Explosive Laugh Alert: Do Not Drink Hot Liquids While Taking This Poll

Muchos gracias to Mari for posting about this contest. Go visit The Mudflats to choose your favorite title. I really had totally banned myself from reading anything political in past months, even curtailing my Daily Show intake, just because I really had OD'ed so badly last year.

This image made me realize that I probably am missing out on some laughs during my self-imposed internment from the bizarre political landscape. (I voted for Winkin', Blinkin' and Todd. But it was VERY hard to choose, go on... you'll see. BTW, the contest ends tomorrow.)

I'm still sick but have not taken a single nap yet today, which feels like a huge health improvement breakthrough. And my iPhone has not disappeared again. Perhaps the tsetse fly has moved on!

***

ps.: Fabulous book cover image from Mudflats post. I used to read this blog often when SP appeared out of nowhere, and it's really a great blog.

A tsetse fly stole my iPhone

Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subsection:	Calyptratae
Superfamily:	Hippoboscoidea

***

I have to write this post very quickly before I become narcoleptic again. It happens so suddenly these days.

But for the record:

I AM TIRED OF NAPS.
I HATE TEA.

Other than that, life is peachy.

***

When I was in grade school, there was a National Geographic or NOVA program that made quite an impression on me. It must have been about Africa, or bugs, or bad things that happen to people in Africa when around certain kinds of bugs because that is when I learned about the tsetse fly and sleeping sickness, otherwise known as Human African trypanosomiasis.

I especially became enamored of the word tsetse (you know how little kids are) and although I don't ever intend to get sleeping sickness and obviously I wouldn't wish this disease on anyone, whenever I catch one of these little colds that renders me unconscious for days in a row, I just figure I've been bitten by a tsetse fly's lesser cousin.

To the extent that my imaginary tsetse fly bite has made me cognitively useless for an entire week so far, I also could not find my cell phone for a solid day. I figured that the fly stole it, but then hours later I found the phone hiding in my bed between my duvet and my blankie.

(Yes, this is one of those silly posts that I occasionally write when in altered mental states caused by various illnesses. Normally I would go full on into Woody Allen mode right now, like this post or this post but today I am leaning more towards science. I wish I could write a real post today but that is not to be... I will have to blame my dearth of ideas on the tsetse fly as well.)

And on that note, I am off to make my 250th cup of tea.

xoxo

Play the New SF Game! All MUNI Riders Can Win!

I think this is brilliant. From the brand new site, "Where's Gavin?"
And thanks to Greg of the much beloved N-Judah Chronicles for posting this first.

I wonder if any of us can actually win this game? I sure could use a free Fast Pass.

***

We’re looking for Mayor Gavin Newsom. Have you seen him? We know he talks a good game on Muni and transit in our fair city, the City and County of San Francisco. But why doesn’t he also walk the walk? His advocacy and leadership for Muni has been noticeably absent even though, deep in his heart, he must know that the truly green choice is non-car transportation. So what are we to do? Apparently he has the lock on the capitulating Supes and just doesn’t get it:

When asked what he thinks about the fact that Muni riders are paying more than drivers in this budget (estimates say the ratio is 4 to 1), Newsom responded that’s only true “when the budget is taken out of context” and argued that over the years “it’s been fairly balanced.”

In order to make this mistake, he must be a car guy. But there is some hope! We only have this clue from the Chronicle:

He also rides Muni incognito, disguised in a baseball cap, and walks when he can, said his spokesman Nathan Ballard.

But going incognito means we can’t find him. So can you help us find him? Only you, the riders of our beloved San Francisco Municipal Railway, can find Gavin going incognito. And to get you excited, check out the sidebar to see what prizes you could win! The deep and resounding question of our time is not “Where’s Waldo?” It’s “Where’s Gavin?”

***

I'm still sick but this game did brighten my day a bit. Now off for some more tea. I stole the graphic off of the Where's Gavin site because it's better than the only photo I've got of him.

