But MY Red Velvet Cupcake recipe kicks ass!

And I wasn't invited!

Were you invited to the Board of Supervisors' Baking Throwdown?
What, is someone at City Hall trying to get a show on the Food Network?

You weren't worried about the city budget anymore, were you? I guess that whole budget thing worked out just fine. What were we all so upset about? And they had enough money left in the budget to make that special Cake Cape.

ps.: I'm sorry to sound like such a spoil sport. I'm back on the low carb thing again and it's making me really bitter and hateful of city politics. I even lied about the cupcake recipe: I don't have one. I suspect that this bakeoff is dredging up (flour pun intended) my long-buried childhood pain from never having an E-Z Bake Oven when I was eight... oh, but I digress...

Thanks to Emamd for sharing this little bizarre petit four of SF politics with us right before bedtime. I wonder if anyone wants to accompany me Thursday to Room 256 to see this special event. I'm unemployed so it's not like I have anything pressing to do.

Goodnight, Fog City. May visions of coconut cupcakes and tall angel food cakes fill your dreams tonight, without any calories.

Earth Angel

"Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something." ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"The act of compassion begins with full attention, just as rapport does. You have to really see the person. If you see the person, then naturally, empathy arises. If you tune into the other person, you feel with them. If empathy arises, and if that person is in dire need, then empathic concern can come. You want to help them, and then that begins a compassionate act. So I'd say that compassion begins with attention." ~ Daniel Goleman

"Compassion is the radicalism of our time." ~ HH the Dalai Lama

***

A few weeks after I met K and the kids, I attended a press conference at City Hall, to join in solidarity with homeless families that had been trying to meet with the mayor for almost two years. Before the press conference, a petite, curly haired young woman approached me in a friendly manner and introduced herself.

In that easy way, I can now say that I met a little angel. Her name is Colleen.

Since then, I've been inspired, awed, overwhelmed and impressed by Colleen's incredible grasp of our byzantine and broken system that fails so many of our underprivileged citizens. She is constantly providing important information about the machinations at the state and city level, attending meetings in the state capitol and City Hall often. She's been a support and wonderful help with K and the kids, as well as my friends Lisa and Rachel's growing organization to help homeless and poor mothers called Help a Mother Out.

Colleen exudes a sense of quiet determination and compassion. I was thrilled when she agreed to be part of i live here:SF, mostly because I wanted to share a part of her with all of you. As we walked through the Tenderloin, scouting her favorite spots, she was regularly greeted by the locals, some for a quick wave or hello and some for a hug or a handshake. Colleen's photo shoot turned out to be as beautiful as she is and I think you'll see what I mean. I feel honored and oh so grateful that she added her story to my collection.

Please read Colleen's story and see her photos here.

Separating the wheat from the chaff

outside City Hall last night

***

Oh no! I've lost three "followers" since yesterday. Quel dommage. Hopefully they're back to knitting tea cozies and fervently praying that their God didn't notice they were reading my blog for a while (Please, don't pray for me. I'll take my chances.). Guess they didn't want to get lumped in with the wrong crowd, eh? LOL.

My ego is sufficiently inflated enough to hope that I might be impinging on the happy fantasy worlds of a few others by showing my support that all people, of all races and sexes deserve to be treated equally by the laws that govern all of us. But I'm just a tiny voice in the world, so I can't say that I have that much power to disillusion someone who is already deluded. These folks better turn up their televisions a bit louder to drown out the voice of outrage, because my tiny voice is now amplified with all the other tiny voices that demand a nation where all people are valued and recognized.

***

"From the equality of rights springs identity of our highest interests; you cannot subvert your neighbor's rights without striking a dangerous blow at your own." ~ Carl Schurz

***

I wish I could write more today. But read Mark Morford's column. With any luck, I'll lose a few more brain-and-heart shackled followers in some Guilt By Association with a columnist who says it like it is. Go Mark!

And I probably won't be around a computer much for the rest of the week. Things are not good with Little Helen healthwise and my Bunny needs me. I'm not sure how much longer my grandma is going to be around.

But I did upload the photos from yesterday's evening protest. You can see them here.

This photo below is my favorite. I don't know who this girl is, but we just caught each other at the same time. Two random people passing at a particular moment in history.

I call this one Picture a Protest.

xoxo

While You Were Out

Dear Gavin,

I hope you had fun in Washington DC yesterday, meeting with all of those important people in our nation's capital. Are they helping you out with your gubernatorial campaign? How was the Victory Garden Tour at the White House?

Well, I just wanted to keep you up to date with some things you might have missed out on since you're not in town too much these days. Even though your schedule says you're in your office today, I didn't see you when I was outside City Hall this morning.

Maybe you didn't realize this, but today there was a press conference on the steps of City Hall by homeless mothers. Apparently, homeless mothers in the community have been trying to meet you for over two years to talk about housing and issues that affect their families, but somehow you're never available to meet with them...

Here are some of the kids that your mayorship affects with the city's lack of transitional and low income housing for families...

Little kids living in one room SROs in Chinatown (7 people living in one room? That's insane.)

Mothers worried about how they'll survive each day.

People holding up a banner that reads "housing is a right, not a privilege."

Rachel and Lisa from helpamotherout.org were there. They have a diaper drive to help mothers who need the basics and can't get them because there aren't enough services. Did you know that there isn't even ONE diaper bank in the entire city of San Francisco?

Lisa, Rachel and I had to leave after the press conference to meet with K and bring her some diapers, formula, blankets and other items for the baby. But another concerned mom from Badgermama went up to your offices with the rest of the crowd and here is what she reported about being outside of your office for an hour:

I went up to the Mayor's Office with about 20 people. They kicked us out of the office and said that the one woman who can access the mayor's schedule was in a meeting. We waited in the hall outside the Mayor's office for over an hour.

Finally a guy came out and all he did was take a phone number down and promise that someone would call the coalition to make an appointment. Everyone had to leave, the children were restless, the ABC reporter split off some of the most involved folks to get them to go with him and a cameraman to someone's apartment in Chinatown where 7 people live in 1 room.

I played with children in the hallway so that moms could talk to the cameras some more...

So there you go, Gavin... just a little recap of the stuff going on right outside your door, fyi.

UPDATE 7:44pm: Here is the news segment that aired on KGO tonight.

***

On an entirely different note...

Kelly! These animals were a HUGE HIT!!! The kids LOVE them! Thank you so much!!! They told me to say thank you! They immediately started playing and hugging them. So adorable. You knew exactly what to get.

xoxo

julie