Remembering Hamburger Mary's- Folsom St.

I was looking on google for images of the interior of the original Hamburger Mary's on Folsom St. in the city because I had this memory of being there at a very young age.

(Actually the memory started a little earlier than that when I was reading about Versaille and a photo of a black and white checker floor triggered a scene I play in my head sometimes because I've never been able to figure out if it was a dream or a memory- where I'm in the kitchen of a very grand and old house, after being carried through a dark unfurnished room late at night. My sightline is barely above the island butcher blocks leg and I'm staring up at my aunt Lillie while she's taking a sip out of a glass- and that's it- it's all I can remember or dreamt)

back to Hamburger Mary's...

My parent's would take me there to visit my aunt Charlotte when she was working as a chef in the late 80's or early 90's (I can't remember exactly). My favorite thing was the pinball machine and how loud and urban it was. I remember waiting to play the pinball machine and this guy was already playing and he had a bunch of free games (I assume he was a regular there because he was very good) and I was too shy to ask him if I could play so I told my dad. To this day I remember how startled that guy looked when my dad tapped him on the shoulder and said, "hey man! Let him play!" the guy was apologetic and let me have his free games. I remember feeling so bad but happy I had free games. 

My aunt would send out bar food and it was just so cool to know someone on the inside. My family was so popular- everyone wanted to meet Charlotte's brother or her sisters or nephews- it was really exciting as a kid! 

I don't know what made me think of this place at all really. Some people had written reviews about their memories on Yelp- it was pretty cool to read because I was so young so it kind of reinforced how I remember it being. It's closed down a while ago but seeing how it's a mini-chain now I doubt it would be now what it was then: a hip, loud, off-beat, urban watering hole in a not so good part of town, but I'd like to go back and have a drink after all these years and make a toast to my aunt. 

Fall in bloom.

Because I have an older post of my garden in bloom, I thought I'd make a post of my garden dormant- go figure! Rufus the dog of disaster still mopes around, digging things up and testing my patients. However, I can't blame all of the deaths of my beloved leafy children on him. There has been a lot of trial and error, not to mention how my misunderstanding the difference between annuals and perennials affected things once it started to cool down - live and learn. I've got it now and I've got even bigger plans for spring. 

Enjoy!

There are some new things that were intended like this iris and some that weren't. I spread the iris roots around the yard last year hoping they'd have more of a presence when they began to grow. So far so good...

The lilies and agapanthus were not intended. They were part of a fill pile underneath a layer of mulch and made their way to the surface. Which is great because they will make a nice backdrop for the smaller plants to come. 

These "snowflake plants" have thrived better than I expected. I love that they're large enough now to be able to enjoy their unusual leaf patterns. 

When it's dry, I like to spend a lot of time at this table reading, smoking, listening to music and watching Moo play. 

I put some plants with fun textures in pots on the table. In spring they'll be hearty enough to run my hand over without crushing them. 

Lambs ear feels like ... well a lambs ear. I can't think of a better discription. 

 

These succulents are always nice. I rarely see them in pots on a table so I thought they'd be a nice addition seeing how they grow so slowly. 

. 

The old apple tree with the broken branch lost a limb last month but it still managed to hang in there another year and produce some really sweet, big red apples. The tree is definitely unique. It is also ugly and problematic. If I had the ability I'd probably cut it down. The area underneath is one of the few problem areas of the yard. 

Whoa! an owl!

The area I have seen the most consistent progress is definitely the hillside by the front door. I wish I had taken a picture of what is used to be (overgrown with agapanthus and ivy) because it looks so much better now. 

And last but not least, the bougainvillea I found hidden under some smelly, long stemmed plant can't tell what season it is! Its flowers are a stark contrast to the monochromatic and somber green of almost everything else. It sits in a raised bed that is already showing signs of cosmos, nasturtium, and morning glory which will bloom in spring and help to fill in the blank wall with more color.

I can't wait!

a conversation from the morning.

Just to preface: I am on my path to a great discovery.  I've had the most intense depression to affect me in almost 10 years, I'm considering the idea that I might have a borderline personality disorder. If not, it's something very close to it and regardless of the diagnosis, I have a lot of work ahead of me if I want to live. 

