First, a tiny celebration for six months of The Flyer! 🎉🎉🎉 A lot of life has happened in the meantime for me – new job, family stuff, etc etc – but through it all, taking some time to write to the neighborhood has always been something I look forward to. Also, the vast majority of people receiving this newsletter originally found it through a zine on a signpost, and I think that’s pretty cool.

Going into next year, I would really love for this little newsletter to become more than just my voice – it should be a way for everyone to celebrate our home’s history and inspire a fluorishing future. That said, I definitionally cannot do that alone. So, I want to invite you to do a few things…

• Share this newsletter with your neighbors! This is the #1 thing honestly. And let them know it’s their newsletter too, an easy way to share things with the neighborhood!

• Send ideas! For example, I’m hoping to start interviewing neighbors, and maybe doing a few special issues (on our flora & fauna, MTC, etc). If you have an article idea, want to write some poetry, or even ideas for the physical zine itself, let me know!

• Join me! There’s so much to help with, from writing to illustrating to taking photos to coming up with random ideas to folding zines to distributing… literally anything helps! Respond to this email if you want in on the fun.

I’m also going to start hosting more get-togethers next year! So look out for those…

Memorial Tabernacle’s CANDY CANE LANE (and other December shenanigans)

Tiffany (who works at Memorial Tabernacle Church and is generally wonderful) brought my attention to this neighborhood event happening THIS SATURDAY (December 13th @ 1:30PM) at Memorial Tabernacle Church (right next to Bushrod Park)! Looks like there should be something for everyone there – hot apple cider, ornament making, and more. Much of the event will also be about giving back to the community; you can also go there to donate non-perishable goods to local shelters, basic supplies for OUSD families with unstable housing situations, or toys for the Temescal BID Toy Drive. Highly recommend stopping by if you can.

In case that’s not enough, the next week is generally packed with things to do… I feel like everyone is squeezing in their last events before everyone checks out for the year.

• [12/13 @ 11AM] First Date: A POC Street Market: First Date” highlights vendors with roots around the world, including knitwear, cake pops, nail techs, and more! Live DJs too. Check them out on the 51st block of Telegraph.

• [12/13 @ 1PM] BART Sweaterfest: More or less what you think it is. Go buy a BART Christmas sweater, ride the BARTmobile, and take in the wintery wonderland they’re putting together.

• [12/13 @ 12PM] East Bay Alternative Book and Zine Fest: This is a little further out than I usually recommend, but I also just really love this event (went last year, and a friend used to run it). Huge showcase of affordable prints and zines by crafters, book-makers, zinesters, printmakers, and more around the Bay.

• [12/16 @ 1PM] Winter Holiday Stroll: The businesses in the Lorin District (along Adeline) want to add to the holiday cheer. Check out some new businesses, win prizes, all that jazz. Starts at the farmer's market area (around Adeline & Alcatraz).

Holiday Houses

I originally came over here from Texas, where people are very big on their Christmas decorations. Frankly, our neighborhood doesn’t even come close to that level of Christmas cheer, but if you walk around and pay attention like I did last night, you find that some houses are holding it down. Here is a selection of my favorite finds – not telling you where for privacy reasons and also so you can go on your own little Christmas decoration hunt…

Alright, that’s it from me! Hope everyone has a lovely, restful holiday season <3

-Humphrey