It's time again to take a stroll up Haight Street to meet more denizens of the neighborhood with a new installment of brief on-the-street interviews from our friend Dijon of Souls of Society. (Here are parts one and two of Souls of the Upper Haight.)
“What are you reading?”
“Americanah.”
“I know that author.”
“Yeah, she’s Nigerian. I first heard about her from the Beyonce song. It took forever to get the book because it was on the New York Times bestseller list and I get all my books from the library. I finally got it and started it yesterday.”
“What is it about?”
“It’s about the Nigerian experience in America, and in London. It’s relevant with everything that’s happening now.”
“What do you like to do besides read?”
“I spend all my time with my family. I play taiko drums.”
“What’s your dream for your life?”
“To do something with theater. I studied acting and I help teach a class for disabled adults. I think that’s what I want to go back to school for. To teach theater and maybe drama therapy.”
“What are the therapeutic benefits of theater?”
“Expression and being heard. Kind of what you’d expect. Gaining confidence.”
“Do you act yourself?”
“Sometimes. I kinda got burnt out after college. I like to act classically, so it’s a smaller pool.”
“What’s the difference between classic acting and contemporary acting?”
“Well, I like to do Shakespeare.”
“How’d you two get together?”
Him - “She does a bit of modeling and I’m a photographer too. We had mutual friends so I got her info and hit her up. When we went to shoot we got stuck in traffic for four hours, we got to know each other and hit it off.”
“Did you know he was interested in you before you went to take pictures?”
Her - “No.”
“But were you interested in her before?”
Him - “Definitely. Actually I saw her a year before hitting her up, it just took that long for me to get the balls to ask her out.”
“When did you realize he was into you?”
Her - “He kept asking to hang out, like for casual lunches and we grew a friendship first, and then we started to date.”
“What’s one of your favorite things about him?”
Her - “It’s hard to explain. When I’m around him I feel a very comforting feeling. I feel safe ... at home. I don’t know…it’s just my favorite thing.”
“And you?”
Him - “She’s funny, man. She always making me laugh.”
Her - “Cause I’m weird.”
Him - “She’s really weird.”
“How so?”
Him - “She’s just really quirky, she’ll say random things and I’ll be like, ‘Did you really just say that’? She pulls out these dance moves…it’s cool.”
“I’m a San Francisco native. I’m retired. I used to be a systems analyst. My husband is a printmaker and I’m around the arts a lot.”
“What do you like to do in your free time now that you’re retired? What keeps you going?”
“Gardening, music, art."
“What’s your greatest accomplishment and your greatest challenge?”
“Greatest accomplishment is my family love thing. I have twins. I had an older daughter, she was 26 she passed away from leukemia. The challenge … being able to be alone. I’m a real social person. I’m often around people and now that I’m retired I have to figure out what I want to do. There’s a lot of peaceful time and I try to capitalize on that.”
“Do you feel like you’re getting to know yourself better now?”
“Of course. As you become an older woman you get very wise. It feels great. I can do anything I want. I’ve always been a community activist but now there’s no consequences.”
“Do you have any advice for young women?”
“Just that you have more control over your destiny than other people do. You have to go your own pace and be confident about your own knowledge and go on.”
“How’d you two get together?”
Her - “I was married and looking for a job, he interviewed me for where he worked and I was like, ‘This hottie, I’ve gotta be with him’. My husband was a real big jerk. And since then it’s been us.”
Him - “That’s exactly how it happened. She texts me out the blue one day-“
Her - “About the beach-“
Him - “about the beach, we went out one night, had a good time, she broke it off with him and we’ve been together ever since.”
“What do you like to do together?”
“Go to the beach, we like the ocean a lot. Go on road trips. We’re big tea drinkers.”
“What’s one of your favorite things about her?”
Him - “I’m usually pretty uptight, not rigid, but a mellow quiet guy. She’s very fun and loving and brings out the childishness in me. I laugh with her all the time.”
“And what about you?”
Her - “I like his eyes, and his beard, and his butt.”
Tonight, Hoodline contributor Dijon Bowden will be hosting a fundraiser for his Souls of Society project, which he hopes to take to an international level. Stop by Vinyl (359 Divisadero St.) between 7pm and midnight tonight to support the project and meet Dijon––there'll also be pizza, music, wine, drink specials and cake.
