did i mention carl is cute and amazing?
Photos here.
DA BOYZ:
Carl was waiting at the entrance to the parking lot when we arrived ... we got there at about 9:15. We drove down and he showed us the office, and we helped us unload, and start to put stuff up before he needed to go set up the hotdogs, etc. It was a set-up challenge without the tent routine we were used to, with its ready-made places to attach everything, but such a beautiful location. We scoped out spots for the swag, for Frank and the speech location, and set David up right next to Frank, in the only place we could see that there might be shade througout the day. It was so great that it worked out!
We were hustling! At about 10:30, a couple of older women arrived in the office just as Corey was about to start blowing up all the balloons. It turned out they had a meeting scheduled in there, which the moderator said was very important, and it wouldn't work very well to have too many distractions. It turns out that they are a grounds & buildings planning committee for the Square, and were discussing a major painting project on all the buildings. Corey told her that all he needed to do was to blow up the balloons inside so that he could blow them all up and they wouldn't fly away. She said ok, if I get a balloon!! Corey said ok! He ended up blowing them up outside because the helium tank was loud, and then would carry them inside and tie the ribbons on them. Once he had put up all the balloons, he carried one red balloon over near their meeting table, and indicated to her that it was for her, and she probably thought that it had been a joke between them, but was happily surprised to get the balloon!
Before we knew it, the candidate had arrived, and you guys were rolling down into the square. David the notary had arrived at about 11:30, and came back at noon to set up his stuff. What a great guy. It was so neat how he was happy to stay, and seemed to really be listening to Frank, especially the speech, really taking it all in ... The conversation between Frank, Carl and Mike was really great! And the whole process of David notarizing all the electors and then notarizing Frank's forms for Indiana, Kansas, Maryland and Washington was really fun. A really fun day! And then to hear all the history of the Square from Carl, and their ideas about how to take care of the people needing assisted living, and the way that some have had to sell off all of their possessions to qualify for the public assisted living available in SF ... really fascinating. It was amazing to hear how the Square had started as a project of the Longshoreman's Union. Alexi said later that there was a plaque inside the office that basically said that the Square was established in 1963 to create a model of how people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and incomes could all live together in community where those things were not dividing people. It was really interesting to see how the choice to make the Square co-op a "fair market value" co-op as opposed to a "low-to-middle income co-op" set up the kinds of changes that have been occurring all over ... the value of all the units gets really high, excluding the very kinds of people who lived there originally, and who still need housing, and making it so only the wealthier can move in ... going against the original idea of the Longshoreman's ...
Then you guys were off, and we were breaking down the set ... always a trip to see the site of a FM4Prez event morph back into its original state. Carl helped us pack everything up, and he distributed balloons and hotdogs to folks around the square. We gave the flowers to Carl, which he really liked, and he took them up to his apartment, to Tammy, saying, "Now she can't say I never give her flowers!"
Mike was back again to lock up the office, and he said, "Good show, guys." We hugged Carl goodbye, and soon were on the road. We were wiped! Pleasantly wiped!
IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES
S.F.
DA BOYZ:
Carl was waiting at the entrance to the parking lot when we arrived ... we got there at about 9:15. We drove down and he showed us the office, and we helped us unload, and start to put stuff up before he needed to go set up the hotdogs, etc. It was a set-up challenge without the tent routine we were used to, with its ready-made places to attach everything, but such a beautiful location. We scoped out spots for the swag, for Frank and the speech location, and set David up right next to Frank, in the only place we could see that there might be shade througout the day. It was so great that it worked out!
We were hustling! At about 10:30, a couple of older women arrived in the office just as Corey was about to start blowing up all the balloons. It turned out they had a meeting scheduled in there, which the moderator said was very important, and it wouldn't work very well to have too many distractions. It turns out that they are a grounds & buildings planning committee for the Square, and were discussing a major painting project on all the buildings. Corey told her that all he needed to do was to blow up the balloons inside so that he could blow them all up and they wouldn't fly away. She said ok, if I get a balloon!! Corey said ok! He ended up blowing them up outside because the helium tank was loud, and then would carry them inside and tie the ribbons on them. Once he had put up all the balloons, he carried one red balloon over near their meeting table, and indicated to her that it was for her, and she probably thought that it had been a joke between them, but was happily surprised to get the balloon!
Before we knew it, the candidate had arrived, and you guys were rolling down into the square. David the notary had arrived at about 11:30, and came back at noon to set up his stuff. What a great guy. It was so neat how he was happy to stay, and seemed to really be listening to Frank, especially the speech, really taking it all in ... The conversation between Frank, Carl and Mike was really great! And the whole process of David notarizing all the electors and then notarizing Frank's forms for Indiana, Kansas, Maryland and Washington was really fun. A really fun day! And then to hear all the history of the Square from Carl, and their ideas about how to take care of the people needing assisted living, and the way that some have had to sell off all of their possessions to qualify for the public assisted living available in SF ... really fascinating. It was amazing to hear how the Square had started as a project of the Longshoreman's Union. Alexi said later that there was a plaque inside the office that basically said that the Square was established in 1963 to create a model of how people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and incomes could all live together in community where those things were not dividing people. It was really interesting to see how the choice to make the Square co-op a "fair market value" co-op as opposed to a "low-to-middle income co-op" set up the kinds of changes that have been occurring all over ... the value of all the units gets really high, excluding the very kinds of people who lived there originally, and who still need housing, and making it so only the wealthier can move in ... going against the original idea of the Longshoreman's ...
Then you guys were off, and we were breaking down the set ... always a trip to see the site of a FM4Prez event morph back into its original state. Carl helped us pack everything up, and he distributed balloons and hotdogs to folks around the square. We gave the flowers to Carl, which he really liked, and he took them up to his apartment, to Tammy, saying, "Now she can't say I never give her flowers!"
Mike was back again to lock up the office, and he said, "Good show, guys." We hugged Carl goodbye, and soon were on the road. We were wiped! Pleasantly wiped!
posted by Lavapen | 2:10 AM
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