Rockridge

These banners are hung in two windows of the same house, less than a block north of my own. I think it pretty much sums up the entire election.

I was out doing errands this afternoon and saw Obama supporters staked out at the intersections of Ashby Ave./Claremont Ave., Keith/College Ave. (Rockridge BART), and Broadway and 51st St. They were waving signs and banners at passing cars. Over the last few months, I’ve seen a few Clinton stickers around and two Edwards banners, but for the most part, this neighborhood seems to be Obama country, through and through.

There was a robbery, gunfire and a chase in my neighborhood Thursday. There was an insane number of police cars, when I drove right by that music school maybe 20-30 minutes after it happened, and as I tried to drive down 51st towards Telegraph Ave., that intersection was barricaded for a block in each direction. Sheesh. My thoughts are with the boy and his family. Oakland Tribune: A 10-year-old boy shot Thursday by a stray bullet fired during a robbery…

There’s cops blocking both ends of my street. Apparently, there’s a robbery suspect running around the neighborhood. I’ve never seen so many cops here before. Whoa. I got this email from a neighbor: “As I write this the cops are staked out on [street name redacted] and surrounding streets looking for the suspect in a strong-arm robbery. Believed to be BM with white pants. If you see anything call 911.” Update from said neighbor (1:28 pm): “Hi All–The cops apprehended…

But many San Franciscans left the city permanently. Oakland’s population doubled to 150,000 between 1900 and 1910, spurred by the earthquake and developers Francis “Borax” Smith and Frank Havens. There was also a big jump in population in Marin and on the Peninsula. All these new suburbs, however, were stained by the racism of the time. The promoters of the new Rockridge Tract in Oakland distributed a leaflet that said, “It is probably unnecessary even to mention that no one…

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for the old Key System, the old light-rail system that existed in the East Bay from 1900 until the 1950s. There, I found an old movie from 1945 called The March of Progress that has a great 20 minute film on the history of the Bay Area as seen through transportation. Well worth it. It looks like there was an old line that used to go right near my house.

So next time I have a big party, someone remind me to buy about a third to a half of as much food as I usually do. I ended up giving away two cases of beer, and still had a watermelon vodka, a bunch of veggies, loads of chicken, and lots of oatmeal raisin cookies left. Thanks for coming, everyone. It was great to see you all again. I want to do another one soon. And big ups to my…

Well, I finally got Internet access (Thanks SBC!) a full five days ahead of schedule. WiFi is up, and is open. Time to catch up on The Daily Show. 🙂 This marks the end of my two week vacation since graduation. My goal was to have the house up and running by the end of two weeks, and I’ve done it. Gas is working, electricity is working, Internet is working. I still need to figure out the exterior lights. Any…

Lauren and Maria helped me pick out some sweet curtains, a cover for the sofa, pillows, shower curtain, carpet for the coffee table, candles, garden torches at IKEA yesterday. I’m hoping that I still gain some respect from my male friends even though I have strawberry, grapefruit and watermelon candles spread around the house. Picked up Boyk and Michelle today from OAK. El Ojo de Agua was had. Man, that taco truck is good. Chorizo is amazing. Gas was turned…

Greetings from the Hudson Bay CafŽ, a reliable source of WiFi, on the corner of Hudson and College in North Oakland. This will be my new Internet fix until my Internet gets going by next week. Their hot chocolate leaves something to be desired. But this nabe is really fantastic. Pendragon’s and Diesel Books are within walking distance, as is George & Walt’s, a local bar I want to try out. The house is getting set up, bit by bit.…