notwanderlust

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 66 - To Marin, Briefly

796 couple, getting indian food and heading home to Adam’s Point. mostly quiet, except some chats about deadmau5.

797 nice guy, picked up from a D&D gaming night, going home to Oakland hills. chatty.

798 picked up from the Warriors game, kind of chaos picking him up, but coordinated well with him to make it a lot easier and get out quickly. was headed all the way to the Marin marina to pick up his car. pleasant small talk.

—

Song of the night: "Closing Shot" by Lindstrøm

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 65 - His First Threesome

785 a group of three friends going to the Alameda landing around sunset, to Drake’s Dealership. two guys and a girl, interesting dynamic between them.

786 four asian friends, going to the Greek Theatre in Berkeley for a Kygo show. friendly, but chatty amongst themselves.

787 a group of 4 megabros from Berkeley. the one alpha male of the group, as we pass by International House on the UCB campus: "GUYS. I had my first threesome at ihouse……" and car erupts with what I can only describe as disgusting chants, whoops, and hollers.

788 cute couple from out of town, going to a hotel out on the Berkeley peninsula.

789 friendly asian guy, going home after a picnic. quiet mostly.

790 a latino couple, going to a friend’s house in West Oakland. the guy kept talking about LCD Soundsystem (because I was playing it in the car), and how he hasn’t listened to them in years. i filled him in on the details.

791 older lady, going from Whole Foods to her apartment on the Berkeley peninsula.

792 two latino girls, heading to Starline Club. chatty for a while, talking about a few lame dates that one of the girls had recently.  at some point they switched to speaking spanish.

793 slightly annoying ride of a drunk couple, in their 30’s. girl was friendly, but the guy was cranky, until he eventually fell asleep and started snoring. the girl spend the rest of the ride trying to get him to stop snoring. come on guys, we’re adults, don’t fall asleep in someone else’s car.

794 adorable couple, going from one friend’s house party to another friend’s. lovely.

795 latino hotel worker, going down to Visitacion Valley. quiet.

796 awesome spanish musician, picked up from a gig he was just doing, going back to Oakland from South Bay. really great chats about live music, movies, and life. helped him load and unload the car full of his music gear. very genuine guy.

—

Song of the night: "At Night in Dreams" by White Denim

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 64 - Zoned Out

775, 776 two quiet, separate girls, both going to West Oakland. made a funny joke to the second girl "well, it just so happens that this car is going *exactly* that direction!" silly fun.

777 quiet latino guy going to northern Emeryville.

778 overzealous chatty asian guy, going a few blocks in Emeryville. kept talking over me.

779 cute Midwestern family, going to a hotel in Berkeley. loved chatting about the Bolt.

780 asian student going to Walnut Creek. completely silent.

781 sassy white girl, blaring her phone music, going from Walnut Creek to her boyfriend’s house in Concord.

782 very awkward high school aged kid, going home from Concord BART station. hurt his hand awkwardly on the car door as he closed it.

783 cute boonies family, going home to Bay Point after doing some outdoor karaoke at a place in Concord. nice people.

784 bigger black guy, going to Concord to a club. asked me to blast the A/C, even though it was already freezing in the car.

785 two chatty and friendly indian guys, going to Walnut Creek. interested in the Bolt, and was glad to answer their questions.

—

Song of the night: "With Rainy Eyes" by Emancipator

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 63 - To The Alley Instead

774 adorable british couple, picked up from Penrose on Grand. very chatty and fun, stopped a few blocks later so the guy could grab some cigarettes at the gas station. as we are leaving, I mention a cool bar that we are coming up on, in case they were back in the area they could visit it. they both are like "we should go now!" and so, I drop them off there. literally, 4 blocks or less from where I picked them up. they invite me to join them as they get out of the car.  "Ok, yeah, maybe!" they go in. they seem great, so I double park my car and put the flashers on, and join them.

