Or just the ones who know a thing or two about police protocol. Maybe the Berkeley CopWatch could do an on-location in Logan, Utah?
The local cops were taking pictures just before they belligerently broke up a birthday party for our company manager Saturday night, and witnesses I've spoken to said the cops wouldn't even explain why, shouting "Do you really have to ask?" As for noise, it wasn't nearly as loud as some previous parties at The Pines, and those that were louder have been broken up much more civilly (or not at all) than this one.
Some suspect the cops weren't taking too kindly to the theme of the party-- drag kings and queens. After the party was broken up, four company members on their way to their off-premises apartments were followed and pulled over, though none were drunk and only one was dressed in drag, and told "we don't like your kind here."
At first, veteran company members thought the cops were taking pictures because the scene was absolutely hilarious-- according to them, sheriffs have been known to come by merely for the entertainment of watching entertainers have fun. After all, it's not like they have any fun of their own. But after this year's sheriff came, posed for pictures with well-dressed partygoers, and left, several city police officers parked on the side of the building, started taking pictures "for evidence," waited for the Drag King walk-off to be over and then one shut off the power as the other began screaming for the person in charge to come forward. Then screamer-cop ordered everyone to disperse, and warned that if there's a party next weekend, "everyone in the apartment complex will be arrested." I'd like to see the Mormon tenants explain that one to Mom, Dad, and their ward president.
I am not especially comfortable with the idea of a police department retaining photos of me people-watching, whether or not my name is attached. They were taken while officers had not announced themselves on private property (and I wouldn't have been visible from the street), and the officers had parked out of sight without their lights on. They were there for at least five minutes taking pictures before I noticed they were even on our property.
I know there are city noise ordinances about music playing after 10 pm, though the police aren't required to enforce those until someone complains. No noise complaint was mentioned. It was almost (but definitely not past) midnight on a Saturday night, in a suburban parking lot of an apartment complex that's located on a highway. It's a loud neighborhood, with or without our contribution.
I guess the parts of the police's behavior that bother me are this: unannounced arrival, taking pictures, excessive cussing and yelling, threatening arrest without explaining why, and expressing clear disdain for those dressed for the occasion.
Not to mention, someone tells me that there is actually a law against cross-dressing in either the City of Logan or State of Utah, which could be the reason for the cops breaking up the party. I am a little busy this week. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
7.08.2007
Who loves me?
Google Analytics tells me that the Pleasanton, CA readership is stronger than that of Berkeley or San Francisco. Also, that despite I've emailed my mother the link to this blog, which was not the easiest thing to reveal to her, she has not visited it (nor has anyone in my hometown, for that matter. Hmph.), which means she missed my awesome and super-personal ode to her. Lame. Mom- if you're arriving late in the game and are looking for your ode, scroll down and find your picture.
Anyway, I've never spent more than ten minutes in Pleasanton, and to my knowledge I have no friends there. Fascinating.
Of course, Google might not actually mean Pleasanton, just like all of my Utah readership can't be from Salt Lake City. After all, I'm almost two hours north of there, and I read myself all the time. Not like there's anything else to do.
Anyway, I've never spent more than ten minutes in Pleasanton, and to my knowledge I have no friends there. Fascinating.
Of course, Google might not actually mean Pleasanton, just like all of my Utah readership can't be from Salt Lake City. After all, I'm almost two hours north of there, and I read myself all the time. Not like there's anything else to do.
7.07.2007
Why can't people keep promises?
At a meeting held in November of 2006, when a roommate had moved out and we were discussing logistics of securing and signing a replacement, my landlord and remaining roommates also mentioned maintenance requests that had fallen through the cracks.
You see, this was our new landlord, who purchased the building (mid-lease) the month before and who was obligated to take care of problems that our old landlord left behind and that we had written into our estoppel agreement to be repaired or replaced. Like our fridge, which is dilapidated and has been a health hazard since well before I ever moved a little over a year ago.
We informed her that, although it occasionally sustained a reasonable temperature, our fridge did not pass California health inspection standards for temperature or efficiency-- sometimes the milk freezes, other times it spoils. The insulation is cracked and mold hangs out on the ceiling; if we bleach it and clean the fridge out, the mold returns by the end of the week. I'm glad we don't eat like pigs, because if we had any more weight on the shelves, it would surely break the brittle plastic protruberances that hide the deteriorating insulation and collapse the whole damn thing in a cloud of 1980s dust.
She told us, at that meeting in November (at which she inspected the fridge for herself) that we would have a new refrigerator soon, but that since ours was clearly in the worst condition of the other units, she didn't want us "bragging to the other tenants about it." To retain diplomacy in this budding relationship, we foolishly agreed to tell no one. We also foolishly didn't think we needed to get this in writing, because up until this point she had been perfectly amicable and true to her word.
The meeting itself seemed strange, because we had been previously conversing via email, until she explained that we needed to meet in person "because nothing in email is legally viable." She didn't say much of substance, except the part about getting a new fridge, so I wasn't terribly concerned until toward the end of our June-June lease that it was March and nothing had happened-- no repair guy, no replacement, no nothing.
