Once Again, That Votey-Changey Thing

You know what to do, and by when to do it. And I'm pretty sure that at least some of you have been doing this for long enough to not be reminded. And reminded, and reminded yet once more (that texting stuff is only useful for making the texter feel good about "being involved" and zip for the ones receiving the dopey upbeat messages from strangers, or so I think).

But I'm not so sure I know what to do this time in Oakland. Ten candidates for mayor, all pretty much no-names, all mouthing the same words about the same on-going issues, and I'm supposed to rank my preferences? Or up to five of my choices, when I can barely decide upon one? I know that I will figure something out, but along with so many other things, it's kinda depressing. 

And is anyone else really, really, completely really tired of dialysis in California? Yes, it's an important concern, but does it actually belong on the ballot, year after year? 

Okay, okay, enough of the grumpy whining - I will do my part in voting, and I hope that you will do yours as well.

What to Do with the Family Now?

They're here, and it's all been fun - the singing, the cooking and the eating, the Santa look-alike costumes - you name it. But now what?

I have one idea: a trip to the Oakland Museum to see, No Spectators: the Art of Burning Man. It's fun, it's for the whole family (mostly. But should the little ones get restless, you can take them downstairs to see the stuffed wildlife), and on Friday nights, an amazing array of food trucks offers up dinner for everyone.

Heck, with Discover and Go, you just might find tickets for free. Or if your guests are still around into the new year, the first Sunday of the month is always free admission.

Thank Goodness Irene Asked

Hands Up, Don't Shoot
Jackie Houston

Alerted by the New York Times article, my friend Irene asked, "Go to this for me?" This being,  Neighborhoods Coming Together: Quilts Around Oakland, a citywide show of around 100 quilts, all produced by members of the African American Quilt Guild of Oakland. And Oakland being, quite plainly, an important part of the organization's name, as well as the focus of the exhibition.

So sure, of course I would go. I even tried enticing her to fly across the country for a visit and see the show for herself, but, oh well, that didn't happen.

Sadly, I missed the exhibition at City Hall, as well as the one at Laney College. But at least I made it to the show at the Joyce Gordon Gallery.

Oakland, You Are Welcome
Teri Green

Delilah Beasley
Marsha Carter

And what a show it is: a beautiful selection of quilts, featuring familiar landmarks and events, ideas, social movements and political issue, all carefully elaborated and stitched.

The show continues through the end of the month. So if you are around downtown Oakland, I encourage you to stop by. And Irene, "Thank you!"

Joyce Gordon Gallery
406 14th Street
Wed. - Sat.

The Little Surprises of Remodeling

Warning: Some of the images featured below may give you the creeps.
I've just been reading "The Coddling of the American Mind" in the Atlantic (recommended read) and don't want to get in trouble for grossing you out.

Princess

It's construction season in my neighborhood and the rodents have been shaken loose from their usual hidey-holes. They've been freed to boldly go explore the strange new worlds of the nearby neighbors.

Or not. Princess has been busy doing her part to reduce the rodent population, one small death at a time. She stays very local (probably less than one-half acre), but she is both persistent and fast. Actually, she's mostly just persistent.

It's not because we were out of town and she wanted to welcome us back that she's been after the rodents. Nah, it's what she does and who she is. The good news is that, while she is focusing on ridding the 'hood of rodents, she can't spend a lot of time hunting birds (more about that later).

Princess' Most Recent Rat

Alameda County Vector Control Services has ideas to help prevent rats (big mice) and mice (cute little rats) from infesting your home. Some of the ideas are obvious; other, such as screening off your crawl space with galvanized mesh, I wouldn't have dreamt up on my own, but can really make a difference. 

Oakland Tool Lending Library

Ever since the painter in the family moved his studio back home, we have been engaged in a Battle Against Too Much Stuff. 

On our side, we have craigslist, thrift stores, young friends starting new homes, the recycling bin and as a last resort, the little blue garbage can. Stuff has inertia - the resistance of a physical object to any change in its state of motion. As well, Stuff controls a small, well-equipped and coordinated roving herd of dust rhinos.

Clearly, we don't stand a chance. Stuff alwaaays wins.

One of my favorite Get Rid of Stuff sites is the Tool Lending Library (TLL) of the Oakland Public Library.  Not only can you donate usable tools there (I mean seriously, how did we end up with 26 screwdrivers, anyway?), but if you ever find that you need that exact tool again, you can just go borrow it back.

In May, 2012, Judith Doner Berne wrote all about the TLL for the Rockridge News (scroll down to page 8). More recently, plans are alive to make the TLL an even better space for us chimp-like tool users.

