Visited my daughter and Jesus with my dogs. We walked from their place to the nearby park, where to my surprise they have water skiing. It’s right next to the busy freeway and close to downtown Berkeley. What a juxtaposition. Our evening followed a visit to Peet’s Coffee on the newly renewed part of 4th Street, which reminds my daughter and me very much of Park Slope, Brooklyn. Later we had dinner at Herbivore, which I had gone to many times on Valencia Street in San Francisco, but never before at their Berkeley location.
Oakland Pride with David
Notice the costumed person behind us, on the right.
Hayward – End of an Era
My whole life I remember that strange cubic building on the hillside like the castle I used to see above us when we lived in rural Catalonia. I thought every town had a hill and a building atop it growing up. The couple of years I grew up in NYC it was of course the World Trade Center that I looked up to from Governor’s Island. It was strange then, to learn that not only did Warren Hall, a landmark I always used to find Hayward with from other parts of the Bay area, was not only in disuse, but it would actually be demolished for lack of seismic safety compliance. A few weeks ago my neighbor told me that inspectors had come to prepare his backup for the anticipated 2.2 Richter Scale shudder they were expecting right by the San Andreas fault. I was skeptical about what he was saying until I realized it was this actual planned collapse he was referring to. He was not from the East Bay so he didn’t know the symbolism that I’ve ascribed to this building, the name of which I didn’t even know until this month. How strange would it be if I was still living in New York and was only to discover of the building implosion upon one of my return visits. This, together with the “Bay Bridge-agedon” they are having this weekend is proof that things really do change in this somewhat sleepy, bedroom-ish community south of Oakland and twenty miles outside of San Francisco.
Yorkie Dreams
My Family in Italy Summer 2013
I didn’t get to go this year, but my sister and her family met my mom there again.
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Trayvon and Cory
Still numb from hearing about Cory Monteith dying in Vancouver BC (where I was a month ago, myself) when I was in Europe, and the verdict in the Trayvon Martin murder trial. Let’s hope people learn from these lessons (i.e., getting help for addiction and repealing these Draconian “stand your ground” gun laws in states like Florida). From what I’ve heard the jury doesn’t feel like Zimmerman should have gotten away with murder, but because of the crappily way the law is written, he was acquitted.
Young Women Celebrities Coming Out
Pleasantly surprised to hear that Raven Symone and Charice Pempengco came out as gay. It’s nice to know young people can do so without much drama these days. I’m a huge fan of Charice’s and Raven was always compared to my daughter, looks-wise.
Lazybear
My friend Roy and I drove back down the coast (although he slept most of the way) to get home from Guerneville, after a loop around Armstrong Woods early in the morning. The dogs have been there several times before, but I always try to find some beach time for them, and this was no exception. This was a new lookout for me. I’m always impressed by the beauty near Bodega Bay, and in Sonoma County, even though Highway 1 is tortuous and treacherous in the best of weather conditions.
Pictures here with me is my friend Ray/Ramon at the closing party for Lazybear. Guerneville vendors usually have clever signage during this event, but this one below was the best one I think I’ve ever seen.
Un Pochuchedru du Calabria
If you ever want to see my relatives in Italy laugh, speak to them in dialect. They are tending not to speak it in the newer generations themselves, but to hear ME, a straniero (“foreigner”), speak even a word or two, makes them roll over with laughter. To demonstrate to people how dialects are truly other languages, the title of this blog is a phonetic (since I’ve never seen Calabrese written) of the translation for “A little piece of Calabria” which in Italian would be “un piccolo pezzo di Calabria.”
In addition to my relatives, I spent a lot of time with their dogs and cats because this was getting toward the end of my trip and I really missed my Yorkies, who I had only seen once live from Rome with Skype and spoke to noticing that they recognized my voice. It was great to see most of my relatives there, and I got pictures of most of them, but a few of my uncles and aunts are having major health problems and are in the throes of their treatments. I also got to see two of my newest cousins, the daughters of Giusi and Ramona. It was strange being in Italy for the first time in my daughter’s life without my daughter there, but seeing my Mom and grandmother is important, although I see my mom throughout the year as she lives in Hayward near me when she’s not in Italy. It was nice to see both my mom and her mom at the beach too.
