Retail Therapy Solves Everything

Note to self: NEVER attempt to drive in San Francisco again.

I set up a meeting with one of the owners of Green11 in Noe Valley. Bettina and I have talked a few times and she is one of the people in Noe Valley that I feel comfortable talking to. I thought that her store Green11 would be a great subject for my profile piece.

Saturday afternoon I got into my 2002 purple Honda Civic with my roommate Megan, we were ready for an adventure and that's exactly what we got. She typed in the address and we made our way to the 280 North towards Civic Center/Bay Bridge. We then exited Cesar Chavez St./Potero Ave. We realized by all the murals that we were in the Mission. Finally! I have never been to the Mission before and even though I didn't get out, I loved passing through the district. The colors and the happy people dancing to Mexican music made me smile. THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN I get cut off by a huge MUNI bus. A-W-E-S-O-M-E only not, this preceded to happen for the next few streets, getting cut off by cars, people not turning on their blinkers and not stopping at stop signs.

Megan and I were screaming and cursing every few minutes. Then we realized we were going the wrong way, the little red pin on my iPhone map showed Green 11 was in the opposite direction of where we were headed...cool! We then turned around on another street and went back towards the Mission, and then she said we're going the wrong way again. We stop at a stop sign, no one was behind us and we look at the phone. It seems someone put in the wrong address; we were headed to 3098 24th Street instead of 3980 24th Street. Ugh okay so we just headed toward the part of the map that showed where Noe Valley was, easy enough right?

We were driving and all of a sudden we see this huge hill that my little purple car was expected to go up. I screamed, "Meg, I can’t do this. I have this fear that my car will roll down the hill like in The Princess Diaries!” She told me to floor it and I screamed all the way until we got to the top. Then to my surprise another HUGE hill! Seriously what the hell. I floored it again and we made it.

I finally see MUNI tracks and recognized the place where we were, thank goodness. We pulled in front of Bernie's coffee shop and realize we have a 30 minute maximum for the spot. This is ridiculous, it was 4:45 and my interview was at 5. We decided to wait in the car for 15 minutes and when we get out fill the meter so we can start at 30 minutes.

We waited and put more money in at 5. It turned to 5 and I check in at Green 11 on my Facebook and walk in. A man with an accent was helping some customers so I waited quietly at the entrance of the tiny shop. He asks if I need help and I tell him I am waiting for Bettina, he then informs me she isn't there. UGH!!! He gives me her number and I call her. She said she didn't come into work that day and said she didn't have access to a computer so she couldn't email me.

This was the icing on my amazing day cake. Megan and I headed back home and stopped at Forever 21 for a little retail therapy.

What have I learned: never drive into the city and when you're sad just go to Forever 21 and buy a $15 high wasted blue skirt.

St. Patty's Day and Nude People (blog6)

I decided to wear shorts and a t-shirt at the Castro on Saturday because I knew it was going to be another sunny day. I had this odd claustrophobic feeling after the Metro Muni stopped at one of the Muni stations. A large group of people crammed their way into the train; I can tell most of them were going to the St. Patrick’s Day parade because of all the green and leprechaun hats they were wearing.

I felt as though I was a clown trapped with 50 other clowns in a tiny car, it was not pretty, especially with all the body heat and horrible smell from other peoples’ sweat. One particular odor stood out from all the rest, which smelled of onions, garlic and curry. I turned to see where the smell was coming from. The smell came from a tall heavy-set man wearing “Kiss me I’m Irish” shirt; one of his hands was hanging onto one of the Muni’s handle bars. I was able to see some of the sweat bleeding through his t-shirt; apparently someone has decided to go without deodorant.

When I left the station I decided to get a slice of pizza from Marcello’s Pizza, which is on the left side of the Harvey Milk Plaza. I ordered a large slice of their plain cheese pizza, since I’m not a huge fan of pizza toppings. Walking on Castro Street while eating my pizza, my eyes widened when I caught a glimpse of a random nude man on my right side. I quickly looked away so that the guy didn’t catch me staring at him. The man was not particularly attractive; he was about 5’4, pot belly, graying hair and had a tan dark enough to even rival that of George Hamilton. I’m thankful I never caught sight of his penis because that would have ruined my lunch.

On 18^th Street I saw a jewelry store called Deki Jewels, which is known for its Tibetan handicrafts, jewelry, clothes, and hats. I admired Deki’s animal hats, but was put off by its price. The shop owner told me most of the hats were worth $20.00 because they were hand made from Nepal and Tibet.

I turned around when I felt something moist on my ankle, while I was still going through Deki’s hats; it was a light brown Chihuahua mixed dog. The dog probably smelled the cheese pizza I had earlier. I also noticed the dog was missing its left leg, causing it to limp constantly. The lady who owned the dog told me even though it is missing a leg but the dog is still active and has a lovable personality. Leg or no leg the dog was so cute I couldn’t help but pet it.

