Home Sweet Hillcrest

In an effort to escape the dry and hapless La Jolla, my friends and I moved to the cultural district on Hillcrest. Set more central within San Diego and near downtown the city features superb cuisine, a shimmering nightlife, us, and is predominantly gay.

My three roommates are all UCSD international studies students. I share a room with Tim Koster, an old Mountain View friend; Michelle Sisson, a girl I met first year from my dorms; and Julia Gundling, a girl I worked with at the Food Co-op.

Our neighbors are great, especially our backdoor neighbors. A couple, Mike and Sue, live behind us. They are very friendly and helpful. From the first moment the girls arrived Mike helped with some shelving installation. And since we've eaten dinner together a lot before parties or just for fun. Sue generously brings over delicious food, mostly baked if memory serves, that always seems to arrive at the best possible time. We are very fortunate to have such great neighbors. Below is a picture from Mike and Sue's 30th anniversery party.

I am now over twenty minutes from UCSD, but the university provides an excellent shuttle service allowing me to awake an hour before class - pretty standard, really.

Parties at 4065 Front Street

Our house turns out to be exceptional for parties. This was a bit shocking to my roommates and me; I threw my first party since turning fifteen at this house. Several factors contribute to our ability to host. First, we live in a house, not an insipid La Jolla condominium/townhouse. Plus, the carpets are psychedelic burgundy which makes for a livelier atmosphere. Second, our neighbors are fantastic. We've never had a noise complaint even though we've had hordes of loud college students on our front porch escaping the hotter indoors where music is blasting. So if any neighbors ever read this - thank you. And finally my roommate and I are all part of different groups and clubs on campus which allows for a quality selection of party goers from different walks of UCSD.

On the last Friday of spring quarter (June 9th), my housemates and I threw our final and most anticipated party: 'The Future You.' We allowed leeway with the theme because of how close it was to the end of the quarter. Still though, people showed up in some creative costumes including a mail-order bride, belligerent and unsupportive kindergarden teacher, a 'regular' robot that seemed an awful lot like a sexy robot, and a couple show girls. And a good sized crowd showed up, probably around sixty people.

On February 11th, we threw a 'hot model after party'. Our main prop, the catwalk, drew a lot of traffic and enthusiasm. Below is a collage that you can click on to enlarge. To see other party pictures check out Daniel's or Michelle's.

On November 10th we threw our second party, the Hippie Theme. After 3 hours of strenuous decorating we got our house in order and threw an amazing party. Below is the collage, upon which you can click to enlarge it.

Our first party was a purple, pink, or plaid party inspired by our outlandish burgundy carpet that layers the house with pyschedelic vibrance. I'd like to call the party a resounding success. Below are a couple pictures. For more pictures check out Michelle's (roommate) or Daniel's (friend).