I arrived at the Embarcadero with Sean, Sam, Ian, and Matt at about 5:00 to help set up. Chairs and tables were placed, bread was bought, and ribbons were cut...then those of us chasing or working checkpoints headed off out of sight to keep our identities as masked as possible. Evan and I watched the opening ceremonies from the fountain just down the parkway doing our best to blend into our surroundings when a rush of thirty-something wild-eyed players charged right for us and into the "field."

After planting chaser Yuri near the pool hall (no doubt her natural environment), it was off to unload some wood at Ocean Beach with Sean. Soon after, excess wood was slipped into the back of a van along with a bag full of laundry. No reason not to get something USEFUL done this evening, right? There were sheets to wash...

The laundromat at 16th and Balboa somehow managed to be "drab" while outshining every other storefront in that quiet Inner Richmond neighborhood. The only noise, inside or out, was the blaring of techno-twinged classical muzak blaring out of two shoddy speakers mounted to the laundromat's wall and the pacing of an Asian man who, in earnest, was out to clean some clothes. His pacing grew increasingly nervous as I placed a large box of firewood on a table in the back corner and loaded a bag of white sheets into a machine...without actually turning it on. Half an hour later, I placed in some quarters. Then removed then. Soon, I bought some detergent and, eventually, my boredom led me to actually START the machine...I'm sure he'd never seen anyone take that long to start a load of laundry. It didn't help that I kept having phone conversations about "chasers," "casualties," and "checkpoints." Ultimately, I scared him off...he didn't return for his clothes in the dryer until hours later and seemed quite freaked out to find me still there...still handling those very same sheets and with much less wood than I'd started with.

The first player to enter the laundromat was Rob. I signed his manifest, congratulated him on his success so far, and handed him a log to be carried to the bonfire on Ocean Beach. Hot on his heels, the eventual winners entered the laundromat just minutes after Rob had lured all the chasers out of the vicinity. Eventually, twelve to fifteen players came stumbling into the laundromat, some bewildered to find only a young man doing laundry and others fortunate enough to find me in obvious conversation with other participants. Not everyone made it out there...but I'm sure glad for those who did!

The real highlight came towards midnight when a homeless man entered the storefront and promptly removed the pants he was wearing. Tossing them into a dryer, he glared at me icily as I loaded more firewood into the box behind me. He must have been cold in his boxer shorts...but the quarter he spent warming up his pants before heading out back into the night was probably the best twenty-five cents he'd spent in weeks.

Finally, Toom entered the laundromat just at midnight and we made our way to the beach where we enjoyed the tail end of the bonfire. If you ever want to hear any Russian proverbs about elephants...or something...Vlad's your man.