Today made me realize that the Castro is much more eventful during the weekend than it is on weekdays. However, as exciting as the Castro can be I hope to never see a naked person in the neighborhood again.

Who Runs Mid-Market?

Mid-Market has been the most difficult area of my neighborhood to cover. It hasn't been a lack of stories, there's plenty. It hasn't been hard to talk to people, those there (the homeless) talk to you. It's a lack of professional voices: landlords, developers, shop owners, etc. The place is both commercially and residentially barren.

Yet there's bizarre, interesting communities forming inside several of the closed buildings. Arbor Studios, for example, is an old theater prop rental shop. The props are still there, but now a community of artists as well have set up their many studios.

However, all the artists are extremely hard to reach-or even see-having strange hours and life-styles. I've been having to do some stake-outs, which feel cool, but haven't been successful. If I can't get my foot in the door by Monday, I think I'll have to switch profiles.

Reclaiming San Francisco.

Hey guys. I just ordered "Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, Culture" through Amazon. I was flipping through the pages of this book at a friend's house and he suggested it to me. It gives a pretty interesting background on all of the neighborhoods. Here's the link if you'd like to read more: http://www.amazon.com/Reclaiming-San-Francisco-Politics-Anthology/dp/0872863352

The Tsunami

Just a commentary. I am not a fan of fear mongering.

I have friends in Spain terrified that their friends and family in the bay area are going to be hit by a natural disaster. I acknowledge the obligation journalists have to address the tsunami, but the proper research needs to be done to make sure that no misconceptions are spread.

It reminds me of the swine flu "pandemic."

This is not really about the Mission. I guess this is about San Francisco as a whole. In my Digital News Gathering class, we were told to compile information about the possibility of a tsunami hitting San Fran, and to research how the city would respond to such a warning.

I'm still deciding if it was overkill.

Another night in North Beach.

Monday night I decided to meet some newly-made friends in North Beach's Cafe Grecos. Every Monday night, there is an open mic event held from around 7-9 p.m. (depending on how many people perform).

I met up with my new friend Mitiku, who is from Ethiopia, and I saw my poet friend, Ricardo Luna. I got there kind of late and only saw the last two people perform. I talked afterward with the poet/host, Philip Hackett, who told us stories of when he used to hang out with Charles Bukowski.

It was a pretty good night, but I was quite tried from having class all day, so I kept it short.

I decided to talk to Central Station's Police Sargent Carl T., who was very helpful and told me about crime in North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf.  He told me that Fisherman's Wharf mainly has robbery crimes, as in pickpocketing. In North Beach, there are not too many noticeable crimes, although he did advise me to look into the clubs on the weekends.

Sunny at the Castro (blog5)

It was a nice sunny day at the Castro, a nice change from all that rain we’ve been getting. I was able to wear my Blink-182 sweater, which I hardly wore anymore because of the damp and cold weather we’ve been getting. It was also nice not stepping on deep puddles or worry about slipping on the stairs at the Harvey Milk Plaza.

Walking on Market Street I felt my stomach grumble due to the fact I didn’t have breakfast this morning. Unfortunately, it was too late for breakfast so most of the cafes are probably either serving lunch or brunch. Looking for a place to eat I found myself once again in front Café Flore. I stood there for a few minutes debating whether or not I should eat here. I rejected this restaurant before because I thought it was too expensive and never considered the fact that their food might actually be tasty.

To my dismay my stomach completely took over and ended up walking toward the restaurant’s entrance. I stood in front of the cash register and asked one of the servers for their brunch menu. As I looked over the menu one dish stood out like a sore thumb, the Kalua Pork Hash. The dish was comprised of two eggs any style, slow-cooked ti-leaf kalua pork, parmesan, pico de gallo, shallots, garlic fried potatoes, and toast. As strange as the name and the ingredients of the dish appeared I didn’t want to dismiss it right away without trying it. I handed the menu back to one of the workers and ordered the Kalua Pork Hash, which was $10.50 plus tax. I decided to eat my meal on one of their out door tables, since it was such a nice day. The Kalua Pork turned out to be worth every penny I spent, it was surprisingly delicious and I may consider coming back there again.

After I finished my meal I asked one of the workers which store is one of the most popular shops amongst the Castro residents. He recommended I go to Cliff’s Variety, which is a general store on the same street as the Castro Theater. During my previous visits in the Castro I have seen Cliff’s Variety, but have never explored the items they had. People have told me it’s a great place to get knick-knacks such as lanyards, cookie cutters, and holiday items. Curiosity once again getting the better of me I walked back to Castro Street. I was intrigued with what I found; the store had a wide range of items from home improvement to games and toys. I was more impressed with their arts and crafts section, especially since I can actually afford them.

Today wasn’t terribly exciting, but at least it didn’t rain on me this time.

http://www.cliffsvariety.com/

http://cafeflore.com/