Today is one of the first days that I haven't felt the weight of existing crushing me. Very often there is a dialogue in my head, it confuses me and tells me the truth in such a way that it will appear to me as a lie or vice versa leaving me confused about what to believe and never really trusting anything. This morning when I closed my eyes a lighter version of that dialogue manifested itself with images (which is rare- unless I am trying to sleep and then the images switch and flip and don't match the dialogue) and I decided to share it because it made me laugh (which never happens). 

After my body woke me up this morning I shut my eyes for a short time and I fell into a half sleep- not really asleep, just dreaming. 

I saw myself sat at a bistro table with no one in the other chair having a cup of tea, hovering above the intersection of Russell and College Avenues just as a bus was at it's stop to load passengers with traffic behind it. 

I glanced over at the bus stopped, it's doors were open, no passengers coming in, none going out. No one even on the sidewalk or behind the steering wheels of the cars waiting to pass. Suddenly I began to speak, "Do you know what Monotional means?" Very calmly and sternly a voice replied, "yes, it's when a bicycle is suspended in a block of ice in an intersection. "

I accepted this answer as the truth and glanced back at the bus. It was still running with no one coming or going but in front of it, in the cross walk was a bicycle, suspended in a large block of ice blocking any potential of passing traffic. 

And then I woke up. 

Monotional. Totally. 

"I lived in the trees to preach a greater good"

My new friend "B".

He asked if he could sit in the chair next to me after walking around the corner swearing. I said sure. We talked casually and he told me he was one of the people camped in the trees here in Berkeley and apologized for swearing but was still angry over the recent outcome. 

He was a really simple man who believed in unconditional love. I'm not afraid to speak to the homeless occupants of the neighborhood. I figure they're just like everyone else- everyone has a story and deciding to live your life homeless usually makes for a good one. 

I understood that he was incredibly sensitive, his use of drugs probably didn't help. The fact that he is close to his mother who lives in Houston and that he keeps in contact with her told me he's probably just confused and misguided.

Confusion with a big heart is not an easy combination.  

Not to mention he raised the sweetest dog, "Balkor" and reminisced about an Alaskan Husky he'd had raised as a child. 

When you want to give and receive love without recognizing potential limits and boundaries (for whatever reason) you're bound to be hurt at one point or another and unfortunately for "B" He's seen a lot of hurt by people. 

Now he chooses to focus his energy on the earth and being part of it.

It was hard for me to be objective over the removal of the trees. I'm not a Berkeley citizen and I felt like the fight the tree sitters gave was admirable, but ultimately I knew it was the University's decision. 

B told me that just sitting and talking was the best part of his day and told me if I ever needed him I could find him in "the oaks". 

Thanks "B". 

Oakland Should Sit Down and Take Notes on Putting People First.

Oakland- the city across the bay. The dirty, fatter, smoking, drinking, red meat eating sister to San Francisco. Not easy shoes to fill when you compare... well anything.

Let's just examine how long it takes for Oakland's initiatives to be executed. The Seven Year plan??? Does anyone even remember that? What have we seen from mayor Brown's efforts? Well some of the "dangerous" trees around Lake Merritt have been taken down. Partially. The roots and eye soaring stumps that poke out of the ground make a great place to stretch during a run around our polluted lake. What else? 

The crime ridden downtown was slipped a hardcore sleeping pill with the hopes of waking up a revitalized, shining tribute to it's former self in a modern age. Not so much. 

The heart of downtown is a ghost town. Heaven forbid anyone need to take public transportation after dark- even with the overstaffed police department right there! All of Oaklands newer construction is concentrated in Oaklands "midtown"- I don't know about you but I didn't even know Oakland had a midtown. 

Standing on the BART platform I saw a billboard advertising a brand new condo high-rise in "Oaklands Midtown" and I thought... where is that???

The purpose of this blog is not to bash Oakland. Oakland is home. As home, I know it's workings in and out. Oaklanders or... Oaklandish people (as some like to be called) are a friendly, earthy, practical people who want nothing more than the opportunity than to live in the most geologically prime, bay area location, to be safe, and take a lot of pride in the struggle of living in an ever evolving, "transitional" city. 

With the election of Mayor Dellums, I as well as many others believed, "He's a man of business-A Congressman! Dellums is going to come in and do for Oakland what Oakland deserves."

