After the Holidays in the Mission

A Bit of Light in the Grim Anniversaries.

The past week is that weird time of the year when, in the course of three days, we have a trilogy of back-to-back tragic anniversaries -- the San Francisco Earthquake and fire (April 18, 1906); the Oklahoma City Bombing (April 19, 1995) and the Columbine massacre (April 20, 1999). I left San Francisco last week to be in Denver where there were a few people from Oklahoma, so these three sad anniversaries were top of mind. I was in Oklahoma at the time of the 1995 bombing and routed through Denver the day of Columbine, so they hold special meaning.

Believe it or not, I wasn't around for the 1906 earthquake.

I just came across the great videos above by Rick Prelinger of The Long Now Foundation. Some great images of Bay history that I've never seen and interesting commentary.

Mission United Against Evil

Mission Blood

After about a dozen years of living in the Mission, I've seen my share of gang violence and drive-by shootings that I've grown to not be too wary. But the number and proximity of recent ones is a bit spooky. Not being a member of Hell's Angels, having no visible gang member tattoos and usually not roaming the streets at 4:45 a.m. on a weekend, I don't feel I would be a likely target but could be the proverbial bystander caught in the crossfire.

Some business are saying they are ready to leave the neighborhood, ironically just as Sushi Bistro and other Noe Valley-esque spots are just arriving.

About six months ago there was a similar shooting right under the bay window where Guru watches street theater that did not result in a fatality but was spooky enough to make me extra diligent.

Well, I am sure that many of you are wanting yet another update on the boy. Now on our fourth day, the bonding is definitely on the fast track, but I'm becoming more aware of the extent of his special needs. The basenji rescue network has been very supportive, but the whole psychological make up of his previous household are emerging. He was a support dog to a disabled woman who let him rule the house and never socialized him with other dogs and very few people. Raised as strictly a house and yard dog in suburban Sacramento, his sudden arrival in San Francisco has been a huge shock to him. Our first few walks went fine, but this evening we came seriously close to disaster when we passed other dogs and he was on sensory overload as a MUNI bus, the singing and tambourine in the Hispanic Pentecostal church hit a crescendo, a low rider with a ghetto blaster passed and the guy with the yapping chihuahua started screaming at the pooch and me.

That hasn't nixed my hope to make it a permanent home for Guru, but it's obviously going to require some work. Seeing what an angel and love muffin he is when we're inside alone gives me the desire to rise to the challenge and tap into the resources to make it happen. As they say, it takes a village to raise a basenji.

There Goes the Neighborhood

Just yesterday we were worrying about shootings in the 'hood, and this morning there is word of a bomb threat just a couple of blocks away. Dern, I really should have taken that letter from Jesus a little more seriously.

Coming Soon...

...the Civil War finally reconciled.

One Man, Many Tools, Many Gone

I grew up in a part of the country where this infamous bumper sticker was very common, and I always wanted to respond: "Yeah, right, that's the whole idea." I hope this is my last post on the Virginia Tech news item, having just watched gun proponent Ted Nugent rant against why gun free zones don't work. I really don't have a desire to enter into the debate since like abortion there can be no debate, just screaming on both sides. But having spent plenty of time in Guatemala where guns were once in the hands of the two opposing sides, they did not go away with the signing of the peace agreement. Now Guatemala City is the second most violent city in the western hemisphere. It challenges the claim that guns alone are not the problem. It takes people to use them to kill, but the more guns that there are around, the more likely they are going to be used for murder. And, in the case of Blacksburg, it took one person and a lot of guns to do the damage.

EST and Guns

If there is one thing most disturbing about today's violence on the Virginia Tech campus, it's the rush by media outlets to categorize it as the "est" of all campus shootings -- deadliest, biggest carnage, greatest body count -- and trying immediately to put it into perspective of other shootings. It's not surprising that they compared it to the Texas massacre in the 1960s with another lone gunman. What is interesting is that they also mentioned Kent State. Was that an admission that it was another case of crazed individuals?