Full of Life

Meet Kathleen.

***

Kathleen is my newest subject for i live here: SF. What I loved about her was her complete openness and love of life. We had so much fun on her photo shoot, just talking and sharing stories. Despite the sad story I've been immersed in lately, I still see that the world is full of people who love their life and share that enthusiasm with others.

While you're over there reading about Kathleen, I'm lying low... I've either just caught a cold or else am trying NOT to catch one, but either way I see a big bowl of chicken soup in my future and some naps.

Catch you later, guys.

What you helped us do on Mother's Day

Because of YOUR generosity and love and care, K and the kids got to spend all of Mother's Day at the zoo. (We-- meaning all of us-- got them a membership so they can go as often as they like over the next year. The kids LOVE the animals... thank you!)

We saw giraffes and zebras and flamingoes and lions and tigers and goats and ...

We played in the petting zoo and ate hot dogs (the goats got pellets) and had ice cream and juice...

And swung on the swings and slid on the slides. Just the normal happy things that moms and kids should get to do... and they loved every minute of it.

Thank you for your continued generosity and love. YOU are the people that are making a difference.

My Bunny

"Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that suppose to mean? In my heart it don't mean a thing." ~ Toni Morrison, Beloved

***

My mother in high school.
Isn't she pretty?

Mom and me.

***

I don't remember exactly how old I was when I started calling my mom Bunny. I do call her Mommy too, but somehow Bunny (like as a cute bunny rabbit, not a WASP-y Bunny from the country club set) is what sounds right.

I have thought a lot about mothers lately. And the children they love. As you might have noticed.

Not being a mother myself, I still feel a mom-ness coming out in me when I am with K and her kids.

I think if it wasn't for my Bunny, I wouldn't even know how to go about helping K at all.

***

My Bunny is the person who made me who I am today.

Boy, am I grateful.

Thank you, Mommy. Thank you, Bunny.

I love you for eternity.

xoxo

Have you seen these guys?

Meet Gene, Mark, Christine and Augustus.

These guys are over at my other blog... you remember that one? It's still cool but it's been lonely. Go say hi.

;-)

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

a sea change

sea change
n.

1. A change caused by the sea: "Of his bones are coral made:/Those are pearls that were his eyes:/Nothing of him that doth fade,/But doth suffer a sea change" (Shakespeare).
2. A marked transformation: "The script suffered considerable sea changes, particularly in structure" (Harold Pinter).

***

1.	a striking change, as in appearance, often for the better.

2.	any major transformation or alteration.

***

at the Palace of Fine Arts
lingering memories from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition

Last night I went to sleep much too late. It must have been an exceptionally foggy night because the fog horn moans were much longer and deeper than I remember them sounding. Even being so many blocks away from the ocean, it made me wonder and appreciate 1. how loud those horns must be to the people that live closer to them, and 2. how many maritime disasters were averted over the years by the sounds of these horns, hidden in the fog but providing a necessary warning to those who might stray into harm's way.

***

When I was a little girl, I had a Viewmaster-- you know, that plastic gadget that you insert a reel of slides in and look through the eyeholes. My favorite reel was the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and aside from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, my favorite Wonder was the Lighthouse at Alexandria.

With its height, its fire and reflective mirrors, that lighthouse not only marked an incredible achievement in engineering but also provided an invaluable alert to avoid danger and destruction and loss of life.

***

Fog horns and lighthouses. Keeping strange travelers safe from harm.

***

I just have to tell you that things are better today with K and the kids. I know you were worried and so was I, and despite the fact that I won't say more about the past few days, you should know now that the sun is shining and we are back on track.

Last night, as I laid in bed and listened to the fog horns, I thought about the phrase a sea change and pondered what exactly it meant. Truly, meeting K and the kids has provided the basis for an alchemical change in me, how I see the world around me, what my opinions are about people and their nature, how I see this city from a different vantage point and perhaps how cities in general function or do not.

