24 Hours In Berkeley, CA
I went to Berkeley to teach an improv class, which I haven't done in years. It was at UC Berkeley, to some high schoolers, and was a lot of fun. The best moment: while playing, "Get Off The Bench" (where students try to convince each other to leave a chair), a kid named Miguel said, "You should get off that chair. That chair has AIDS."
Getting to Berkeley was pretty complicated - I planned on driving, and left around 3 in the morning in the rain. After nearly skidding out of control on the highway a third time, I decided to turn around and fly. 130 dollars later, I'm in Oakland, where it's still raining incredibly hard. In fact, at no point during my trip was it not raining the hardest I've ever seen it rain in California.
I take the BART to Berkeley, where the people are the nicest I've ever seen. Two different bus drivers are incredibly helpful - the woman at the Quiznos helps me find my wallet - the girl at the Jamba Juice is laughing for no good reason - the guy at the smoke shop is cracking jokes - the 55 year old bartender is telling me where to pick up a WiFi signal!
Even the homeless people are nicer in Berkeley! They're not so much homeless as they are hobos! One told me his old army sergeant's trick for shaving, and the other talked about the Knights Templar, and how he was, in a past life, Richard the Lionheart!
The business names in Berkeley are like the joke names you'd see on the Simpsons. "Krishna Copy Center", for example, which actually exists. I saw at least 8 different coffee shops that had some sort of legal pun, like, "Reasonable Grounds", or "Sufficient Grounds".
While waiting for the train out of town, a woman and I realize we're both sitting alone and sit together. We talk about Aqua Teen Hunger Force & old Canadian cartoons like "The Cat Came Back", and I realize: if this were Los Angeles, I would not be having this conversation. Neither of us would have any interest in trusting the other person, and we'd probably spend the entire lunch hour on our cell phones.
Berkeley, California. What a cool place.
Getting out of Berkeley is much harder than getting in, especially when you don't want to spend the money to fly twice in one day. I decide to take the train, which yes, does take 10 hours. I was hoping to get a ticket on the Amtrak Starlight, which runs from Los Angeles to Seattle, but no such luck. The soonest way home is a train to a bus to a train. Still, I slept the whole way on the bus, and the trains were incredibly comfortable.
The only drama came when I completely lost my saxophone, and had to stop myself from panicking. While on the train from Berkeley to Oakland, I realized I'd forgotten it back at the platform.
I bought a return ticket, and prayed to God it was still there, which I felt pretty guilty about doing. Leave it to a Catholic to feel guilty about praying. I also said a prayer to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost items, which has 100% never failed to locate a lost item.
That's absolutely true. When I was a kid, I'd lose everything. My keys, my shoes, everything. So my Grandma told me about Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost items. If I wasn't writing this on the train from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, I'd look up his history, but for now let's just say he was a pretty cool guy, and praying to him has never failed me in the past.
It was there waiting for me when I got in, and I will never lose it again. On it, someone had put a penny, minted in the year I was born. I stuffed that penny in my wallet, and will never lose that either.
So, 24 hours in Berkeley, CA, trying my hardest not to spend any money so I can actually turn a profit on the trip. That, and if I don't raise 1,500 dollars by the end of the month, i can't get the apartment I've signed the lease on and will lose the deposit I put down. Still, a great time, and I can't wait to go back.
Getting to Berkeley was pretty complicated - I planned on driving, and left around 3 in the morning in the rain. After nearly skidding out of control on the highway a third time, I decided to turn around and fly. 130 dollars later, I'm in Oakland, where it's still raining incredibly hard. In fact, at no point during my trip was it not raining the hardest I've ever seen it rain in California.
I take the BART to Berkeley, where the people are the nicest I've ever seen. Two different bus drivers are incredibly helpful - the woman at the Quiznos helps me find my wallet - the girl at the Jamba Juice is laughing for no good reason - the guy at the smoke shop is cracking jokes - the 55 year old bartender is telling me where to pick up a WiFi signal!
Even the homeless people are nicer in Berkeley! They're not so much homeless as they are hobos! One told me his old army sergeant's trick for shaving, and the other talked about the Knights Templar, and how he was, in a past life, Richard the Lionheart!
The business names in Berkeley are like the joke names you'd see on the Simpsons. "Krishna Copy Center", for example, which actually exists. I saw at least 8 different coffee shops that had some sort of legal pun, like, "Reasonable Grounds", or "Sufficient Grounds".
While waiting for the train out of town, a woman and I realize we're both sitting alone and sit together. We talk about Aqua Teen Hunger Force & old Canadian cartoons like "The Cat Came Back", and I realize: if this were Los Angeles, I would not be having this conversation. Neither of us would have any interest in trusting the other person, and we'd probably spend the entire lunch hour on our cell phones.
Berkeley, California. What a cool place.
Getting out of Berkeley is much harder than getting in, especially when you don't want to spend the money to fly twice in one day. I decide to take the train, which yes, does take 10 hours. I was hoping to get a ticket on the Amtrak Starlight, which runs from Los Angeles to Seattle, but no such luck. The soonest way home is a train to a bus to a train. Still, I slept the whole way on the bus, and the trains were incredibly comfortable.
The only drama came when I completely lost my saxophone, and had to stop myself from panicking. While on the train from Berkeley to Oakland, I realized I'd forgotten it back at the platform.
I bought a return ticket, and prayed to God it was still there, which I felt pretty guilty about doing. Leave it to a Catholic to feel guilty about praying. I also said a prayer to Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost items, which has 100% never failed to locate a lost item.
That's absolutely true. When I was a kid, I'd lose everything. My keys, my shoes, everything. So my Grandma told me about Saint Anthony, the patron saint of lost items. If I wasn't writing this on the train from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, I'd look up his history, but for now let's just say he was a pretty cool guy, and praying to him has never failed me in the past.
It was there waiting for me when I got in, and I will never lose it again. On it, someone had put a penny, minted in the year I was born. I stuffed that penny in my wallet, and will never lose that either.
So, 24 hours in Berkeley, CA, trying my hardest not to spend any money so I can actually turn a profit on the trip. That, and if I don't raise 1,500 dollars by the end of the month, i can't get the apartment I've signed the lease on and will lose the deposit I put down. Still, a great time, and I can't wait to go back.