Posts tagged as:

california

Damn, it’s cold in San Francisco

by Joe Doyle on August 13, 2008

The adult Doyles are on the left side - I’m piggybacking on the wife’s business trip to UX Week. It’s the first vacation sans kids and we’re very excited to be here, though we can’t help but think about the fun Katie and Patrick will have when we travel here as a family.

There is so much to do and see. SF has a real entrepreneurial vibe, just like Austin. You get the same weirdness, too.

Without taking up too much vacation time, here are some additional observations about San Francisco, CA:

- This place is filled with Europeans. Damn dollar.
- Speaking of, most Euro males love old Nike Hightops.
- High in the mid 60’s. Friday in Texas is going to be a shock.
- It’s hilly here. Yeah, that’s right, hilly.
- I could eat fresh seafood with every meal if I wanted.
- People are nice and the police, even nicer (seriously).
- Lots of Asians here, too. Damn dollar. Wait…
- The Golden Gate Park is the coolest municipal place I’ve been. Figures that it was built by Olmsted. That man was a genius designer.
- The Haight isn’t what it was, but I like to think about the free thought it provokes.
- Tonight we’re seeing my cousin Billy Doyle and meeting his girl. I’m really excited - I felt thisclose to Billy as a kid.
- Yeah, that’s right, Billy the Kid.
- Turns out, I like to be a tourist. But cool metro places make me miss Chicago.
- Hotel Nikko is the shit. Union Square is not, but I like the place we’re in.
- I forgot how much I love the Land Rover Defender (primer to Twitter info below)
- It’s super expensive to live here. I mean, extremely expensive.
- Hanging out in neighborhood places always beats a downtown locale. Seems to be that way across the board.

I’ve “Tweeted” a bunch more about out visit. “Tweet, what’s that?” you may say. “Sounds silly”.

A Tweet is a microblog post. Here, on my blog, I could write a novel and then post it. But on Twitter (where one “tweets”), you get 140 characters and you can upload images. That’s how I’ve been documenting the trip.

Go to my Twitter page to see what we’ve been up to. If you click on TwitPic links, you’ll see images from my posts.

If you’re still confused about Twitter, watch this fantastic video:

If you join Twitter, contact me so we can follow one another.

A quick note - I want to leave with a huge heartfelt thank you to Karen and Corky. if it wasn’t for your generosity, we wouldn’t be here. Thanks for watching the twins.

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They closed the IGA for a day.

by Joe Doyle on October 16, 2007

You know the IGA, every town has one. Grandma Doyle used to send me to the one at 91st and California whenever they had sales.

Right down the block from my house is a neat little town square that kind of reminds you of Mayberry. It has most everything you need:

IGA grocery store
• old tyme drug store
barber shop
• women’s salon
The Little Deli

On my way for lunch yesterday I noticed (what appeared to be) cranes for building. After ordering a quick sammie I found out that a film crew was using them to shoot scenes for Friday Night Lights. I don’t watch the show, but it’s filmed all over Austin.

Wonder how much they paid to take over the IGA for a day…

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