Buying someone of the opposite gender a drink apparently means one thing, but someone of the opposite gender dinner means another.

But what if I am the one that doesn\’t drink? What then?

My parents asked me to sell my prom dress on craigslist. $40 OBO. Blue corset with flowing blue dress. Jessica McClintok. Worn only once for four hours. And nothing happened that night, because the date was as silent as a rock. Tailored for Asian body type. More pictures on request.

Nobody has responded. Any ideas to increase its appeal?

I am living 3 hours in the past! When I used to be living three hours in the future. It\’s a strange feeling. After only a week.

Well, I am not doing that ever again.

Yesterday, out of boredom, I headed to the city to see if I could do something more interesting than staring at the wall, sending resumes, and checking my e-mail multiple times in one hour. I drove to the BART station in Lafayette and hopped onto the BART train, which was delayed 20 minutes. Yet, my ipod filled up with Andy\’s music and my 80s collection amused me on my 45 minute ride to the city.

I got out at Powell, greeted by wonderful California weather. Always the \”Jesus Christ loves you\” orange sign guy walking up and down Market. The usual tourists–the kind amazed by California excess and enormity. For some reason, I felt belittled, a slight longing for the limits and mini of Pittsburgh.

I called up Jonas–a Xangan, someone I met through my featured Xanga days. We finally met, me sitting down writing in my moleskine at the Union Square parking garage. Surrounded by hipsters, goth chicks, and same-gender couples. And not to mention, masses of Asians. I could catch snippets of Cantonese–me picking up quickly on what they were saying, reminding me of my parents talking in the background when I am asleep.

I got a pomegrante blueberry tea latte at the nearby Coffee Tree/Tea Leaf. And Jonas treated me to a vanilla eclair and cream puff at a local bakery. Incredible. We sat in the park next to the Metreon–failed commercial attempt to bring amusement to the metropolitian area. My online days are nearly over–back in undergrad, I used to meet people online–almost 15-20/year and now it\’s only 2. I am getting older, more mature, selective of friends, and my online life is diminished. Jonas was taking yet another break…always talking about his love of the area. A guy who has never been to the east coast. An incredible work ethic. The first thing I noticed about him was that he was taller than he looked in his photos.

Then he went back to work at Macys. While I dawdled in Union Square. For another 4 hours. How I did that, I don\’t know. Kun was working late. I wandered in and out San Francisco Shopping Centre multiple times, spent time browsing music at Virgin Records (do I like opera? do I like jazz? should I increase my collection?), roamed the roads of Cody\’s books, steal computer time at the Apple store, amused myself at Sephora wondering how I could spend the $25 gc Elena lovingly got for me for my b-day, fantasized clothing styles at H&M and Forever 21, and window shopped at Kenneth Cole, multiple shoe stores, Express, Macys, French Connection…

I was \”assaulted\” by a girl who asked me whether I wanted to be a hair model. I was startled at first, thinking she saw me as a fixer-upper (apparently my roommate thought I was too). Turns out she worked at Elevation salon and wanted someone to try out styles on Tuesday. She would be graded on her result. I took her card and said I would give her call if I was interested. Meaning if I didn\’t have to pay the full price and was in San Francisco coincidentially that day, I would consider it.

And I only spent $27. On two pairs of sunglasses to replace sunglasses I lost this month.

I waited on the corner of Market and O\’Farrell in the cold summer night. While Kun and Kathy made their way out there. 10 minutes turned into 20 minutes. Basically at that point, I near I couldn\’t take the BART anymore since it closed at midnight. A BMW with the high technology. Classy. We ended up in Berkeley at the Au Couquelet Cafe, a place I didn\’t go to during my undergrad, but went for the first time last December. It was great, chatting up about the people we used to know. Missing Pittsburgh for what it was, not for what it is now. Name-dropping–Catherine, Alan, Karen, those HKN people, Kyle, Thomas…

But ultimately. Amusing myself was easy in Boston. Not in San Francisco. Serendipity comes when you least expect it.

Note to self: remember where the spare key is located

My last day in Pittsburgh is finally here. I take the 5 pm Southwest flight out of Pittsburgh, stopping in Midway and arriving in Oakland. I have two large suitcases, a box, a roll-on and my laptop bag.

I am sitting in Elena\’s apartment who has graciously let me crash while she\’s interviewing with Microsoft in Seattle. She\’s coming back soon, driving her expensive Benz. I don\’t know when will be the next time I\’ll be riding in it, the smell of fine leather and Elena\’s lounge music.

I am sitting on her futon in the middle on her white blanket, looking at my aim buddy list. Most people I know are gone for the weekend. Not many are on, but I will see the rest online sometime. The air conditioner is on, set to a medium setting in comparision to the hotter days earlier this week where I didn\’t want to do anything except lie down. The towels I used are still all over the apartment and I intend to put them in a small pile for Elena when she comes back. I play my music–always on shuffle–a selection from the Grey\’s Anatomy soundtrack to the SXSW bittorrent I had downloaded more than a year ago when I was enamored by Endochine.

I am waiting for Ian and Madhu to call. Are they even awake? It\’s 11:50 am and there is only 5 hours, 10 minutes left of my run in Pittsburgh. A snoopy clock ticks slowly, the ticking I had missed, because it counts every second toward some goal, toward some end.

Today at 11 am, I moved out of my house at 5560 Forbes. A townhouse with 4 rooms, living room, dining room, a basement, and 2.5 bath for $1800/month. I never liked the management. I learned what true girl drama meant in that house, how to live with thirtysomethings, all about HCI, how to cook and so much more…a place of history that I couldn\’t say it compared to my experience in Berkeley.

One year and ten months ago, I arrived there with two large suitcases, a big box, a bag of blankets/pillows, a pc desktop and a backpack. Now I leave with two large suitcases, a big box, a bag of blankets/pillows/towels, three canvas bags full of junk, a backpack with my speakers, and my laptop bag. Not bad. But I didn\’t mention how I already gave a box of books, three large suitcases, and a partially filled duffel bag to my parents

This morning at 7 am, I looked at my room. A deep long look. Empty. Nearly void of dust. You could see the imprints from my bed and desk, now gone, taken away from shoppers on craigslist. No more posters on the walls. Empty. I gave it a final wave as I went down the stairs, my steps echoing the walls.

People love free stuff. I posted an on craigslist saying that I was giving away a lot of free stuff. Glass cups, shot glasses, wine glasses, silverware, plates, frames, paintings, my old roommates\’ clothes, a Brookstone massager, 2 toasters, 4 mirrors, beanbag, pillows, blankets, spices, bakeware, a round table, hangers, bath mats, ice cream, jams, knives, chairs, trash cans, 4 vases, welcome mats, coffee tables… Amazingly, so many people came. Two of my friends now have apartments that are Jennified. Most people that came had just bought a house or just arrived from out of town and wanted free things. A German couple came to buy a bed and negotiated the price down to $30 from $35. When I offered them free stuff, they gave me $40 for everything. Then a woman came by from a ministry for charity to get clothes, which was great. All I know is that I still can\’t let go of anything to waste. And I am never doing this again–ending the lease of a house where I was not a tenant from the beginning.

\”Uh huh. Mhmmmmbye.\”

A Pittsburgh native thing. Especially female. At the end of a phone call as we\’re discussing the last details to meet or whatever issue, I notice that Pittsburgh natives tend to add a mmm before saying \”bye\”. I have never heard it anywhere else.

Of course, I have only heard it on the phone. So is it me or is it Pittsburgh?