Gazetteer Entry, E-Squared

The Gazetteer has been overstimulated for the last few months. The city is turning out to be bigger, badder and larger than I ever imagined. More raw data has been thrown at my senses than my pineal gland can possibly be expected to process. Like a mammalian brain, the City's folds and twists increase its surface area, until the relatively small area it occupies turns it into an endless and unknowable universe.

The neighborhood of E-Squared, as I'll call it for now, is not a tourist destination. While it technically lies within City Limits, it has very little to recommend it. In fact, its Wiki page is very short. For the last month, I held my breath and shut my eyes when I passed through it. The auto painting shop, the vomit on the street, the intense smell of urine all combined to turn my senses off to further investigations. I don't enjoy writing whole places off, so last week I decided to breathe deep and look.

What She Saw


the less said about a certain school of muralists, the better

This mural graces the Northeast corner of Mission and Excelsior. I am starting here because its the loudest thing on the neighborhood's namesake corner. According to the wiki article, this street used to be called "Japan", and there also was a "Germany", and during the last World War, Japan and Germany fell out of favor, and consequently, lost their streets. You can still transverse Brazil, Persia, Lisbon, Madrid and a number of other countries and capitals. By far, the most charming part of this neighborhood is that I can call Dutch and say something like this, "Hey, the keys are locked in the car and its on the corner of Moscow and Russia." I wonder how the Russia and Moscow streets survived the Cold War.


Spelling, not a strong soot

This sign arches over a private yard. I don't know if the misspelling is intentional or not.



The same yard. I don't know who lives here, or what the story is. It looks like it belongs to an artist. I love the title, though. Do the learned need shelter? What will they be sheltered from?

Free The Victorians



E-Squared lacks the stereotypical City Victorians, but I found a wee Painted Lady in the Shelter. The Great E didn't disappoint, as soon as I got over my bad attitude, interesting things started popping up. The architecture of the E will have to wait for future entries, until then, I'll be holding my breath and stepping carefully.

Happy Alignments

Fridays in Washington Square Park, originally uploaded by Genevi-è-ve.

*


That magical eye-in-the-sky celestial visitor make a celebrity appearance in our skies yesterday after a long absence. He bathed the town with warm, bright, light-- so intense that I had to squint. And while he is a famous California native, during this season he often migrates to the Southern Hemispheres, leaving us shivering in the cold, dark embrace of winter.

Dutch and I took the opportunity to hit North Beach. We called some friends and had a leisurely afternoon hitting cafes and bakeries. Before our friends arrived, we spent some time in Washington Square, basking in the light when we heard a familiar, wheezy, reedy sound.

Oh How I love Accordions

I grabbed Dutch's hand and we started a lurching waltz. Sadly, the song was in march time, so it degenerated into an improvised dance, which was further complicated when we realized that the accordionist had the rhythm of a epileptic monkey. That did not matter, it just allowed us to have even more freedom to creatively interpret the music.

Tchaikovsky

We chatted with the accordionist and he said he was taking a collection for a metronome. We laughed. He told us he had been playing a march by Tchaikovsky. He struck up another song and Dutch and I piroutted in the last rays of the late- afternoon sun.

* this photo is one I found on flickr when I searched "accordion washington square" For the record, its not the Washinton Square that Dutch and I visited, but I thought it illustrated the vibe and the accordions nicely.

Resilient Trooper

NB- read the link first, then read the PS

Post Script

The one thing Paul H didn't mention about his reading was that his extravagant lateness gave me a chance to read his Three Paradoxes, which more than made up for the inconvenience. It was fantastic seeing his jacket in the book, and then getting to see it in person.

Goblins and Angels

imagining herself in the City

Ever since I decided I needed to move, my emotions have been up and down. The ups have been as intense as the downs. Butterfly-light tappings of optimism have been quickly squelched by the heavy sandbags of despair. Wide vistas open in my imagination then close, and then open again.

It took a prolonged moment of near-despair to force me to realize that I don't have to take this seriously at all. That the parade of goblins and angels doesn't mean anything beyond the fact that I am alive and the universe is what it is.

One Goblin

I was reading the application process of the San Francisco Union School District. After a while it seemed that some evil HR person was out to get me, and purposefully wrote this long and ridiculous thing just to scare me away. I don't know why I got so intimidated, I have done this before. There is a ton of legislation they have to comply with, hence the scary verbiage. It just means that I have to sit with my scanner for about five hours, scanning all my paperwork (although some of it I might have to write to a university office in Redding to get). Tedious, but not impossible.

Two Goblin

I looked at a cool room I found on craigslist last week. The house was beautiful, the kitchen large, the people normal. I was very excited by the interview, but no cigar. Back to the room postings.

Three Goblin

For a moment I was seized with the fear that I just wasn't cool enough. Dammit, I am cool enough (affirmation #523)

Angels with Hotdogs

The afternoon spent in the City, hanging out with friends, drinking tea and munching on real German sausages was fantastic and reminded me why I wanted to be there.