Things I actually miss about New Haven:

1. People--I never found it terribly hard to leave a particular place, but leaving people behind pretty much sucks. I feel like I was finally developing a core group when I left.
2. Having a washer/dryer, parking, a yard, and a huge apartment...for $900/month. Plus, the cat got to ogle the squirrels and birds frolicking outside our 1st floor windows. I think he's bored now. Cars whizzing by just don't seem so compelling.
3. Pizza. Seriously, the best pizza is from New Haven. I know some New Yorkers will get up in arms over this, but have you tried a pizza hot out of the 900 degree ovens at Frank Pepe's? Have you?! Yeah, I didn't think so.


Reasons I'm so goddamn glad I'm back in San Francisco:
1. I freakin' love this city. Love. Pure ardor. Passion. If I could marry it....
2. People--both my personal friends and people in general. People who believe in gay marriage and care enough to protest wars and have cross-dressing wig-themed parties in honor of Pride weekend and host ice cream anti-socials.
3. The lack of both winter and summer here. Chris and I considered staying in New York for a couple of years, but we realized that we'd hate the city for at least 6 months out of the year. That's a lot of time to hate where you are. And based on rigorous scientific study, I've determined that winter is entirely unnecessary. Good to visit, bad to live in. And to add insult to injury, we use the misleading Fahrenheit system. As one of Chris's classmates from Africa pointed out (the poor boy), seeing that it's 10 degrees on the thermometer gives you false hope that the outside world is not a frozen tundra waiting to burrow its icy fingers into your marrow...but then you remember that 32 degrees is freezing point and you immediately abandon your will to live. And don't get me started on wind chill.
4. Clean air. Public transportation. The Pacific ocean. Eucalyptus trees in Golden Gate Park. Good Chinese food. Burritos the size of a young infant. The relative lack of insects. In'n'Out burgers. I could go on...

And on a sidenote, in case the Buddhists are right, I'd like to come back as a pampered housecat. Vinny doesn't even need to justify his layabout lifestyle.