OCCUPY

Some photos from Occupy San Francisco...

... and from across the bay at Occupy Oakland.  The camp was dismantled on October 25th and there was a violent confrontation with police, but Oakland Commune was up and running again by the 28th.  Michael Moore was due to arrive that afternoon.

transamerica

short poem

just logged onto the express computer at the Mission branch library so here is a short poem inspired by the drive from the airport into the city...

late night laundromats
glowing on quiet corners,
soft blue aquariums suspended in darkness.
one still-life after another:
row of white washers
dryers a line of port-holes
dusty plants in the window.
timeless capsules swimming in the night.

710 Ashbury

There it is, sedate and serene, painted in soft lilac and grey and blending in with the other stately Victorians on this block of Ashbury.  Today it epitomizes quiet elegance; forty-five years ago it was the Grateful Dead house.

Check out this short one minute clip!

playground, portsmouth square

thrift town

Digging through the racks at Thrift Town on Mission Street near 17th is a good way to spend a rainy hour or two.  I've found some clothes with unique patterns there, as well as at some of the other neighbourhood thrift shops...

Kasper's

This funky little building in Oakland was once a legendary local hot dog stand but has been closed for nearly ten years now.  It sits rather forlornly on a wedge of sidewalk along Telegraph Avenue, reminding people of days gone by and making them wonder if maybe, just maybe, it will be resurrected one day.