2/12/08, 11:30pm Oakland

Ventured over the bay bridge on the BART (subway) to grab dinner with an old chum, Arturo Gonzalez. Went to my favorite Irish pub in the mostly-Latino Mission district of SF. Had whiskey and a burger at Napper Tandy.  Art paid.  I’ll be staying with Art for a few days next week after I leave Alaska.  Last fall he was kind enough to let me stay with him for two months while I was visiting Cal Berkeley. So “props” to Art for his generosity and  hospitality.



On the way back to the hotel a kid on the BART was carrying an old IBM Selectric typewriter. (Rumor on the train was that he found it on the street.)  You should have seen the buzz that this old relic created on that train.  People were touching it, laughing, and reminiscing about the last time they had seen or used one. This was particularly meaningful in the hi-tech bay area, where EVERYONE has an i-pod, cell phone and laptop on their person at all times (guilty) and where the population is relatively young. I’ll bet the kid who found it had never even seen one before.  One of the young folks on the BART thought it was “an old IBM PC.”  Anyway, the scene reminded me of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, in which the futuristic humans are mesmerized by the “Savage” who finds himself in their midst. Fun stuff.