C-YA Oakland

I am going to miss a few things about Oakland, but, you know, the ride here has been hella-interesting. I made mistakes--quite a few. And I spent a lot of time dealing with the mistakes of others. A lot of time. Peace Oakland. Peace.

It Ain't Sunny in L.A.

Today has been somewhat of a challenge. I got up this morning in a dead panic when I received a text message from David. I thought I had overslept and missed my flight to Los Angeles. On top of that, I had gone to the movies the night before, and I could not find my cash card, so I wasn't sure if I could get out of Oakland to L.A.

I did find my cash card. Which was some relief. Went to the atm. Got cash out for the cab to the airport, and the damn card broke in half.

I had just enough money to get to the airport. But no money for food. David to the rescue with his credit card. Thank god. I ended up sitting next to a beautiful little girl and her Grandma, and I coached the peanut through her first flight. In exchange she taught me a game called "Picachu," which to someone over the age of 12 would be called Rocks, Paper, Scissors.

I arrived in Cali and got a solo van to Occidental College. That was awesome. The conference has been awesome so far. Though I am in a room surrounded by a bunch of media/media techies....which is always interesting. And, frankly, I am scared that at this point I actually understand most of the conversations.

In the interest of not spilling too many personal details of my relationship (you, my faithful readers know that I would normally tell all....but David is a bit more squeamish...such a lady). Today is one of those days that is totally challenging me. And to show mad love to my partner...he has been great. And I am saying publicly that though you are pushing every one of my insecurity buttons today....I am behind you (well not behind you,....ooooooooo holding back on the inappropriate comment...barely holding on......whew)...but I hope you have a blast...in my own selfish interest I hope it is a relatively quick blast.....and I love you.

GEEEEEEEEZZZUSS! Self censorship today is REALLY taxing my strength. Baby...we are going to have to talk about my blog....this is my outlet....and I am going to have to bust through and share sometimes...I am...yes I am...

but not today.

Damn.

Pray for me ya'll.

Being Fearless When You Are Afraid

It would be an understatement to say that my world has radically changed. I am living in a new city (realistically at the moment I am living between two cities: Oakland and San Francisco). I am starting a new job on Monday. And I met a human being that challenges me and creates in me such a wonderous combination of fear and joy that sometimes I wonder if I am on an episode of Punk'ed or Hell Date...and at any moment...a midget in a devil suit is going to jump out of the bushes.

A new city is a challenge that I am well equipped to meet. I have spent the last few days walking, getting lost, turning down side streets, snapping photos of flora that I haven't seen before, and meeting new neighbors, and letting my mind adjust to a city that is stunningly beautiful but looks nothing like home. My roommates are both great. Josh is an old friend that I dearly love. His partner has awesome energy, and I have thoroughly enjoyed being with Josh's family this week.

My new job is going to be a great adventure. I am really looking forward to getting started on Monday. I am looking forward to getting back into a healthy work environment. My boss is someone that I can already tell that I am going to deeply respect. And I get to work with some of my favorite people across the country.

And then there is David. David is great. He is brilliant. His art moves me. We communicate open and honestly...and do not tell each other things that we think the other person wants to hear (even when we are playing!). And I am terrified of fucking it up! My favorite therapist taught me to go with my feelings...and I am going with this one. But I need to figure out how to go with my feelings and know that letting your feelings run means letting go of control. That is some scary shit.

Ahh well... here's the living and life changes!

The First Few Days

So my first few days in Oakland/San Francisco have been an adventure. Yesterday, I spent the day at the house in Oakland, tearing up floors, ripping out a fire place, spackling, and painting my bedroom ceiling. Talk about racking up the butch points. One more heavy lifting project, and I advance directly to Lesbian Level One.




This morning, I told Josh that I was going to take the morning to run some errands: mail my Mom my old house keys, so she could move some boxes into storage for me and joining the gym. I was successful in both endeavours. On my journeys this morning I grabbed pictures of the two buildings above. One of the buildings is San Francisco City Hall, and the other is Oakland City Hall. I sent a copy of the picture of the San Francisco City Hall (which looks like a state capitol) to my friend Dawn. I wrote, "why the hell is the San Francisco City Hall larger than the Minnesota State Capitol." Dawn wrote back a succint explanation and said, "The gays."

That's where the fun basically ended. So I am trying to learn my way around Oakland. I have the downtown area pretty much covered, and I was pretty sure that I could get from the downtown area to the shopping district at the foot of the hills from my neighborhood. I called Josh and got him on the line. I told him that I was going to call him once I got to Lake Shore Drive, so I could get directions on how to actually get up to our house. He said sure. That was the last I heard from him. I successfully navigated to Lake Shore Drive and to the shopping area. I recognized that I needed to turn up one of the streets and begin going uphill...and it was at that point I started calling my dear roommate. Unfortunately, my dear roommate didn't answer his phone. I think it died. Bad luck for me.

So, I retraced my steps back into downtown Oakland and caught the train back to San Francisco to Josh's condo. I basically walked this morning from 9:30 to 3:00pm minus an hour for eating and train transit. I felt like an Incan messenger.

Tomorrow, perhaps, I will make it back to my house, that is, if I can find it.

But wait...there is more. Yesterday was pure hilarity. So my neighborhood is the stuff that reality show folks dream about. Across the street is the hip straight girl Lisa who comes by and tells us the best places to get our toes done. Next door to her is Mike, a homosexual. Next door to Mike is CeCe the black tranny drag queen that drives a shiny black BMW, and directly next door to us is crazy ass Suzanne from Iowa who is taking care of her sick Aunt.

So yesterday, I am standing outside talking to David on the phone, and the generator we have working at the house, starts to smoke a little bit. It smokes for perhaps five minutes and then stops. I see CeCe outside and say hello, and then I go back into the house. A few moments later I look up, and here are two fire tracks on our narrow drive, and the hottest firemen in the world come piling out. Turns out someone saw the smoke on the OTHER SIDE of the block and called the fire department. They were very good natured about it. Later that night, we saw the same firemen at the Subway on Lakeshore Drive.

I walk outside and CeCe is standing there again chuckling. And then she says, "I have been trying to reach Joshua all day. You just tell him I got an extra long extension cord that I can run across the street if he wants to use my power." And I thought to myself, "yes girl, I am sure you do have an extra long extension cord."

Other than the initial shell shock of realizing that I have, indeed, left Minneapolis, I am finding Oakland to be delightful. The reality of the move will set in more when I actually start working next week. I miss all my peeps back in Minneapolis. And ya'll got a place to stay out here.