A Bridge to Nowhere

Fall...the most stressful time in a Principal's life.  Opening school every year for a Principal is akin to working 12 hour days just putting randomly sized fires out. Most of the time, this is really manageable and lasts just a month, maybe six weeks.  This year the fires have been coming particularly fast and furious and from out of the blue.  Besides all of the changes to the curriculum and to our instructional programs, we have had some extra hiring challenges.  My fellow fire fighter, the assistant principal, accepted a Principal's job three weeks before the opening of school.  A few teachers took leaves for medical reasons, and one of my most trusted teacher leaders took a position at the district office level.  Don't worry, gentle readers, I'm not trying to star in my own Pity Party ("Get down off that cross, Walt, someone else needs the wood for a change..."), rather I'm explaining not only my lack of communication on this fine blog, rather in general I have not been in communicado with any family and friends.  I'm hoping to get back my only moderately poor communication with everyone instead of the absolutely horrific communication as of late.  And with that said, time to report all of my most recent Bay Area adventures.  

At the beginning of August, we stopped by Oakland Pride and I was really impressed with the event.  There was food and drinks, booths, bounce houses, and staged performances.  The Oakland Gay Pride had a small town feel to the event and all in all was much better than San Francisco Gay Pride.
Why?  You might ask...

Oakland Pride is a family event...with a bounce house area - pervs need not apply as everyone had to sign in and out of the kid friendly parts of the festival.

An incredibly diverse crowd...LGBT, every ethnicity and race represented, large, small, Lesbian moms galore, tall, skinny, husky...oh and lots of straight allies.

No parade to suffer through before the festival.  How long is the parade in San Francisco going to get?  I know we want to celebrate the LGBT deaf Tongan cross dressing wheel chair basketball team, but can't we group some of our community together and shorten the parade by about six hours.   I know I'm perilously close to loosing my membership in the ACLU but really people, I support your cause whatever it may be, I just don't want to have to watch a ridiculously long parade.

No under age teenage girls puking in the gutters.  (If you've been to SF Gay Pride you know the ratio is 1 drunk straight girl for every 5 gay participant...that's lots of puke in the gutters!)

Fewer people, less crowds at Oakland's event.

No over crowded BART ride to get to the festival.

Less nudity...that's a plus and minus to be honest.

I'm not suggesting make a special trip to Oakland for our Gay Pride event, but if you're in the 'hood around that time, it might be worth the entrance fee.

The big news the day after the labor day weekend was that the new span of the Bay Bridge opened.  I expected a greater deal of fan fare and although the news stations were there heralding the event, it opened with no ribbon cutting, no ceremonial walk across, and no breaking a champagne bottle on a railing.

The weekend following the opening, we rode bikes as far as was permitted (the bridge spans from Oakland to Treasure Island, but one can't exit to Treasure Island because the old bridge is in the way of what will be the bicycle exit).  I'm sure with the massive amounts of holier-than-thou bicycle bullies we have in this town, that will soon be remedied.

The old span looking as if breathing a long awaited sigh of relief.  

Cest moi!

Yosiell enjoying a brief respite before the ten mile ride home. 

The old span and new span...the old span seems to tower over, I think that is just the camera angle. 

Rusty...marveling at this feat of engineering.  

The bridge is truly beautiful, especially at night.  The lights make this awesome structure seem like one is driving through a cathedral.

Those that know me best are well aware that my fondest wish, besides becoming an alcoholic writer holed up in a cabin completing the great American novel, is to create big dangerous metal sculpture art.  For my birthday, Rusty and Yosiell chipped in for the price of an introduction to welding class at the Crucible, our local fire arts collective and the home away from the Playa for local burning man participants.

Me getting ready to MIG weld. 

My best bead of the day...

The weekend course was really just a taste of different types of welding, specifically MIG, TIG, Stick and Oxyacetylene...As predicted, I absolutely loved it. I'm not particularly good at it but that comes with practice.  I'm seriously considering a longer course to really focus on one type.  We shall see gentle readers, keep posted, big dangerous art may be on the horizon.

