EDOM 12: Berkeley being begins
Ending the W4VP campaign and beginning a new residence in Berkeley, California.
W4VP to conclude
The Walking for Vice President campaign—something that began nearly 8 years ago is coming to a close. It served as a framework for a wide range of my creative projects, but it has come time to wind it down to focus on some new beginnings and focuses for the Magical Office of Peace. Details will follow in future issues of EDOM.
Berkeley being begins
For close to the past four years, I lived in a warehouse space in East Oakland. I liked it a lot. It was spacious, was part of a good community (Dutch Boy Studios), and was industrially charming (one 11-foot-high window, tall wooden ceilings, a pair of clerestory windows, and an incredibly efficient whirly roof vent). But it had its drawbacks. It was loud (train tracks on 3 sides of the complex), not close to BART (well, extremely close to the tracks, much further to the station), and the immediate surrounding area could be rough at times. For example, some things I would encounter on my way to and from home—listed in descending frequency—were: stolen cars with wheels and battery looted, stolen cars with seats and entire engine removed, the blackened remains of stolen cars that had been looted and then set ablaze, and stolen cars still currently ablaze. I did not enjoy encountering those things.
Eventually my passion for a more peaceful place pressured me to pick a new spot. So I found one in South Berkeley. It’s on the third story of a twelve-unit complex. The front of the unit has a nice sunset view of downtown San Francisco. The bedroom looks out not only on the Berkeley hills and the campus bell tower, but also has a completely unobstructed view of the entrance to the bathroom of the gas station next door. Truly majestic.
The apartment interior is more than acceptable, and the prize jewel being the automatic dish washing machine in my kitchen. This is a feature I’ve never experienced in a Californian living space. Using it for the first time was such an ineffable experience, the only words that come close to describing it would be “mildly exhilarating.” This spot has also got some quirks: like light switches that are at lower than average height, outlets that are higher than average, and cabinet and closet doors with sub-5 mm clearance with the floor such that they are totally incompatible with mats or rugs in their opening-arc. And though the spot is quite a bit smaller than the warehouse, I still have room to have an area dedicated to photography.
The location is really why I’m here though. It’s much closer to BART (which makes ventures into SF more convenient) and it’s just two blocks away from the Great Garden of Produce that is Berkeley Bowl. Perhaps most importantly it’s a mere 15 minute walk to where I practice yoga. This is drastically different from the hour-long walk-BART-walk to practice from East Oakland, which was so long that it proved to be a great barrier against my regular yogic routine. But now, with that great barrier greatly lowered, I have returned to my beloved practice of sitting, bending, and twisting in a hot, humid room that’s brimming with breathing noises and sometimes smells like farts. It’s great to be back.
Thank you to Kendra, Juice and George Joseph for making the move happen with me! While moving out was quite easy (the warehouse had a literal loading dock), moving in was much less so as it required taking two flights of narrow stairs. Very grateful for your support!