Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

As I was in SoMa yesterday looking for story ideas (with little success), I walked by Yerba Buena Gardens to find the park full of people and live music.  A stage was set up in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial and Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca, an Afro-Cuban fusion act, were performing.  It was a beautiful, sunny day Saturday (though a bit windy) and seeing people gathered in the park dancing to the music it made it more beautiful.  More than a hundred people were congregated at the park, with a large number of them actually dancing while others were laying out on the lawn soaking up the sun.

Turns out the performance is one of a series of free events held at the park for the summer, from May to October.  There are theater, poetry, and spoken word performances scheduled as well as a series of children and Latin Jazz acts.  Events are not limited to only weekends.  They have things scheduled for the week and even have lunchtime concerts on Thursdays.

This is a great characteristic of San Francisco: having many free events that encourage civic participation and builds community.  Many of these events take place in SoMa, which contributes to it's appeal.  For anyone staying in the city over the summer and looking for things to do (for free!), I suggest checking one of the scheduled events out.  You can check out the calendar here.

How Weird May Day

San Francisco residents congregated in the streets of SoMa to launch the city's street festival season with the 12th annual How Weird Street Faire.  Thousands of people took advantage of the warm weather Sunday exploring the "mythical realms" on Howard Street, dressed up in wacky outfits, dancing in the closed off streets, and simply enjoying the community's presence.  Nine stages with DJs spinning different styles of electronic music filled nine blocks, and the event really lived up to its name; the festival just kept on getting weirder and weirder.

The eclectic crowd didn't fail to amaze (or confuse).  There were capoeira dancers/fighters, numerous fairies, men and women wearing tutus, a pink devil, a queen with her entourage, and possibly everything else imaginable.  This year also featured an Art Alley showcasing local artists and live art, a May Pole ceremony and dance "calling forth the world of our dreams," and even an official flying saucer landing zone for intergalactic guests attending to participate in "universal peace."  (I don't know if any showed up.)

I first heard of the event through a friend and wasn't planning on attending because of an immense school load, but was convinced after seeing numerous wacky people heading to the festival.  Although I stayed only for a while, until I fulfilled my journalistic duty, the brief moment I was there really reinforced my appreciation for this city.  The civic participation is very impressive, especially in celebrations.  What, perhaps, is the best is that it is a free, all-ages event.  Yes, they ask for a $10 donation, which in turn gets you a Magic Sticker that is good for discounts with the many vendors.  You do see families, couples, and singles, and the party continues for those 21 and over at the nearby nightclubs after the street fair ends at 8pm.  It is ironic, though, that a city that takes pride in it's progressiveness and activism decides to celebrate International Workers' Day in such a manner.  How weird.

Profile subject

Working on this profile story has really developed my journalist skills, especially interviewing.  My subject is very good at holding a conversation, which makes it easy for my to ease into the actual interview.  Every time I am going to speak or meet up with him, I find myself worrying about what to say and what to ask him.  But after our hello's and how-have-you-been's, the conversation starts rolling.

The hardest part is when to stop him and ask him to elaborate on something, especially when it is something sensitive.  I don't want to stop him midway while he is choking up about his past, so I let him continue.  But then he continues on and mentions something else, and now I have two things I want him to elaborate on.  I note the two subjects, but then I need to find a natural way to bring them up.  Then when I do ask him a new question or bring up another subject, it's hard to keep my subject from not going on a tangent.  Like I said, he can easily keep on talking about pretty much anything.

My subject is all about maintaining an image and keeping his guard up.  So I was surprised how much more he let himself go on this past interview, the first over the phone.  (Prior to this we had only met in person.)  I feel that he spoke a lot more freely and showed more emotion, in contrast to his usual casual and stern talk.

This phone interview was the first time he brought up confidentiality, perhaps because of the depth of the conversation.  He is unsure that he wants his real name used or if he would rather me not write about some of the things.  We still haven't agreed upon anything.  Any suggestions?

I still need to follow up with him on the interview.  This time I am going to have specific questions instead of just subjects.  I also need more sources.  I sort of feel like I am snooping around trying to find people who know him and ask them what they know about him.  Can't I just ask him who knows him that is willing to talk to me?

All in all, it's an interesting story.