Ya, this is supposed to be a travel blog, but when huge, historic political shit happens when I'm on the road, stuff effecting the people in the very neighborhood I'm enamored with and which is kindly tolerating and hosting my straight ass, ya can't not comment on it.

So back to travel stuff. 

After Valencia Street, I walked back home, past the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy ...

Which I guess is a local middle school, and features a lovely wall-sized mosaic featuring quotes from great thinkers and drawings of books

And past signs in windows such as this:

Featuring dolls, a glittery rainbow mirror ball, and attitude, back home for a rest, and for dinner and such. 

Later on, I was motivated by a desire for dessert to walk up Market and stop in at Sweet Inspirations

for yummy chocolate cake and tea.  Cool thing about this area is that the antique streetcars run by, right out the window, right down the middle of the street

Whole place has a cool,  Brookline/Coolidge Corner-y feel to it. 

I also stopped in at a great little bookstore, Books Inc., which is a little local chain and the area's oldest independent bookstore, and has lots of events and author readings and such. 


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Afterwards, I headed back up the street, and both there, and back, encountered naked people.

Just strolling up the sidewalk like it was the most normal thing in the world.  In truth, one of these guys had on a tiny thong, but the other was definitely buck naked, and sat in little public seated square located smack dab in the middle of the Castro/Market intersection, holding the above sign, but I have no idea what it said as I wasn't about to look.