She really, really wanted us to renew our lease, because we're pretty darned awesome. We told her that we love the place, but that for now we'd keep looking for apartments that were more in our price range and had fewer bedrooms. A month passed and we were having no luck finding anything cheaper or better or available. Our landlord called again and offered to lower our rent if we renewed. We had asked for a much more significant reduction in rent than she offered, but her conditions and intentions seemed to be good. She offered two options: pay $3025 per month without a new fridge, or $3050 with a new fridge. Although she had promised us this fridge during the last lease, I was willing to let bygones be bygones since it was our mistake not to get the original agreement in writing. I had reminded my roommates that we should go with the lower rent option since the fridge is bound to break any day anyway, but they wanted the guaranteed new fridge on June 1 and were willing to pay more to get it.
June 1 came and went.
It is now 07/07/07, and our luck hasn't changed.
My roommates are emailing her on my behalf, reminding her of the very original estoppel agreement she signed that said she'd investigate and repair or replace the fridge in question, not to mention the agreement to pay a higher rent for a fridge that never came. Now, I hear she is planning to move a refrigerator from another unit into ours, which I think hardly counts as "new." I think this also means she wants to give that other unit a brand new refrigerator, which shows direct favoritism to them because they pay more for their apartment, despite that we have discussed this issue since well before these people even moved in. We are proposing that she buy a new fridge as originally agreed, or replace the fridge with the one from the other apartment but lower our rent to the non-new-fridge option retroactively and for the remainder of the lease.
Any smarty pants have advice?
You see, this was our new landlord, who purchased the building (mid-lease) the month before and who was obligated to take care of problems that our old landlord left behind and that we had written into our estoppel agreement to be repaired or replaced. Like our fridge, which is dilapidated and has been a health hazard since well before I ever moved a little over a year ago.
We informed her that, although it occasionally sustained a reasonable temperature, our fridge did not pass California health inspection standards for temperature or efficiency-- sometimes the milk freezes, other times it spoils. The insulation is cracked and mold hangs out on the ceiling; if we bleach it and clean the fridge out, the mold returns by the end of the week. I'm glad we don't eat like pigs, because if we had any more weight on the shelves, it would surely break the brittle plastic protruberances that hide the deteriorating insulation and collapse the whole damn thing in a cloud of 1980s dust.
She told us, at that meeting in November (at which she inspected the fridge for herself) that we would have a new refrigerator soon, but that since ours was clearly in the worst condition of the other units, she didn't want us "bragging to the other tenants about it." To retain diplomacy in this budding relationship, we foolishly agreed to tell no one. We also foolishly didn't think we needed to get this in writing, because up until this point she had been perfectly amicable and true to her word.
The meeting itself seemed strange, because we had been previously conversing via email, until she explained that we needed to meet in person "because nothing in email is legally viable." She didn't say much of substance, except the part about getting a new fridge, so I wasn't terribly concerned until toward the end of our June-June lease that it was March and nothing had happened-- no repair guy, no replacement, no nothing.
She really, really wanted us to renew our lease, because we're pretty darned awesome. We told her that we love the place, but that for now we'd keep looking for apartments that were more in our price range and had fewer bedrooms. A month passed and we were having no luck finding anything cheaper or better or available. Our landlord called again and offered to lower our rent if we renewed. We had asked for a much more significant reduction in rent than she offered, but her conditions and intentions seemed to be good. She offered two options: pay $3025 per month without a new fridge, or $3050 with a new fridge. Although she had promised us this fridge during the last lease, I was willing to let bygones be bygones since it was our mistake not to get the original agreement in writing. I had reminded my roommates that we should go with the lower rent option since the fridge is bound to break any day anyway, but they wanted the guaranteed new fridge on June 1 and were willing to pay more to get it.
June 1 came and went.
It is now 07/07/07, and our luck hasn't changed.
My roommates are emailing her on my behalf, reminding her of the very original estoppel agreement she signed that said she'd investigate and repair or replace the fridge in question, not to mention the agreement to pay a higher rent for a fridge that never came. Now, I hear she is planning to move a refrigerator from another unit into ours, which I think hardly counts as "new." I think this also means she wants to give that other unit a brand new refrigerator, which shows direct favoritism to them because they pay more for their apartment, despite that we have discussed this issue since well before these people even moved in. We are proposing that she buy a new fridge as originally agreed, or replace the fridge with the one from the other apartment but lower our rent to the non-new-fridge option retroactively and for the remainder of the lease.
Any smarty pants have advice?
7.06.2007
Witness this
33 years. That's how long Sybil Lovelace has been knocking on doors to spread the word about Jehovah, because clearly if everyone knew, there would be no shootings or poverty.
She spends 70 hours a month braving drive-bys and serving in soup kitchens (such havens of vice!). 8 hours a day for 8 days out of every month. For 33 years. She's saved 5 lives from certain Jehovah-less death.
I admire her persistence, but even the Mormons think the Jehovah's Witnesses need to tone it down with the Armageddon talk.