And finally, we attended Yosiell's art opening in the Mission.  The show was a big success, Yosiell sold five pieces.  The show is particularly good and the patrons were extremely complimentary.  I'm so glad to see hard work, long hours and dedication pay off.  Yosiell was all smiles after and I'm sure slept like the dead.

a month before the show...organized chaos. 

A mostly done piece (missing the resin pool at the bottom).

A celebration drink and silly head wear before the show.

The artist in repose...

As for me, just continuing on with the serious business of schooling the hormonally challenged youth of our nation.  Another week or two of working Sunday's and I'll be caught up and will be communicating more often.  Thanks gentle readers for your patronage...and your patience.  More updates following soon.

Only 115 Shopping Days

Costco has pulled out their Christmas wares.  Just in time if you ask me what with only 115 shopping days left in the holiday season.  Does this mean that labor day is as Thanksgiving once was, the marker of the start of the season.  Seeing the red bulbs, green sparkling trees and flocked snowman yard decorations has reminded me that we should all make a commitment to support our local businesses as much as possible.

To this end I am highlighting my favorite go to local businesses in preparation of the most holiest of days, black Friday.  The highlighted places are my favorites when I want to wander and be lost for hours window shopping for all of the stuff that has the potential of further cluttering my life.  It is true that my list of needs is mighty small on most days...but some shops really speak to my inner educator geek...

Treasure Island Flea Market

This Treasure Island Flea market is great on a sunny day.  Food trucks create a semi circle on the lawn and during our visit we went to "Little Red Riding Truck" for curry bratwurst.  Several small bands played upbeat music.  Substantial bargains were available.  There was even a hooper there letting people use the hoops and selling a few really bright models.  All this against the backdrop of an incredible San Francisco view.

The new bridge opening up the day after labor day this year.  View from Treasure Island.

SF from Treasure Island.  I'm making a stop on Treasure Island from now on to show visitors the incredible view.  

Panoramic of SF. 

Somewhat Morbid Wares

One of my favorite shops is Paxton Gate in the Mission.  This shop sells taxidermy, fossils, plants, objects de art, etc.  Walking into the store is like taking a trip back to a turn of the century naturalists lab.  Paxton Gate 

Paxton Gate has a sister store for kids about a block away.  Paxton Gate for Kids This shop has wonderful game and toys to help kids explore their natural world. This is also the location of Yosiell's Art Show on October 4th, the shop has a small gallery in the front.   If the already completed pieces are any indication, the show will be epic!  By the way, one of my other favorite places to shop is Yosiell's online store, Shop Lorenzo.

But my all time favorite morbid themed store is really the Bone Room.  The address says Berkeley but I think it is almost all the way to Albany.  The store has feathers, shells, lucite encased animals, and bones, bones, bones.  we spent more than an hour just browsing the small shop.  I believe most natural history museums house fewer specimens.

Perhaps the most interesting pieces of this particular milieu are created by Frank Clarke at the online store Bug Under Glass.  He is an entomologist that creates beautiful and sustainable artworks from different bugs. Mr. Clarke attended the Renegade Craft Faire in July and I had the opportunity to meet him and let him know just how fantastic his skeletalized butterfly pieces are...a really nice fellow introvert!

Paperwares

When in need of ornate Japanese paper, check out the Berkley shop Miki's Paper.  This 4th Street shop is packed with paper that has designs or interesting textures.  Although I'm including the website, their really isn't anything to order online.  This is the kind of store best visited.  

Another 4th Street, Berkley notable shop is Castle in the Air.    If you aren't hooked by the website alone, I'm not sure what will convince you to visit the shop.  This is a card, pen, book, paper, wax seal, etc. shop with a real turn of the century feel.  During the holiday season, part of the store has been devoted to Krampus, the Christmas devil.  Who can't love this incredible art studio that sells oodles of stuff? 

  Outdoor

Ohmega Salvage is a fun yard in which to walk around.  You can find doors, windows, lights, architectural fixtures, fireplace mantles, and so much more.  This Berkley place is somewhat over priced but it costs absolutely nothing to browse.  

