Author Archive
July 11, 2015 by tomdalzell
Gabby’s Naughty QSL Cards (NSFW)
A QSL card is a written confirmation of communication from a CB or short wave broadcasting station. They are the size of a postcard, and most are sent through the mail. The name comes from the Q code. A Q code message can stand for a statement or a question (when the code is followed by a […]
June 21, 2015 by tomdalzell
Quirky Hillegass – What’s the Story? Mystery Solved.
Hillegass and Benvenue are a little tonier than ideal for finding quirk, but Benvenue does have some awesome pink flamingos and the Code Pink van, and Hillegass does have this awesome mishmash of lights and signs and sculpture hanging from trees and stripes and bright colors and at night lights. When I posted this, I […]
June 14, 2015 by tomdalzell
The Art Wall: The Pinnacle of Quirky Outsider Art
There is an alley that runs parallel to Euclid Avenue between Ridge Street and Hearst Avenue, just west of Euclid, behind the businesses. In 2013, Tad Dellinger III began to construct an Art Wall. He was 52 and had never made art. He scavenged the detritus of university life, mostly along Fraternity Row, and […]
June 3, 2015 by tomdalzell
Stefen’s Fairy Mural: 1110 Chaucer
In 6th grade, which we called A Form (preppy!!!), Mr. Davenport required that we memorize and recite a poem. We had two choices. Almost all the class chose the poem that he wanted us to memorize, the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced […]
June 1, 2015 by tomdalzell
Keeyla Meadows – Almost Berkeley – All the way Quirky
When I walked northern Stannage Street in January 2013, only a month into my Quirky Berkeley walking, I came across a brightly painted house with brightly colored flowers, and sculpture including this crayon. I was excited. Here is what I did not know: 1) The house belongs to Keeyla Meadows, a garden artist of […]
May 29, 2015 by tomdalzell
Sketch Subjects
May 25, 2015 by tomdalzell
A Fence of Doors. And Windows. And Ceramic Sculpture.
Michael and Becky O’Malley have lived at 2910 Ashby Avenue since 1973. Hey! When I came to Berkeley in 1973 I often stayed with my friend Jeff Lewis who was living on Ashby within a block or two of the O’Malley house. Small world! All about me! In the fall of 2013 they decided […]
May 24, 2015 by tomdalzell
Northwest Berkeley: May 9, 2015
This was the 4th walk I led for the Berkeley Bath Wanderers. We began and ended the walk at the North Berkeley BART station. We were 78 strong when we left, and about 40 strong when we returned. Below is the itinerary with a few photos interspersed. 1809 Short Street – Andree Singer Thompson […]
May 10, 2015 by tomdalzell
Unexpected Statuary
In Berkeley, we pride ourselves in the unconventional, in the non-conformist. If there is sculpture in our front yard, it certainly is not statuary that you could find at a nursery in El Sobrante or at Home Depot. The conventional elsewhere serves as unconventional here, the world upside down. I have not documented every piece of […]
May 4, 2015 by tomdalzell