last night i went to work at the center for pacific studies gala honoring banquet/fund-raising auction menagerie. it was at the mark hopkins intercontinental hotel at 999 california. top of a hill, panoramic city views, little pastries passed around after the speeches. theoretically i was there as a volunteer to help out. mostly i stood around eyeing the crowd and the hotel vacation stays up for bid. they were covering tahoe to cabo san lucas. plus there was a lot of wine up for auction, art, passes to SF events and museums and theme parks, and a signed photo of jackie chan. ha! in the middle of the gala, while drooping from the boring thank you speeches of the honorees, myself and 2 other volunteers from my program elected to ride the elevator up the the bar/lounge on top. called ‘top of the mark’ this place is very classy elegant with it’s windows on all 4 sides, little tables, dim lighting, cocktails, and live piano music reminiscent of riding the esalator in the walnut creek nordstroms (supper club take note, we should round out a meeting there someday).

topofmark.jpe