All of these things are good. I think some of you were worried that in my efforts to help K, that I am not taking care of myself or am putting her welfare above my own. Yes, and no. As a hedonist and selfish person, I'll never fully be able to not consider my own happiness. However, my happiness is surely linked to others and I don't find that to be a bad state of affairs. What you might read here, whether it is frustration, sadness, anger, hope or love, is true and real.

I would rather write something abrasive and honest because I have experienced it, then not to write it at all. Those who can take it and understand will stick with me, and those who can't won't, and that's fine too.

But those lighthouses and fog horns are real. We all need to see them and listen to them. For this one little family living on the edges of a world that doesn't see them, there are many many others who also need help. I think we need to start small.

I think we can all be fog horns and lighthouses in ourselves. Even if it is to guide one other person, we can do that.

xoxo

ps.: The PayPal button will be up again shortly. Use it if you can.

How are you celebrating Mother's Day?

If you are doing something for Mother's Day, I bet it involves celebrating with a roof over your head...

Will I be at City Hall on Friday with my camera taking a sh*tload of photos and finding more families to talk to? Hell YES.

Coincidence? Perfect timing... whatever it is, it's also pathetic. Will I see you there, too? City Hall on Friday.

***

For Immediate Release Press Contact:

May 5, 2009 Miguel Carrera, 415-346-3740 x 319

Jennifer Friedenbach, 415-346-3740 x306

MEDIA ADVISORY

MOTHERS HOLD MOTHER’S DAY PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE ECONOMICAL DOWN TURN

When: Friday, May 8, 2009, 11:00

Where: Steps of City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton Goodlett Place, San Francisco

What: Homeless mothers are holding a press conference to decry the lack of response from the Mayor’s office on the doubling of homeless families in San Francisco since the recession.

San Francisco—San Francisco, like cities across the nation, is seeing a dramatic spike in the number of families requesting emergency shelter. The city of San Francisco has enough homeless families to fill a small, rapidly growing town. Yet, this issue has received very loud silence coming out of the Mayor’s office.

According to Connecting Point, in the summer of 2007, the average number of homeless families waiting to be placed into shelters was 75. In the summer of 2008, that average doubled to 150 families. Since then, there have been anywhere from 150 to 190 families waiting to be placed into shelters. The recession has taken a tremendous toll on our low-income families, and homeless families are calling on the Mayor’s office to respond.

Studies have show that homelessness has negative impacts on our youth’s health, development and education. Mothers are becoming more and more concerned for their children’s well being.. They are in awe at the fact that the city has not responded to the tragic outcome of our recession. Homeless parents will be presenting their solutions and will be asking for a meeting with the Mayor. Homeless parents active with the Coalition on Homelessness have been calling for a meeting with the Mayor for the past two years, and have not been granted one.

For Mother’s Day, the mothers of the homeless community would like to spend their day securing their children’s future. Homeless parents will be calling for additional affordable housing units, a lifting of the time limit on a locally funded housing subsidy, and increased homeless prevention funding. San Francisco has adopted the “Housing First” policy which was created to swiftly house homeless single adults. The mothers are fed up with the lack of action from City Hall, and are demanding that the “Housing First” policy that was adopted by San Francisco be implemented for families in their time of need.

According to Jenise Standfield of SRO Families United, “Our families need real “rapid housing” not “rapid homelessness"!

Maybe we just need a newer Underground Railroad

I don't pray but tonight I wish I knew how. I hope I don't have to write the rest of this post.

You know today's world is a fucked up place when the Underground Railroad starts looking like the only way to get things done.

Please please please send hope.

My Superhero Cape Is Getting Heavy

Guys, listen up. I'm so so incredibly appreciative that people keep picking up K's story and running with it: yesterday again we got shout-outs on SFist and Eye on Blogs AND now I'm BlogHer of the Week at BlogHer (which is huge and I'm really grateful... thanks, Jory!) but I gotta tell you, I'm a practical person and I just want to get shit done.

I'll be very honest and tell you what I need to help K and the kids and what I don't.

