Category Archive: California

Oakland last night: “ethnic” food, architecture, and a gigantic Jesus

The various houses of worship I have seen throughout the world have all impressed me in some way, with their assortment of characters, aesthetics, and iconography. From the Buddhist prayer flags of Myanmar… Continue reading →

Fire breathing dragons and go-go dancers at Glow

Among the aging hippies, LED-addicted Burners, and baby-toting Generation X/Y/Zers at last weekend’s “Glow: A festival of fire and light”, the fan favorite had to be the dragon. It polled well among those… Continue reading →

The system’s out of order, and the fire hasn’t even started yet.

“Well, I guess that’s what we get for unplugging for a few hours,” said the businessman, relaxed on his bench outside the shuttered BART train station. “They must have decided to go on… Continue reading →

No assassination attempts here, I’ll take a desk job instead?

I’m rumbling along, too vaguely happy and scatterbrained to have much on my mind to share, unless I go a little further up and get all literal on you. It’s only been two… Continue reading →

Scheduling failure, belly tetris, and productive nothing.

That was a very worthwhile complete waste of time. As I mentioned before, I haven’t needed to plan anything ahead of time for the last few years, an atrophied skill that has gifted… Continue reading →

Is it weird being back in America?

“Is it weird being back in America?” I wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “Not…really.” Adjusting to Stateside norms was pretty easy; I did grow up here, after all. I can handle… Continue reading →

Will the pattern be repeated?

I am a newly civilized creature from the hostel jungle. I walk around the more-than-one roomS of my house in confusion. What do I do with all this space? Anybody wanna couchsurf? The… Continue reading →

Lavender squirrels smoking cigarettes. (See, commas are important.)

I still forget, or maybe just don’t believe, that I actually live here now. Live someplace now. How is that different from visiting it? Should I buy a map and study the streetplan?… Continue reading →

A precise patriotism

Today’s plan kind of sucked. But I’ve had this rental car for too long already, so I’d drive one hour up to San Francisco Airport, then bring a good book or two for… Continue reading →

This info comes with a couple of cuties

Animals have half the answer.   They don’t worry, plan, or stress about abstract possibilities; they live in the present moment only, heeding past lessons but not dwelling on them. That’s humanity’s gift,… Continue reading →