I walk in, and they’re trying to figure out how to pay for the drinks, as the bar doesn’t take cash. i offer to buy us all drinks, and they’re very excited about this. we sit down at a booth, and spend an hour talking about coffee, Berkeley, London, Yosemite, Amazon PrimeNow, and so on. I also learn later on that they are not a couple, but are friends, and he is gay, and she is visiting from the UK, and he lives in Berkeley.

I offer to give them a ride home without charge, and they’re excited for this.

"This rear heated seat feels like I’ve sharted myself. I love it."

as I drop them off, "You sir are a Bay Area legend."

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 62 - Nope-A

762, 763, 764, 765 picked up a quiet black girl and then a white girl, both headed to SF. dropped off the white girl, and then picked up two separate individuals, a latino girl and an italian guy. awesome general conversation in the car about learning different languages, and how children learn them at younger ages now, and what it means to be multilingual. very fun ride.

766, 767 two jolly-drunk guys going to Haight Street, very funny. picked up a quiet female asian student on the way, and the guys ask her where she’s headed. she says "Nopa!" and the guys explode in a hilarious monologue about how the neighborhood of Nopa isn’t a real place, it’s just called Western Addition, and how Craigslist and gentrification is destroying the area.  they were old school original Bay Areaers. hilarious guys.

768 nice, energetic girl going to Noe Valley. chatted about her neighborhood, and told her the Nopa story. lots of laughs, as she turned out to also be an original Bay Areaer.

769 chatty guy, going home to Pac Heights after a night at a friends. meaningful small talk.

770 cute couple heading home.

771, 772, 773 a fun chef from downtown SF, chatty about local restaurants. picked up two USF students on the way, both quiet.

—

Song of the night: "Connected (Original Mix)" by Melosense

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 61 - The One With The Flat Tire

752 awesome late-30’s lady, named Lisa, visiting Oakland to look for a new temporary home while she does school here for a year. her and her husband live in Texas. told her about Piedmont neighborhood, and she was excited to hear about it from a local. drove her to Whole Foods, and when she got out, knocked on the window and said she forgot her wallet at home. took her back for free, was glad to spend the extra time with someone so fun and interesting.

753 two chatty white gals, going over near Mill’s College, to some birthday party. talkative amongst themselves.

754 chatty latino guy going home from work at Safeway. friendly, and loved the Bolt.

755 two L.A. natives, picked up from Whole Foods. total LA vibes, brash but witty and real.

756 quiet black dude, going home to Rockridge area.

757 fun ladies, heading from Pizziolo to the Piedmont theatre. they were late for the show so I stepped on it a bit for them, and they appreciated that. cute and friendly.

758, 759 quiet and awkward israeli girl, but nice. picked up two white girls on the way, going out to Playland in SF on Polk Street. very rainy, rough ride over the bridge, but once we got to SF, really chatty and fun conversation.

760 mega cutie, going home to the heart of the Marina. really good chat in the short ride time.

761 drunk couple, when I picked them up "Bro, your front tire is low! Not like so low that I’m like 'I’m not getting in that car.' but pretty low." luckily, a short ride, near the end of it I could tell something was wrong with the tire. dropped them off, headed a few blocks to the gas station, and inspected the tire to see that it was indeed fully flat. couldn’t be pumped up. had to get the car towed.

—

Song of the night: "You Make Me Feel Good" by Satin Jackets

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 60 - Microwave House

735, 736 two quiet passengers, going downtown Oakland.

737, 738 two cool chatty black girls, and then a quiet white guy going to Adam’s Point.

739 timid girl, bringing her cat to her friend’s house in SF for cat-sitting. apologized over and over for the cat’s meowing, although I assured her that it didn’t bother me at all.

740 funny, drunk white girl, going home to Polk Gulch. very chatty, with a soothing voice, but worrisome.  Eventually, she posits a "hypothetical" for me, about her basically cheating on her boyfriend, and asking if she should tell him or not.  well, "cheating" as in, she made out with a cute guy at a bar. we discussed at length the implications of either telling him or not telling him.  i ultimately suggested she tell him, and that if he really cared about her, and she treated the conversation with care, it would end up just find.