What I don't need (ie., stuff that raises my blood pressure):

• Any more comments telling me how nice I am or how great it is about what I'm doing. I'm not doing this to get my angel wings. If you think what I'm doing is great, don't just talk about it-- DO something. Tell your friends, post this story somewhere. Donate some money. HELP.
  
• Any more lists about places I can call, please. I have every fricking last one of them.
  
• Any more smart ass comments about The System. Trust me, I know The System is fucked. Comments like that don't help.
  

What I need and this is the plain and honest truth:

• I need a sublet, a single bedroom apartment or a hotel room with a kitchenette to rent for K and the kids from now until the end of August in San Francisco. That's it. It's that simple. With the donations I've received, if there is a good hearted landlord out there (and I'm guessing there has to be at least one) I need a place where this little family can stay until their permanent housing comes through in September. Budget is obviously a consideration.
  

Now honestly, with all of the attention out there about K's story, this part should be a walk in the park. I just can't do it all by myself. I don't know every person and possibility in San Francisco. Please don't email me Craigslist ads. I want solid leads or people who know people who can do something tangible.

So you guys that really want to help... help me find a place for them to live in the city. Somewhere in the city that's decent, with a little kitchen and a bedroom. The kids are in school until the middle of June and then they are in summer school with their little pals. So we're not taking them out of the city.

That's it. That's what we need. If I can, I'll pay for it in advance even. No Section 8, just a little sublet to rent till the end of the summer. This family is quiet and sweet. The kids are precious and fun to be around. The baby is adorable.

After that, then we can talk about more clothing, toys, etc. I mean, if you don't have a closet to put your clothes in or room on the floor to play on, having piles of toys and clothes piled in the tiny place you DO have just makes it harder to live normally. Having a kitchen where your mom can make you breakfast or where she can whip up her famous mac 'n cheese casserole is a hell of a lot better than eating KFC and Carl's Junior all the time because you don't have a kitchen.

So who's stepping up to the plate with me? If we get this housing part done, then hell, I don't know what I'll do for you yet but it could totally involve showering you with kisses and giving you my undying gratitude. And perhaps just knowing that you were a superfucking action hero and that I'll share my cape with you, because YOU helped save a family-- that might be the reward in itself.

Let's finish this story and make our own. In the happiest way possible.

San Francisco's Magical Telephone Number and the Angels of "They"

Does anyone know where I can get a pair of these in a size 7?

***

Once upon a time, there was a little homeless woman with three small beautiful children. As a victim of domestic violence, where ever she turned, people told the mother to call a toll-free number that would put her in touch with shelters that could help her. They, the Angels of They, would know what to do. They could help her and her children.

The little homeless mother did just that.

She called the toll-free number almost every day, at 10am, like she was supposed to. For weeks.

And then, she called the shelters that the hotline told her to. Just like she was supposed to. Not just once. Many, many times.

And do you know what happened next, dear readers? Can you guess?

***

Here is what happened. When the little homeless mother called these shelters, these were the kinds of replies that she got:

"We don't have any room right now."

"We don't have any room for a family of your size." (ie., one mother, one little girl aged seven, one son aged nine, and a two-month old baby.)

And here are the even better replies:

"Why do you keep calling us all the time?!" (because some people learned to recognize the little homeless woman's voice)

"I told you the other day we didn't have anything for you! Why do you keep calling?"

Now that's helpful!

***

And there is the truth of the situation. Not for just ONE family, but for who knows how many. Dozens? Hundreds?

On Friday, K finally had a chance to call a shelter that was willing to do an intake for her case. She waited for her call at 1pm (I know this because I called her beforehand to wish her luck).

She started to discuss her situation with the shelter worker, who was then interrupted and asked K if she could call her back to finish the intake.

And guess what? THE WOMAN FROM THE SHELTER NEVER CALLED BACK.

