Interview #2, and Free Day at the De Young museum in Golden Gate Park

Had interview #2 yesterday morning and changed up the outfit a little. A pastel pink BAR slim fit shirt, slim Ben Sherman purple/pink tie, and my skinny Banana Republic khakis.

I really like the slim ties - they're much better in terms of proportion to my body :-p Plus they're cute enough where I can wear them casually out with any other outfit as well.

Yesterday, I was notified that I am now officially under consideration for the pharmacy technician position at UCSF medical center. I'm not putting to much hope on it since I don't even know if they have anything available for a more entry-level candidate like me (they may be primarily looking for more experienced IV admixture candidates), but in any case if I was recommended to UCSF it's still a pretty good sign :-) My interview with California Pacific Medical Center is still on the books as well, so at least there's a few options out there.

[Update 4:30pm]: Just as soon as I had posted this blog entry, I received a call offering me the position!!! I am now officially an inpatient / I.V. admixture pharmacy technician at UCSF Medical Center ... woo hoo!!! I would have never expected this to happen so quickly since I was mentally preparing to job hunt for another 3 months or so, but they said my interviews went very well and I had some great references (thanks, if you're reading ... you know who you are!) and I will begin on June 27th - one month after my birthday, haha. Tomorrow I will fill out all the paperwork, do drug testing, background check, etc. How exciting!

Since yesterday was the first Tuesday of the month, the De Young museum in Golden Gate Park was open for its free day. It was cloudy in the morning but turned out to be a beautiful day!

Tea Garden Drive, looking towards the California Academy of Sciences building

The well-known spiral tower of the De Young museum here in Golden Gate Park

Inside, we visited the multiple galleries showcasing art from around the world. Much of the museum was closed off, however, since they were dedicating space to the special Balenciaga exhibit (which we'd have to pay for if we wanted to see), as well as preparing for the Picasso exhibit coming next week - we had seen the Picasso exhibit in our previous city of residence at the Seattle Art Museum. It's following us!

Tiny 18th Century French children's chair

A crazy teapot

Crazy teapot #2

View of northeastern San Francisco from the observation floor of the tower

View to the south - California Academy of Sciences with its cool living green roof, and UCSF Medical Center in the top right corner

View to the northwest - inner and central Richmond District, the Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge to the top right corner, Land's End to the far top left corner, and the Marin headlands in the distance.

We finished off the afternoon in the park between the De Young and the Academy of Sciences...

Beautiful, old gnarled trees

Ian and I relaxing on the park benches

One day I'd love to plant an orchard full of stuff ... fruit trees, olive trees, avocado, grape vines (concord and muscat). I like to imagine they'd grow to look like the above, all kept and orderly :)

I love public space - Golden Gate Park is absolutely beautiful, but in a way it also makes me a bit sad that the only reason why it is what it is (in all its magnificence) is because a LONG while back, some individuals had the foresight to set aside all of this land for the sole purpose of public space. At the same time, everybody drives into the park. It's possible to take the N-Judah Muni streetcar which only runs a couple streets south of the southern end of the park, but at the same time I can't help but wonder how much more accessible the park would be, had the Muni line run directly underneath the whole length of the park, and individuals could get out at various points along the way (working from east to west: Japanese tea garden, flower conservatory, De Young Museum and California Academy of Sciences, the polo fields, and ending at Ocean Beach next to the two dutch windmills and tulip gardens).

Nevertheless, for all the days that I'm not in the park, I have my own green space outside on the patio. I can see all the wonderful green leafy plants and edible sprouts from the living room, and I can hear the birds chirping in the trees along the sidewalk. On days when it's warm and not too windy, I like to sit outside in the adirondack chair, sip tea, and look out at the plants swaying in the breeze and absorbing the sun. It's also really fun to see when people walking by on the sidewalk stop, do a double-take, and then walk up to our little patio garden to look at all of the different sprouts and edibles that are growing. I wonder if I should label some of the more unique specimens (like our yuzu fruit tree or our feijoa pineapple guava plant) so people would know what they are? Make our garden into a little exhibit for people passing by?

Yesterday I transplanted the morning glory flower seedlings since they've opened up. I also set up the bamboo trellis to support the climbing habit of the morning glories as they grow.

A little yellow for now since they've been underground, but in due time when the first set of true leaves comes and with more sun exposure, they will create more chlorophyll and turn greener

My next plans for the garden include adding a bird feeder (I'd LOVE to attract some chirping songbirds to the balcony!!) as well as maybe a sun dial or quiet bamboo windchime ... we'll see.

Finally, in an effort to keep my mind muscles working now that I finished school, I've decided to start reading Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". It's set in the 1920s (Paris and Spain primarily) and it's a look into post-World War I disillusionment and angst of the generation. So far I'm really liking it. I've always thought to myself how reading these kinds of books seems like such a chore when you're doing it for school, pressed for time and juggling a million other things. But when you have the opportunity to choose it for yourself to actually enjoy on your own time, things are totally different. It's why I've kept a lot of my old political science textbooks ... I plan on reading them again and really understanding them, rather than just having read them for some exam.

Anyhow, time to keep reading....