While San Fransisco gets cold, and the East Coast remains hot, South Bay coasts in a beautiful warm embrace. Going for a walk in the evening when you meet your better half, for a walk to the downtown is a wonderful feeling. I haven't done it in weeks, I might do it alone tomorrow for a morning coffee instead. Maybe find a place to work in the Mountain View library. The library is old school and beautiful. The next best thing as far as downtowns go from walking there after hours with your partner is probably going there alone. I'd add, going there on a Friday with your friends to get drunk probably ranks too.
Of course, nothing quite beats the feeling of being a few drinks drunk walking in a city, cold wind on the face. Gorgeous. I can't recommend it enough. Of course, if you're drinking beers, you might get a little too bloated, so I'd say mix up the drinks in moderation. Wine, I've found, is excellent.
The beauty of a night time movie on a summer night is not to be dismissed. Every director becomes an artist, every actor a vessel of drama and comedy and tragedy, every music clings to your ears, snaking its way inside your brain. You have nothing to go back to, just sleep.
Cigarettes are beautiful. But there's nothing quite as beautiful as a cigarette when you're drunk or when you're having your first coffee. Except quitting cigarettes. The fresh breath, the return of linen smell on clothes instead of foul tobacco. The control you have over your own life is unfathomable to most, but a glimpse of it you see when you make a better choice in life. I've been fat, I've been skinny, and no food is as delicious as being healthy.
Except when you're high, or hungry, and you've done something prideworthy and the Wagyu cheeseburger, medium rare, along with a plate of sweet potato fries, arrives on your plate or your doorstep. Lightly charred ends, in color only, stacked by tomatoes freshly picked in Fresno, Lettuce from Salinas, and a bread baked in Chula Vista.
Have you ever held your partner close at the end of a day you did not wish to participate in, but time itself forced you to? The warm embrace is enough to get a non-believer like me throw aside all notions of atheism. There has to be a God, an anthropocentric one. If there isn't, let this joy between us be the God.
I quit diet coke for a week to see if anything happens (my life got signficantly worse). I am not addicted (I was on the floor sweating from my eyes for completely different reasons), no one can be addicted to the drink itself - it is the caffeine - the wheel of our civilization. I also got Nespresso in the meanwhile. I am back on Diet Coke, and I'm also on Nespresso. I will probably never use my Keurig again. Between my Nespresso and Diet Coke, I am the happiest man when I take the first sip of a beautifully brewed coffee or open a can of Diet Coke that stays cold in this South Bay weather.
Of course, there are a million things I am missing, but one of the other joys is stopping when I can. I also didn't make the entire essay about my partner (because she's in South Bay, she's not South Bay) so as to not take the easier route - it'd be a 56,000 page tome otherwise. I also avoided things that directly cause harm to others while it brings me joy - finding a table on CalTrain is a momentous occasion that takes it away from someone directly. One time, a family of four was looking for seats. I considered giving up my seat - Children are the privilege-deserving members of our society. In a shameful moment of selfishness masked by productivity ("I have work"), I didn't give it up. I still regret it. Sure, PepsiCo and all other sources of my happiness indirectly cause harm to someone - such is the tradeoff structure of humanity (and no, Communism would not solve for this). I also avoided mentioning subjective non-universality shapes of joy - eg. noodling on a piano or a guitar is beautiful, writing this piece is beautiful, and yet not everyone is capable of it. Everyone in South Bay is capable of enjoy the summer night by itself, even if life is torture. I find being creative when you're stressed, as many are, I imagine, hard. Creativity is also not unique to the Bay. And finally, I didn't include Mataroa, this blogging platform, but it is second to none. I would make the editor a bit better, like my platform LibreProse, but it's still as a platform the best I've ever used.