I”m really happy that summer decided to show up yesterday, yeah! I was kind of a sweaty mess, very caught off guard by that. There was a moment when I questioned whether my tee shirt might be too thick for the day. Whats that? Better late than never, but wait… now its kinda chilly out. Hip Hop Hooray, for this fall night.
what the what was that phrase from? It’s been in my head for a couple days, and I’m feeling like it was a lady product…. but i’m not sure, ” i can’t seem to forget her, her wind songs on my mind”, yikes! I just remembered the melody, for sure a commercial from the 70’s or 80’s. Help?
Steelers V Titans…. Boring!
New recycled from steel drum chairs… Dope!
Pedro Martinez still rocking some perm curl spray products… Dope!
Some hick calling President Obama a liar… Lame!
The flan from cafe Gaudi last night… Dope!
President Obama is…. a male… Funny?
The roast of Flava Flav…. Uncomfortable!
Wishing You Were Here by Chicago… Dope!
The dopes have it.
I was coming back into Oakland from a supertastical day of walking around San Francisco, Streets, Canyons, Hills, Shops, Hills, Hills, Hills. Fruit was had, water was drank, and when the call for a real meal hit, we ate at Herbivore on Valencia. Full on vegan spot, I got the Mac N Cheese, and an Artichoke Soup….. Yeah, it was good, real good, and good for me, but I was thinking about the Spicy Indian Food joint next door during the entire meal, that and the good company I was in. My legs were literally throbbing from the hiking of the day, and I was super ready to have a low key Saturday night at Alejo and Amber’s house in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland. I got off at the Macarthur Bart Station, and walked a couple blocks to Telegraph, took a left, I had only like 8 blocks to walk before I could just chill for the night. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I took that left because Churches Chicken crept into my thoughts. I hadn’t been to a Churches since like 1986. There was one on the corner of Bradley and Prospect in Champaign, my family lived on Bradley and Mom would often bring home the Churches. I think I was into the novelty of it at first, but then I realized as I had my hand on the door handle that I was damn hungry. This is about day eight of a ten day trip, and the prior meals of most of my vacation had consisted of lots of healthy food. Vita Cafe in Portland was very good, and very Vegan, Even the lightly breaded Oyester from Fishtale in Olympia had a fresca feel to it. The meals the Alejo prepared in Oakland were beyond yummy, but again with the lightness… I felt more than ready for some Fried Chicken! I ordered the 4 piece meal, and added a leg to make it a 5 piece dinner.
There was only one other person in the spot, he was an older African American fella rockin a Jamarcus Russell Jersey (#12), Black dickeys, and a Raiders cap. He was very much enjoying his chicken, I could hear it. I sad down a couple tables away and began my munch. We made eye contact and said our “what’s up’s”. I mentioned that I had Russell early last season as my sleeper quarterback in my chill fantasy league, and he told me that was most likely a mistake, he was right. Russell had a horrid year, but I still like and root for the guy, he just won’t be on my teams in the future. He was just coming from a 36-0 preseason Raider game. I think they played the Saints. So we talked football between bites, and that turned to me being in from Chicago, and what I was doing in Oakland. I told him that I was thinking of relocating to the Bay Area, and that I really thought Oakland would be the place for me, and that my dream deal would be for the store I currently work for, to open a spot out there. He suggested a couple neighborhoods, Merritt Lake area, Temescal, where we were, and he even mentioned the Mission. Which is kinda funny, because of the areas that I was looking at, that other people had suggested, he was right on. Might be something to that. We spoke about working in SF and living in Oakland, something he did. And how if you do, you might want to drive. That conversation turned into a conversation about how fucked up it is to have the Bart run 24 hours a day, or at least until like 3am. He spoke about how it keeps things separated in a way, Race and Class style. He asked me if I had heard about how the transit cops shot a brotha on the train the last time the Bart ran late, New Years Eve I think he said it was. The whole thing was caught on tape, Bart security cameras that is, and it shows the guy being restrained, with a cop on top of him, no sign of struggle. The cop said he was reaching for his tazer and pulled out his gun by mistake, AND FIRED IT! He said white folks were right out with the black folks when people decided to make some noise in the street. He like that about Oakland. He also said Oakland was Wacky. Hoods, next to little peaceful pockets. We talked about how the Police suck everywhere, except for the good ones, but we both used the words occupying force. He asked me if the Windy City was really windy, I told him how that name came from some yellow press shit back in the day, but that yeah, downtown if a canyon of wind, and how the lake is really amazing, but also the reason for such cold actions of winter for us Chicago folk. I did talk some smack about how the Bears are going to be quite nice this year, and he agreed. The next thing I new my chicken was gone, and he was still eating. I think I was hungry, we gave a pound and said our goodbyes. He said “stay cool in Chicago”, but my favorite thing was when he said, “if you make it out here, I’ll see you around”. That was some friendly shit, and even if we never see each other again, he is my Churches Chicken Friend. Why does the Bart Stop so early, is the Bay Area Trying to be like Boston….? In the way that Boston is LAME! Come on SF peeps, change that. The chicken treated me well. I went back to Alejo and Amber’s place just in time to babysit so they could go out on a date. I was happy to do so, and the little one stayed asleep the whole time. I watched 5 episodes of The IT Crowd. Very funny Brit show. Go Raiders.
