Excursion to Emeryville

Bob and I love office supplies so we made a trip to Office Max in Emeryville. We're both very happy when surrounded by aisles of notebooks and folders. He has a weakness for the folders while I surrender to the allure of the notebooks, but this time I managed to resist them. Bob succumbed to a few folders, but all in all, we were remarkably restrained.

Afterwards, we had tacos at the Emeryville Public Market. The Market used to be a farmer's market, but was converted some years ago to a hall filled with ethnic food stands. I remember when it was all bright and shiny, newly opened and getting lots of foot traffic from the Borders next door. We used to go to the Market for Korean or Mexican food, then wander through the bookstore on our way back to the car.

Now that there's a gaping presence where Borders used to be, the Market has a run-down look. The customers were distinctly odd. One middle-aged woman with bleached blonde hair stood out. She wore thigh-high black suede boots with impossibly high heels and a frou-frou mini-skirt beneath a black blouse studded with metal. One boob hung out. Her companion was a quiet looking older man. Go figure.

On the way out of the Mall, a boozy street guy (on a bicycle, no less) asked us if we knew where a liquor store was. When we said no, he yelled out, "What's the matter? Are you tourists?"