I am year-and-a-half resident of Oak Park. I have lived here that long, at first very reluctantly, then somewhat ambivalently, and now, finally with great enthusiasm. The initial reluctance I blame more on myself, my circumstances in moving here, and my sluggish, even inert, bare involvement in the actual moving process. My then-boyfriend and I had been served notice by his landlord, that they were selling his townhouse in midtown Sacramento soon; we had very, very little time to find a new, ... hlkriz Heidi Kriz comment-17336 2009-11-05T22:52:34Z 2009-11-05T22:52:34Z Great story. Good on ya. So, what is your name and what do you look like? --Kriz Heidi Kriz 2009-11-05T22:52:34Z waldorfandstatler comment-17312 2009-11-05T17:11:19Z 2009-11-05T17:11:19Z This article is entitled "Midtown : A Journey" When I was young boy growing up in San Francisco, the furthest we were allowed to travel was the fire hydrant on the corner. As we grew the boundaries grew further and further, one house to the next, till finally we had the run of the block. A lot of kids back then referred to themselves as "sir" like knights of the round table, so we had "sir sleepy" or "sir pelon" or "sir charlie" etc etc. San Francisco was dirty and grimy then, but viewed through the eyes of a child it wasn't that bad. The mission was our kingdom, and everyone's backyard was our wilderness. We explored by jumping fences, running away from dogs, climbing onto roofs and just generally going anywhere we COULD go. The cala foods near our home also provided adventure. During the summer and spring we would offer to carry groceries from patrons in exchange for tips. We'd then cobble our money together in a crude co-operative to buy bulk bags of candy or comic books. Our community 'library' didn't last long though as the older kids began to take advantage of us and sometimes ripped us off. One time in particular I was told by a miscreant "if your parents have money under their mattress, give me a 20 dollar bill and Ill turn it into a BUNCH of 1 dollar bills!" being young and naive, I fell for it. My father was furious and the eventual fist fight between my father and the other kid's dad was the stuff of neighborhood legends. Then we moved to Sacramento and in my early 20s I moved to midtown. The end. waldorfandstatler 2009-11-05T17:11:19Z Heidi Kriz comment-17306 2009-11-05T06:22:52Z 2009-11-05T06:22:52Z Sorry, Waldorfandstatler (and I may i politely and respectfully suggest that if you have the balls to comment on public on someone's very personal, very trying tale, that you use our own name and photo to do so.) I personally stand by everything I have ever published; even when I know I have fallen short, in spite of my best abilities, time constraints and intentions. I always strive for (though don't always achieve) balance, fairness and relevance. If you do not find any of these things in my writing than may I suggest what most people would do - stop reading it; and even better, contribute something of your own, besides an anonymous blog critique. Good luck with expressing your opinions anywhere and everywhere you choose; though I guarantee you, people will take them a lot more seriously if you unmask yourself. Heidi Kriz 2009-11-05T06:22:52Z waldorfandstatler comment-17252 2009-11-04T22:54:09Z 2009-11-04T22:54:09Z Heidi- Stories of individuals extricating themselves from the pitfalls of life are always fascinating reading, but had you packaged the tale differently you might have gained more fans instead of critics. We grew up in Oak Park, we remember when hookers roamed stockton blvd, bus route 51 and 53, the house on the hill near parker and stockton blvd, luigis before hipsters discovered it. and so much more! Had you included more actual Oak Park content - it would have lived up to your title, but it didn't. So don't take it personally that we don't care about your travels and all. Just next time don't pull a bait and switch on us. waldorfandstatler 2009-11-04T22:54:09Z Heidi Kriz comment-17245 2009-11-04T22:04:26Z 2009-11-04T22:04:26Z Thanks for your insighful observation, Casey. I guarantee you ALL, I had NO intention of "preening," or "bragging" about my "world travels" (in fact, I only mentioned southern Africa; I could have added a lot more to