Monday, August 28, 2006

dee em vee

ask me a question about driving in california. come on. i dare you. unless it's about blind people in a crosswalk, i can answer your question.

i passed my test. missed one (see above), but i passed it. i am now a resident of california, soon to affix a permanent parking sticker to my car.

whew.

becky and i celebrated my accomplishments with lunch and a beer and a long walk through the mission, the castro, up corona heights, down to the lower haight, and then up to the haight. what a great walk!

a highlight: 826 valencia. i've known about it, but never visited, and gosh--why did i wait so long? it's a dream... the kind of place i'm happy to live near, and the kind of place i'd like to be involved in. what a magical spot to find treasures, learn new things, and give back to a community in an important, and often overlooked way. for those who don't know about it, the short story is it's a writing center for kids 8-18, started by dave eggers. but it's more than that... it's a pirate store, with treasures in every nook and cranny, and little nuggets of creativity through well-turned phrases and behind hidden hatches on the store floor.

the back of the store was packed with kids participating in a writing workshop led by talented, funny, and cool volunteers. a constant stream of kids pushed through the doors, homework in hand or just wanting to check out the precocious fish in the tank--all welcomed by friendly adults, eager to help. what a special place!

3 comments:

Chris said...

Funny - I was just thinking about this the other day when I was reading about the "Revenge of the Bookeaters" Tour - I even posted the "Have You Got Scurvy?" sign to my monitor - you can never be too sure around here, so it's always good to make sure that people know the signs of scurvy. I think Henry's birthday present this year is going to be one of the pirate shirts. Did you know that each branch of the 826 org has a different theme? The one in Seattle is space travel and they sell space travel supplies.

sarah said...

cj, i feel like such a dolt. i had no idea there was an 826 org in seattle! gosh, it was near where i used to live, too. i've been walking past 826 valencia for years on visits to sf, and had no idea a similiar oasis lived in my backyard.

i loved the pirate store. lemme know if there's something special you can't buy online. i'd be happy to send a little arrrrgh to texas :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, I was all lined up to work on writing with kids at the spanking new 826 in Seattle, and then I moved to this joint. It's the thing I regret missing out on. I have been thinking of floating the idea of 826 Gammel Konvej. What do you think -- sort of rolls off the tongue. Of course, I wouldn't actually understand any of the kids' writing. But we can have a store devoted to, of course, the wikings.

Go volunteer fruitcup.