I really love it when I have an afternoon off to take a walk around my cute neighborhood and up to Piedmont Ave. It feels like I live in a nice, small community full of cool shops and good restaurants nestled in the larger area of Oakland and can be comforting within the hard edges of the city.
Of course, one of my favorites is Issues Magazine Shop, which I have written about before. Somehow it doesn't matter how my day is going. When I walk in, I feel welcome to spend as long as I like perusing the great selection of magazines for my art projects, like my collages. This week I found both owners, Joe and Noella, in their usual good spirits rocking some sweet, mellow reggae. There is also always some good old-fashioned people-watching. I have often wondered who buys weird magazines like the high fashion French children's magazine, Milk, (in which I have scored some great Dior, etc ads), and I had the chance to see a woman with a stroller and husband in tow inquire about one. I ended up with a 70s library book on Oceania masks, a new Dutch fashion mag with great bloody hunting photos called Blend, the awesome English all-around pop culture fest, Wonderland, and Vice, an ever amusing free read.
Next I picked up my so-necessary coffee beans from Peets and enjoyed a free cup while perusing the Piedmont Library's regular outdoor book sale. All books are 50 cents! I found a classic that I've never had the chance to read, Hemmingway's The Old Man and the Sea.
On the way home I looked at the lovely gardens of all the cute houses nearby and scoped some free plant samples. I took a cutting of both morning glory and passion flower vines which I will put in jars of water in my window. I also made a mental note of the gorgeous garden on a corner which will be ripe with seeds for the taking in a month or two. Peach colored hollyhocks, fuschia cosmos... I am so looking forward to making my garden at school more beautiful!
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