The idea behind this diary was specific. I’d just finished reading Pepys’ diary, and its lack of detail about the mechanics of everyday life had frustrated me. He would speak of sending a message to someone across town, but took for granted his readers would understand what sending a message entailed in Restoration London. So, I decided I would make an effort to capture, not just the place I was living, but the nuts and bolts of that time.

My boyfriend, Tim, and I had just moved to San Francisco from Berkeley, and we’d only been in the Bay Area a couple of years. Our apartment was on Tehama South of Market. San Francisco back then was still relatively affordable, and SOMA was still a haven for struggling artists but we were no bohemians. We’d come to California because Tim, a software engineer, was part of the Silicon Valley Gold Rush. Our place was a newly refurbished three-bedroom with a dishwasher and blue wall-to-wall carpeting.