Berkeley Photo Essay

Midday today was spent in the Berkeley area, as I made my first-ever visit to a Unitarian congregation and later moved on to Telegraph Avenue and the UC campus.

I am on a break right now - relaxing in my hotel room before the CodePink New Year's Eve party begins at 8 in San Francisco. I've partially printed out two copies of the Moonie article I recently posted here, so that I can give them to Medea Benjamin and Cindy Sheehan, and let them know of what they were going up against during their recent South Korean visit.

The Unitarian Church has this peace pole, in four languages. I absolutely loved the atmosphere here, being greeted by plenty of openly lesbian and/or transgender people (and of course, sympathetic straights). I talked about my novel, which partially takes place at this very church, and listened to the members' wishes for a more diverse crowd than the current overwhelmingly WASP makeup of the church. I told them that there is a lot of work to be done in my own Southern California, where fundamentalist preachers own entire immigrant communities.

Some left-leaning bumper stickers on Telegraph Avenue.

A sign also seen on Telegraph Avenue. If Pluto is to become planet again, at least three other celestial bodies would also have to be promoted - including one named after the lesbian warrior princess Xena. That would make my day.

A taped sign on Sproul Plaza on the UC campus, leading to what I presume to be a fasting place to help end Darfur genocide.

Also on Sproul Plaza: a "free speech" circle free of anyone's jurisdiction.

Some Bay Area moments

I'm kind of exhausted right now, after two busy days of wandering around.

The first day took me to Berkeley first, where I bought my ticket for the CodePink New Year's Eve party, before spending time in Sonoma Valley, in particular tasting five different and wonderful varieties of wine at Chateau St. Jean winery. Afterwards, I returned to Berkeley to wander the shops of Fourth Avenue and downtown. Although I had planned to also visit Pacific Center, it was closed for New Year's weekend, so I returned to the hotel after a dinner in Emeryville. I capped off the evening by ice skating at Yerba Buena Gardens - my first ice skating experience in over a decade.

Today, it was all about San Francisco. I started in the Castro district, visiting its new Gay and Lesbian Center, before tracking down a few other novel-related sights all over town. Afterwards, the rest of the day was spent at the Cartoon Museum in SoMa, shopping in Haight-Ashbury and Union Street, and back in Castro for dinner.

It appears that I am starting to establish a pattern here in the Bay Area, repeating whenever I return. The ethnic food court in Emeryville has been my favorite hangout, dating back to when I lived in Concord. But just as much of my favorite hangouts now are Union Street (especially its Lush store for bath solutions) and Haight-Ashbury, not to mention A Different Light bookstore in the Castro thanks to its lesbian and transgender themed books - despite most of the store merchandise still catering to men. And Castro itself, despite its male orientation (or more like because of it), looks like a good place to eat out. (And the same holds true of other cities' gay men's neighborhoods - I never thought I'd hang out with the guys!)

It's refreshing to see lots of overt anti-W activism on the streets and on the bumper stickers. So much so, that I actually find W supporters here to be brave (if misguided) souls, a far cry from the lemmings in my own neck of woods.

I've been dressed in tunic sweaters and leggings - and unlike in Los Angeles, where I would stand out wearing the look, I find plenty of other women wearing similar looks here. It's so nice to be in fashion again.

And here are some photos from yesterday...

Global Exchange's Berkeley store. This place sells good made with "fair labor standards" - in other words, no sweatshops. The store also reminded me that the popular Bratz dolls, retailing for about $16 each, are made in a Chinese sweatshop at a labor cost of just 16 cents per doll.

Peace banner at Global Exchange. No matter in which language, peace is important.

Poster seen at an independent bookstore in downtown Berkeley on Shattuck Avenue. It reminds that independent bookstores contribute to the local economy in ways the likes of Amazon never can.

These dogs are fakes. Seen near Fourth Street in western Berkeley.

The garden of Chateau St. Jean winery north of Sonoma.

