Karaoke Fun

“What’s the next song?” I ask my friend Darell Lim while I sit in a small room that’s about 8 feet by 10 feet. Seconds later, out from the speakers sitting on-top of 2 shelves in the front corners, the popular Romanian song “Dragostea Din Tei” starts pulsing at a steady rhythm. It would only be a few seconds before I would start jumping up and down and singing up and down. My friend Darrell Kim was on the second microphone. We started singing “Mai ah hi, Mai ah ho, mai ah hoo, mai ah haha.” We sang the rest of the song without shame. Afterall, the door was closed, and there were only 2 other people the small karaoke room. Were we drunk? No. We each had two shots of cold Sake three hours before our final musical performance.

Karaoke, as we are familiarized with it today, was invented in the 1970s and is popular amongst Asian bars and American bars. The term Karaoke comes from the Japanese words Kara and Okesutora, meaning empty and orchestra, respectively. The karaoke machine was invented by Daisuke Inoue in 1971. However, he had never used a karaoke machine until his 59th birthday in 1999. There are still debates whether Inoue was the true inventor of karaoke machine. The machine became popular very rapidly. Karaoke is now more than a $10 billion a year business, which includes machines, karaoke lounges and bars, and competitions.

Saturday night was not my first time doing karaoke, nor was it my first time singing in front of other people. I performed bands for five years and in choirs for five and a half years prior to my random karaoke adventure.

The problem with singing karaoke for me is that my vocal range is in the Bass/Baritone register while many male artists have a more tenor range, which is higher than I can manage on most singing opportunities. I’m “ashamed” to call myself a singer after my great adventure at the Karaoke. And my music instructors might be very disappointed in my decline in talent.

Before singing “Dragostea din Tei” I took the opportunity to work on my rap skills. I had selected one of my favorite Linkin Park rap-rock songs “In the End.” I found this song much easier than the other songs I had performed earlier and later that night. My friend Sammy managed to get a hold of my camera and tape me. My friend, Rose Marcaida, backed me up in the more lyrical parts of the song while I took on the more challenging rap. The challenge was in the pace of the rap. But that still didn’t deter me from trying. None the less, we ended up having a great time together.

The whole point of doing karaoke is for entertainment and for good friend and family fun, which is what I really got out of it. I would do Karaoke again if I know it’s going to be as much fun as it was that night. Being with friends, and embarrassing ourselves is only one key element to being happy. Karaoke is just one way to do that. I can’t wait for the next time the four of us go back out and embarrass ourselves in front of each other.

Hairy Situation

(Picture 1 from a few years ago. Picture 2 taken a minute before posting.)

If you don’t already know, I got a haircut 2 Fridays ago. Big shocker, no? It is. I did it to please my parents. Really, it was a win-win situation. See, my parents always want me to get a hair cut. Now they know that they technically have no control over me and my hairy decisions, but they love being persuasive. It’s their nature. So I finally decided to give in during my Thanksgiving break and get my cut. They won. They got their son to get a haircut. I won as well though. See… I had all week to get my hair cut, I could’ve gone before Thanksgiving. But I decided not to. I decided to go with my long, semi fixed hair to our family thanksgiving dinner. And damn I looked good. I decided to wait, till black Friday to get about 2 inches cut off. That’s a lot of hair. Enough to make my head feel reasonably lighter.

So why don’t I cut my hair every month like a lot of people do? Why do I wait 3-6 months before I go into the salon? I love my messy hair. It makes me somewhat unique. When I’m back home, I like getting up in the morning and scaring my mother and father with my messy hair.

It keeps me warm during the fall and winter seasons. As I was walking out of the hair parlor last Friday, the breeze blew through my hair and gave me chills that I normally don’t feel when I have a full head of hair. I was cold. Not even my hat could protect me from the cold breeze. Hair is designed to keep one’s head from getting cold. It is also designed to project a person from getting a sunburn on their scalp. So hair is a good thing. So why hack it off? Why even fix it? To look nice? Albert Einstein had messy hair. Teenage heartthrob Robert Pattinson has messy hair. And they both pull it off. Even glamorous women artists such as the sexy Paulina Rubio and sexy Shakira have wild hair that makes them look good. Granted, lately Shakira’s hair has been more tamed lately, unlike her videos. Maybe I don’t pull it off as suave as they do but I really don’t care. People say presentation is key, and I agree. But

I also save money. I did the math and depending on where I go, a SuperCuts or California Cuts, I would be spending $180 to $240 a year on hair cuts. This is based on a monthly haircut. By only getting a haircut 3-4 times a year, I only spend $45-$80. I save about $100-$195 a year! That’s a hair load of money. In this economic crisis, haircuts should be a luxury. With the money I save I have more to buy food with and do other stuff I love, even buying hats.

So if you want to know when I will get my next haircut, so you don’t seem so surprised, it will happen somewhere between the end of February and the end of March or early April.

Time to literally MOVE on

All my life I have lived in beautiful California. Not always lived in the Bay Area but always in California. I was born in So Cal and spent several great years there, many of which I don't remember. My move to the North Bay was a fairly easy transition for me. I have pretty much lived here my whole life. I made wonderful friends, had wonderful opportunities and experiences. I've lived in 2 of the most beautiful places in California. I was given the great opportunity to go to San Francisco State University and be part of amazing journalism program. I know that it's a state school and the school has many flaws, but the program's amazing, and I don't care what other people say, I love them both.

However, as much as all this has been given to me, I am not completely happy anymore. That's not to say that I was ever completely happy. Who is? i know the Vulcans aren't but they are Vulcans. They show no emotion. Times have changed, friends have grown apart and unfortunately I feel this way about many of my closest friends. I know this is part of growing up. I know that after high school, it's never the same. I don't have a job, I'm working on getting my licenses (driving and skydiving... :D), I don't have a girlfriend.

It's time to move on. Some of my friends have been given other opportunities to move on and they've take it. I'm going to make or find an opportunity to move on, and take it. I still have a year or so to graduate. And will probably take a few months to work and save up money for my big move. For now, I will finish my degree and enjoy the beauty of San Francisco and Santa Rosa.

