this weekend was full of birthdays. on friday night, my friend allie celebrated hers with a delicious dinner party at cha cha cha in the mission. fried plantains and black beans = the best comfort food ever. we share a lot of the same friends, and i saw several people i haven’t had contact with for years, including my friend adam bannister, who is an amazing musician.

saturday was spent with my little brother and his friends. we planned on going to the fair at the oakland colliseum, but it unfortunately ended last weekend. we ended up going to pier 39 for some local tourism and then a to yearly rave called, appropriately enough, pisces. we arrived early and helped set up, so they comped us in. a very random thing happened; while looking over the dj timeslots, i noticed the name catharsis. that’s my buddy mike. he almost never dj’s out anymore, but he showed up at about 2 and proceeded to rock the house.

today was also spent with my brother, but with our parents as well. we went to breakfast at q, spent the day at the academy of sciences (my first time since the remodel), popped in to the anarchist book fair, and had dinner at trattoria volare, where i had some of the most delicious penne i’ve ever eaten. marinated roma tomatoes, fresh basil, amazing extra virgin olive oil, and toasted sliced almonds. absolutely delectable.