I'm gonna have been rapping for about 4 years, I won't write my stuff anymore, I'll just kick it from my head

It's the first rainy day since I got here. It began yesterday with a thunderstorm just on the far side of the bay - it was 4am and I was walking home alone, which isn't all that safe in a country rife with guns and a city only a handful of blocks away from Oakland, centre of gun crime in the states (which reminds me that my route to school used to take me through the centre of gun crime in the UK... maybe I'm destined to join an armed gang, its definitely my style). So it was 4am and then there's this giant flash followed by a peal of thunder so epic that its almost brown pants time. I managed to get home just before the rain begun.

I'd been out in 'the city', San Francisco, to a huge club with a pretty decent (although not fabric level) soundsystem. Four rooms of mainly bass orientated stuff, with a prog house room thrown in for good measure. The highlight has to be a garage mix of Manderin Girl. Hats off to that guy. The night was pretty crazy because it was filled with people coming back from Burning Man. Hippies, goths and crazies of all shapes and sizes. An ingathering of the tribes so epic that it takes a 4x4 mile city to accommodate everyone.

Gurps, Amit, Ferhana, Mike and Willy had all just got back and seeing them followed by dubstep made me feel like I was home (no K though, so not quite at home). Sadly, they already had plans to go to a different club with some friends from the Burn, and as I had arranged for loads of people to go to the dubstep place I couldn't join them. Musically, I've been very impressed by SF so far, and there's more to come, with Boize Noize and the Fuck Buttons both visiting pretty soon. Also, someone at I-House is setting up an electronic night in our cafe/bar, which I am desperately trying to play the warm up slot for (for those interested I have new gear - a Numark 'Total Control' controller and Numark DJ I/O sound thingy).

So, life continues apace, but seeing everyone from London yesterday drove home for the first time just how long I'm going to be here for.

4 y e a r s

\\\\\its gonna be strange.