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read from the bottom up, writings from all

-----Original Message-----
From: Gmelasg
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 7:17 PM
Subject: Mahalo' z

Hey All,
Priceless...I mean sometimes I even think I make things up but having you folks witness, helps me stay straight in my mind. It goes without saying that this last round of emails really fills up the soul food in the heart. I know you all understand....

I like it  Panthers, Hippies and heroin...Cheeseburger, Vanilla shake and fries...May not be everyone's experience but Home....That's what the website is, Home...

 Please read on: This is an excerpt from a posting called the Haole Survival guide, which is hilarious and should be required reading...Please substitute Downey etc. for Hawaii etc. and it will make sense.....
 "There was a feeling that we had a secret, unknown, and unknowable, to the other people of the party. Growing up in Hawaii gives you membership in a Skull-and-Bones-like secret society, though one that places a higher reverence on musubi and SPAM than world domination. And with haole friends who grew up in the islands and now live on the mainland, I definitely share a bond that cannot be understood by others. There's a sense that we're a little different – probably a little superior – to the other white people around us. And if after years of tauntings, name-calling, threats and beatings I get to turn around and start to look down my nose at everyone around me – well, Goddammit – I've earned it!"

frankgb52 wrote:

You know, in 1998 when i started this thing, this is what i envisioned - and it was the collaboration of Ray's writings and finally the map. reading his writings was one thing but to see the street names and how small our world really was as i was putting it together took me back too - i even remember sitting on the stairs hearing ralph crash the valiant on parnassus again -, riding on the back of the N judah instead of in the streetcar and how far we really parked from the house back in the day.  i had forgotten where grattan was (even went to school there) until i saw the map.  i knew this would bring back 'vivid visions' that only we can share with each other and still be able to show the haight ashbury and our world that seems so long ago (seems like a jurrasic park thing) and like george wrote - our 'sliver' and when we left it was like leaving a state.  

this is what it is all about. each of you have some great memories, awsome reading, too bad ralph cannot see these. 
i will try to get his work address so he too can enjoy our website
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Oberdahill
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:25 AM
Subject: Re: Cars...

 
I'm sitting here smiling at that comment.  Remember the days when we ate breakfast the Panthers provided, then went to a parochial school and were "good kids" during the day but would steal some mini-pizzas from Walter Wong after school.
 
You're right that most people look at us and think we're not telling the truth or making up "story".  Little do they know...
 
Shootin' the mahu's with BB guns and Dave shooting bottle rockets across the street at the house...Man, those were the days.
 
In a message dated 2/24/2009 10:37:42 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Gmelasg writes:
Hey,
 
Maybe this is more of maybe the younger guys but : Do you remember the Progress delivery days where the dogs would be waiting to chase us? How about when Eddie and them used to pound on the conga's and get Dad all pissed. By the way, where did they jam the conga's, was it across the street at Mrs B's? And the huge fight when some one (Greg Thurman?) tossed a huge bottle at Steven Price. Or, the molotov cocktails and at the mahu boys up the street?Maybe the pack mentality was also a good formative tool. Find your place in the group.
 
 Part of the culture here is the talk story time. This is where get the 'put you in the peg', size you up thing. I swear, just listening to myself talkstory, I would think I was full of it. I mean who would believe the molotov cocktails, Eddie and Ricky, Panthers, Hippies and heroin. Oh yeah, we were also Altar Boys and Boy Scouts....Must sound rather suspicious to some folks that did not have the opportunities we had.
 
Slice of life...Seeing the map must bring the nostalgia strong...
 
G
 
In a message dated 2/24/2009 4:45:36 A.M. Hawaiian Standard Time, Oberdahill writes:
 
I hear you.  Many different experiences but vivid personal memories.  For a paper I wrote for a class, I used the map to put things in perspective.  Our upbringing was much more colorful than most and we were fortunate to have learned ways to co-exist with a plethora of people from all segments of the globe.  That small one-way street was a true melting pot and sample of the world.  Nobody really understands what it was like because they haven't had the "experience".  
 
Do you recall the Japanese lady's name?  That's interesting and I'd like to know if we crossed paths at some point.
 
J
 
In a message dated 2/24/2009 3:11:57 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Gmelasg writes:
Hey All,
 
Wow, I am finally able to see the map. Reading the names of the Streets was really a blast from the past. I had totally forgotten many of the names. If fact, maybe I never knew the names to begin with. Even so, as your eyes scroll, you can see the faces of the folks and maybe even the names of families. I guess we all had different experiences but vivid memories.
 
Just like the colorful names but families. Horton's, Libadia's, Maurillles just to name a few. But mostly, stupid memories of childhood aka tater tots and the junior museum. How many times have our feet pounded the pavement to the N Judah line? How is it that the Street could be such a haven of security? Once you left Downey, it was almost like leaving the state.
 
Lots of years past, so many that it doesn't seem real. It really is quite nostalgic seeing the 'neighborhood' as a whole. Funny that Downey Street, just a sliver in the middle, could have such a cross section of races and personalities.
 
This is just more reason the have people check the site. Here is something to share. I met this Japanese American lady taking salsa lessons and she asked where I was from. I mentioned San Francisco and she said her sister had lived in SF. Mostly the folks think suburbs and say SF but, her sister lived near Fredrick and Downey. Talk about a whoa moment. We did not talk much more but I will have to have her check out the map. Too wild, eh? Of course, we are talking the 80's so it is just a place, not the same place and time. Timing yeah'?  
 
Mo' talkstory
 
G