It's New England fall in the Mission, as in right around early November. The green and red trees on 22nd are dropping their leaves, and it's been crisp and sunny enough for long enough that they crackle underfoot. (If you shuffle just a little.)
Yesterday I went to the only Christmas bikram yoga class, at noon. It was packed. The teacher called changes like an auctioneer doing an infomercial, but everyone seemed cheerful.
At 9, I headed out to meet Jews and half-Jews and non-Jews at an Irish bar called—wait for it, it's perfect—O'Greenberg's. We ate egg rolls. I won a round of Liar's Dice. $7, baby.
The neighborhood was empty and quiet. This is a small town when everyone's away. I know because you can cross the street wherever you want. All the cars and the cops are sleeping.
Tomorrow Gibson and Cooly and I are driving north, and eventually I'll get to the mountains. See you in 2009.
Love,
The BCB
December 26, 2008
December 21, 2008
File under: Slightly mystifying
I haven't been looking for much lately, just a few practical things: toothpicks, sandwich bags, and Chanukah candles. Here's how that worked out for me. Thanks, 2008!
Item: Toothpicks
Quest: Walgreens (4), Safeway (2), the corner store (1)
Barriers: Not only did none of these places have toothpicks, but the Walgreens staff actually looked bewildered when I asked. "Don't we have those? I'm sure we have those. Try aisle 7 [the dental aisle]." Hmm, not so much. There was a fancy pop-up dispenser at the second Safeway, but it only came with decorative toothpicks that had colored plastic on one end. Impractical and too expensive.
Solution: One of the zillion dollar stores in the Mission must have toothpicks. Now it's just a matter of always being at work on the other side of town when they're open.
Item: Sandwich bags
Quest: Walgreens (4), Safeway (2)
Barriers: Each of the Walgreens I walk past on a daily basis had a small selection of sandwich bags, but they were all too big or came with that fancy Ziploc feature. Being relatively eco-friendly, I prefer the smaller bags that just fold over. Target has them for sure, but driving 15 minutes on the highway for a $3 box of plastic bags cancels out the eco-friendly part. Also Target has this unfortunate habit of sucking all the money out of my wallet and sending me home with bulk cleaning supplies and cheap wooden DIY furniture. It's best to stay away.
Solution: Safeway #2 came through, but it took 10 full minutes of wandering the household aisle before I finally spotted them. Hiding. On the bottom shelf.
Item: Chanukah candles
Quest: Safeway (3)
Barriers: I've never had trouble finding Chanukah candles before, but this was my first time looking for them in the city. Berkeley Bowl and the Shattuck Safeway always had huge displays of Jew gear for the holidays, but grocery stores here weren't as forthcoming.
Solution: I was ready to make a trip across the bridge when the saving grace arrived: package from Mom. Instead of waiting until tonight to open it like a good patient child, I figured it might have candles and tore in early.
Item: Toothpicks
Quest: Walgreens (4), Safeway (2), the corner store (1)
Barriers: Not only did none of these places have toothpicks, but the Walgreens staff actually looked bewildered when I asked. "Don't we have those? I'm sure we have those. Try aisle 7 [the dental aisle]." Hmm, not so much. There was a fancy pop-up dispenser at the second Safeway, but it only came with decorative toothpicks that had colored plastic on one end. Impractical and too expensive.
Solution: One of the zillion dollar stores in the Mission must have toothpicks. Now it's just a matter of always being at work on the other side of town when they're open.
Item: Sandwich bags
Quest: Walgreens (4), Safeway (2)
Barriers: Each of the Walgreens I walk past on a daily basis had a small selection of sandwich bags, but they were all too big or came with that fancy Ziploc feature. Being relatively eco-friendly, I prefer the smaller bags that just fold over. Target has them for sure, but driving 15 minutes on the highway for a $3 box of plastic bags cancels out the eco-friendly part. Also Target has this unfortunate habit of sucking all the money out of my wallet and sending me home with bulk cleaning supplies and cheap wooden DIY furniture. It's best to stay away.
Solution: Safeway #2 came through, but it took 10 full minutes of wandering the household aisle before I finally spotted them. Hiding. On the bottom shelf.
Item: Chanukah candles
Quest: Safeway (3)
Barriers: I've never had trouble finding Chanukah candles before, but this was my first time looking for them in the city. Berkeley Bowl and the Shattuck Safeway always had huge displays of Jew gear for the holidays, but grocery stores here weren't as forthcoming.
Solution: I was ready to make a trip across the bridge when the saving grace arrived: package from Mom. Instead of waiting until tonight to open it like a good patient child, I figured it might have candles and tore in early.
Score! Happy Chanukah. I'm going to bed now, to dream of a world where errands are easy.
December 15, 2008
London dreamscape
During the 10 days (give or take infinity) that I've had this cold, I've been rereading my journal from 10 years ago. I spent a couple of months subletting in Dublin, then wandered around Ireland, France, and the UK after taking a semester off from college.
I don't really sound different, so that's sort of funny on its own. Then, in the final few pages, there's a description of a dream I had about a week before heading home. It's one of the most vivid dreams of my life; I still tell people about it sometimes, but only the first part, and apparently with some of the details mixed up.
So this is the BCB, Time Machine Edition: You're me, and it's 1998. Go.
Had very odd and disturbing dreams last night, which I'm putting down to nerves at my latest transition/travel. I don't remember them all, but the last sequence I do.
