people are so weird here. i do not think one could ever get 'used' to it, but at times you overlook it. everyone should visit here, though; everyone should get a chance to live here. it is like a different country, this {arnold voice} kal-ee-fownia.
take for example: shattuck avenue, downtown berkeley. today there was a man sitting on a planter wearing a black hardhat. no rhyme or reason. just sitting. chillin'. in a hard hat.
summer, at least, brings more personable young homeless. in addition to the young, bitter, goth-clothing, shaved-heads, skinny-dog owning, kids on the street bearing (in all seriousness) signs reading "money for {insert slang-of-the-day for marijuana here}," you get those transients who enlighten telegraph avenue with their juggling, acoustic guitars, and electric keyboards. but the most notable music was yesterday's classical violinist: a young boy obviously hitchiking across country in tattered clothing and no luggage save its case.
you see the most amusing car accessories as well. socal may sport the nation's highest per-capita 20"-and-above rim collection, but up here cars are used for more than vanity. they are political tools. take, for instance, today's sample bumper sticker statements. i collected these on a recent 10-minute drive from berkeley up the hill. the following are only a sample:
9-11 was an inside job.
Psychics do it with spirit.
Keep your rosaries off my ovaries.
WWND? What Would Nixon Do?
Vermont: Keep It Civil.
perhaps the most entertaining people i meet though are the ones who end up becoming my good friends. ex: green hair boy (sorry, chris)= good friend. a couple of hard-core business majors=good friends. (wha?) a surprising number of people over 40= good friends. i recently caught on to another's scheme of denying his posession of a telephone. he has called me a couple of times leaving 'temporary phone numbers' where he can be reached at 'places he's animal/housesitting' for the night. cell phones keep those numbers, though. turns out, his phone is hidden under boxes and books and in a closet; only five people in the world know it exists...
these are only some of the ordinary things that make up life here. sometimes i am awed by the everyday. it is an amazing bay.
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