We continue our photo series with another installment of brief on-the-street interviews and snapshots from our friend Dijon of Souls of Society.
Today, we present another collection of portraits that Dijon took recently in Hayes Valley. (Here are installments one and two of the Hayes Valley series).
“You two look so happy, are you a couple?”
Him - “Thanks! Yes, we’ve been married since July.”
“How’d you meet?”
Her - “We have different versions.”
Him - “She was a friend of a friend on Facebook and I saw that she was a broadcast major, so I read some of her posts, liked her writing style and invited her to come onto my radio show and do a voice test. She was terrible, but she was nice so it continued from there.”
“What’s your version?”
Her - “That was true and we stayed in touch for about two years until one day he asked me if I wanted to have dinner. I said ‘no’ because it felt really weird and all of the sudden, but he was very persistent about it. He says I was into it the moment he asked, which is not true. But after a while I decided to go and get it over and done with. Then when I went I actually liked him.”
“What was it you liked about it him?”
“I think it was that he was very down to earth, he’s kinda a celebrity and I had this impression he was going to be very stuck up. He wasn’t, he was a gentleman, very very nice.”
“What’s one of your favorite things about her?”
Him - “She’s very real. She doesn’t say what she doesn’t mean. That’s really refreshing because in my line of work you meet so many people that just say things that you want to hear but don’t necessarily mean it. So that was one of the first things I liked about her. That I could just be myself around her.”
“You guys do seem at peace with one another.”
Him - “Funny thing, before we got married we went a did a personality test and the results came back that we were basically marrying ourselves.”
“Do you have anything that’s been challenging in your relationship and advice on how to work through it?”
Him - “I think any relationship, not just marriage, takes a lot of understanding. In an idealistic world people want things their way but in reality it doesn’t happen like that. It’s a lot about give and take, and compromising, and achieving something two people can be happy about together.”
“I moved here in ’98 after getting sick of the grind in LA. I got held at gunpoint and that was the
sign that it was time to go. I moved up here and have been here 18 years and I still love it.”
“Have there been any challenges like you dealt with in LA?”
“The weather was a big challenge, getting used to the fog when it was supposed to be summer. I find lately the mood of the city is changing for better or worse. We’ll see how it goes.”
“Her name is Honey. We love going to beach and just hanging out. She just sleeps if I don’t take her out.”
“What’s wrong with sleeping? I like naps. Don’t you like naps?”
“Yeah, I do. I get it.”
“I could tell you did. Hey ... do you have any bacon?”
“I love bicycling, cars, the Warriors. Just hanging out with friends and eating good food.”
“I love this outfit!”
“Thanks, I always try to be fun to look at.”
“Are you a burner?”
“Yeah, I’m also a sex educator. I’m a nursing student. I produce events. I do lots of things.”
“As a sex educator what’s one of the main things people should be more aware of?”
“I’m a consent culture advocate. I thing people should take enthusiastic consent even over consent. When you’re interacting with someone make sure they’re are not only okay with what’s going on but actively engaged in desiring to participate.”
Stay tuned for more installments coming to a neighborhood near you.