The (New & Temporary) Bridge to Nowhere

September, 2013

When we first took a hike on the new Bay Bridge bicycle and pedestrian path last September, the old Bay Bridge was completely intact. Empty, but whole.

Not any longer. This is how it looked last weekend. My, that demolition crew certainly has been busy.

It seems that the complete removal of the old structure will take somewhere between three and five years. We plan on watching it go, especially now that I have my new bike(!). Leaving from the house, the outing is about 15 miles round-trip, including the short detour to Arizmendi in Emeryville for pastries (ya pedal it all off, right?).

I wasn't aware that the new Bay Bridge troll (Yup, that's right. Troll. Not "toll". There is nothing new about the toll.) has now been placed in its permanent home on Pier E2 of the new bridge. It cannot be seen while driving, although according to a bridge spokesman, it is "somewhat visible from the bike path."

Hmmm, next time I'm on the path, I've gotta find that baby.

July, 2014

And the Race is On

Even though they are not on the ballot this time (yes, don't forget to vote on June 3rd. It's silly, I know, but it's just whatchagottado.), the candidates for Oakland mayor are very busy. Not surprisingly (as "from the Land of Dah"), all of the candidates have three main, the-same priorities:

• Security, and we're not talking blankets and bedtime stories.
• Education, so why then do we have a separate school district with its own board?
• Jobs, jobs and jobs. Especially, high tech, high paying, low impact and green, all-at-the-same-time jobs. 

And what about that nasty budget stuff? Right...

Since each one's message and campaign literature all look, smell and sound the same, how do you know how to vote in November? Recently the candidates have been coming door-to-door: Jean Quan, Joe Tuman and Brian Parker have all shown up. For us, this approach just adds to the recycling pile and makes Princess the cat race for the back door. Otherwise, it's not that useful.

(As an aside, I think Jean Quan graduated with honors from the Look 'Em in the Eye and Shake that Hand Very, Very, Very Firmly Academy because she just mashed my hand. And I can say that the mangling started even before I said that I probably wouldn't be voting for her... )

But the house party we attended last week (not a fundraiser, only a forum) featuring Libby Schaaf was very informative. Yes, I knew the name, but since nothing else distinguished her from the other ones running, so what? Well, the what is that this format provided the time and space to ask questions and have them answered more fully. I mean, there was even talk about potholes and no one was joking. Yup, potholes, not potshots. (Thank you llana & Sam and Leslie & Gary.)

So I plan to go to these neighborhood house parties, attend those Meet the Candidates events and ask, listen and ask and listen some more. You might also want to try this strategy: trust me, it beats the heck out of getting your hand crushed.

A Quiet Saturday Night at Home

I tried to convince the home team that they wanted to go see the second annual Oakland Internet Cat Video Festival, but the response was not encouraging:

So we stayed in and watched Doctor Who, instead. Maybe next year...

Volunteers of Oakland #3

Gosh, I wish I'd heard about this sooner. I could have lived with so much less garden-guilt. All those little plantlets and no place to put them, so off to the composter they went. Yeah, yeah, I understand that they certainly are useful as compost, but they still had to die.

But now, all those extra plants, bulbs, seedlings, vegetable starts and all that other green stuff can be given a new chance at life at The Plant Exchange on Saturday, March 29th at the First Presbyterian Church in (guess where?) Oakland!

Very briefly, it works like this: you bring your items to donate (click here for a list of what they accept), and then go "shop" (dangerous, ve-e-ery dangerous) among all the other plants and items donated by other generous gardeners. And the lovely people at The Plant Exchange even help you unload your donations and reload your car with your new acquisitions.

For the complete read-remember-and-follow instructions, click here.

I wish that I could say that I will see you there, but I can't make it this time. Even so, I'm dropping my donations off early - they accept them anytime after noon on March 15th at 2619 Broadway (along 27th Ave, near the handicapped parking spaces) - and marking my calendar for their next event in October.

Updates: #3

The Discover and Go program, available through the Oakland Public Library and other local libraries, still works for me.  Free entry into the Aquarium by the Bay, the Academy of Sciences and the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, for example, really saved this month's budget.

At the Aquarium, the coolest items included the jellyfish tanks and the octopus. I had heard that the Aquarium was kinda rinky-dink, but it was far more interesting than I was expecting. (Maybe the free entry helped.)

So why were we aware of entrance fees? Well, aside from the fact that some of them are pretty high (I know, the costs of blah, blah, blah justify...) we had a young visitor, our nephew Ian, who wanted to see everything.