I was in a car, trying to drive, and a dark-haired girl took a knife and began carving a story into my chest and back. I remember that it hurt in a pinpricking way, and I had a white t-shirt on so the letters appeared in a bright blood red as she worked away. I was thinking that she was crazy, and the way to avoid being injured any further was just to let her finish. She was saying the story out loud as she carved it into me, in a hysterical and terse voice.
Then she left me in the car with the knife, and the wounds dried up instantly on my body. I got out of the car and found myself in a nearly deserted parking lot, the one next to Caldor where the Food Mart used to be. [Note from the future: That's in Northampton. I think it's a Wal-Mart now.] Got out of the car and found a set of keys in my hand, attached to a square, orange keychain. (Hey, at least I know I dream in color.) Then Erin S. was there, and a young black guy I knew in the dream but don't actually recognize.
I was trying to steal a car that wasn't mine, but I had somehow wound up with the keys. It was a very old, beat-up white thing that had a shape like Kipp's 4Runner—and it had newsprint all over it, torn off in some spots. The guy took a picture out of his wallet and showed it to me; it was a brand-new, shiny model of the car in the lot. "This is my dad's car, you can see I have a picture of it." But I kept insisting it was my mom's car, and much older than the one in the picture.
This conversation went on for a very long time. Erin and the guy both knew I was lying, but neither of them could prove it, and also I had the keys. Then I woke up.
I don't really sound different, so that's sort of funny on its own. Then, in the final few pages, there's a description of a dream I had about a week before heading home. It's one of the most vivid dreams of my life; I still tell people about it sometimes, but only the first part, and apparently with some of the details mixed up.
So this is the BCB, Time Machine Edition: You're me, and it's 1998. Go.
Had very odd and disturbing dreams last night, which I'm putting down to nerves at my latest transition/travel. I don't remember them all, but the last sequence I do.
I was in a car, trying to drive, and a dark-haired girl took a knife and began carving a story into my chest and back. I remember that it hurt in a pinpricking way, and I had a white t-shirt on so the letters appeared in a bright blood red as she worked away. I was thinking that she was crazy, and the way to avoid being injured any further was just to let her finish. She was saying the story out loud as she carved it into me, in a hysterical and terse voice.
Then she left me in the car with the knife, and the wounds dried up instantly on my body. I got out of the car and found myself in a nearly deserted parking lot, the one next to Caldor where the Food Mart used to be. [Note from the future: That's in Northampton. I think it's a Wal-Mart now.] Got out of the car and found a set of keys in my hand, attached to a square, orange keychain. (Hey, at least I know I dream in color.) Then Erin S. was there, and a young black guy I knew in the dream but don't actually recognize.
I was trying to steal a car that wasn't mine, but I had somehow wound up with the keys. It was a very old, beat-up white thing that had a shape like Kipp's 4Runner—and it had newsprint all over it, torn off in some spots. The guy took a picture out of his wallet and showed it to me; it was a brand-new, shiny model of the car in the lot. "This is my dad's car, you can see I have a picture of it." But I kept insisting it was my mom's car, and much older than the one in the picture.
This conversation went on for a very long time. Erin and the guy both knew I was lying, but neither of them could prove it, and also I had the keys. Then I woke up.
December 05, 2008
Immune system FAIL
What I was supposed to do tonight:
Feel healthy, leave work on time, go to First Fridays in Oakland, go to a housewarming party in Hayes Valley, decompress from ship week.
What I'm doing tonight:
Coughing up a lung, sitting on my couch, watching Felicity, drinking my 17th cup of tea with honey, going to bed early, resenting ship week.
Feel healthy, leave work on time, go to First Fridays in Oakland, go to a housewarming party in Hayes Valley, decompress from ship week.
What I'm doing tonight:
Coughing up a lung, sitting on my couch, watching Felicity, drinking my 17th cup of tea with honey, going to bed early, resenting ship week.
December 02, 2008
Urbanniversary
After almost eight years in the East Bay, I finally gave in and moved across the bridge to the Mission a year ago today.
What I miss: cheaper rent, quieter streets (yes—in Oakland), Mama's, La Note, Cafe Temescal, Bakesale Betty, running Lake Merritt, Berkeley Bowl, Albatross, Van Kleef, Starry Plough, Stork Club, Joaquin Miller Park, Yoshi's, Sola Lucy, Pegasus, street cred.
What I love: commute that doesn't involve driving or underwater tunnels, running into friends on the street all the time, being within walking distance of everywhere I want to go out, Papalote, Que Tal, Latin American, Aslam's Rasoi, Suriya, Ritual, Green Apple, Dog Eared Books, Elbo Room, Make-Out Room, Fattoush, Bar Tartine, Kamei, constant availability of tacos.
So how am I celebrating tonight? You get one guess. It starts with "b" and ends with "ito."
What I miss: cheaper rent, quieter streets (yes—in Oakland), Mama's, La Note, Cafe Temescal, Bakesale Betty, running Lake Merritt, Berkeley Bowl, Albatross, Van Kleef, Starry Plough, Stork Club, Joaquin Miller Park, Yoshi's, Sola Lucy, Pegasus, street cred.
What I love: commute that doesn't involve driving or underwater tunnels, running into friends on the street all the time, being within walking distance of everywhere I want to go out, Papalote, Que Tal, Latin American, Aslam's Rasoi, Suriya, Ritual, Green Apple, Dog Eared Books, Elbo Room, Make-Out Room, Fattoush, Bar Tartine, Kamei, constant availability of tacos.
So how am I celebrating tonight? You get one guess. It starts with "b" and ends with "ito."
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