Sunday Newsletter: 5 new events, a Khmer playlist, and a members-only video

Wow, you hit October and suddenly it is Thanksgiving, no?

Couple notes related to The Holidays (TM). We will be closed Thanksgiving week. We might even take a week off from the newsletter, or at least it will be short. Member Emma Foxly (#44!) suggested that we do a food drive for Alameda County Community Food Bank, especially given the brutal cuts to SNAP right now. That'll get going next week. And finally, Pixar's Bobby Podesta has a new middle-grade graphic novel out, North for the Winter, and he wanted to auction off some of his process art to benefit a local youth organization. We're going to do that December 7 with a fun, kid-friendly event. But I also want to invite our other artists who might have process shots from their graphic novels or other work to join Bobby in that auction. The proceeds are going to go to Chapter 510, Oakland's own youth writing and bookmaking center. If you want to contribute, say hi@thelocaleconomy.com.

Three last things:

• Is there an accountant in the house? As we come to the end of our first month of actual operations, we have to transition from the ... umm... notional accounting we've been doing to actual accounting.
• Oh, and there will be a couple of new faces staffing the space this week! Nara and Maia are joining us to help operate the space. (Yes, I know some of you were worried about us. We got help.)
• For tonight's Cookbook Club with Nite Yun, we took the songs that she mentioned in the book and made a little Spotify playlist of these Khmer bangers. Enjoy that. These songs are so good.

OK, on with the show.

• New Events!
• Volunteer shoutouts!
• A special Oakland night!

New Events! New Events!

Since there are a lot of new folks here, we want to direct your attention to the code for members to get into events free, when that is the setup. It's available on the new member info page, but so you have it handy, it's: foundingmember25.

November 16, Sunday Coffee, vol 2. The first edition of this event, hosted by Jeff Wright, was so dreamy and nice. People just sat and chatted and ate. It's back again. We made tickets $10 sliding scale to support the spread (members can use the code, too, of course).

November 21, Bay Aerial with Liam O'Donoghue of East Bay Yesterday. What does looking at half century of aerial photographs reveal about the Bay Area’s ongoing transformation? In this event, we'll closely examine a mysterious archive of images Liam rescued from destruction. These photos show much more than changing landscapes – they illustrate the values, circuitry, and impact of our civilization, for better or worse. 

November 22, Wreathmaking with Romi Hall. You may have seen Romi's flowers outside the space at some point in the last few weeks. Well, now you can learn the art of wreathmaking from her. This is a hands-on class with materials included and you'll leave with your wreath. Make sure to select the member ticket at checkout!

November 23, How to Make a Zine with Rena Tom. ​On the one hand, a zine is just a tiny magazine, cheaply produced, often handmade. On the other hand, THE ZINE is a way of life, an approach to the world of letters. People are drawn to the ideas inside these tiny publications and to the collaborative, DIY philosophy that leads people to make them. Skilled practitioner and artist Rena Tom will share the history and then we'll make zines together.

December 4, Mahjong Night. In what may well be the first in a series of Mahjong Nights, we've got a special one to start. Nicole Wong, author of The Mahjong Project: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora joins us for a little how-to and history. We'll talk, and then we'll play. Shoutout to members Joanne Shen and Jessie Young for prodding us on mahjong and to Joanne for reeling in Nicole.

Volunteer Shoutouts

I just wanted to thank all of our volunteers for the events we had this past week.

• Shout out to Carrie and Rebecca for a tremendous mending workshop. The sound of everyone working and talking and bonding was such a balm for this strange week.
• Really appreciate Sacha for volunteering for our visit from the Oakland DOT head, Josh Rowan. It was great to have a man step up to volunteer (ahem!).
• Nara, Bonnie, and Amanda: I gave you a tough job as bouncers for the Tommy x Julian event, and you were brilliant at managing those dynamics. Thank you. We also set a record for cleaning up the space afterwards, which was great, since Sarah and I had a babysitter and a chance to stay out for an afterparty for the first time since the Obama presidency.
• And Niha, thanks for stepping in at Cookbook Club! Thu deserves a huge note of appreciation, too, for organizing the whole dang thing. Nite Yun, our selected author/chef, was blown away. She kept saying, "Just the smell. It's like I'm in a Cambodian house." You all nailed it. (Our 12-year-old Orion tried every single dish and said, "My stomach hurts and I have no regrets.")

A Special Oakland Night

We've had this Julian Brave NoiseCat conversation with Tommy Orange circled on our LE calendar for a couple months now. These are two guys who grew up in Oakland, deep in the institutions that urban Indians created here. Orange is a MacArthur genius who wrote probably the best Oakland book of all time (IMHO, There There). NoiseCat is 32 and already an Emmy-nominated documentary director with this very big book coming out. But what I was looking forward to was the intimacy of this event. Even with LE totally packed out, Julian's mom would be there and so would his high school teacher and his hockey coach. Tommy's kid knows our kids.

And, I have to say, it was even better than I hoped. It felt exactly like the kind of "backstage" conversation that we've been wanting to host at the space. Loose and fun, but probing and real at the same time. Julian is a big thinker crackling with energy and Tommy's warmth, depth, and wisdom made him the perfect interlocutor.

Of course, the downside was that tons of people could not come who wanted to come. I tried to record it in podcast form and failed, BUT we did get a video recording. It's now posted at this secret Vimeo link, just for members. Enjoy it, but don't share it widely.