This is somewhat random but I've recently discovered the Oakland Flower Market.  Everything, absolutely everything, to channel your inner flower arranger.  Pots, and flowers, and vases, and flowers, and dried arrangements and flowers!  So much in this little fire hazard.  

And for outdoor fun?  Public Bikes.  Affordable bikes with great posters.  Very Euro trash!  Way cool, and the nicest people working in the shop.  

Other

And one last shop to titillate the sense:  Asakichi Incense in Japan Town.  For people who say they don't like incense, the quality of the incense in this store is really unsurpassed.  You will be a convert!

So gentle readers, get busy on the holiday shopping and remember to shop locally when possible.  By the way, take a moment to leave a comment and maybe a link to your favorite local shopping venue, here in the bay area or in your neck of the woods.  I would love to know your go to local places.   

Cross Country Antics

July 1st ~

Are you friggin' kidding me...BART decides to start their strike the day we choose to leave for Florida through SFO.  For those unfamiliar with a BART strike, pandemonium and mayhem ensue when BART strikes.  Getting to San Francisco and the airport for that matter are major ordeals.  Luckily, Nelson, our neighbor, braved the ninety minutes it took to get us to the airport on time.  This is not a good portent of things to come for the trip but we choose to ignore the tell tale signs and venture forth.  

The flight was not too bad considering the massive amounts of families traveling to the happiest place on Earth.  Only ten or so crying babies and none close enough to harsh my vibe.

Lot's of cool cloud cover from the window of the plane!

Our first stop before heading to Titusville, Yosiell's sister in Orlando.  A lovely dinner with sis and nieces before heading to Rusty's dad for a day of relaxation before beginning our big adventure across the US of A.

July 2nd ~  Low country boil compliments of Dane, Rusty's dad!  Nothing better than a balmy Florida evening enjoying a low country boil.  Of course everyone ate way too much crab legs, sausage, shrimp, and lobster tail...I know, sounds awful!

July 3rd ~  A trip back to Orlando and kingdoms, magical and otherwise rising from the swamp...with all of these choices, where do we end up?  Harry Potter World, part of Universal Studio, of course.  The heat was intense, and the people were everywhere, but luckily there were Butter Beer stands everywhere keeping smiles on miserable families' faces.

Rusty and Yosiell were in Harry Potter heaven and geeked out at every turn.  I particularly enjoyed the Jurassic Park ride, the ride threatened to get you wet, but the rain did this particularly well as we sat trapped in our massive boat.  Torrential downpour is an understatement for a summer storm raging through, but luckily as is the case with Florida storms, it rained hard and fast and passed before too long.  

July 4th ~ A quick trip to Savannah before camping in Northern Georgia for several days.  Savannah to me is one of the most beautiful and well preserved towns in the South.  We started the day at Narobia's Grits and Gravy Cafe with a hearty breakfast of, you guessed it, grits and gravy.  We marveled not only at the simplicity of the menu but at the lack of the San Francisco home made artisan food mark up.  For those of you that don't know, everything in SF is artisan made...I think artisan is Bohemian for "groovy hipster premium pricing".  Another Southern staple much missed on the left coast is decent biscuits.  Narobia of course had lard laden light and flaky pillows of joy for biscuits.

After our extremely heavy farm worker's breakfast, we needed to walk a few pounds off in downtown Savannah.  This quirky town certainly did not disappoint.  My only complaint is how little time we actually had in Savannah.  Enough to wet our appetites for sure.

Spanish moss covered trees...

Savannah just oozing with charm! 

Southern gothic at its best...we did not have the time to take this tour...next trip for sure. 

The Mercer House, as featured in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".  on a side note, Paula Dean has replaced this novel as the draw to Savannah.  We passed her restaurant and refrained from throwing rotten tomatoes in honor of our African-American friends and for the gays as well, as I'm sure she isn't going to be the Grand Marshall of the Savannah Gay Pride Parade anytime soon.  

Revolutionary War Cemetery.  

Crepe Myrtles with spanish moss in the cemetery.    

The Georgia Queen.  Hmmmmmm.