the list, but it wasn't relevant to the correlation. What I WAS trying to do was to make a comparison between the kind of of awakening to the world around me, whether it is here in Oak Park, or someplace like South Africa, after having been quite cut-off. (In fact, before I went to South Africa I was very sick for two years with an undiagnosed auto-immune disorder. The only reason i didn't mention that relative similarity in comparisons is that I was concerned that there were a lot of people out there who weren't interested in hearing about "me." Apparently, i was right. So be it. I don't really care. I still stand by the belief that through my "sufffering," my depression, insularity and physical ailments, was I able to finally come out of that coma-like existance and respond to a unique place like Oak Park, and South Africa, very different, but very similar locales in a lot of important ways. For those of you who think I was "bragging," all you have to do is ask anyone around me for the last five or so years how I felt about my "fall from grace," and you might call it something else. Like gratitude. Which is what I call it. Heidi Kriz 2009-11-04T22:04:26Z Casey Kirk comment-17240 2009-11-04T21:03:24Z 2009-11-04T21:03:24Z Geebomb, I think the great part about the comment sections below each story is that the story can be continued in the form of dialogue between the writer and the community. I think of it as an extended part of the story. Casey Kirk 2009-11-04T21:03:24Z geebomb comment-17229 2009-11-04T19:31:39Z 2009-11-04T19:31:39Z I was also disappointed that this article had little to do with Oak Park. And I think in order to make this article title combination work, you may want to include what you said in the comments in the actual article. geebomb 2009-11-04T19:31:39Z waldorfandstatler comment-17222 2009-11-04T18:04:27Z 2009-11-04T18:04:27Z I'm glad you are open to overdue awakening! Might I suggest moving to the meadowview area for even more diversity? As a long time south sac resident and now expatriate - let me tell you, nothing teaches you more about a community than being a victim of vandalism, theft and robbery. Someday you'll find it though, the rainbow connection. The crips, the bloods and me, whooaaa whoaaa ohhh oh oh oh! waldorfandstatler 2009-11-04T18:04:27Z The Parrhesiac comment-17216 2009-11-04T16:39:16Z 2009-11-04T16:39:16Z Agreed - The author should change the title of the story to "How great I am - because I traveled - now I'm thinking about how I will write about Oak Park" The Parrhesiac 2009-11-04T16:39:16Z Heidi Kriz comment-17205 2009-11-04T06:32:37Z 2009-11-04T06:32:37Z Sorry you feel that way. The point I was trying to make was that the long overdue awakening I had to the potential of the current Oak Park was very, very much like that I had to the "new "South Africa. Having lived for a while in NYC, I DID think I was worldly-wise when I first went to SA, then I found out I was wrong, that the place and the people, though in a state of flux, and chaos, had a lot to teach me. i could not have recognized one experience without the other. Besides, technically, iI don't think "preening" describes getting depressed, physically maimed and becoming embarassingly unproductive, which is what I was for a very long time. And finally, I am emerging from it from those conditions, in thanks much to the joys of discovering the unique, diverting qualitites of Oak Park. I think if you travelled the world some more (you don't seem to have yet) you might feel the same way about your current hometown versus an exotic, unknown, locale. Heidi Kriz 2009-11-04T06:32:37Z Rhys02 comment-17195 2009-11-04T02:06:43Z 2009-11-04T02:06:43Z What the hell did this have to do with Oak Park?? All it is someone preening about how 'world-wise' they think they are..... Rhys02 2009-11-04T02:06:43Z Geoff Samek comment-17191 2009-11-04T00:13:06Z 2009-11-04T00:13:06Z You can also click on the green storyline tab on the upper right hand part of your screen to get to part 2 of this article. Geoff Samek 2009-11-04T00:13:06Z Heidi Kriz comment-17186 2009-11-03T22:18:22Z 2009-11-03T22:18:22Z Read the second part of this story here: http://sacramentopress.com/headline/17145/Whither_Oak_Park_Part_2 Heidi Kriz 2009-11-03T22:18:22Z