Stay tuned for my next post, hopefully tomorrow. I will be talking about my hair.

"Snuff" book review *** (NSFW)

600 men, 200 pages, 4 personal accounts, one porn priestess. That’s what it takes to make history in the adult entertainment industry.

“Snuff” follows 3 men and their thoughts on life, the adult entertainment world. As they wait their turn to become part of history by participating in the biggest porn movie ever, they criticize each other’s pride, anxiousness, and ridiculous attempts to make a good impression on Cassie Wright, the porn priestess, trying to make a comeback after taking several years off. The characters include Mr. 72, a young adopted Christian, in hopes of finding his birth mother, Mr. 137 who is a primetime show star, Mr. 600 who is an adult entertainment actor himself, and Shiela, Cassie Wright’s assistant and talent wrangler. As each character takes turns sadly detailing their thoughts and actions, they set up a scene for the next character to take over or reflect on.

Chuck Palahniuk has done it again. The author of “Fight Club” and “Choke,” delivers another perversed and hysteric novel that pushes the boundaries of literature, covering a topic that is still considered taboo yet very successful in the real world. Palahniuk never makes Snuff so distasteful that it should be considered pornography. He never even shows his depicts an actual scene of sex. Small sexual acts and fake movie titles like “World Whore One” add the traditional Chuck Palahniuk dark humor that he is known for.

Books by Palahniuk often deal with chaos and mayhem that constantly deal with small groups or communities. Mr. Palahniuk takes a break from the mayhem and critical thought to express his views on adult entertainment and the possible thoughts that go through one’s mind when in line for a movie shoot. He sets the book up to what I can only describe are the David Reed ESP model for an orgasm. Pun intended. Really, he starts out with a long seduction on the history of adult entertainment, and a fake history of each character’s lives. Then the sensation where everyone is getting closer to their turn with the porn priestess. Finally, towards the very end of the book, about 40 pages before the final page, the twist, which will not be revealed in here, is played, and all truths are revealed. He gives readers an unexpected orgasm at this point. But it doesn’t end there. The final pages, meant to be the reflection or resolution, only end up having another twist in the story. The plot thickens and quickly resolves to a finish.

A surprising twist ends the book in a disturbing image that leaves it flat and uninteresting compared to other pieces of literature, including “Fight Club.” Possibly because the climax (pun intended) of the story was 20-40 pages before the end. That’s what left me saying: wow, out of all the things, I didn’t see that coming.

Like his other books, “Snuff” shows Palahniuk researched the material used to in the book, from the history of the blow up doll and Adolf Hitler’s involvement in its development, or the start of Sylvester Stallone’s movie career in both the adult and mainstream entertainment industries. He references through characters conversing, several articles and books on statistics involving the books topics, including Violet Blue, making his research more credible. He never goes too far in depth, letting the reader to do his or her own research based upon Palahniuk’s research.

Unfortunately, “Snuff” is not “Fight Club.” Palahniuk does not captivate his audience with the critical thinking ideas that he uses to make “Fight Club” a success. There aren’t any philosophical questions about how one would survive a plane crash, or how corrupt credit card companies, or even how one might infiltrate government documents by pretending to be a foreign exchange student. There is plenty of room for the perspective of the actress herself, Miss Sheila Wright, to offer her own insight to her career topping project. The only interaction the readers get with the actress are through the accounts of the four main characters.


“Snuff” certainly is a pretty entertaining book for boredom but not something that is safe for work or something to read while waiting for a doctor’s appointment. It is interesting, filled with great information and history, and most of all: sick and twisted. Sick and twisted would be the most important elements to have a in a Chuck Palahniuk novel. Out of 5 stars, this would be a 3 in my book.

Reelection?

We’ve all heard that it’s been one year since we elected President Obama, accepted gay marriage as a sin, and decided that former president George Bush isn’t good enough to have a waste plant named after him. Last year’s election truly was an emotional and historical election for many reasons.

This year’s local election did not seem to have as much of an impact on San Francisco voters. Why? Maybe the propositions are trivial. Why do we need to have a ballot to rename Candlestick Park? It’s not the name of a ballpark that makes it special. It’s the team and its supporters that make the park and its name special. On the topic of that proposition, is it a coincidence that the proposition letter is the same letter as the first letter of the park’s name? Something smells cheesy in this proposition. Surprisingly 57% of the voters approved of the name change for Candlestick Park. Out of 73,000+ voters that came out on Tuesday, about 42,000+ decided it’s time for a name change. Why? Maybe we don’t have anything better to do.

Honestly, who would really want to go out and vote on a park, or how to process a budget, or to ban ads on city owned property.

We need to really to focus on the actual budget, instead of spending our money on these ridiculous propositions; we need to focus on real city issues, such as construction, drugs, crime, education, etc.

Seriously San Francisco, next time we have an off year election, think of real propositions, like health care plans, or how much to spend on swine flu research, or how to improve bike safety. Those are real propositions with real meanings that might draw in more voters. Now I ask: How much was spent on this election with all the campaigning, etc? If I find out, I’ll let you know.

Sources:

SFist
http://sfist.com/2009/11/04/sf_election_results.php

SF Gov.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/elections_index.asp?id=92589

Student Clubs on Campus

By: Kendriya Powell, Brittany Jackson, Leo Jerald, Juan Ramos, students of the Media Academy in Oakland & Alex Estrada, SFSU jouranlism student.


Student clubs table around Malcom X Plaza to raise money and generate club membership.

Hundreds of students from about 10 SFSU student clubs spent their Tuesday afternoon trying to recruit members for their clubs. The Campus Democrats, Muslim Student Association, and Phi Sigma Sigma, Improv Nation where amongst some of the clubs tabling on the beautiful Tuesday afternoon.

In order to promote their Halloween special show this coming Friday, Improv Nation members dressed up in chicken and gorilla suits.