After an afternoon of strolling, we arrived at our camp grounds.  Several days of rain, rain and more rain...clothes, camping gear, and our spirits were somewhat damp by the end of this leg of our trip.  It was nice connecting with good friends and enjoying drinks by the pool when the sun did emerge.  The rain did manage to bring out fireflies in the early evening...a much missed phenomenon since we moved to the left coast.  

One day Rusty opted for pool volleyball as Yosiell and I explored the nearby lake.  Because of the massive amounts of rain, the lake was near capacity.  As does happen on occasion, a lonely mid-forties divorcee struck up a conversation with me as I was waiting for Yosiell to return.  She explained that she and her friends just drove from Atlanta to see the Georgia Guidestones..."Oh of course..." I said, asking myself, what the hell are the Georgia Guidestones and why haven't I heard of this mystical and intriguing place.  A quick search on wikipedia revealed that the guidestones are a monolithic granite structure outside of the town nearest the campground.  Well, a quick stop at a very shady "store" (really just an old carport enclosed to resemble a store) for a few bags of boiled peanuts and we were on our way to the Guidestones...

The Georgia Guidestones...?!?

Timeless message...or something?  

I can answer the "What?" of the Georgia Guidestones, it's the "Why?" that I'm having more of a problem with.  The Guidestones send a message regarding ushering in an age of reason, an age of democratic worldwide government, and a respect for nature...did I mention these are in Northern Georgia?  Elberton, Georgia is the self proclaimed granite capital of the world and the makers of fine granite headstones, so a monument makes sense but the theme of this monument seems a little incongruous with the surroundings.  Asking the question "Why?" seems to be what keeps me stopping at these odd roadside attractions.  Que Sera Sera!

Creepy headstone...from the granite capital of the world!  

July 6th & 7th (AM) ~ Nashville and a visit with Joe and Gail.  There is nothing more satisfying than a few hours with someone that you have known since high school.  Gail is the type of friend that doesn't really see me for who I am but sees me for who I wish to be.  She is certainly a touchstone and someone that grounds me and my life.  Her husband Joe is an absolute delight and both are extremely gracious hosts.

Our search for good biscuits continued at the Loveless Cafe.  This famous and often lauded restaurant did not disappoint.  The bird-head sized biscuits (as opposed to cat-head biscuits) were excellent and paired well with country ham of course.

Lots of Love at the Loveless Cafe.  

Farm family cut out (minus the creepy faceless girl in the picture).  

Surely transgendered farm boy!  

July 7th ~ Chicago Bitches!  That's right, we stopped in the windy city for our gritty Chicago experience.  Let me grab my switch blade and my kevlar vest before hitting the town...first stop...meeting our friend Jason at a gay bar for sing along show tunes, What?!?  Where's the grit, where's the rough trade...

July 8th ~

Maybe Chicago hasn't turned out to be the gritty and seedy city I at first thought.  I did walk around in the AM searching for coffee in a strange city and didn't have a single person smile, make eye contact or say a "Hello".   Others that have lived in Chicago assured me that I was asking for an impossibility in having people return a friendly response and should just give up on this pleasantry.  This is not to say we didn't find any friendly  natives, because we certainly had a great time in this fantastic city.  

As we were walking around, I couldn't but help to continue thinking of Leslie Anne Warren...

 Our day consisted of beautiful walks, museums, fountains, parks and of course a Chicago style hot dog, and deep dish pizza.

Public Art...

The Bean...I know it's iconic and played out, but really fascinating and beautiful.  

The Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art was exhibiting a Daniel Cowles retrospective, the graphic novelist and author of Ghost World.  He currently resides in Oakland, and this panel pretty much sums Oakland up to a tee.   

A highlight was the Architecture Tour on the river.  Beautiful views and interesting facts.  I didn't know that the skyscraper was invented in Chicago...now you know.

We chose not to check out the Observation Deck of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower and the second highest skyscraper in the nation).  Instead we went to the third tallest building in Chicago, the Handcock...mainly for the Signature Lounge, a bar on the 96th floor.  The views are almost the same as the observation deck of the formerly known as Sears tower, but instead of paying money for the admission ticket we spent some cash on fancy martinis and sat in a bar.

