A butterfly flapping its wings in Paraguay has nothing on this. Who knew that the Sydney-Honolulu Jetstar plane bounced back and forward every day, and that the fog in Sydney on Thursday would mean a three hour delay on our Friday evening flight? The airline called us a month ago to tell us the flight had been revised from 6pm to 5:55pm - but they couldn’t manage a call to tell us it’d be three hours late. Could’ve stayed at work the full day after all.

Spent another few hours at Honolulu bouncing between our departure gate and the Qantas lounge as the next flight got revised back - problems with a “metal plate” apparently.

Called our hotel in SF to say we’d be late. They said don’t bother coming after 11pm, so we wound up staying at the only hotel that’d accept us, the airport Westin. Can I just say, best pillows, bed and eiderdown combination ever. And the granola, yogurt and lush strawberries and blueberries the next morning were more than equal to the sleeping arrangements.

I’ve got the latest issue of Meanjin, but I haven’t been in the mood to read it, so I picked up Junot Diaz’s ‘The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ at the airport in Sydney and haven’t looked back. I’ve started talking fast and hip, with liberal sprinklings of Dominican Spanish. Sydney people go see him at the Writers Fest.

Wanted to see Blowfly last night at Bottom of the Hill, but Polly wasn’t into it (surprising considering how she flipped for him when one of the Paradise Lost DJs played his song at a party I was playing at the Sly Fox last year). Instead we went to SF seafood institution Tadich Grill (atmosphere was great, though my poached Halibut was a little short on flavour) followed by beer and coffee at a little bar in North Beach (Congos and ‘I Shot the Sherriff’ on the stereo).

Alcatraz today. Zuni Cafe tonight. And if we get there in time, El Perro Del Mar and Lykke Li at Bimbo’s 365 Club.