Here's the article, if you're so inclined:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/06/MNGN7QS4631.DTL
She spends 70 hours a month braving drive-bys and serving in soup kitchens (such havens of vice!). 8 hours a day for 8 days out of every month. For 33 years. She's saved 5 lives from certain Jehovah-less death.
I admire her persistence, but even the Mormons think the Jehovah's Witnesses need to tone it down with the Armageddon talk.
Here's the article, if you're so inclined:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/06/MNGN7QS4631.DTL
Superthief!
If you're in the Bay Area and want to go see my roommate's show, his band is headlining tonight at 9pm at Blake's on Telegraph (in Berkeley, like the name suggests, on Telegraph between Durant and Channing). Admission is $12 for minors, less for drinkers. Cry all you want, but the money doesn't go to them.
Kyle just joined as the bassist for the band Superthief, and seems super-excited for his debut performance. So. Go support him! I'd go if I could, but I'm in Utah.
Their website, if you're interested, is: http://www.superthiefrocks.com/
Apparently very attractive people are in the band. I have not inquired about their relationship status. Yet.
Kyle just joined as the bassist for the band Superthief, and seems super-excited for his debut performance. So. Go support him! I'd go if I could, but I'm in Utah.
Their website, if you're interested, is: http://www.superthiefrocks.com/
Apparently very attractive people are in the band. I have not inquired about their relationship status. Yet.
7.05.2007
I save the best for last
[edited from an earlier publishing at the Alter Ego's blog, entitled "My mother's daughter"]
There are a lot of things I keep secret from my mom, and I still don't know why. But maybe talking through it can shed some light on things.
In many cases it was my early signs of my independence, a drive to take care of myself without letting her oversee everything. Mom never seemed especially comfortable talking with me about certain things, and I never became especially comfortable talking about those things with her or anyone else.
I started shaving my legs in the summer of seventh grade, after I borrowed Mom's razor in the shower and the same year I started my first job. I figured if I was responsible enough to be earning taxable income, I was responsible enough to use sharp objects unsupervised. I read in the books Mom casually left in my path that girls my age were supposed to ask their mother's permission to shave, or to wear a bra, or about boys or any number of pubescent and early adolescent things. But I had spent a good time of my life annoying my sisters while they grew up, and I guess I learned enough through osmosis that it became a lot easier for me to skip the whole Mom-talk thing and do it all myself. She was always (and still is) so busy, I just assumed it was just as well. We had an open line of passive communication-- girly books left conspicuously on my dresser, bras in shopping bags with clearance t-shirts-- the verbal part just seemed to interrupt our otherwise seamless understanding.
"Did you see what I left you?"
"Yeah, Mom. I think so. Thanks."
"Oh, well, I just thought it might help with, you know..."
"Right. Okay, well, thanks."
As I got older, it became more about my genuine concern for both her and our status quo. She worked all the time to put my sisters through college while I was barely in middle school-- it became clear to me that as the youngest by nine years, she felt more comfortable raising me without needing to spend as much time with me. And I'm fine with that. In fact, I loved it. We had a system going where I would say as little as possible, she would pry answers out of me with yes or no questions, and then we'd both give up and go back to work. Body language said all we needed; the yes' and nos just worked out the particulars.
Which is why it's hard to comprehend the turnaround now that I'm in college. We speak more regularly than I think we ever did while living together, I see her more often than most classmates see their parents, and the things I omit from our conversations aren't necessarily embarassing, but are often so irrelevant that I forget them, or I feel like I don't want to tell her yet.
Like my writing habits.
I've been blogging since January, and it's been a sisterly/Internet secret that I write more to the World Wide Web at large than I do emails to my mom. This is the woman who has saved in her house a good part of my entire academic history, from kindergarten finger paintings to college admission essays. I fear that if I tell her about things in my life, like this blog, or how many boyfriends I don't have, that they will become part of a permanent record in her mind, documented by miscellaneous letters and a comprehensive, printed anthology of every blog post or comment I have submitted here or elsewhere. And if I later become ashamed of or disappointed in that part, no amount of guilting or pretending it never existed will erase it from her memory.
Part of why I haven't told her is that I fear I would censor myself more; that I would write less or more conservatively out of fear of not being good enough in front of her, despite that I know she loves me. Maybe I should take advice from those whose lives are in the public domain. What do famous people talk to their mothers about? What does Lindsay Lohan's mom think of her party life? How does Marshall Mathers' mom introduce herself? Paris? Britney?
The inspiration for this confessional-- my passive way to calm what can only be a storm called Mom when I tell her about this blog-- was that scholarship contest I entered over at the Prog Blog (you know, the one I bugged you guys relentlessly to go read for the last couple weeks?). I feel like I might have a spitting chance, and if I win, Mom will eventually find out that I owe less in student debt. It would be awfully convenient to explain if I win. And if I don't, it's just another thing she didn't have to worry about and I don't have to worry about her remembering.
So, Mom, please understand how much we understand each other-- enough that, however deep down, you know that I'll get around to telling you the important things. I hope you aren't too mad that sometimes you're one of the last to know.
Love you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
