The Hard Facts

Hello!
Okay so after reading Kyrstin's blog I already miss all of you!! Summer will be nice, but it would be better if you were all with me....anywhoo. As most of you, my dear friends, know, I am slightly obsessed with meaningless facts. I can tell you the name of the largest city that starts and ends with a p- (Puyallup) , that bird's bones are hollow and that the technical color of the Golden Gate bridge is International Orange. Unfortunately this knack for remembering useless things does not transfer to useful things such as homework etc.. It is sad. So while I may never completely memorize Euler's Theory or French conjugations, I would like to supply all of you with some San Francisco facts to carry you through the summer:

• A city built on 43 hills will surely have steep, curving streets. Vermont Avenue between 22^nd and 23^rd is "crookedest," and Filbert between Hyde and Leavenworth is steepest at 31.5 degrees, but neither fact discourages tourists from flocking to Lombard Street's seductive curves.
• San Francisco outlawed burials in 1901, and the Presidio and Mission have the city's only remaining cemeteries. The dead are in neighboring Colma, making it the world's only incorporated city where the dead outnumber the living. Permanent residents of its 16 cemeteries include Wyatt Earp and Joe DiMaggio
• Union Square is among the top four shopping areas in the nation. Boutiques, spas, galleries and San Francisco's only Frank Lloyd Wright building fill nearby Maiden Lane, but it wasn't always so respectable. Once home to the lowest houses of prostitution, the former Morton Street was so depraved that even policemen hesitated to enter
• Mission Dolores is the oldest building in San Francisco, built in 1791. Two major earthquakes couldn't topple it, but tiny powderpost beetles almost did in 2000, chewing their way to international fame before they were stopped.
• The City flower is The Dahlia
  
• The official city tree is a 100-foot Monterey Cypress in front of McLaren Lodge at Kennedy Drive.
• 46.7 square miles (Can you believe that it is so small!!!)
  
• San Francisco's Sister Cities
  San Francisco maintains Sister City relationships with the following cities:
  Abijan, The Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
  Assisi, Italy
  Cork, Ireland
  Haifa, Israel
  Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
  Manila, Philippines
  Osaka, Japan
  Paris, France
  Seoul, Korea
  Shanghai, China
  Sydney, Australia
  Taipei, Taiwan
  Thessaloniki, Greece
  Zürich, Switzerland

So I say in spirit of facts and friendship we go to all of these sister cities and compare them with our beloved SF. Just a thought. Well, since Kyrstin has given me hope and luck to explore the infinite abyss I may start cleaning/packing some time this weekend, stop by to see if there is another dorm baby hidden under the rubble...or maybe just some socks you left behind.

Love Always,
Kailey