French.But I had other plans. I was going to ask a roomful of strangers to come up with a http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/01/not-necessarily-in-that-order.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-8324096575502279545Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:53:00 +00002008-12-01T00:06:21.769-08:00Speed DatingSan FranciscoadventuresfriendsWhat was arguably my most regrettable moment in 2007 took place 30 minutes before the midnight countdown at a neighbor's karaoke party.Somewhere in the background, ABC's live coverage of the Time Square ball drop was on TV. Propped up on high seats overlooking the blinking Broadway marquees, Ryan Seacrest and Carrie Underwood provided running commentary. Wearing a frozen grin, Dick Clark http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2008/01/epilogue-2007-prologue-2008.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-2634763553461038426Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:15:00 +00002008-12-01T00:06:54.820-08:00San FranciscoadventuresfriendsHer name is Natalie. She's a Manhattan songbird, a regular fixture at the 42nd Street subway and the cafes in the Village. She serenades the Big Apple with her soulful ballads. This December, she took a poll on MySpace.She asked, "Do you want me to come to San Francisco?"Apparently, she got enough votes to convince her to make the trip. So she packed her bag, slung her guitar over her shoulder, http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2007/12/ode-to-bodhisattva.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3650556300209624776.post-1025147765071031883Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:37:00 +00002008-12-01T00:07:57.808-08:00San FranciscoDating"I can see this isn't going to work," she said.She was talking to her dog, a little white terrier with patches of brown, tied to an umbrella pole outside Starbucks."Sit still, Louisa," she instructed the puzzled creature. "I'm gonna be in there for just a minute."Louisa pretended to obey, but the moment her owner walked through the door, she dashed after her, sprinting past the newspaper rack in http://sfsinglelife.blogspot.com/2007/12/one-fine-day.htmlkennethwongsf@gmail.com (KennethSF)15