Riding down Augusta last night, my camera fell out of my bag…
I slowed my bike, turned around, and found it on the ground. I picked it up and took a photo. It still works.
Three left at the gig. The 86 year old fella how makes them, or should I now say made them, Hennig Dyes has retired. He has been making the bent wood lamps, made of light thinly shaved pieces of pine. The trees are scatter farmed in a super low key way, up in the mountains. Hennig, of Costa Rican and Dutch decent, modeled his lamps off of a lamp he saw as a youth in Norway. The lamp has been sold at Sprout Home since like 2004. We got an email today informing us that Hennig is no longer making the lamps. As of the typing of this, there were 3 left at Sprout. I’m gonna try to make a move on the floor model once we sell out. I took this photo today, the lamp is pretty, and when the soft glow comes through the wood…. pretty dope.
I was checking my long ignored yahoo email account, you know that one I have my online bills sent to. And there is always some Yahoo News story about some famous person kissing some other famous person, but occasionally I see a headline and click it. Today the story was: The Most Stressful Cities In America, of course I wanted to see where Chicago ranked….. Well, Were Number One dummy! Traffic, Air Quality, Unemployment, the Housing Market, and even though they didn’t list this as a contributing factor, i’m gonna put the Cubs as a major reason Chicago and the word suck are linked together.I”m going to have some beers and reflect.
1. Chicago, Ill.
2. Los Angeles, Calif.
3. New York, N.Y.
4. Cleveland, Ohio
5. Providence, R.I.
We do have the Bean though, and Cutler should make the Bears a fun thing to be proud of. Buurs!
So peep it, One of the first places I hung out in during my very first moments in downtown Olympia Washington, back in 1992 when I was arriving to start school, was at the fish ladder that connects Capital Lake to Puget Sound. Within minutes I saw my first giant Salmon, Harbor Seals, and a Blue Heron (though the Herons never really hung in that spot so much, during my many visits to that area). I was in Fucking Oly Wa, and I had just drove from Champaign Illinois, I was shocked and super happy to see such big fish, the tide was falling, and the fish were making mad dashes up the ladder. It was cool, its still cool, and hopefully it will stay cool forever. There is some over fishing, and pollution that might have something to say about that. Just to the east of the ladder is a little spot where you can just hang out and watch, I always loved that spot. Nice view of the sound, as well as the lake, and there was even a moment in time when there was a KFC just to the east of the landing….. I know, a gross KFC in such a special location, it was kinda messed up for sure, and it wasn’t just any KFC, I use to refer to this KFC as the Castle of Chicken, there was a freakin’ turret style seating area at the top, it literally looked like a majestic castle. Everyone hated it, but I have to tell you, I would secretly have some homesick breakdown moments at that KFC, I would kinda freak out with all of my healthy eating habits that sometimes happened during my six years out there… Often after a week of tofu, and the like, I would find myself at that KFC standing in a trance at the counter, staring at all the images of fried chicken on the menu. Eight Pieces often went down, and with a greasy smile on my face I would go back into the veggie friendly world of Olympia. The KFC is gone now, the bright red and white of the building have been replaced with a low key tan and brown kind of vibe, the castle shape is still there, the fish ladder is still there, and the fish were even still there, looking so lovely and nearly 3 feet long. My friend Ali told me that that whole block might be the future home of some high rise building, with a shopping area down low, and birds eye high condo’s filling the rest. 
