Why I find living in SF in these times awesome.
I admit that I’m not a native San Franciscan.
But by virtue of having lived in the bay area the last 10 years, I’ve felt madly akin and invigorated by the energy and serendipitous opportunities and mischief that this city has provided for me.
I mean, having grown up in Livonia, Michigan my whole life previous — i know what the midwest mentality is. The lifestyle. The mostly myopic ambitions. (erm. lack of). The strip malls. The utter middle midwest mediocrity at it’s best. On the rare occasions (like yesterday when I met Alexandra and her husband Les) that I meet another person from Livonia I exclaim with joy “Oh My gawd! How awesome! Livonia girls are the best. Am I not the best? Is she not the best? Holy Crap! You! Me! His Name is Alive. The best 3 things to have gotten out off LIvonia!”
You may recall me opining that my general angst and a good portion of my fear of generic mainstream authority (read - old tall white men) comes from growing up in Livonia. Livonia - oh town of my home. US Census 2000 Whitest Town in America. How dear thou art - sorta. And how much do I upset the balance of diversity when I come home to visit my parents? Do tell. Oh yeah, you can’t. You’re too busy at the Outback Steakhouse that’s oooo so nifty and chic in town now.
But seriously, Livonia was good to me. I grew up there. I felt safe there. I scampered by myself often in the parks, felt safe enough being alone walking about, and never felt a moment of terror for living in the city and being out after dusk. Enough so that I ran away from home 3 times before I hit puberty. (The first time was with a blanket, teddybear, a red Lacoste jacket. good shoes and a heating pad. Yes. A heating pad. I figured I could sneak into people’s back yards and plug in to their outside electrical sockets)
But San Francisco - Oh San Francisco.
Last night I attended the Hyperscope 1.0 launch event which blew my mind wide open and reminded me of the passion, intensity, commitment and brilliance that comes together within the bay area. This event was this inspirational confluence of academia, social intelligence, technology, and compassion for world goals. I felt like I was in the presence of a historically groundbreaking moment. My. God.
I am so very proud of my friend Eugene’s efforts as involved with the project along with the luminaries.
The Team? (from the site)
- Doug Engelbart, resident visionary
- Brad Neuberg, crack coder and browser guru
- Jonathan Cheyer, knows more about Augment than anyone else under 35
- Christina Engelbart, the bridge between the old and the new
- Eugene Eric Kim, project liaison and collaboration guru who keeps everybody from chasing their own tails
My good pal Alex Russel, whom I’ve always appreciated as a very good egg since we first met a few years back, also contributed mad ninja dojo skills as I understand it.
Now, as I’m not so much a technologist as a fan of technologists and geeks, I felt woefully stunned and overwhelmed by the brainpower in the room. But you know what? These people, these marvelous people making changes to the world? I also call them my friends. It’s so randomly fascinating for me to talk to friends in other cities - completely outside of the tech industry and the bay’s incestuous and inescapable tech/web/2pointwhateverness scene talk about services online that they love and being able to think to myself or say “Hey - you know I know them. I’ll pass the kudos along. I’ve sat in a hottub with them. Omg, I think I kissed someone who worked on that. Omg, I know I’ve kissed someone who’s worked on that. Haha, did you know that such and such person on that company’s team has a mad sweet tooth? Or plays the banjo? or still has their girlfriend’s photo on the front page of that website that gets several hundreds of thousands of hits a month? Isn’t that funny? I know them? They’re my friends. THey’re regular people? I like them? They are awesome and I think they like me too?
And then I have a moment of - and so what the hellabytes am I doing with my life?
And then I think to myself - well — there’s still a little bit of Livonia left in me afterall.
But then again it really isn’t as bad as all that.
Tonight I spent some delicious timem and a little bit too much money in visiting with my friend Nguyen Qui Duc who will be moving to Vietnam soon. The time, I regret not. The money, neither. For I will soon have in my possession some gorgeous art that this brilliant friend has created. He promises, also, to cook for Jane and I before he heads out.
For such a luminary, on the night of his fantastic gallery toast/roast/sendoff to give me a warm hug and say “So how’s that book coming along. I must introduce you to someone” and give me the most buoyantly kind support and encouragement — well.
I can say that I’m blessed.
Tonight I had a discussion tonight about faith. It was highly unexpected. The person I was speaking to questioned why I still had faith in God. How I could believe in such a benevolent being. How I could not hate someone who was clearly so inaccessible or distant from his people to allow for such shame and pain and detritus and regret in the world for people.
I didn’t have much of a response except to say …
“The fact that you are so wildly passionate about knowing justice in your heart. And recognizing that you see that things aren’t right in the world and that you want them to be better. The fact that you aren’t resigned or… despaired in a world where everything is inconsiquential. That. That to me proves that there is a God.”
So yes.
In 48 hours I’ve experienced a wide scope of things that have made me feel so … right about who I am and where I am in my life and the affirmations of each experience as it spills over me. I’ve felt wildy reminded of why life.is.so.very.very.good.
2 Comments