The College Democrats sit in front of the Ceasar chavez student center with a giant cardboard cut-out of President Obama in a superheroes costume

“Our goal is to educate about politics,” says Fiona Ryan, an SFSU campus club member.

The College democrats spend their time volunteering and attend state conventions to educate young democrats.

A very gay day!

Three months ago, I got a text message that from my friend John telling me he had gotten engaged. I texted him back “CONGRATULATIONS!!!”

A few weeks later John and I met up for coffee. After grabbing a cup we sat in the back room at a table. John asked me something that was to a shock for me:
"So I wanted to ask you something," said John, in a nervous tone. "I was wondering if you would one of my groomsmen?"
"Of course!" I gleefully responded. "It would be an honor."

What I haven’t mentioned so far is that John is gay. His partner, Craig, slipped the domestic partnership papers under John’s menu as an act of proposal to spend the rest of their lives together. As we all might know, John and Craig cannot legally marry in the state of California.

I’m not gay, however I was thrilled by John's news because he is one of my best friends, and I support gay rights. I feel every man and woman should have the rights of marriage, no matter their orientation. I also happen to have other gay friends and relatives that are dear and close to me, and their right to be happy with the person they love is important to them and myself.
So when California voters voted yes on Proposition 8 last November, my enthusiasm for Obama’s victory plummeted. For rest of my Wednesday afternoon following elections, I was silent and angered at the Prop 8 victory. My heart was lifted very recently when I heard that Governor Schwarzenegger did something I never expected his little conservative Republican heart would do.

He just passed two bills that is hopefully a step forward in gay rights. The first bill will recognize Harvey Milk on his own special holiday. Harvey Milk Day is set to be celebrated on May 22, Milk’s birthday. It’s a day for everyone to honor a leader in gay rights. The governor vetoed a similar bill last year. Why a change of heart? Maybe the terminator is terminating his shallow views on culture. Actually, it is believed he did it because President Obama awarded Milk a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. Apparently this moved Schwarzenegger to sign the bill this time. I think Schwarzenegger doesn’t want to look like a fool in front of his liberal colleagues.

The second bill passed by Schwarzenegger deals with same-sex marriage sanctioned in other states to be recognized in California. Any same sex marriages performed in Vermont, or Mass. will be recognized by the state of California should the couples move. However, there is a catch. The only marriages that will be recognized are those that were performed during the 5 months that California performed gay marriages. It seems as though California legislature have found a way to stop our loopholes. But there does seem to be some progress with this battle on same sex marriage.

The topic of same sex marriage is growing more and more each day, as gay right supporters push to repeal Prop. 8 and as other states begin to recognize and perform same sex marriages. California is behind its own acknowledgment of diversity. It is time to really open our eyes. Because, frankly, our eyes have only been 3/4 of the way open. Like Gov. Schwarzenegger we must realize that we are a very diverse state with a very large and persistent gay and gay supporting population. We cannot keep ignoring this culture. We are after all, a very diverse state, and part of a country that’s built on hundreds of thousands of different beliefs. I look to the day when John and Craig get “married” so that I can be by John’s side and support him for who he is and who he wants to live with. I hope that day comes just in time for him and Craig to be recognized as a married couple in the state. Thank you to our governor, I feel that day is closer than we expect.

*the word "gay" in the headline is used as its original meaning: happy.
**John and Craig are not the real names.

Discount Please

OP-ED2
Alex Estrada
Jour 570
10/08/09


Will this change help?

I am sitting on a BART train on Sunday morning on my way back to San Francisco after celebrating my friend’s birthday in Berkeley. As my two friends and I get off the bus, we grab what we think are transfers to ride MUNI for free for the first 90 minutes after leaving BART. We step on the bus and hand the driver our “transfers” only to tell us that they are coupons for a discount to MUNI. I quickly reach for change in my pocket, and I’m 25 cents short of the fare. Luckily my visiting friend has an extra quarter for me.
On July 1, 2009, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (MUNI) raised the fees for the bus lines, light-rail and cable cars from an already expensive $1.50 per ride, to an even more expensive $2 per ride. MUNI’s decisions to raise the fees came from the $30 million deficit the agency faced last year.
So what benefits do riders have? Riders getting off of BART in San Francisco stations, have the option to print out a coupon for a discount on MUNI just before leaving the gates of the station. However, while the coupon promises a discount, it is never mentioned anywhere how much the coupon is worth or how much the discount is. From experience, I learned that the discount coupons only take $0.25 off the $2 that MUNI charges for a bus rides. If this is your first time and don’t do research ahead of time at the website, you won’t know about this little trick. Luckily, MUNI drivers still hand out a 90 minute (or more) bus transfer/ receipt upon the rider paying fare. Will it get better? A program called Translink may change the way riders pay but still keeping the fundamentals behind transferring.
According to Translink, by 2010 Translink plans to make the transition from one public transportation system to another easier, and more convenient for one’s pocket. The program will allow people to transfer from BART to MUNI or MUNI to the Golden Gate Transit, GGT, and other Bay Area county means of public transportation with ease, and the swipe of a card. Sounds fairly easy right? It is. Translink allows people to use the card like a credit card. People can add money to the Translink card when the value on the card starts to get low. Translink will allow people to continue transferring from one MUNI line to another, and still get a discount when transferring from BART to MUNI.

