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Down by the water in West Berkeley stand several buildings looking old and tired. The life within them is the thing. These structures house a triad of co-operative work and hands-on education spaces called the Waterside Workshops.
Berkeley Boathouse is a boat shop, Street Level Cycles is a bike shop/ open hours bike tool library, and Sew Your Own is a sewing collective. The latter is a room with many sewing machines, a wall full of fabrics, and other odds and ends. Each space is watched over by volunteers and staff who share their knowledge
What you see above is my first attempt at using a sewing machine. My friend Chaz and I hung out for a bit in Cali and his awesome fabric collage sweatshirt inspired me to make this, my first fabric collage doubled up as a present for Danila. Doesn’t he look stunning in his X-Mas sweatshirt?
There is nothing like sinking into a city with its books sinking into your lap. Richard Brautigan has added a special touch to my San Francisco and Bay Area experience.
I was leaning against a wall waiting for Lily on Mission and 17th, when I got to fantasizing about Richard Brautigan. In my vision he came up to me just as I was thinking, “If this city is good enough for Richard Brautigan than it’s good enough for me.”
“Hi there,” he said interrupting my train of thought. “Hi,” I replied, “You are Richard Brautigan.” “Yes.” “But you are dead.” “No I am not, but keep that. You want to go somewhere and watch people together?” “Yes, except maybe we can talk too, because I watch people all by myself.”
I conjured this scenario, leaning against the entrance of a pharmacy, waiting for Lily. Somehow my consciousness came back to me and I began to feel silly, but that passed fast. I was about to go back to la-la land when I spotted Lily walking towards me with her awesome boots and we went to eat at a Salvadorian place, which ended up being a whole different story.
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