That First Night

The day St. Frances, Diego and I signed our lease was one of those hot, still days in the City. Not a cloud in the sky, almost 80 in late August. Everyone was out. Shorts, skirts, beers on the sidewalk, runners, hipsters and yuppies walking up and down Divis - it was our first time taking it all in as our neighborhood.

We saw this place and decided almost instantly. Huge rooms, hardwood, a garden for St. F to restore, laundry…

"Look at the detailing on the moldings!" St. Frances said.

We signed on the dotted line and went out to celebrate in Lower Haight.

I'd been driving up from Los Gatos about once a week that summer and crashing at Diego's place to scope out apartments. He and St. F had each been here for a year or more, but those trips up from the South Bay were my first orientation to living in San Francisco.

We all grew up together in San Jose, then went separate ways for college. When I moved back to California from DC what I wanted most was to be young in a city.

I had a good life in DC, but it was very safe. I was staying in on Friday night, wasn't meeting new people. Mixing it up was more likely to mean attending a think tank panel than dancing in Adams Morgan.

Hence those few simple goals, and Van Morrison's refrain from Sweet Thing stuck in my head: “And I will never, never, never grow so old again.”

In Lower Haight, St. Frances, Diego and I spotted an Indian joint. As we were sopping up the last of the curry with our naan, we noticed everyone was still out. Across the street, a place called Mad Dog in the Fog was packed.

It was trivia night, Tuesday. Ordering beers, we hovered near two cute girls – a blonde and brunette – working on the picture round.

St. Frances rolled her eyes, "If you don't talk to them, I will."

Their names were Carrie and Alex. We helped them identify Ben Bernanke (thank you, DC!). Two months later, we played beer pong at their place for Halloween, six months later they came to our birthday party.

"This is what I moved here for," I told St. F and Diego as we left Mad Dog – still my favorite bar in the city.