This program sounds reasonable and affordable: buy a card, put money on it, and never wait in line at the front of the bus to pay. The fact that we never have to show proof of payment or spend time busting out exact change to ride seems likes a splendid idea. It is also nice to know that any discounts from transferring from one form of transportation to another are automatically done for you. That is, this only really works for a frequent rider. And that doesn’t change the fact that we initially don’t know how much of a discount we get. I also don’t come back to the city from Santa Rosa very often by public transportation; however, whenever I ride GGT, or get off BART I would like to save some money that adds to my savings for my trips to Utah and Oregon. Only discounting one quarter from the normal fare just doesn’t cut it. I will never make it to my friend’s wedding at this cheap discount. Nothing about this new program or nothing on MUNI’s website says anything about the possibility of getting ride free transfers from other transportation systems to MUNI lines. BART and GGT already burn a hole in my pocket with their high fare rates. When people ride BART or GGT back into the city, it would be nice to have a decent discount or free transfer to the first MUNI ride. I hate paying $11.80 for a one way trip from Santa Rosa to San Francisco. And I believe it’s ridiculous that the only discount from BART to MUNI is only worth a mere quarter. For people who don’t change public transportation on a daily basis, a quarter’s worth of discount from BART to MUNI does not add up to much at the end of the day, it doesn’t even punch a dent out of one’s daily expenses. As a poor college student, I can’t afford to only save a dollar or two every month I travel to the Eastbay and back. Trankslink and the Bay Area transportation agencies must really consider making transferring a more easy and affordable for tourists, part time commuters, and students; and give us a discount we can use, transfers from one public transportation system to another that we can afford, and help us save some money in this harsh economy. We, after all, are supporting them as much as we can by riding their reliable buses, boats, and trains.




Sources:
SF MTA
http://www.sfmta.com/

Translink
https://www.translink.org/TranslinkWeb/

Stupid Paper Trail

Two weekends ago I left San Francisco for a spontaneous one night trip to my hometown of Santa Rosa. While Santa Rosa is only an hour away by car, I use public transportation to get everywhere, so it took me longer than that. Early Friday morning, my dad called from Mexico, (he and my mom were at a funeral) and asked me if I was going to be going back home for the weekend. I told him no, I had too much work to do and had to be doing something Saturday for the school news website. 2 hours later, I learned that a very dear friend was going to be dancing for the last time before she moved. I contemplated for another hour, talked to a friend, and we then decided that I should go and say bye to my out of state college bound friend.
I phoned a friend in the east bay, and it turns out she was also going back to Santa Rosa for the weekend. That afternoon I took the free shuttle to the City of Daly City BART station. I paid my BART ticket with cash that I already had. Once in Berkeley, I took advantage and ate some pasta that my friend had. Once I got to the dance hall back in Santa Rosa, waiting to surprise my friend, I paid with more cash that I had saved up.
When I got home, I took mental notes of how everything was arranged: door angles, bedding, chair positions, drinks in the fridge. I slept in a sleeping bag so I wouldn’t ruin the bedding in my room. When morning came, I put the sleeping bag away exactly where it was. Left every door exactly how they were when I got there. And I even replaced the cold bottle of Juice Squeeze from the fridge with another that was still in the box (they wouldn’t pay attention to that much detail). Then I left home, and headed back to my apartment in San Francisco. Monday night I get a call from my parents asking how I am. They never mentioned anything about the house being disorganized or anything being out of place. Woot! I’m safe. Mission complete: Surprise my friend. And stay at home without my parents knowing…
Saturday morning my dad calls me to say how I was doing… I tell him I’m in Berkeley visiting my friend. He then asks me if I had gone home a week ago, while he was out of town. I told him, instinctively, no. He then says the checking account has been charged $9 at the Santa Rosa Carrows for the previous Friday night. Shoot! My plan has been foiled! Stupid paper trail. I had been too excited and emotional about seeing one of my very good friends go off to college that I had forgotten that I used my check card for my late dinner on that trip. Was my dad mad? No. He told me I didn’t have to lie or go behind his back to come back home for a weekend. I told him that lying or going around his back was not my intention. I simply was conducting an experiment that had worked for 5 days. Oh well. I guess next time I will just have to get cash of an ATM here in the city before making surprise trips. Until next time.

Not the Last Dance (a poem)

Not the Last Dance

I hate it when you say “I love you”
I know you don’t mean it the way I do
It’s hard to say anything at all
If I do I might just fall
Whenever we dance, I feel real glad
But I don’t expect you to know
You’re some of the best dances I’ve ever had
Sorry if I ever stepped on a toe
You know I hate goodbyes
They’re all a bunch of lies
So any place I am goin’
I look to the day we dance again.

Written by Alexis Cardenas Estrada, with Alyssa Glanville
I have someone to give credit to. My friend Alyssa helped me come up with a line or two since I was having writer’s block. So this would not have been completed without her. Thanks Alyssa.

Now for the explanation:
I’m not a poet. Some of you may know it. Hehe. Seriously though, I am not a poet. I don’t read poetry, and I don’t write poetry. Maybe I will listen to some of it sometimes, but mostly it is amateur poetry at open mic nights or poetry readings. Why because they are always fun. Anyway, I know that I’ve away from home for pretty much a year, on and off. And it has been years since I’ve seen many of my friends go off to college. So I should be used to say goodbye to people, right? Well… above are my feelings from a more recent memory. It’s actually very fresh in my mind that I still remember the music that was playing that night. I hope you guys enjoyed the poem.

A day with John Diaz

John Diaz

San Francisco Chronicle Opinion page editor John Diaz, (no relation to my mother’s side of the family, but it would be cool if he was) came to our opinion writing class and talked about some of his experiences in journalism and opinion writing.
Mr. Diaz spoke to us about the importance of voice in opinion writing. It is true to have some sort of voice or style in journalism, but what I have really learned from Mr. Diaz and Professor Yumi Wilson is that voice and style really needs to come out in opinion writing. I also mention Professor Wilson because she emphasized in her literary journalism class last semester that it is important to develop a style and voice inside those types of stories as well.
I also have to say, John is also one of the best speakers I’ve seen. He’s animated. He’s an all around cool guy and a great writer.

One major point he made, out of many was to not hold back on our voice. And he made it really clear to read our pieces out loud to find out where that voice is. If it doesn’t fell natural, the voice is not there.