Good times, people, good times.

July 10th ~ Fucking Oakland!  On my search for gritty Chicago I failed to recognize we've got our own gritty city in Oakland...As we were driving across farm land on our way to Minneapolis, we were reminded that one shouldn't get too comfortable in Oakland...as our house sitter reported that someone tried to break in while she was in bed.  She turned on the lights and scared the person away, but this was a truly unnerving experience for her, and quite frankly for us.  Rusty decided to cut his part of the vacation short and fly back to Oakland to install window locks and make the house much more secure. This is after on July 4th, someone broke into Yosiell's car in the driveway and made off with his GPS.

It's easy to decry this city for the many problems and hassles.  We pay a premium price considering the break-ins, traffic, BART strikes and rioting.  Despite these problems the Oakland populace keeps me here.  This place is filled with concerned citizens and people that genuinely care about the human condition.  San Francisco recently was voted snobbiest city in the nation  by Travel and Leisure magazine, no such pretentiousness exists in San Francisco's trashy cousin, Oakland.  So, yes, many things suck about Oakland, but despite these problems, Oakland is a diverse city filled with a very caring and thoughtful populace.

Bottom line though is that once we hit Minneapolis, we were sending Rusty back to "Fucking Oakland" and continuing our trip without him.  Bummer!

On the way to Minneapolis...Farm land and Prairies...Prairies and Farmland!

 What's up with Wisconsin Dells and all of the Water Slides?  In fact this entire part of the country seems to have an unnatural fascination with water slides.  Gentle readers, any insight into this would be greatly appreciated...

Minneapolis is actually an absolutely lovely city.  Chad and Mark, two transplanted Southern friends, were fantastic hosts and showed us around this wonderful Mississippi River city (Yeah, I was surprised that it is on the Mississippi river too).

July 10th ~ Sioux Falls.  A desolate place.  Movies and Chinese food before bed.

July 11th ~ On the way to Mount Rushmore, oddities galore.  The Corn Palace...what can I say about this world famous interior states monument...nothing a couple of pictures can't cover.   Yes, we were "Ear"!

The Corn Palace under construction. It will soon be back to its original glorious state.  

The Corn Palace interior...beautiful and delicious.  

We took a detour through Badlands National Park.  this park was actually my most favorite site.  I think I could have stayed a few days and hiked a few long Badlands trails.

Wall Drugs. Another midwestern landmark and must see.  Largest drugstore in the nation...although I'm not sure they actually sell medications...mostly just tchotchkes and ice cream sodas.

Mount Rushmore - This is a colossal monument and is actually quite wonderful.

We chose to stay for the Mount Rushmore lighting ceremony.  Little did we know this would be an extensive ceremony honoring all the current and past military personnel.  As Yosiell said, "I feel like I got tricked into going to church."  Don't get me wrong I'm all about honoring our military personnel, but I'm not sure an elaborate nightly ceremony is the most appropriate way to do so.

To me patriotism should be a verb and not an adjective.  If you want to support current and former military personnel, support medical care and job training for veterans.  Support pulling troops out of military conflict zones.  Having our personnel stand in front of a huge crowd and announce their name, rank or former rank, and branch of military smacks of the pseudo patriotism for which America is famous.

Flag waving over the top patriotism has never been my style.  Less is more people, less is more.

July 12th ~  Camping in Yellowstone!  Mosquitoes the size of paper airplanes!  Finally Yosiell has had a taste of camping in a dry area.  This park is a little like the Disneyland of parks.  No attraction is devoid of a line of people and a wait to park the car.  Still some amazing sites and wildlife.

Yosiell enjoying a dry camp site!  "So this is camping?"  

Bison on the side of the road.

Painted Pots Geysers.  

July 13th ~ Elko, Nevada...uggggggg!

Beautiful sunrise in Elko...and a quick eight hours to arrive home.  

July 14th ~  Our first major traffic the entire trip...of course in "Fucking Oakland"!  Remind me again why I love this place.  Home sweet home!