741 couple going out to Polk St. quiet.

742, 743, 744 two couples picked up at the cruise ship pier, smashed all into the car together. quiet mostly, although the back seat couple kept giggling at something. picked up a quiet latino girl after dropping off one couple.

745 nice guy, great conversation about movies as I picked him up from a showing at the SF film festival. really friendly and intelligent dude.

746 family of four, some of whom were visiting from out of state. nice people, the two kids were staying at one hotel, and the two adults at another. the adults told me about the interactive dinner theatre show they were at, it sounded more intense than the ones I’ve heard of before.

747 quiet guy, going home to SOMA.

748 two chatty friends in the film industry, talking shop the entire time. interesting to eavesdrop on.

749 friendly, quiet guy, going to Noe Valley.

750 two hilarious gay guys, friends I think, going home from The Castro. one was staying over on the other guy’s couch, talking about the heaters in the room that he’ll be staying in. "OH ok microwave house, I wasn’t trying to wood fire  a pizza."

751 cute nerdy couple, going home after a movie at the Metreon, over by the Embarcadero.

—

Song of the night: "Weapons of Distraction" by Thievery Corporation

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 59 - Phillip Glass Fan Club

730, 731, 732 three cute and friendly girls, separate, all picked up from MacArthur BART. going various spots in the Piedmont direction.  front seat girl was chatty, talked about the music I was playing, and Phillip Glass. and avocados.

733 smelly guy going to Alameda. quiet.

734 Alameda girl going to Union City. quiet.

—

Song of the night: "E.V.P." by Blood Orange

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 58 - Pray Before Parking

719 adorable couple, going out to a very early dinner at Penrose.

720 guy going to uptown Oakland for a haircut. quiet.

721 girl going home, told me she was working at the YouTube earlier that day during the shooting.

722 asian couple going out to dinner. guy had a terrifyingly unique laugh.

723 girl going home to Adam’s Point. stopped at a bodega on the way. quiet.

724, 725 two guys going out to Luka’s, and a girl going home. mostly quiet.

726 lady going downtown Oakland. quiet.

727, 728, 729 a girl, and then a girl and a guy picked up both at Lake Merritt BART.  nice, light conversation.  the guy loved the Bolt. at one point, "Some people pray before meals, others pray before parking."

—

Song of the night: "Liability (Reprise)" by Lorde

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 57 - "2 G's, 2 R's"

710 quiet guy going to Emeryville.

711 a Berkeley going home. quiet.

712 a couple visiting Berkeley, headed to Chez Panisse. gave them some tips on where else to eat and explore in the area. they seemed excited.

713 really fun and friendly lesbian girl, going home to South Berkeley.

714 couple, headed home to Temescal. quiet.

715 annoying couple, made me wait for 8 minutes at the bar while they finished up with their friends. but, nice enough. talked about their friend that owns GoPro the entire ride,

716 lady headed out to Piedmont hills. quiet.

717 group of three guys, getting out from a concert of a well-known irish band. headed out to Moraga. really appreciative of my chill-ness, according to them. "Aggressive. 2 g’s. 2 r’s. Aggrressive."

718 a weird ride from Concord to Pacheco. a bunch of drunks, mostly stumbling and falling asleep, with one sober lady taking care of them all. mostly civil, but still kind of irksome.

—

Song of the night: "Hunger of the Pine" by Alt-J

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 56 - Recoop

697, 698 two quiet passengers, heading up toward Berkeley.

699 couple headed out to a movie at AMC Bay Street. just sat on their respective phones the entire time. sad.

700 quiet guy heading down to the Mission.

701 techy guy, going on a short trip out of SFO. talkative but slightly superficial. or maybe just distracted.

702 quiet, exhausted girl going home from SFO to a Palo Alto suburb.

703 - 708 a group of Berkeley students, moving about campus. mostly quiet, on a Sunday night after St. P’s.