I admire Mr. Diaz and Professor Wilson. They are awesome.
Here are some pictures from John Diaz’s visit

short update: tonight is the unofficial start of the 11th anniversary of the lindy exchanges. 400+ people from around the country are coming over to dance swing for a whole weekend. It will be my fourth lindy exchange. By the end of the weekend, if you do not hear from me it is because I am either hung over or dead from dancing. Is it possible to get a hangover from dancing? yes. after spending countless hours dancing dim lit rooms, loud music, and several body clashes, people end up sensitive to light, and sound. and with aching bodies. that's how i felt last year. but I think it was worth it. So i'm going to take many pictures and sound clips and hopefully come up with a multimedia piece to put up here by the end of next week. I'm very excited. and to prove that I dance I posted a picture of me dancing in Lindy in the Park with one of my wonderful partners.

Mabel Jimenez, for intro to online class.

Mabel Jimenez sits in the first seat of the humanities room 312 in the journalism wing. She is part of SFSU’s prestigious and impacted journalism program. As a member of the photojournalism sequence she carries her large DSLR camera in her bag, waiting for a moment to capture a photo.
Photojournalism wasn’t always Mabel’s choice of career. She didn’t know what she wanted to do but decided to choose a career of opportunity and adventure. Journalism seemed like a good option for her. Her curiosity for the unknown and thirst to do something different on a daily basis pushes her will to become a journalist.
“I couldn’t make up my mind so I chose an adventurous one,” says Mabel.
Upon graduation, Mabel hopes to work as a freelance photographer and eventually work for the Associated Press.
“They are one of the few solid stable news organizations hiring photojournalist for their staff,” says Mabel.

The troubling times of the journalism world do not worry Mabel. She continues to study for this ever-changing profession, not worried that it won’t give her enough to live.
“I was broke when I moved out of my parent’s house,” says Mabel in response to her prospect of the career.

Mabel now sits in the same class as when this story started and writes a profile for her first assignment in Intro to Online Journalism. She is fulfilling her goal by continuing her education to become a Journalist.

Haightless Homeless

“Spare change for powers?,” Felenie,18, begs as she sits in front of Earth Song. “Spare change for superpowers?”
Felenie has been homeless on and off since she was five years old. She was adopted at a young age by people she says where good, but decided to run away to find herself. Now she is on streets of California looking for a place to call home. Felenie could be back in Denver, Colorado, working at her old job. Instead she is going up and down the California coast, smoking cigarettes, wearing a black eye mask, holding a cardboard sign asking for change for superpowers. She is looking for to find herself. A place to call home.
Homelessness in San Francisco has been a problem for many years. Every year homeless and traveling young adults venture to the Haight-Ashbury district to experience the stories that they have been told by their parents or other adults in their lives. They spend afternoons in the Golden Gate Park hanging out with other homeless people, or sitting in-front of a shop begging for money. People pass them without even giving them a glance. Others drop a few coins in their hats or on the floor next to their cross-legged bodies.
Many of the young homeless population in the Haight Ashbury do not originate from San Francisco or the bay area. According to Chris “Lucky” Abraham’s experiences, he’s a former homeless man, and a test proctor at San Francisco state, only about 33 percent of the homeless youth in San Francisco are from the area, while the other 66 percent are travelers.
According to a study by the nation coalition for the homeless, there are more than 1.6 million homeless young adults in the country. The number of homeless young adults in the Haight is not answered though. As many of the young adults travel the country and many who live in the city move around from neighborhood to neighborhood, it is hard for homeless outreach, shelter, and city officials to give an exact or estimated number.

There is not one single reason for young adults to runaway and be homeless. A popular belief made by many people is that the young adults are all from middle class families, who pretend to be homeless. Suzanne Zago, a counselor at the Cole Street Youth Clinic, says that many homeless young adults do leave their homes, but not for fun, but to escape divorced parents, abuse, poverty, and broken families. Some young adults even get kicked out of their own homes for getting pregnant or even. “They aren’t all just these upper middle class kids who got bored in their lives,” Zago says.