For decades initiatives and ideas have been thrown around on ways to improve Oakland. Since we have seen little to no progress, nor heard any plans of future improvements to Oakland- Dellums has dropped the ball. I don't think he knows East from West in this city and how could he spending all his time in Washington. 

What Oakland needs is a leader who will swallow his pride and take notes from San Francisco. Yes, San Francisco has more money and the capability to make changes on a larger scale but it didn't get that way by being led by lazy, greedy city officials. 

Something as small as the Victory Garden in front of San Francisco's city hall, which wasn't meant to benefit the city, is not to produce anything but inspiration and a focus on agriculture in the rest of the nation. THE NATION people. 

I as well as many others are not asking or even hoping for the world, just to put Oaklands priorities in the right place- the people. 

Now, with Oakland as  my past, present and future, I read San Francisco is planning on closing down a section of Market st. (the busiest street in the entire city) to become more bike and pedestrian friendly I can't help but be a little jealous seeing how THAT is putting people first. 

Don't even get me started on how I feel about the closing of Embarcadero part time for yoga and festivities. Who needs that!?

Rob for Mayor.

BUCK FUSH!!

"It's time for members of Congress to address the pain that high gas prices are causing our citizens," the president said. "Every extra dollar that American families spend because of high gas prices is one less dollar they can use to put food on the table or send a child to college. The American people deserve better."

- Bush on removing the ban on off shore oil drilling.

... What a fucking moron. As our current president and the reason my uncle is serving his second term in Iraq and the reason my grandmother lost her home, and the reason countless number of people have died! -   he is that last person I want to hear from about "what Americans deserve". 

Loser.

Without a Gnome.

Since March I have been working on bringing life into the yard that came with our cottage. I could see the potential in the mature fruit trees, the trouble was getting to them. The grass was waste high in some areas! It was best to follow the trail the dog had made to his circle of poop. If that wasn't enough ivy had pretty much taken over anything it could climb on. It didn't take me long before I was in the yard everyday working on something else.

My first purchase was a weed whacker. I cut down all the weeds so it would be easier to attack the ivy. Instead of carrying all the yard waste up to the bin I just piled in in a sloping part of the yard and covered it in mulch to decompose. If I piled all of the weeds, ivy clippings and grass scraps, the pile would be as tall as me. 

There were a lot of things I liked and a lot I didn't like- that changed, I've planted seeds and flowers of all kinds. 90% of them I couldn't name- I just liked the way they looked and I am so happy because as they're filling in I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out.

This area was full of nasty snail plants and broken pieces of slate so I cleaned it out and planted flower seeds. I was really surprised when I found the stump of a bougainvillea. Since then I have been nursing back to health. 

I sectioned out a small plot for veggies- tomato, basil, peas and pumpkin. I fenced it in chicken wire and used the frame of an old window for the gate. I finally have my first - almost ripe Early Girl tomato.

 

I also have green beans but the plants only grow 2 or 3 at a time so I never have enough to eat at once. On the other hand the pumpkin vines got so big I had to cut openings for them. 

I just planted corn seeds about a week ago so you can imagine my surprise when I saw seedlings today. I don't know if the corn will make it by in time- I have a feeling I planted it too late. 

When we moved in, one of the first things I did in the yard was hack at this ancient wisteria because it was dormant and I didn't know what it was.- duh. Anyway, I followed the technique of my grandmother and by breaking a branch off and sticking it upright in the ground this is what I got...

It had a baby!! Those leaves coming off that dead stick is the start of a new wisteria that is going to grow up the drain pipe and cover the cottage (at some point). 

One of the fruit trees had me stumped. It had cherry blossom flowers and when they left it gave birth to tiny yellow cherries... I was afraid to eat them because who ever heard of a yellow cherry? Eventually they started to get a little bigger and I was eager to eat them so I googled yellow cherries and there is such a thing. It's called a yellow blush cherry. Having seen redness on the skin of my "cherries" I tried one and it was so sweet. 

I didn't fall over in pain so I picked a bunch and brought them in to wash and share. I must have had about 20. So the next day I brought some to work and after some understandable skepticism they began to disappear. Everyone loved them!

Except they convinced me they taste more like a small plum than a cherry. So I don't know what these crazy fruits are but I'm bagging them up to give out to people. 

To have this oasis in Oakland is so incredible. Yeah, it's been hard work but it's also been a labor of love. The best part is having people over and sharing all of it.

see ya!