Saddam executed

News got in yesterday that Iraq's Saddam Hussein has been executed.

The W regime, a big believer in capital punishment, is celebrating what it calls "Iraq's path to democracy." Honestly, all this will do is ratchet up the degree of Iraq's civil war. Besides, Saddam should not have been propped up by the US in the past anyway, considering that his genocidal tendencies were well-known and his only value was keeping Iran in check. Besides, what does W know about democracy anyway? He's a total non-believer in it.

The celebrations are going on in the Iraqi-American community as well. It reinforces two things I've stressed - often with negative reactions - in liberal forums: (1) immigrants are pro-capital punishment, often for political reasons, and (2) the Republicans are doing everything to turn certain demographics into their puppets - the Cubans, the Koreans, the Vietnamese, and now the Indians (with W's Indian nuclear transfer agreement) and the Iraqis. And the lack of any Democratic response to this sleazy dealmaking is what has let me down with the left.

This is not a time to celebrate. This is a time to look back on the monster, called Saddam Hussein, that America created and destroyed ONLY to fit its own agenda, and to vow to never, ever do the same again.

Bay Area - again

I have arrived in the Bay Area once again, logging on from the same Hilton Garden Inn that I've used in my two previous trips. Paris Hilton must love me by now... (Seriously, I will be an elite-level frequent guest by the time I check out.)

Looking forward to rejuvenating my life, my novel, and lots more.

The Ultimate Yellow Peril

"Yellow Peril" has been a code word used throughout American history to mark threats from the Far East, such as a mass of unwanted Chinese immigrants or Japanese industrial espionage.

But the Koreans must get top prize for the most harmful Yellow Peril ever in the history of the United States, in the form of the Unification Church, to whom every right winger in the US, South Korea, and Japan owes gratitude and power.

TruthOut article

Some glitches

It looks like some business appointments have been set up for me, without my knowledge or consent, for the week of Christmas.

As a result, I will have to delay, and shorten, my Bay Area trip. I'm getting fed up with my inability to separate my work and my play; while I have to respect others' playtime, nobody respects my own playtime. This is so wrong.

On a better note, I've found a great New Year's Eve party in San Francisco, held by Code Pink and Global Exchange. I think this is where I'll salvage my trip.

Fleshing Out the Christmas Week

In the new year, I will move to a more diverse, tolerant neighborhood than the reactionary one that I currently live in. Until then, though, the best I can do to keep my sanity - and to gain experiences that I will need in order to write my novel - will be to temporarily travel to diverse, tolerant areas.

Between Christmas and New Year's Day, I will be in the San Francisco Bay Area just for that purpose. This will be my third visit there in less than 18 months, and the sixth major trip for me this year, after having visited the likes of Seattle and Vancouver. My goal is to start reaching out and getting in touch with real-life people and communities, instead of enduring flame wars in online communities.

There will be quite a few LGBT oriented (emphasis on T) events that I will attend, as well as a Unitarian Church service. There will be tourist activities, but I will also try to kick back, relax, get lost in a San Francisco neighborhood (or the UC Berkeley campus), and just brainstorm away for my novel. I'll even allow a few hours for my newest passion - bowling. I've put together a hefty itinerary that will stretch the entire week - I'm kind of surprised myself, at how many activities I managed to come up with, in an area where I had lived in for years (and obviously exhausted all touristy activities).

I hope to come away with many wonderful experiences that will help out my novel - and also my soul, at least until I move.

Little Update

I've been very busy at work, and that has prevented me from blogging. Just keeping up with my novel class in itself was a chore!

Now that I've finished the class though - with a very helpful collage of scenes as my final project - I am looking forward to having a bit more time, for blogging and else.

With the holidays coming up, I am planning on spending the week of Christmas in the Bay Area, to help my novel, and to get some of my sanity back.

Hopefully I will end this crazy, difficult year of 2006 in style, and be ready for a new, better year ahead.