I don't think screenwriting is in my future. Or at least not the form of screenwriting I'm learning about in my class. I'm afraid that I just don't have patience for "subtext". "Do you notice that this is the first time in the movie where Michelle Pfeifer wears her hair loose? Why do you think that is?" says the teacher. "To be honest, I couldn't care less" I want to say. But the big motorcycle girl with the long dirty hair, who sits in the chair nearest the teacher, always speaks up with a long, tortured answer. Jeez Louise, that girl surely likes the sound of her own voice. No, this class is definitely not for me. However, I think I'll stick it out, since it's been fruitful in other ways - in particular, I've gotten lots of ideas for other writing projects.

I'm not truly ready, yet, to cross screenwriting of my list of potential careers, but it's certainly going to get pushed down the list. New on the list, entering at something like number 15 is "public administrator", followed by "broadcaster", and "advertising executive". These latter ideas came courtesy of a test I took with my career counsellor, which attempts to match the interests of people in particular fields with my own. Since "parks and gardens director" was also in the list of potentials, I'm taking the results of this test with a grain of salt. :)

My sister Kirstie and her boyfriend Paul seem to have come and gone so fast. I'd been looking forward to it for months, but it went by so quickly. Their timing was mixed. Frequently, this season sees an Indian Summer in San Francisco, with the warmest weather of the year. I'd been looking forward to picking them up at the airport, with the top down on my jeep, then, once in my building, leading them out blindfolded to the balcony so they could get their first full look at San Francisco on a beautiful blue-sky afternoon.

But the weather turned autumnal - cool, and foggy. It was way too cold to put the top down on my car, and once they were in my apartment, the view from the balcony, though still magnificent, didn't show the bay at its best. Yet, as luck would have it, Fleet Week had begun, and the Blue Devils, or Red Angels, or whatever you call them, were practising over the bay. I tried to convince Kirstie that I'd arranged them specially for her - a fly-by greeting. But I guess she's no longer the gullible younger sister I used to know. :)

Their late afternoon view from my balcony, with an aircraft carrier docked near Fisherman's Wharf, for Fleet Week

On Friday afternoon after I left work, I picked them up in my jeep. It was still cool; too cool really to put the top down, but we decided to brave it, and put the top down anyway. We drove around town for two-and-a-half hours, stopping for some of my favorite streets and views.

Kirstie and Paul at Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge. They're clutching each other for warmth - this was more like San Francisco winter than fall.

Kirstie took this one on her Kodak digital camera. We're up on Russian Hill, not far from Macondray Lane.

It was only the second time that I'd spent a significant period with both Kirstie and Paul together, and it was funny to see how Kirstie bosses Paul around. She does it in a kind of comic long-suffering way, but there's no question about who's the boss. I wonder if Jed and I will be like that after five years, after all Kirstie and I are very alike in some ways. We're both very organized (read "control freaks"), both work in the high-tech industry, and we both make elaborate written itineraries for our vacations! I laughed when I saw hers, and felt a little sorry for Paul. "Day Three: San Francisco. What to do: to be decided." Only ten more days to go Paul :)

On Saturday afternoon, I gave them a shopping tour of downtown, then left them to their own devices. We stopped by my office to see the view, and Kirstie insisted on taking a photo of me in my office to show my parents.

Jed, Brett, Kirstie, Paul and me at 2223, Saturday night.

Finally, on Sunday, a little bit of blue sky. The vapor trails were left by the Air Force jet-fighters.

I took them on my favorite drive over to the Marin Headlands. There, however, the fog still lay thickly, hiding most of the views. But you can still make out the World War II liberty ship, the Jeremiah O'Brien (far right), steaming towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

The clouds over Telegraph Hill on Sunday evening.

Looking towards the Bay Bridge from a ferry

More ship photos. (Sorry :) The top-hamper of an aircraft carrier whose hull is hidden behind a wharf.

Another big warship docked at Fishermans's Wharf

Late evening Tuesday, another aircraft carrier, docked this time at a wharf near the South of Market area.

Then by Monday morning, Kirstie and Paul had gone, departing in a rainstorm for Yosemite, and I could move back into my apartment and catch up with my life again.

Full moon over the Ferry Building