While in the Haight, many find themselves doing meth, marijuana, and other drugs and alcohol. Living on Haight Street has made it easy for youth to get their hands on drugs and alcohol, says Officer Art Howard, of the Park police station. Many end up abusing the use of substances and get mentally ill. Very few don’t make it at all.
Les Moniet, a 29 year old homeless man, moved to the Haight six years ago. He explains that getting drugs in the Haight is easy for young adults and an issue in the homeless community.
“I started using crystral meth,” Moniet says. “I only sleep about three nights a week, other four days I’m up on crystal.”
Though the Haight is a popular destination for many tourists from all over the world, it is also a popular destination for homeless young adults who travel from across the country. Young adults hop trains, catch buses, and hitch rides on their way to San Francisco and the Haight for a number of reasons, including the weather, the vast opportunity to panhandle, and in hopes to experience the love that the city is supposed to bring. Many show up in the Haight in hopes to relive the culture their parents experienced from the days of beatniks and hippies.
“Haight is an international destination due to the 60's-70's for all ages,” says Tes Welborn, a resident in the neighborhood. “Kids still hope for free sex and drugs, and many are escaping mistreatment at home. You can also see suburban’s here ‘homeless’ for the weekend.”
Another reason for coming to the Haight is comfort. In the Haight, homeless young adults say they feel more welcomed and taken care of by other homeless and transients than in any other district in the city.
“People on the streets out here, they actually look out for one another,” Moniet says. “If the police is messing with one of us, we have support with other homeless youth out here.”
Unity amongst each other is an important factor for the young adults. They stick up for each other when other people seem to bother them.
Several residents, shop owners, and shop clerks do not seem to have a large problem with the youth, while others complain to the police daily. Shop owners and employees report the homeless youth are very cooperative and they don’t disrupt business. The youth are responsive to shop owner demands to stay away from store fronts, and often leave the premises if asked, says Stannous Flouride, employee at Robert’s Hardware Store. Other residents find the young adults annoying and feel unsympathetic for them.
Rachel Hull, a resident of the Haight and a clerk at the Haight Street Tabacco Center, says she recently changed her views about the homeless young adults in the neighborhood.
“I used to feel bad for them,” Hull says. “I gave them food sometimes, until I realized they usually just take the food and throw it at each other.”
Several times a week, the police station will get calls from residents and shops that the homeless community is causing problems. Generally, the homeless young adults try to stay away from the police, to avoid being arrested, or beaten up. Others stay where they are and don’t mind the police. Most of the young adults say cops generally leave them alone.
Contrary to what some young adults say, the police at the Park Station are very helpful and do their best to help the homeless, Katie Reisinger, program director at the Huckleberry House, says. Each morning, two officers patrol the east side of Golden Gate Park and Haight Street, looking for homeless and getting them off the streets, Howard says. The police work with the City of San Francisco to help young adults get off the streets and find them a place to live or stay for a few nights, Howard says.
Howard, who worked the homeless beat for three years, says the city has a program called Homeward Bound, and the department often encourages young adults to take advantage of it. Homeward Bound is a program that gives homeless and runaway people, the chance to get on a bus and go back to their families. Bill Buelhman, an SF homeless outreach worker, says the program contacts family members willing to receive the runaway or homeless person, and the city pays for a one way bus ticket back home.
The hard cold floors and grasses of Golden Gate Park and Buena Vista provide the young adults a place to sleep when no one else will or can take them in. They set up camps hidden in the bushes where no one can see them. Others choose to sleep elsewhere, including churches, buses, shelters. The street sidewalks they beg on sometimes double as beds, even if they are out in plain sight.
“If you sleep in the park they’ll write you a ticket if they find you,” Daniel, a 19-year-old homeless man, says. “So I just pass out on the sidewalk because it’s public property.”
The City of San Francisco offers many programs and shelters for homeless youth to go into. In the Haight Ashbury district, the Larkin Street Youth Services referral center on Haight Street, refer homeless youth to shelters and other services in the city. The Huckleberry House, on Page Street, serves as a temporary community home for runaway teens, and offers them counseling, therapy, shelter, food, and community activities. Though the house mostly caters to runaway youth from the bay area, Reisinger says, they house about 25 traveling youth each year.
The Homeless Youth Alliance, (HYA), on the corner of Haight and Cole, takes in young adults for free meals, showers, bathroom use, counseling, and other basic needs they may want. On any given day, they could have 80 young adults using their services, Buelhman, who works closely with the center, says. HYA also provides needle exchanges every Wednesday, and a neighborhood clean-up on the last Friday of each month, when staff, young adults, and members of the community members clean the streets of Haight, and parts of Golden Gate Park.
On Friday nights, the youth can go to the Page Street Center, on Lower Haight, and enjoy a free meal, hangout, and watch a movie, Eric Bergquist, Page Street Center director, says. Bergquist started working at the center 10 years ago. With the help of former and current homeless young adults, he runs a safe environment for them to hang relax for a few hours and make friends.
“We consistently give them a movie,” Bergquist says. “ We want to give them a place where they feel welcome and where they feel valued.”
Most services offer an open door policy, which allows any young adult in who seeks help, to show up and receive the proper care they require. Services, though, are limited and many places are understaffed and affected by the budget cuts.
“It’s not always enough,” Buehlman says. “But we want to show them (young homeless) that people can change. That it doesn’t have to be this way.”

Not all young adults, however, take the services offered to them by the shelters, and youth organizations. Instead, many choose the stay on the streets, and help themselves to what the people can offer. They choose to rebel against authority and ingenuity, Lucky says.
Though life on the streets is may seem tough, many young adults enjoy being out and panhandling.
“It’s fun and exciting,” Lady, 19, from Missouri, says. Lady has been traveling the country for the last two years and is currently with her friend Blame, 23, from New Jersey. Blame has been on the streets for 8 years.
Being out on the streets allows the young adults to be creative and free. Some people feel their creativity, spirituality, and lifestyle is being stifled from where they come from, Lucky says. On the streets, the young adults can express themselves and learn in, what they feel is, care free environment.
“I like to learn from life experiences,” Lady says.
The new generations of homeless young adults are like the new generation of hobos, Zago says.
“That tradition is being carried on,” Zago says. “These kids are it. They have dreams.”
The young adults often stick together as a community and travel with each other. They make new friends and hang out with old friends. They don’t care what other people think and just want to live life without responsibilities. When help is available, many will take it, and others will not. And when have done everything they thought of doing, they find new ways to reinvent themselves.
“We live in a community that will never fail,” Felenie says. “When you have nothing other than yourself, you can figure out you. There’s no mask. There’s no anything else.”

Tapping into Success

Tap, tapitty clunk tap tap. Tap-tap… tap-tap… tap-tap. The sounds of cars driving on Market Street, or the crowds of people walking by and chatting cannot drown the sound of Edward Jackson’s tap dance shoes clicking on his small dance floor nor the melody of the funk music coming out of the only speaker he has.
The sun is out, with very few clouds in the sky. Cool breezes flow through the air. It’s still cold enough to wear a sweater but not cold enough to be freezing. It’s a Friday afternoon. School has just gotten out for students in the K-12 school system, and many kids are walking around Westfield Mall and Market Street to spend time together. The line to get on the next cable car is about 50 people long and even more people are buying tickets at the trolley booth just yards away from where the line is.


Meanwhile, Jackson, 41 is dancing his heart out. He’s wear his gray and beige colored trilby hat. A plain white tee is under a purple-with-blue-stripes button up tee shirt. He completes the day’s ensemble with black pants, right pant leg rolled up to his knees. His tap shoes are black, as most tap shoes are. They are worn out at the rims where the metal plates meet the sole. He has two more pieces to the ensemble that he has already removed: a scarf and a black leather jacket. Only a few songs after starting his regular performance, the first bead of sweat starts rolling down his face. It won’t take much longer for sweat to start dripping to the ground. The ever-changing crowd watches him, as he continuously taps from one song to another… to another. He only breaks for a minute or two before he starts with the music and dance. Sometimes he breaks for only a few seconds. When one song ends, a round of applause echoes from virtually every direction. He continues with this routine for three to four hours before taking a big break.
Many times throughout the day, people from the crowd walk up to Jackson, congratulating him on his energy and telling him how much she wishes she could dance like him. Today, a mother with her two daughters, around the ages of 5 and 7, are doing some shopping in the area. They take a break and watch Jackson dance. Both girls, astonished by Jackson’s moves, start moving their little feet on the ground, trying to mimic him. Jackson notices, and with a smile of joy, taps his way toward them, and with one spin into their direction, he is slightly crouches down to their height. A-tap a-tap. He taps one foot the other less than a second later. A dap a dap. The sounds of the small girls’ feet trying to mimic him, cannot be heard but they are there. A-tap a-tap a-tap. The girls once again mimic him, a dap a dap a dap. The mother just stands there encouraging the girls to try their best. The girls are happy.
“I love the interaction with everyday people,” Jackson says. “I love seeing people happy.”


