[LEMONS] 7.24.2002
I left my list in San Francisco
Dave sent me a link to a craigslist Missed Connections post, "Questions Answered About Bart." It reminded me of how much, and why, I love Craigslist. It was an elaborate post; thought out, edited, and thoroughly preposterous. More importantly, it was pro bono, without hope of credit or promotion.But I think it really hit me because I don't have that much more time left before I leave for Thailand, and Craigslist has always been the Bay Area to me.
Craigslist is where the Bay Area (which, like the B.A. is dominated by San Francisco) communicates. The economy is found on the job boards, where both Fortune 500 and local mom-and-mom shops place their help wanted shingles. I myself have found three different jobs there (*). During the housing crunch, it was the place to find a crib. Right now I'm sitting in a chair at a desk in a room in an apartment I first saw in an ad on Craigslist, a little over three years ago. Before I even arrived here, to go to work at another San Francisco institution, I asked my editor what to do about finding an apartment. "Look on Craigslist." I mentioned Craigslist in an article I wrote for the late great Green Magazine (*). My editor there inserted the phrase "a Bay area hipster job board" to describe it. Fair enough.
And then there are the Missed Connections--graffiti board for all of San Francisco. I first heard about MC from Tim, and began reading them voraciously at work. MC became the best cure for boredom that ever I'd seen. And it seemed that all the hepcats read them. MC is oft discussed on the SF Indie mailing list. It was during a discussion about MC at 4:30 in the morning at a party in the Lower Haight that I first I bonded with a guy named Ezra (he who would later go on to become The Minister) It was on MC that I discovered the brilliance of Britt and Tiff. And of course, there was the gorgeous guy...
And it takes me back, the Crasigslist. And how I love the "Best Of" section (though I would argue that many of the true bests came before Craigslist tracked them). Some of the titles of the posts, alone, make me howl. "Why I Like Garage Sales and Sleazy Men," or, "hot sexy hobbit at bridge of Khazad-dur." Then you've got moving sales," "hipster busses," and "clumsy, uncomforable sex.
Oh CL. How I shall miss you.
*Wayback Machine link, yo
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