I’m writing this morning from a black papasan chair in Menlo Park, where Shiyan, Meredith, Vickie and Melissa (three venture capitalists and one production manager) have a beautiful house.

It feels like home, more so because of all the Stanford-abilia around the place. Pictures of rugby matches and of friends. A giant zucchini from Ali Reichenthal’s garden is in the kitchen. Furniture I recognize from various dorms is in each room. A television the size of a bed is in one corner.

These ladies are letting me store my belongings here while I embark upon a voyage of discovery and freelancing. It really feels like home.

Our trip yesterday was lovely but long – Kersti and I drove down from Ashland in Nancy’s car, with no hitches except a jam around Redding for bridge construction. (We didn’t make it out till 2 pm, after a Dragonfly goodbye breakfast with Jeremy, Mark, Daniel, Robert, & Caitlyn. It was lovely.)

Ashland has been such a good place to me but I feel the blood coming back into my veins being in a major metropolitan area.

We went over the Bay Bridge, straight to SF, and saw her first boyfriend Travis, who’s now out and living at the very corner of Haight and Ashbury with his boyfriend Joe. We had champagne by candlelight, with owls and unicorns watching, overlooking – yes – the corner of Haight and Ashbury.
They have the entire second floor of a building. 3 rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a hallway, a living room. They work in the hotel industry AND the apartment is rent-controlled.

Then I drove to Menlo. I got lost several times, first on Woodside Road and then on Santa Cruz Ave, but eventually I made it. And it’s so, so, so good to be here.

The Crossover interviews continue this week, and I have an interview with TJT on Friday. It’s not exactly a vacation. But it is a great time to rest.