I've been at Randy and Loc's house in Berkeley for three days now. This home is a really peaceful home compared to what I've lived in. There was always an unspoken tension at the apartment on Francisco. Living at home was intolerable due to the amount of conflict and unhappiness. Here, there is just harmony.
Randy and Loc have been together for about ten years. They act just like I would have expected a gay couple to act. Randy is very quiet yet firm. He likes to read science fiction novels while resting on the couch or in bed. Loc is the more boisterous of the two and he seems like he could be very "Diva". Loc is very creative using his skills as an artist and his knack for design to decorate the house. There are many paintings, pictures, and found-object art made by Loc decorating their two-story victorian. They both like to watch movies but have different tastes, it seems, when it comes to which movies they watch. They have a beautiful pitbull mix named Priscilla. She's a very playful and affectionate dog and is always striving for attention.
The room I'm sleeping in is the color of grape laffy taffy with a fuschia trim. There is a shelf where, behind pictures of Randy and Loc with their families and friends, there is a hardcover book with Madonna on the cover that has her name in hot pink letters at the top. There is an easel with a canvas where Loc has pictures of women in large, colorful dresses wearing arabesque masks and large headdresses. There are pencil markings on the canvas where the start of another painting is being outlined.
They live in a typical Berkeleyite home but they don't annoy me like typical Berkeleyites.People who have "Free Tibet" " "Meat is Murder" and "Dog is my Copilot" bumper stickers all over they're hybrid cars, mopeds, and fixed-gear bicycles. People with locks of matted hair or short-cropped tresses under paisley bandanas as they carry recyclable canvas grocery bags containing expensive organic and locally grown produce from the day's farmer's market.
People who have opinions about everything and when that opinion is challenged, they have to picket, protest, riot, hold candlelit vigils, or write a letter to their congressman. People who think they're better than you because they graduated Cal or grew up in a rich family in the hills or wrote a novel or a vegan cookbook that changed the lives of nobody. Randy and Loc both exceed my expectations for what I have discerned as common Berkeleyite traits. I will enjoy my stay here.
My stay here will be unfortunately short-lived. I'll be moving in with Sean and Brian much sooner than expected due to Sean being able to evict his sister recently while his Dad is preparing to move to Placerville. Despite my antipathy for the common Berkeleyite, I really enjoy living in Berkeley and fully understand that not every Berkeley resident fits the mold I have constructed for them. I am hoping to experience more and more of this city while I still live in it.