709 very late/early ride, quiet black guy going in to work from Berkeley to West Oakland.

—

Song of the night: "Reel 4 Break 3" by Pretty Lights

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 55 - BECAUSE I LOVE OLIVES

673 quiet lady, going up to Rockridge from Homeroom.

674 quiet guy headed downtown.

675 ancient guy, going from his apartment to the Honda dealership on Broadway.

676 awful basic SF couple, going home to the Marina from a show in Oakland. truly insufferable. as was the Bay Bridge traffic.

677 nice asian couple going to the Tenderloin. we hit another car during the ride, or another car kind of hit us. they were chill about it.  the other guy got out and started freaking out.  it was partly both of our faults. no damage to either car, so I just left. LOL.

678 guy headed downtown SF. quiet.

679 - 687 a slew of St. Patrick’s Day drunkoz. tons of fun though. some choice quotes from the rides:

"you know guys, I’ve always liked the name olive... BECAUSE I LOVE OLIVES."

"sorry for snorting. When I laugh. SNORTING."

"Okokokokok. Nobody is cracking anybody in the chin. Now. Let’s get some Chinese! I mean chubbies."

"We. At. The. MOTHAfuckin. CHUBBIES. Store."

"I miss Jeff Gordon."

"Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up your divorce."

688 quiet lady, heading all the way to the middle of nowhere in South Peninsula. was initially mentally grumpy that I was getting pulled away from the city in the middle of a prime time, but got over it quickly. long ride, and expensive. 1 minute after dropping her off I get my next ride, in the middle of nowhere, heading all the way back to Oakland.

689 guy one his phone the whole time, talking about fantasy football. seemed like a nice guy, but didn’t get to talk to him at all. long, expensive ride.

690 group of 3 hilarious friends, going to The Mission from Oakland.

691 really nice girl, going home after a birthday party that she planned out. great conversation, felt weirdly like a first date? bizarre feeling.

692 hip middle-aged couple, going home from a unique bar in Haight-Ashbury to North Beach. chatty, the wife from Italy, sat in the front because she sometimes gets motion sickness. commented on how smoothly I drive. great people.

693 super funny and friendly girl that lives near Union Square. chatty, fun, and silly.

694, 695, 696 awesome ride, one of my favorites. two separate girls picked up in SF, both witty and hilarious, we all got along very quickly. one of them told some amazing stories about her traveling across the U.S. with her archaeologist father. the other, a film and commercial producer. picked up a big black guy on the way, quiet. later, after dropping off both the girls, he opened up to me about some girl he works with that he is interested in, and he asked her out earlier in the night and got rejected. i did my best to console him. he wasn’t too bummed.

—

Song of the night: "Pork Soda" by Glass Animals

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 54 - Fuck It, Do It Different

650 friendly dude, going to Kronnenburger on Piedmont. turns out it’s closed that day, and he’s bummed.

651 spunky middle-aged couple, going home from Pizziolo. jolly conversation, about starting a heat couch seats company.

652 amazingly chatty tall girl, a teacher at a local school. kept calling her kids her "babies" in a hilarious and endearing way. amazingly synced conversation, tons of big laughs, dropped her off at Cornerstone in Berkeley.

653, 654 two quiet Berkeley students heading home to Emeryville.

655 jovial black couple, picked up at the seafood place out on the pier, heading home to East Oakland. lots of questions about the Bolt.

656 couple headed home to Concord after a concert. kind of awkward, quietly whispering to each other. dropped off 3 blocks from the Concord BART station.

657 two slightly drunk asian girls, going from one spot to another in Walnut Creek. changed their destination one block from us arriving, and we basically went back to where we started. they didn’t mind.

658, 659 two individuals, picked up out in the hills on the way back from Walnut creek. quiet, going to East Oakland.

660 hilarious and friendly black girl, very large, barely fit in my front seat. picked up from a bar, but smelled very distinctly of sex and sweat. had a fun conversation, she was from Massachusetts, interesting talk about Northampton and the area. "Fuck it, do it different."

