Tag: The Berkeley Chronicals
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Happy Birthday to June!
Today Her Dying Day is 1-year-old. This year has been so special, and one I won’t forget. And this is just the beginning. More books are coming your way. (And short stories. And blog posts. And…) To show my gratitude to for making this year absolutely incredible I’m holding a GIVEAWAY for this amazing swag!…
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Berkeley Chronicles Episode #10: 99 Ranch Market
In our corner of El Cerrito del Norte there weren’t many food stores conveniently located for those lacking a car. There was a Lucky’s (which became Albertson’s) about a mile away that we would hike to every two weeks and come home with our backpacks full and a plastic shopping bag on each arm that…
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Berkeley Chronicles Episode #9: Neighborhood Watch
The house that we all lived in had a Target store in the backyard and was within a 2 minute walk to a BART station. Actually, the BART tracks and bike path were between us and the Target. We used the bike path pretty much all the time. We’d often cross over the bike path…
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Berkeley Episode 8: F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Crack Pixie
After Kristi had fled from various responsibilities and lies and we’d kicked out Goth Boy we needed another roommate. As it turns out Sarah Beth had one for us. Before she had lived in Berkeley and become a professional caffeine pusher, Sarah Beth lived in San Diego with her boyfriend Fitz. Theirs was a highly…
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OY! My LIFE!
Things are crazy here. Spring break was a disaster. We were supposed to fly back to Iowa and Minnesota and got caught in that whole Delta Flight-Canceling Fiesta that was going on. We were there. Ready to go. Bag checked. Mickey-D’s food choked down. And then …. Flight canceled. We were alerted to this fact…
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Berkeley Episode 6: Dance of the Sugar Plum Ecstasy Fairies
The Berkeley of my twenties was an era of experimentation. My experimentation was pretty tame, though, and limited to food, sex, and pot. (They didn’t call me White Bread for nothing.) I wasn’t even much of a smoker. Back in college I had made an attempt at coolness that ended after a case of strep…
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Berkeley Episode 4: The Education of the Rube
Kristi was the first person I met in the house. She interviewed me only hours after I had arrived off the plane to see if I was “suitable” and would “fit in” in the house. The irony in this will appear later. Apparently the word “Rube” written in secret ink across my forehead told her…
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Berkeley Episode 3: The Crack Pixie
Of all the people who lived in the house I was probably the closest to Sarah Beth. She grew up in a somewhat small town with a mother who clung to Sarah Beth and her sister only slightly more tenaciously than she clung to the ghosts of her family’s wealthy and glorious past. Sarah Beth’s…
Mindy Carlson 