And although the weather was foggy and cool, the Bay Bridge out of commission and the fireworks show canceled, we persevered. Heck, we even went to Tahoe, suspecting that it might be a little smoky from the Rim Fire, but never ever imaging that it would be sooooo bad. No hiking for us.

Princess came out of hiding once Ian left. She has never been keen about visitors, hates it when the doorbell rings but somehow always seems to know the precise moment when those evil strangers are gone.

Whew! Still with me? Well then, Kevin is doing just great, and planning on going back to work asap (yeah, he likes to keep busy).

And if you need some retail therapy now that the back-to-school madness is over, Kathy Kenny and a few friends - Las Tres Amigas - are putting on a trunk show this upcoming weekend.

Oh yeah, and did I mention the tomatoes? Finally, finally, finally, something is happening out back. And this year, they are pretty tasty. We switched from Stupice to Glacier, and they really were glacial in ripening - ninety days? C'mon. But I'll try them again next year, no prob. 'cause they taste so good.

Lastly, it was a great party at Velvet da Vinci in celebration of the marriage of Tom and Mike! Yessir, it was a fun time, and it was had by all. Congratulations and Best Wishes!

Jellyfish photo courtesy of Ian Cullings

Good-bye Y(MCA)

24th Street Singers

When we first joined, it was the "YMCA." Now it's simply the "Y." (And the Village People? Are they now reduced to the "VP?")

We still love the Y, but we're moving on. Blame it on the yoga. My best guy's yoga-muse, Leah (and here I thought I was the only one who made his eyes sparkle, put a swing in his step, a wiggle in his ears...), well, she has now opened her own studio, and a man must follow his whoever.

Yes, back to the Y. It's a wonderful place, and there are many, many things I will miss about it. Including the neighborhood around Telegraph and 24th Streets. And not just on First Fridays:

The group of parakeets which spend their afternoons chatting each other up. For a while there was a pair of bantam chickens in one of those cages as well, but they too have moved on.

The long row of sturdy sunflowers which someone of great faith plants each spring. (This mass planting is just down the block from a prime illegal, and very active, dump spot.) Almost all of the sunflowers last into the fall with their big, fat, seed heads intact. I'm guessing that there are simply not enough marauding squirrels around. I'd be happy to export a few from around here, if anyone is interested.

To all those lovely people at the Y who have sweated and showered along with us, and those who have picked up after us, and everyone else who has helped make the Y a great place - Thank you very much!

People's Revolutionary Dept. of Public Works

Last December - that's 2011, mind you - I contacted Oakland's Dept. of Public Works to let them know that there was a vacant house on the block and that the disabled parking zone in front of it was no longer necessary. And hadn't been necessary for over six months. And maybe they could do something about it.

I waited for a response and within a coupla months, got a phone call: someone would be sent out soon.

Cool, but just how long is soon?

Well, not soon enough for some community-minded and relatively handy locals. One night last summer, some busy busybodies - closet radical renegades, no doubt - relocated the metal sign (I'm sure it got recycled) and repainted the blue curb to gray. The blue still showed through - I wouldn't hire them to work on my house - but it seemed to do the job. Suddenly, there was one more parking space available on the block.

So why should one more parking space matter, anyway?

Because my neighborhood, like most urban neighborhoods, is awash in cars. MTC, our regional transportation agency concluded that, way back when (1930 to be precise, when my house had already been around for nineteen years), there were about 29 vehicles per 100 residents in the Bay Area. These days, that number is estimated to be around 75 vehicles. Nationwide, the average is closer to 81 cars per 100 residents. Now dat's a lotta cars.

What has also changed is where those cars are stashed: it used to happen in garages. But now most garages are stuffed full of stuff, leaving many cars to live on the street. Some aren't even allowed in the driveway. Which suggests that maybe the problem is not parking exactly, but cars. Or could it be we car owners?

The final chapter? On December 11, 2012, a city truck showed up on the street. The very nice, and slightly bewildered, man from Public Works came with sign-removing tools, a paint sprayer and some paint, and instructions to remove a disabled parking zone...

Wild Turkey

photo courtesy of Kathy Kenny

We all know what we are supposed to do this Thursday - eat and eat and eat ourselves silly. And then have sandwiches a few hours later, with football or perhaps the National Dog Show filling in the gaps. 

All in honor of Meleagris gallopavo, the wild turkey of North American. Benjamin Franklin confided to his daughter in 1784 that he considered the wild turkey to be far superior to the bald eagle as a symbol of this country.  He wrote, 

"For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."

Ben, however, was not quite correct - the wild turkey is not native to all of America.  At least not in California for the past 10,000 years or so. Though in all fairness, at the time that he was writing, California was not part of "America" either.