Minutes into the mid-afternoon, Jackson is joined on the open dance floor by his two of his friends, Tyler Knowlin and Mustafa. As Jackson takes a small break and sits under the shade of the plant pot and light post over his head, Knowlin and Mustafa take turns scraping and tapping on the concrete. Jackson jumps in. The three of them are taking turns dancing and showing off. For the next few songs, they compete with each other for the crowd’s attention. Jackson begins the competition. He finds an upbeat, funky song, such as James Brown’s “Get Up offa That Thing.” Again, he starts tapping on his dance board, getting on the tip of his toes, then returns to flat ground, and slides off his dance floor, and starts tapping on the pavement for sharper clicking sound.
Next Tyler takes over, and begins his set of improvised moves. He taps his foot against the light pole closest to the dance floor. The hood from of his sweater flaps up and down as he spins around.
“I’ve seen that one,” Jackson says jokingly, referring to the Tyler’s last combination of moves.
“Oh you have?” Tyler jokes back.
For the rest of day, the three of them take turns dancing for the crowd.
Jackson says he likes to differentiate himself and his friends from other street performers. He likes his audience to have a good time, and likes to interact with them during his breaks.
“This is a way to relate to people and be myself!” he exclaims.
Before taking the streets with dance, Jackson worked the retail and restaurant life before jiving into his late blooming dancing career. Edward left the retail and restaurant business after growing tired of working for others.
“I prefer to work independently,” he says.
He says he doesn’t like having signs asking people for money. He only has a small photo box, covered with a colorful patterned cloth. He likes the feel of people willingly going up to his box and dropping a few coins or dollars.
“I’m not a rich person,” he says. “This is my job. I don’t make much but I get by.”
The sun is now ready to set. The crowd is starting to die down. Jackson is starting to tire from his long day at work. He tries hard to hide exhausted body. His newly wedded wife, Yeye Jackson, emerges from the crowd from her day at work. Jackson is dancing his last songs of the day. Yeye gracefully dances her own style. She’s dancing the same way she did when they first met a few years ago in that same location during one of his shows.
“I just pointed to her ,” Jackson says, “ and said ‘hey you, come here.’ And the rest is history.”
As Jackson takes off his tap shoes and trades them for his street shoes, he keeps his iPod playing. Yeye, in high heels, continues to dance. Jackson and the crowd cheer her on. Jackson puts on his button
up shirt, loosely ties a tie around his neck and puts on a dress coat. After choosing a slow pop ballad, he struts away from his sound system, toward Yeye. He embraces Yeye with his right arm around her waist, left arm up, holder her hand in almost a ballroom dance position. Still in the mood of the music playing, Edward and Yeye dance passionately in a slow blues like tempo, moving side to side, and back and forth. They dance for a few songs like no one else is there. The day is over. Jackson packs up his small sound system and puts them in his small folding cart. He and his wife, leave his stage, just a bit quieter than before.
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Bound Together Bookstore Feature