K called the shelter but they never finished the phone call. So not only was she not able to be helped by this shelter, she wasn't even able to finish her intake call so that the shelter could DECIDE if they wanted to take her case or if they were even able to help her.

And that, my friends, is how the system really works.

***

I told K yesterday that if one more person tells me to "just have K call this toll-free number and 'They' will be able to help her..." that I was going to punch them. No matter how well meaning they might be. I said if I had a freaking dollar for every person who's told me that already, I could probably have rented them a suite at the Palace Hotel.

K laughed and said, "Now you know how I feel."

Please keep telling your friends about this story, and the bigger and sadder situation that exists in San Francisco. I love this city, but day by day I become more embarrassed by how it can't help the people who need it most.

My guest post, posted here ;-)

Below is the text of my guest post yesterday for helpamotherout.org.

If you haven't been to see their site, they're doing lots of good work for moms and kids in need. Check them out and tell them tangobaby sent you.

;-)

***

Flowers are always a little more beautiful after the rain, don't you think?
This photo was taken in Golden Gate Park.

***

Two weeks ago today, something happened that changed my life forever.

I think it's a rare and magical thing to be able to look at a date on a calendar and think to yourself: Yes, on this day, I became a better person.

I'm just glad that date happened to me sooner than later.

***

Two weeks ago today, I passed by a young homeless woman on the streets of San Francisco, her eyes large and tear-filled. Holding a baby, with a small boy on one side of her and a little girl on the other, she needed $60 dollars for a motel room.

I walked by.

I often walk by people begging for money. We all do. We set up these automatic shields. If we gave away all of our money to everyone that asked us to, what would we have left?

The truth is that we might have even more than we gave. I would have never been able to say that to you over two weeks ago, but I can say it now.

***

The good news is that this time, I thought about the sight that I had seen, and thought that it was so terribly terribly wrong that I would not have been able to sleep had I not turned back. My protective bubble had burst.

And in so doing, returning to that woman and her children, a whole sad world opened to me. A world I have never encountered: a world of savage cruelty inflicted by someone bigger and stronger, someone who should have cared and protected but only harmed, with malice. But it's also a world of love and strength, the true measure of a woman's love for her family, who would do what she could for her children no matter how unsure the future seemed.

K and her children are a joy to be around. They are definitely a unit, bound by love, to each other. In this short span of two weeks, the world has reached out to help this family where a city could not. I am amazed at how the situation changes moment by moment.

I can only be inspired by the good will and love that people around the world, connected by electronic threads of compassion, have woven around this tiny family. Money, clothing, toys, this and more await this family. They are not out of the woods yet, by any means. They still need reliable shelter for months to come. But I am hopeful that their days of struggle and tears and cold nights have passed forever. If you can help, please do.

These children are our future. This mother is the only one they will ever have.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.

With love,

Julie

Time Out

Door on Haight Street reads
Community: All different but all help each other get the fruit from the tree.

Ain't that the truth?!

***

Holy moly. What a week! We got our little story on SFist, Eye on Blogs, KGO News (thank you again, Carolyn Tyler!), we were tweeted and facebooked and tumblr-ed oodles of times, we got City Hall a little riled up, and goodness only knows what else.

You guys have been fantastic. You are living proof that this world is a wonderful place, full of people who care. You care a lot.

Your support of K and the kids has been mind-blowing. My inbox is so out of control that I can't even deal with it right now. But I'm totally happy with that because you have shared your best: your hearts all in the right places. I wish I could reply to each and every one of you. Some day I will. It might take me weeks but gosh darn it, I will.

Because you were there for me.

***

Just so you know, K and the kids are all set for the weekend, whether or not a shelter comes through next week, thanks to you. So they're happy and I'm happy. And hopefully we will have some progress to report next week.

But today is The Boy's birthday and it's his turn for a little well-deserved attention and some TLC.

You guys enjoy yourselves and I'll catch up with you in a few. But please do visit another wonderful blog who has been very supportive of K and her family's story, helpamotherout.org. I wrote a guest post for them today.

xoxo