new year, new you
We’re a few weeks into the new year, so if you even had the ambition to put together some sort of resolution, you’ve likely already begun to abandon it and surrender to the short-term hedonistic satisfaction of a life lived well. Despite an attempt to be somewhat healthier, I started my day today with a buttery croissant from Tartine, as one does when it’s Bay Area grey outside, and frankly, I don’t regret it.
Though with the passing of Clayton Christensen this week, a co-worker reminded me of one of his more widely cited points: “it's easier to hold to your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold to them 98 percent of the time. The boundary—your personal moral line—is powerful because you don't cross it; if you have justified doing it once, there's nothing to stop you doing it again.”
While this isn’t a self-help blog - unless you’re helping yourself to food and drink - I did want to commence the new year with some ideas for making 2020 count. Whether you want to get a hobby, get a house or get a job - here are some thoughts on places to go and things to do - all in the East Bay.
Get a hobby.
The Crucible, an east bay staple since 1999, let’s you live out all of your Game of Thrones fantasies with everything from Blacksmithing to Moldmaking (a girl has no name), and Fire and Performance classes. They have adult and youth classes and even team building exercises in case you trust your colleagues enough to let them operate a flame-thrower in your vicinity.
East Bay is home to it’s fair share of spectacular vistas and trails, from Tilden to Briones, and the majestic Mt. Diablo, not to mention beautiful reservoirs in Lafayette and San Pablo. The Bold Italic recently wrote a long-form feature on “The Weird and Wonderful History Behind East Bay Parks” - give it a read and find your own sanctuaries within the bay. Some friends got married last summer in the Roberts Regional Recreation Area, a truly stunning hilltop locale shrouded in redwoods and featuring a playground, tennis courts and a pool!
Berkeley extension - with a world-class academic institution in our backyard here, it would be foolish to not find a way to continue one’s education. They have a wide selection of classes across a host of different interest areas like art and design, painting, sciences and business administration. I signed up for a writing class a few years ago, but not too unlike my actual time in undergrad, I only showed up once, did not complete any assignments and let my reclusive tendencies get the best of me. But you’re better than that.
Get a house. San Francisco’s loss is the East Bay’s gain. Housing prices, while still insane, are definitely less insane in the East Bay, plus you get the privilege and torment of trying to maintain a lawn.
Here’s a stunning blue single-family home in the Grand Lake area for $1.675M
A townhome in Walnut creek in the $600’s with a community tennis court and pool
A condo near Jack London Square - did you know the A’s are planning a modern new stadium right on the water? This neighborhood is just starting to come back to life, with industrial wine bars, new restaurants and their abundant farmer’s market, plus ferry service to SF. What’s not to love?
Get a job. We don’t get out much anymore. But one night, feeling youthful and spritely, and having the benefit of a night of free child care, I suggested we do a bar crawl in Uptown Oakland. After three bars, we naturally found ourselves in line for a taco truck.
While waiting, we could hear an amazing live funk band from an open door on the corner and people were nearly spilling out of the doorway so we wandered in to see what the fuss was about. The band was The Pendletons and the crowd was feeling it. In between numbers I couldn’t help but notice, what was this beautiful space? Why was there a free concert happening? Does this always happen? What else have I been missing all these years? Upon further investigation I learned this modern and chic space is the headquarters of a music startup called Bandcamp.
(Photo credit Bandcamp)
While the likes of Kaiser, Chevron and Chlorox have long been the larger employers of the region, I’ve come to learn that there are lots of other young companies coming east for their HQ’s. A few n00bs like Bandcamp that are hiring to consider:
Square: So, I used to work here. I sometimes wish I still did to spare myself the awful commute I have, as they’re opening up what I expect will be gorgeous Oakland digs sometime soon. The company started with a little credit card reader and is now a leading financial resource for businesses of all sizes - plus they make the impossibly cool Cash app. Square embodies its mission to support local businesses and that’s what makes it such an awesome place to work. With their forthcoming Uptown Oakland office, they bucked the startup trend of feeding everyone on site and instead are encouraging employees to get out and patronize the neighborhood businesses, of which there are plenty (though I’d probably just eat at Xolo every day). They also did a call for a local artist to submit a billboard for their new space, curious to see what they will soon unveil.
VSCO - I honestly don’t know what this company does - I think it has something to do with photography - but I’m really not quite sure because I’m in my mid-thirties and still don’t understand how TikTok is any different from the now defunct Vine. I do however, roughly know what a “VSCO girl” looks like (take this Buzzfeed quiz if you want to feel old), so I’m not completely out of touch with the youth. But if you’re young and cool, you should probably try to work there, as they seem to be on the up and up.
Other co’s with EBHQ are fintech Marqeta, plus Chemistry and Houndlabs which both seem to have something to do with marijuana and CBD, plus a property management co called Mynd. And as mentioned in previous editions, the team behind Berkeleyside is launching a non-profit yet-to-be-named news outlet . Let’s hope they don’t call it the east bae.
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What’s new? What do you want to read about this year? Help me, help you.