Hyperfiction

A link to the Embarcadero adventure.

Project Ideas

Primarily, I'd like to write a script for a short-format on-line television show. The piece, which is a fantasy about a girl living in a musical world, will be about five minutes long. Along with the script, if adding some techy things is necessary, I'd like to experiment with Wiki or a sort of Graffiti Research Lab. I can see a sort of urban dictionary, but different version, being set up. The Graffiti thing will include other people's "soundtracks" of their lives, or songs that represent milestones of their lives. So a questionaire, or survey, could be a starting template where visitors could follow and contribute their songs as answers.

Put Yo' Stunna Shades On

Since the birth of the Hyphy movement, Southern California has yet to come up with a creative answer to the popular Nor Cal rap genre. Ghost riding the whip, making that thizz face, and going stupid are only a few examples of the trendy lingo several Bay Area rappers are popularizing through the music.

Off the top of my head, I can think of one kind of rap movement that was highly commercialized by So Cal artists: gangsta rap. I'm not a big fan of it, but I do remember growing up and listening to it on the radio. As far as "shaking them dreads" (violently moving your head so that your dread locks fly free) or "showing your grillz" (flossing those fronts or caps), gangsta rap encouraged no such fashion trends--except maybe a glock, an AK, a gat, or any combination of those.

All in all, take "California Love" for example, when Tupac had no idea there was going to be a separation of state, so to speak. Back then, it was an east coast/west coast rivalry, and Cali was unified more as a whole. That may happen with the hyphy movement, too, as you can see from my So Cal friends joining in the stunna shade fun. Though, I can't help but feel sometimes they may be mocking it more than feeling it.

Practice Mix

Driving 101

If there's one thing that brings the worst out of me, it's road rage. There's something about being behind the wheel that empowers people to say things they wouldn't normally say or to throw up a finger they wouldn't normally use to point. No matter where it is I drive in the U.S.--be it through the Midwest, the East Coast, and up and down California--there's always the chance of encountering that idiot of a driver that ruins your whole day.

If you've ever driven in So Cal, particularly L.A., you'd know to prepare yourself either for some insanely heavy traffic or some really aggressive speed-racers. The carpool lane may also be a very frustrating place since, if not planned carefully, you could easily miss your exit because of those evil double solid yellow lines. In my experience, the problem is that the majority of drivers down south aren't considerate or patient enough to put up with slow or wishy-washy drivers. The pace of the lifestyle doesn't allow that.

Moreover, I've encountered the most obnoxious drivers in So Cal: there's the tailgater, the sporadic lane-changer, the non-signaler, and the list goes on. At the very least, however, I think people try to get to where they're going with a quickness, even if they are jerks. If you've been sitting in traffic on the 101 and you're already 30 minutes late for an appointment, once traffic starts picking up (if you're lucky), people don't remain driving 20 MPH. People pick up the speed like they should. And best of all, there's such thing as a left-hand turn in L.A.!

While this may be true, driving in Nor Cal sure is a change of pace. Though San Francisco is an urban city, I found that the drivers overall are patient ones indeed. But where L.A. drivers lack patience, Bay Area drivers overcompensate. I drive every week to and from my internship in Redwood City, and on my way there, I usually encounter the following problems before reaching my destination:

-I honk at the people who don't know when it's their turn at a four-way stop.
-When entering the freeway, the driver preceding me is going 35 MPH on the on-ramp, and accelerating at a turtle-pace into the freeway.
-When on the freeway, someone is driving 60 MPH in the fast lane.
-People who are signaling to go into my lane practice defensive driving to a whole new level and take a million years before actually moving into my lane.
-Drivers who can't decide whether they want to go fast or slow, as indicated by their constant speed changes.

I'm not quite sure if it's my Southern California driver's nature, but am I wrong to think that Nor Cal drivers drive like they have nowhere to go? I mean, come on! The traffic started moving a long time ago, and in frustration I overtake the cars in front of me who choose to lollygag along without realizing that they could get pulled over for obstructing traffic and going too slow. From my observations, drivers up here are so relaxed that they make me look like the asshole driver when that's just normally not the case...back home anyway.

In brief, I've concluded that both sides of California have their share of horrible drivers. So Cal, with the term "road rage" coined there, has their inconsiderate, crazy drivers, while Nor Cal has their timid, pushover drivers. Just as much as I hate to find myself stuck in L.A.'s carpool lanes, those no-left-turn signs and inconspicuous traffic lights in San Francisco drive me out of my mind.

"It Never Rains in Southern California"

I would bet that when Tony! Toni! Toné! decided to record this jam, they had Southern California in comparison to Northern California in mind. Otherwise, why even indicate exactly what region of California they wanted to croon about?

OK, OK. Listening to the lyrics a little more closely, the song describes the lover residing in Southern California, and they--whoever they may be--told him that it never rains there. Well, guess what. It does. But compared to the Bay Area, I think it's pretty darn sunny over there.

Take, for example, the picture on the left taken by Brad Perks. Especially since I've lived in the Daly City/Pacifica area for the majority of my stay in the Bay, the fog and I have come to know each other very well. The photo on the right, taken from SoCal WXMan's blog, depicts the So Cal weather that has spoiled me silly.

I don't mean to complain since scarves and pea coats are preferred over tankinis any day. It's just that I can't help but feel gloomy when I think about the times I've needed to dress in layers in the middle of July. To be fair, I'm mostly describing the Peninsula and San Francisco regions, since the farther east and San Jose areas can be reminiscent of home, weather-wise.

Luckily, I'm not the kind of person whose mood is reflected by the weather, which is possibly why I was able to adapt to San Francisco quickly. I know enough, though, to always keep a sweater in the car, to not panic when I can't see 10 feet ahead of my car in the fog, and to leave the shorts at home in So Cal.

Leaving the SoCal Nest

When you look at a migratory bird, it’s hard to immediately tell where it originated from, unless of course you’re an amazing aviary enthusiast with an expert eye, in which case then you’d probably have an appropriate conjecture. Otherwise, the least you could sum up is that the bird will eventually make its way south, then back up north again, if what you learned from elementary was still true.

And like the bird, for the past two and a half years I’ve made my way up and down California. Down—to my beloved Oxnard to see my family and friends; up—to get a degree at SFSU while getting away from my beloved Oxnard. It’s not that my hometown is bad; I just went to the extreme of choosing a school so far away, I could prove some kind of independence from my family.

With that said, I have come to love it here in Nor Cal. Before moving up here though, I never realized the So Cal/Nor Cal rivalry. When I say rivalry, I mainly mean differences. I use the word only because the friends I’ve made here like to make it a point that there’s been an ongoing culture war between the two regions for some time now. Perhaps my being oblivious to it all represents that the apparent rivalry is just something So Cal people don’t worry about. At any rate, now that I’ve lived here for some time, I’ve come to see those differences for myself.

Some say the migratory bird migrates south, not because of the harsh cold winters, but to avoid starvation. I often feel the same way, since top ramen lunches and SPAM dinners can really force one to drive six hours south for a decent home-cooked meal. So after I’m stuffed with all the goodness of home again, I fly back to my newfound home in the Bay Area to try to make a living for myself.