For some reason, people here have gotten into this mildly irritating, at times endearing habit of creating novel portmanteaus from the name Oakland. Maybe it's a pride thing (or assertive inferiority complex?). You've got Oaklandish, Oakllectiv, Spokeland (though to its credit, this one is a bit more nuanced)... Well, here are some examples of why Oakland really is pretty cool, forget about that city across the bay for now.
To counter my mother's recent discovery of a documentary exposing Oakland as the child sex-trafficking capital of the nation, I offer you this small bit of hope, courtesy of Popuphood:
To counter my mother's recent discovery of a documentary exposing Oakland as the child sex-trafficking capital of the nation, I offer you this small bit of hope, courtesy of Popuphood:
And apparently the show Weed Wars takes place just a few blocks from where I work downtown:
As for my personal experience, I'm definitely starting to enjoy living here. I live basically two blocks south of the Berkeley town line in what is apparently a nebulous region that is both in Oakland and Emeryville. At first the location seemed like it was dead in the middle of nowhere, but I've recently discovered some of the many perks of being here.
First of all, as I said, I'm just south of Berkeley, so now that I have a bike things there are super accessible. I even started the process of becoming a volunteer at KALX, UC Berkeley's campus/community radio station, and was able to take advantage of The Berkeley Free Clinic to get a mandatory TB test done for another volunteering thing FO FREE.
More in the immediate proximity of my house is San Pablo Ave, one of the main north/south streets in the city. On the corner where my street meets San Pablo is the San Pablo Flea Market, a glorified junkyard filled with such treasures as a giant calla lily sculpture, a bright green sewing table, a giant lamp that looks like someone made it in their intro to metalworking class, and the most extensive VHS library I have seen since the Blockbuster in my hometown went under. A short, friendly man named Claude is the curator of this magical dumping ground. I've already acquired a few key pieces of furniture from Claude (including free delivery and paying via credit card on his iPhone--a shocking feature that proves he's actually living in the 21st century) and certainly plan on scouring the yard in the near future.
A few blocks up I found Actual Cafe, which a client of ours actually introduced me to. Side story: I was making my Spanish survey calls and got through about half of one (the fact that I even got her to start it with me was no small miracle) when Rosalba suggested that we meet up to finish it, since we had established that we lived within a few blocks of each other at the beginning of the phone call. I met her and her two kids there--which admittedly was a bit awkward since her little boy kept crying to go home until he got a bowl of ice cream and I could barely understand her mumbled Spanish in the typically noisy cafe atmosphere--but I did get the opportunity to skim the menu and preview the events calendar (including Bicycle Bingo and a free drawing party!). I'm torn between deciding whether the indoor bike hanging rack (below) or the Saturday afternoon $10 craft beer pitchers is the best feature of this place.
About a block up from Actual is Spokeland, where I got my bike yesterday! I first went on Saturday during their monthly women and trans only workshop hours, which was a much more subdued and personal experience than the Sunday free for all. That said, both times the people I interacted with at the co-op were super friendly and helpful so I will be heading there for any future bike needs, though I'm hoping that aside from getting a basket such needs will be far off...
Yep. That's all I've got about my new hood for now. Happy Prezi's Day, yall!
As for my personal experience, I'm definitely starting to enjoy living here. I live basically two blocks south of the Berkeley town line in what is apparently a nebulous region that is both in Oakland and Emeryville. At first the location seemed like it was dead in the middle of nowhere, but I've recently discovered some of the many perks of being here.
First of all, as I said, I'm just south of Berkeley, so now that I have a bike things there are super accessible. I even started the process of becoming a volunteer at KALX, UC Berkeley's campus/community radio station, and was able to take advantage of The Berkeley Free Clinic to get a mandatory TB test done for another volunteering thing FO FREE.
More in the immediate proximity of my house is San Pablo Ave, one of the main north/south streets in the city. On the corner where my street meets San Pablo is the San Pablo Flea Market, a glorified junkyard filled with such treasures as a giant calla lily sculpture, a bright green sewing table, a giant lamp that looks like someone made it in their intro to metalworking class, and the most extensive VHS library I have seen since the Blockbuster in my hometown went under. A short, friendly man named Claude is the curator of this magical dumping ground. I've already acquired a few key pieces of furniture from Claude (including free delivery and paying via credit card on his iPhone--a shocking feature that proves he's actually living in the 21st century) and certainly plan on scouring the yard in the near future.
A few blocks up I found Actual Cafe, which a client of ours actually introduced me to. Side story: I was making my Spanish survey calls and got through about half of one (the fact that I even got her to start it with me was no small miracle) when Rosalba suggested that we meet up to finish it, since we had established that we lived within a few blocks of each other at the beginning of the phone call. I met her and her two kids there--which admittedly was a bit awkward since her little boy kept crying to go home until he got a bowl of ice cream and I could barely understand her mumbled Spanish in the typically noisy cafe atmosphere--but I did get the opportunity to skim the menu and preview the events calendar (including Bicycle Bingo and a free drawing party!). I'm torn between deciding whether the indoor bike hanging rack (below) or the Saturday afternoon $10 craft beer pitchers is the best feature of this place.
About a block up from Actual is Spokeland, where I got my bike yesterday! I first went on Saturday during their monthly women and trans only workshop hours, which was a much more subdued and personal experience than the Sunday free for all. That said, both times the people I interacted with at the co-op were super friendly and helpful so I will be heading there for any future bike needs, though I'm hoping that aside from getting a basket such needs will be far off...
Yep. That's all I've got about my new hood for now. Happy Prezi's Day, yall!
