Category Archives for art

Lit Crawl and the Resurgence of the Mission

I was trying to figure out what about last Saturday’s Lit Crawl particularly warmed my heart, and it hit me this morning like a stream of light through the sun down 280 (which if you think about it, makes it clear I wasn’t actually reading at the Lit Crawl).

As I look forward to attending the Web 2.0 Summit tomorrow through Friday in San Francisco, my community, work, and the different roads and travails in between are again on my mind (not like they’re never not on my mind). Those of us who already lived here in the mid-to-late ’90s of the last millenium remember names like Kozmo, Webvan, Bigstep, and slogans like “because pets can’t drive.” Those of us who lived in the Mission district in San Francisco remember the schizophrenia of the times and the huge influx of people striking for a new gold rush. These people could bring excitement and ideas, but they often left frighteningly quickly and with waste in their wake.

In just one of many similar scenarios, Bigstep took over a huge building down at 22nd and Mission. Artists and teachers were evicted, presumably to the outskirts of civilization, because artists and teachers didn’t earn the mint for living there now. Till recently this exodus hasn’t been a memory, but rather a reality.

I don’t know when or if it started to feel like a memory for most, but on Saturday night, the “death of the Mission” was far from my mind. Oceans of people washed down Valencia, Mission, and Guerrero from one pub (or laundromat) to the next and crammed in and on top of every nook and cranny (or agitator) to hear people reading. Reading! Literature, poetry, fiction, travel writing, rock writing were all alive and well and thriving with absolutely masses of people. Only this morning, looking back, did it make me feel like we’ve finally come out, and back into some kind of goodness again.

Ships and Service in the Great White North

Yes, friends, there is still ice – and cell service – in the great white north. Having nothing with which to previously compare it, I’m not sure if it’s a whole lot, but we did sail by a real-live glacier or two on a ten-day cruise up in the northerly direction recently. I still feel a little wiggly and think I’m not done getting my land-legs back.

For better or worse, we spanned a large amount of water to get to Alaska and whatever ice it has left (at least in its southern Canada-like tail) in a giant ship. And that water was, we were to learn, often rougher than ever.

Once we surmounted that outside passage, we happily turned to the inside and followed the falsely named Lynn Canal, tracing the passages (and apparently sailing over some carcasses) of the old ships of would-be goldseekers. The farthest we pushed north was Skagway, AK.

Since the gold is long gone, I don’t believe any of these towns would exist anymore were it not for the visits of seven cruise ships a day throughout half the year, though we were interested to note that in all of our ports of call, cell service was excellent. Tracy Arm Fjord aside.

I’ll never forget that icy canyon, freezing at 6am, not getting so close to receding glaciers, seeing the four tiny white dots of goats clinging to the canyon walls, all the while lumbering away in a giant cruise ship that somehow seemed false. I almost hope we stole away before anybody noticed, but the receding glaciers probably know.

Another fine example of service in the great white north – Alaska blogging. Check out this one for just one fine example: http://alaskatheviewfromuphere.blogspot.com/

The views are often achingly gorgeous. I definitely want to go further next time.

Often, though, one of the best things about going away –

is coming home.

ps: But did I mention Canada? We had a lovely stay in Victoria. Canada feels like home.