It’s Thursday, around 7 p.m., and most of the shops on Haight Street are making their final sales before they close for the night. Travelers, tourists and locals wander the streets in search of a good place to sit down, relax, and eat after a good day of walking and shopping. Meanwhile, Bound Together Anarchist Bookstore stays open for another half hour before the old cash register closes. The front door is open, copies of a selected essay or book excerpt written by Noam Chomsky or Howard Zinn, on anarchism, capitalism, or animal liberation, are stacked at the front desk for people to read as they walk in. It’s now 7:30, and the register closes. Volunteers start setting up for the store’s weekly discussion group, and people keep filing in, one by one, grabbing this week’s essay or excerpt. Finally, it’s 8 p.m. and the door is ready to close. Anywhere from four to 15 people show up. It is now time to discuss this week’s reading.
Bound Together is truly a bookstore like no other. Though its collection of books and other literary material cover all types of genres, from fiction to science to history and politics, there’s one thing that sets this bookstore from others in the area: Anarchism. Bound Together Collective Bookstore, is the only anarchist bookstore in the Bay Area and one the few remaining in the country. Its history has kept them strong, their books and philosophies keep customers coming back for more, and their projects keep the public who are not part of their collective interested.
Bound Together Bookstore opened in 1976 by a group of San Francisco neighbors who believed in the anarchist philosophy and wanted to promote their ideas through literature. Many bookstores, then, did not carry much anarchist literature, if any. The group decided to create a section dedicated to the anarchist philosophies and literature.
“In the late 70s when I got involved a lot of political books that you saw in the shelves were Maoist, Marxist. They just sat there,” says Tom Alder, one of the volunteers and owners. “At that time it was hard to go into a place and find a good selection of anarchist literature.”
They opened their first Anarchist bookstore on Hayes Street. The collective moved the store to their current location seven years later, in 1983, after their first building had been sold. Since then, Bound Together has been on 1369 Haight Street, next to the DeAvila School.
The store is under the management of a group of anarchists who call themselves the Bound Together Anarchist Collective. Unlike other bookstores, independent or corporate, all Bound Together employees are volunteers who dedicate a few hours each week and do not get paid. The volunteers of Bound Together come from different age groups, backgrounds and careers but all share their passion for anarchism, says Slava Osowska. Most of the volunteers hold other full time jobs, including a full time high school student, a Charles Schwab employee, a bike messenger, coffee shop employees, and retired bookstore clerks. To keep the store up and running, they still have to sell their books and other material, but their philosophies of no government still lay in the way the store is operated and the way the live their own lives.
“The anarchist idea is not lost,” says Jean Pauline. At 87 years old, she is Bound Together’s oldest volunteer.
Bound Together is known nationally and internationally. Tourists from all over the world visiting San Francisco try to Bound Together a stop on their list. It is mentioned in California and Bay Area tour guides and tour books in many different languages. Visitors unaware of the store are sometimes shocked and surprised, says Osowska.
The shelves on the wall of the 900 square-foot store are filled with books on pirates and buccaneers, women’s studies, books and essays by renowned anarchist Noam Chomsky, and political scientist Howard Zinn, and copies of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”. On certain occasions, the two window displays in the front is decorated with books and literature dealing with current issues, most recently literature on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Shirts, posters on anarchist book fairs, leaders, and events from around the world, and an East Germany flag, decorate the rest of the walls where the shelves end.
Outside the bookstore, on the wall, adjacent to the store, lies a mural of American anarchists, including Emma Goldman, Brad Will, and the Parsons. Beneath the anarchist portrait is a quote painted in white and red “History remembers 2 kinds of people: those who murder and those who fight back.” The mural was painted by artist Susan Greene for the purpose of remembering American anarchists of the past.
When people step into Bound Together they expect to find books on anarchism, but many times people also look for mainstream literature and ask for other books of interests including cookbooks, art books, magazines and history books, says Alder.
People often ask for The Anarchist Cookbook, which Bound Together does not sell but has one copy for people to look at. When people ask why the store doesn’t carry the book the collective members says: it’s a really bad example of anarchism.
They carry a book with a similar name, called An Anarchist Cookbook, published by CrimethInc., which has a collection of less radical and less dangers weapons and ideas, such as pie throwing, and stenciling.
“People question our literature, but generally the questions are very friendly,” says Craig Hudson, 16, the store’s youngest volunteer.
The store is also known for carrying controversial literature, including the Northern American Man Boy Love Association magazine, as well as books on atheism and agnosticism. Such literature created hatred and criticism toward the store by several religious and other radical groups, says Alder.
“People who are really intense American nationalists come in and see all their institutions insulted and get angry,” says Alder.
Over the years the store has received several complaints from people who don’t believe in their philosophy and have threatened to boycott the store if certain literature, such as the NAMBLA magazine and gay erotica, was not removed from the premises.
“Rather than ask why we carry it [NAMBLA] or read the mission statement of it we get condemned,” says Jamie, another volunteer at the store.
People disagreeing with their collection of literature or their views, sometimes go in and question the collective’s motives. Some angry or confused people will even go into the store and “rant” against the collective and store.
“Sometimes people come in here who want to argue a point,” says volunteer Joey Paxman. “They’ll come in and ask for a specific book they know we do not carry, and then rant on why anarchism would never work and how it’s not practical.”
Hatred toward Bound Together turned into violence when a group of radical skinheads attempted to burn the store during a Without Borders conference in 1989, says Alder. The group of skinheads managed to pour gasoline through the door of the store and burned part of it before Alder hurried from the back of the store to put it out.
The threats and complaints have not disheartened the collective nor the frequent visitors and tourists.
Despite the controversial philosophies of the collective and some their controversial literature and propaganda, the collective and store are well liked.
“I totally disagree with practically everything they believe in form the premise to the execution but as people they are perfectly nice people,” says Bruce Lyall, owner of Recycled Records, next door neighbor to Bound Together.
Bound Together has become a popular attraction in the Haight, tourists from all over as well as locals pay a visit to the hidden store.
“We get a lot of European tourist and crusty punk types,” says Osowska. “About half the people are tourist, about a third identifies themselves as anarchists and the rest are people who are just curious.”
According to the collective and some customers, the curiosity sparks around a person’s own interest in anarchy, or his or her connection to the anarchy beliefs.
“There are many kinds of anarchism,” says Olmo, a tourist from New York who was visiting with his friend Erika, “I don’t want to have a master or a god or someone to tell me what to do. And that’s why I believe and came into the store.”
Other tourists and customers are glad the store exists simply for the reason of having a different view of reality in the neighborhood.
“It’s appealing that it’s explicitly anarchist,” frequent customer Finn Finneran says. “This is the only [anarchist] bookstore I’m aware of. It’s a stop in point.”
Bound Together and the associated collective have several public events throughout the year. Once in a while, they show movies on a small projector screen on their back wall. When the antique cash register closes for the night each Thursday, members of the collective gather in the bookstore along with anyone who wishes to join them for the evening, to read and discuss anarchist literature and other topics including capitalism, and elections. The collective also participates in other discussions with other anarchist groups such as the Alexander Berkman Social Club.
“One of the roles of the discussion group is to preserve and bring out this neglected knowledge to the attention of others,” says Andrej Grubacic, an author and volunteer.
Each year, in March, the collective puts on the Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair in Golden Gate Park at the County Fair building. The two-day fair attracts thousands of people. In addition to promoting their ideas, their bookstore, and their books, the collective gets authors and panelists to speak at the fair. Another project that the Bound Together collectives started is the Prisoners Literature Project. The project is aimed at sending books to prisoners around the country, for free. Like the rest of Bound Together’s events and projects, the Prisoner Literature Project is volunteer-run.
The Bound Together collective will continue to put on events, educate others on anarchy, and provide a piece of history to San Francisco. It is a place to read and talk about global issues. Working together as a collective allows them to run the store collectively, and not worry about formal management. The store has worked that way for years and it has been successful.
“It seems that when you put anarchist principles in your life every day it just seems to work,” says Jamie.
Bound Together will continue to educate others on anarchism and keep the philosophies of anarchism alive as a collective and through their literature.
“I think it’s really important to support these types of institutions,” says Finneran.
Though anarchism is not practiced much in the United States, Bound Together volunteers feel it is important to keep the traditions alive.
“I know anarchism is a reality in this world,” says Pauline. “It’s not very big but it exists.”

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