661 a couple at Yoshi’s, going home to Piedmont hills area. chatty and friendly, impressed by the Bolt.

662 group of 4 drunkos, going to East Oakland. friendly and respectful drunks, though.

663 quiet guy, front seater, going to downtown Oakland.

664, 665 two friends, the girl gets in the car and says "for Jacob?" which is not at all the name of the guy she is with. mega awkward, but also hilarious. much later it becomes clear that he’s gay and they aren’t a couple or are hooking up. still awkward, but slightly less so. picked up quiet Berkeley guy on the way.

666 a few Berkeley girls, going home to the other side of campus.

667, 668, 669 three separate Berkeley students, going to various spots in South Berkeley. mostly quiet.

670, 671 talkative guy, headed out to Castro Valley from the Rockridge BART station after hours. picked up a quiet girl that worked at Copper Spoon on the way.

672 very late-night ride, nice asian guy headed to a diner in Alameda to pick up his car. talkative, mostly about electric cars.

—

Song of the night: "Air" by Tracey Thorn

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 53 - Love & Hip Hop

646, 647 two hilarious black girls, who I think might have known each other but it wasn’t clear. some very deep, and shriekingly loud, conversation about Love & Hip Hop, the reality show. after we drop off the first girl, the second brings up the LHH instagram to show me two 1 minute promos of the show. i was interested. very funny, though.

648 guy picked up a Endgame downtown. chatty, was excited to talk about game design.

649 tech guy going home to Walnut Creek. quiet, on his laptop.

float by neighbor

—

Song of the night: "Float" by The Neighbourhood

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 52 - Under Promise, Over Deliver

635 guy going downtown Oakland.

636 cranky lady, going home in the rain.

637 nice corporate lady, late for a meeting downtown. got her there 10 minutes faster than she expected.

638, 639 quiet black guy. then, picked up a chatty white girl on the way. fun conversation about car horns and other small talk but not meaningless talk.

640, 641 two Berkeley guys, going home to North Oakland.

642, 643 two girls, going to South Berkeley.

644 chatty white guy, going to meet a "client" at the sauna place that he works at. at 11pm…

645 awesome and chatty 30’s guy, talking mostly about skiing.

—

Song of the night: "First Fires" by Bonobo

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 51 - Food Waste Conscious

629, 630 two people, heading to West Oakland.

631 super fun white girl, getting home from work at a restaurant. good chat about homelessness and food waste. flirty.

632 friendly indian girl, going home to the pier in Emeryville. good conversation about food banks and volunteering in Berkeley.

633 girl picked up from Four Points in Emeryville. maybe a prostitute, heading to a client’s house. can usually tell from cash tips, and the name of the passenger being different than the name of the person who called the Lyft.

634 couple going home after a concert at The Fox Theatre. chatty amongst themselves. live literally 1 block from the Lafayette BART station, of which they could have taken home.

—

Song of the night: "Crockett’s Revenge" by The Midnight

[notwanderlust]

Lyft Log 50 - Passive Aggressive Foster

620 girl going home after work.

621 nice girl going to Penrose for dinner, and then to see Black Panther. my first "nameless" passenger on the app. awkward.

622 two chatty nice lesbian black girls going home to East Oakland.

623 couple going to Walnut Creek.

624 black lady and her rude child going to Lafayette BART.

625 two high school black girls, going home to East Oakland. made two stops for each of them. sounded really distraught about something that happened to them earlier in the day.

626 from OAK, chatty girl going to Colma. VERY loud and shrill voice, like actually hurt my ears when she spoke, but nice and conversational.

627 pulled up in front of a bar with the couple outside. they stood there, 3 feet from my car, for 5 minutes while they smoked their cigarettes. i said nothing to them when they got in or when they got out. very generous tip given, for some reason.

628 an Icelandic dude going home from a hotel party.

—

Song of the night: "Heretofore" by Megafaun