7. Be inspired:
The story of how the 1981 Oakland Tech high school senior class fought to make MLK a nationally recognized holiday.
2. For those who are scared of the taco trucks (i love the taco trucks), amazing ceviche: Mariscos La Costa! Wonderful & cheap mexican food in Fruitvale neighborhood - you feel like you're in another country!
3. Love Lake Merritt, especially Saturday mornings farmers market
5. If you have kids and need a good high school, go to Life Academy!
1. Art Murmur - you don't have to be a hipster to enjoy local artist in uptown Oakland (first fridays of the month)
2. Lakeshore Ave - i can spend all day on lakeshore ave staring with a good cup of coffee (Peet's), shopping for trendy clothes and/or gifts (Juniper Tree), and eating homemade soup and bread (Arizmendi's)
3. Walden Pond - on Grand Ave has awesome collection of old and used books and fun to browse their latest politico material
5. I love getting fresh home-made ice cream at Nieves Cinco de Mayo in Fruitvale's Public Market. The owner, Luis, is really nice and always greets me with a smile and samples! A scoop is less than $2.
1. Best taco trucks: sinaloa (international x 22nd ave) & el grullo (restaurant on foothill x 27th ave, truck on international x 26th ave)
2. Best vietnamese sandwiches: cam huong (international x 7th ave, chinatown location: webster x 9th st)
5. Movie about Cambodian Americans: New Year Baby.
6. Best place to get away without actually going away from Oakland: Joaquin Miller park.
1. Nieves Cinco De Mayo ice-cream is the best, cheapest in the neighborhood – unique flavors - a scoop for $1.25!!!
2. Taqueria San Jose – the best cheap al pastor burritos, carnitas quesadillas and fresh carrot juice in the neighborhood
3. Read
Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P. Newton – story of the Black Panther Party and Oakland in the 1960-70’s.
4. Sun Hop Phat – the ONLY place I shop for asian food
5. Alameda Free Library – best place to study, free wifi, neat little café, don’t need to live in Alameda to check out anything– ok, not in Oakland, but a nice sanctuary from the business of da town.
1.
Lake Merritt - three and a half miles around, many picnic areas, shady and sunny, convenient parking, sparkling light at night, what's not to love?
2. Daring to Draw Near by John White - a book on prayer that looks at ten examples of prayer by individuals from the Bible.
3. Nickel and Dimed/On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich - a book that examines the working poor in America and how minimum wage jobs, mostly held by adults not teenagers, are by far not enough to live on.
4. "Maxed Out" and "In Debt We Trust" - two great documentaries about our (over)use of credit cards, America's debt addiction, and how the current financial industry is set up to make money on us.
5. I like when people wisely use credit cards and consider limiting use to major items, even those who use credit responsibly and have never had debt problems. Americans' increasing dependence on credit has given too much power to the credit card companies (do you know how much power they have in Congress?), weakens small business owners who are forced to pay the processing fees, and gives a false sense that points/cash back/awards are "free" when there are hidden costs to all of us.
