pictures of oakland, my new home

Been preoccupied with looking for housing, moving moving moving, decorating and settling in. More craft projects to come once all this weirdly *pink* fabric I bought at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse becomes curtains. In the meantime, here are some observations of my new surroundings in these first few weeks...

One of the first things I noticed when we were looking for apartments around Lake Merritt was this huge building that looked like a vulva; turns out it's a church. I call it the Church of the Vagina.

One of the other remarkable things in Downtown Oakland is that Oscar Grant is everywhere, including in this incredible mural, which takes up a short block between Broadway & Telegraph on 17th St. It wraps around the corner of the building, and reads in full: Peace is not the absence of tension, but the presence of justice."

Despite, or maybe because of everything that has happened here, people with a broad swath of races, genders, ages, and different body types walk around Lake Merritt at all hours of the early morning, evening, and night. It is great seeing people exercise and socialize in a public space that is free and doesn't require gym membership or a fancy yoga mat or bike. Here and below, strings of lights illuminate the lake at night.

An East Bay Express newsstand reclaimed on my corner. Nina Simone: "Handle it."

Yellow tiles in my new kitchen. They're half the reason we took the place.

Also on 17th St. It literally made me do a double-take.

And then wonder why I hadn't seen something like this, "and daughter," sooner.

There may be all sorts of craziness in the world -- homophobia, Islamophobia, etc., but there is also progress.