Jersey City, NY

My cousin Dawn works in New York City's cut-throat film industry. After 6 solid months of work, her latest film just wrapped, and she found the money and time to come for a visit, so she's finally here!

Dawn hearts NY, for sure. If you ask her (as at least a few here have) where she's visiting from, she says "New York" without hesitation.

Then, if you ask her (as the same people did) exactly where she lives in New York, she replies, "Jersey City."

I wonder if, when she told people that she was going to visit her favorite cousin in the whole wide world, she said she'd be staying in San Francisco's Oakland district?

We've been having a fabulous time.

Thursday: Dawn called me "perfect-ish" (I chose to take that as a compliment, though clearly it can go either way). She also used the word "avocado" as a verb (in the cafe's sandwich line: "I like the way he's avocado-ing that").

Friday: Dawn, who doesn't own a car, much less a stick-shift, drove down my skinny road on my skinny hill from my tricky driveway and picked me up from work in my manual VW Golf. She's good. Then I got behind the wheel and we headed to Bear Valley for the night. Over the 3-hour drive that took 4+ hours, I subjected the poor thing to my ipod, which contains about 90% bubblegum pop. By the time we were almost there, she was so disoriented that she agreed Justin Timberlake has talent.

Saturday: Dawn slept in, and then spent the day enjoying Lake Alpine, vacation-style. I, on the other hand, awoke at 5:45 am so that I could, um, not eat until after 7 (Nothing was open! And then we went to the wrong place! And then there was an oatmeal situation!) and be 40 minutes late for the start of the Ebbetts Pass Century, a new ride of 101.7 miles and 12,800 feet of climbing in the Sierras. Joining me were some 2007 Camp Blacksheep alumni (and possibly one or two future Black Sheep campers?), who were kind enough to wait for me. It is unbelievably beautiful up there. And oxygen's overrated.

Then we won stuff at the post ride dinner/raffle! It was tres fun. I scored a cross-country skiing day pass for two with free rentals, and Dawn came home with a bottle of wine (the winnings of a rider who doesn't drink, and whose name, ironically, is Chuck -- as in "Two-Buck"!). Then, Dawn drove us home. The seat belt was cutting into her neck, so in one swift move, while driving, she adjusted its height and resolved the problem. That seat belt has been digging into my neck for the 7 years that I've had the car. I never knew it was adjustable. She's never even owned a VW!

Sunday: Brunch! Shopping! Manicures! Pedicures! We were barely home! But unfortunately, during the period of time that we DID spend at home, "Y" was unhappy, and came upstairs to knock on the door and let us know it. Twice. Apparently, New Yorkers living in Jersey City walk more loudly than San Franciscans who live in Oakland. And just when I thought my neighbor karma had stabilized ......

*sigh*