Since deciding to leave Oakland and move back to Champaign-Urbana, I've been reflecting a lot on what I came here to the Bay for. Like, what did I receive here? How has this place changed me? What have I done here that's changed me? How have I been changed by what I've given?
I keep not writing about it because I keep getting stuck at wanting to be comphrensive or have some conclusion to make. Today, the women at the nail salon in my neighborhood told me they'd miss seeing me. A few of them have kids in Oakland high schools, so we often chat about district politics when I'm there. One woman put her hand on my hand and kept it there when I told her my mom is dying. I keep having moments like this where I'm overwhelmingly grateful for my community here.
I decided then to just write in the dribbles that it comes to me. Maybe later I'll see some grand unifying theory.
So here's a list of some stuff I love that I learned about in the Bay:
-- gel manicures and pedicures (and their restorative value)
-- shiatsu massage (and how it's most effective for me if I can do an appointment a week for three weeks)
-- açaí berries
-- hiking
-- deeper knowledge of the history of the Black Panther Party
-- Bikram yoga (noted: the man is rapey and steals other people's work)
-- smoking weed
-- steak fries
-- Ethiopian food
-- I don't love the wedding dress industry but I did learn about it and got trying beautiful wedding dresses on all out of my system without having to actually get married.
-- "Tell Me When to Go," "Blow the Whistle," and "Thizz Dance"
-- burritos al pastor
-- pork buns
-- going on strike
-- emergent strategy
-- prison abolition
-- Marshawn Lynch
-- pomegranates, persimmons, dinosaur kale, and loquats
-- LED lights
-- outsider art
-- donut shops
-- the color of Redwood bark
-- pupusas
All this stuff makes my life better.