If someone asked me, I would have guessed that the turkey arrived in California along with all those other nineteenth century immigrants on the Oregon Trail. (There is a wonderful poem, "Turkeys" by Mary Mackey, which describes her great uncles driving - as in shepherding, propelling, pushing forward - their turkeys to market. And I thought herding cats was hard.)

But turkeys got here along a different route. They didn't come with the pioneers. And attempts to introduce them in the 1870's and again in the 1920's were unsuccessful.  It wasn't until the 1970's when California Dept. of Fish and Game introduced a subspecies from along the Rio Grande - small, tough immigrants from a different part of North America - that the birds decided to stay. And flourish: an estimated 240,000 turkeys now live in the state.

You don't have to go far to see wild turkeys in Oakland. I've seen small flocks along College Ave. in the Elmwood and in Rockridge, and Mountain View cemetery has enough turkeys to supply a small food bank. Although, during the week before Thanksgiving, not a one of those "Birds of Courage" was to be seen. They may not be as brave as Ben thought, but they aren't silly either.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sources:

Bay Nature
KQED Quest

Free(!) Rain Barrels in Oakland

Yup.  No cost.  Except somehow there's sales tax... ask Governor Jerry.  I'm sure he'll give you an explanation.

In the meanwhile, and just in time for the rainy season (keep your fingers crossed), the Oakland Dept. of Public Works has free rain barrels for your home. The program lasts through December, 2012.

A while ago, they were "low-cost", but not low enough to grab my attention. Now, we have one here (the top one) and our neighbor has one too (the bottom one). Ours, at 60 gallons, is one of the smaller ones. It cost around $6.

Tricks to the program? Well obviously, you have to pay the tax and be an Oakland resident.  Then you either have to pay for delivery or go pick up the barrel(s) at the The Urban Farm Store in Richmond. You also are responsible for the installation.  Not hard - a few tools and bits of hardware - and instructions are included. Just remember to strap that puppy in - water is heavy and big earthquakes make big messes.

Don't live in Oakland? Silly you. But all is not lost. Now many municipalities throughout the country have low-cost rain barrel programs, so check locally and see what is available in your area. You also may want to start practicing those rain dance moves. 

Summer Fun in a Park Near You

SF Mime Troupe's For the Greater Good

We all know about these events, but somehow the summer can glide past without remembering to go and do.  Especially now that there seems to be so many fewer posters hanging up in store windows to give the old memory a jog. Or maybe I just don't get out very much any more.

For a few ideas before the August fog rolls in and the official summer is over (we all know that "real" summer begins in September 'round here):

Now in its 53rd year (my goodness, almost as ancient as I am), the San Francisco Mime Troupe is very busy presenting For the Greater Good in a large number of local parks.  Free to all, although expect to be hit up for a donation (well, duh...).

I saw the performance at Mosswood Park with some good friends and I strongly recommend the good friends part. The music, the singing, and especially the dancing were great but the preaching was a bit too much. It used to be funnier. But with friends, a picnic and some sunshine, I couldn't complain.

And the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is putting on Henry V this summer - their 30th season (we're all getting old).  I remember watching their production of Henry IV (same Henry, but with Falstaff for entertainment) a number of years ago.  Can't say exactly how many years, but I do remember that it was very good. And this one should also be good. Sadly, SF Shakes no longer holds performances at Lake Merritt, so you'll have to go further afield with your picnic, blanket and friends to see it.

Lastly, across the Bay, the venerable Stern Grove Festival has for 75 years(!) presented world class concerts and other events free and open to all during the summer. Cross your fingers for sun to shine.

Got an Oakland Library Card?

If so, then you can go to wide variety of wonderful museums and other cool places in the Bay Area for free!  Places such as the Asian Art Museum, the California Academy of Sciences (save a bundle!), the California Shakespeare Theater and the Exploratorium.  

This brilliant program is called Discover & Go.  The only thing you need is an Oakland library card.  If you already have one, it's very easy.

And if you don't, sign up - it's free, but you have to be a California resident and apply in person.  So just come on over here one day soon, grab a bite for lunch and meet some lovely people at one of the many branch libraries.  For hours and locations, click here.

Then, with your library card in hand, sign up for a PIN. (It's really simple. The library card number that they require is right on the card itself.)

Next, go to the Discover & Go page which lists the participating organizations. Read the instructions - you will have to enter your library card number and that new PIN.  After that, you can see which venues have free passes available on a particular date.  Some places have other restrictions as well, so click on the name, read the details, and get ready to see some great sights. You may even catch us at the Cal Shakes' production of Hamlet in September.

All brought to you by your (my!) local public library.  I love it.