Thanks, Roxanne.

coruscate - v. - To give off or reflect light in bright beams or flashes: sparkle (Merriam-Webster Online)

Every weekend for the past several weeks, I have made excuses to return to San Francisco.  I am here now, and the hour and a half commute from Davis has changed from an agonizing life-lesson saturated ride with my dad to a pleasant respite accompanied by the sounds of backlogged episodes of This American Life playing from my iPod speakers.  Today, I realized my speaker-box fits conveniently between my legs, so I could hear Ira Glass' voice coming from, well, there.  The episodes make the time pass faster on the way.  Otherwise the drive to San Francisco is the same as ever.

I arrived early to meet my aunt, who treated me to dinner this evening since my birthday is coming up.  I could think of no other place to have dinner than at Farina, a restaurant that has been lauded and awarded for its successful architecture.  I can never forget when, in a news story, the architect had discussed his choice of concrete for its "materiality, which contributes a sense of stability and structure" or something like that.  I noticed that Farina served a clientèle of a much higher age bracket than mine.  Beside me were pairs of middle-aged husbands and wives, one of whom mused on the "remarkable charisma of employable men in that room".  The quirky dim restaurant lighting, the appetizer platter of inscrutably thin Italian meats encircling some kind of cheese, and the waiters that addressed you as signore all suggested to me that award-winning architectural design is a nicety enjoyed by and large by the elite.  As much as I admire the thought put into Farina's design, and for that matter, of any swanky restaurant, I do not wish to be an architect for a society with which I do not identify.  That is, I would rather design public spaces, for all types of people to enjoy, paycheck be damned.  Good design should not be restricted to those that can afford it.

Unfortunately, San Francisco is becoming less the egalitarian and more a habitat for these Farina types.  I unconditionally love San Francisco, but for many reasons including the one above, I would prefer to live elsewhere after college.

Anyway, the food was good.  Afterwards, Ninang Reggie and I bought some ice cream at Bi-Rite, but not before waiting in line for a good thirty minutes in the shivering cold.  After a certain length of time, waiting for something guarantees, if not increases, its enjoyment.  I had a cone of 1) malted vanilla with peanut brittle and 2) toasted banana.