SFist Interviews Elka Karl of Kitchen Sink Magazine

Now that KS is done, what are you all going to do with yourselves?
Our nonprofit, NLCAP (The Neighbor Lady Community Arts Project), will continue to exist, and is dedicated to the promotion of the literary, visual and performance arts communities in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the coming years, we plan to promote these communities through programs including, but not limited to: publishing programs dedicated to promoting local writers and artists, arts education through literary, design; and publishing workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area; a literary series sponsorship and promotion of community musical performances; sponsorship and promotion of local art exhibitions; co-sponsoring fundraising events with other Bay Area non-profit organizations to support and promote the local literary, visual and performing arts communities.

It might be too soon to tell, but will there be any future projects or events under the Kitchen Sink name? A reunion issue maybe? An anthology?
We have been seriously considering shopping around an anthology, so don't be surprised if you see a beautiful, hardcover collection of new and archived KS stories in the future!

And now for the Standards...

Name
Elka Karl

Introduce yourself in one sentence
I volunteer as the politics and fiction editor for Kitchen Sink, an arts and culture quarterly based in Oakland.

Age and Occupation
33, editor and writer for too many projects to mention

Home Town
Minocqua (The Island City!) Wisconsin

How long have you lived in the Bay Area and Where (city, neighborhood etc.) and WHY?
I moved here in 1997 to volunteer with AmeriCorps in Oakland public schools. I've lived in the Oakland neighborhoods of Fruitvale, Ghostown, Temescal, and West Oakland, among others. I've also lived in the Panhandle, but I prefer Oakland, yo, because I have a dog and she suffers without a yard and lots of chicken bones in the gutter.

Favorite place to spend time online (website/blog/RSS feeds)
Treehugger.com, Grist.com, Ecorazzi.com, the online Scrabble site (god, it's true), rockslinga.blogspot.com, ovariessequins.blogspot.com, wombpoetry.com

Favorite local business
Sweet Adeline Bakery, Ratto's Deli, the Oakland Public LIbrary Used Bookstore, the Temescal Farmers' Market

What I'm currently Reading
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, What to Eat by Marion Nestle, Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta, and hella magazines: Plenty, Domino, the New Yorker, the Economist, Bust, Kitchen Sink (of course!), Make/Shift

Best Deal in San Francisco
acupuncture treatments at the Immune Enhancement Project on 16th.

Favorite mode of transportation
biking with my dog as she wears her muttlucks to protect her toes from broken glass

Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area
Rogue Wave, Sean Hayes, Honeycut

Favorite Bay Area Stereotype, and whether or not you buy into it
We're super activist-oriented. I'd say there's more of an armchair activism going on here, and I'd like to see that change (blatant plug at this point: stepitup2007.org)

Favorite local hangout
Nomad Cafe, Madrone Lounge, Rickshaw Stop

SF has the BEST
hoity toity weekend farmers' market

You've never lived in SF until
you've been the object of a crazy masturbator's affections on MUNI. And seen way too many weiners in public.

Favorite Bay area politician of past or present
Though not a fan of all of his policies, I am fascinated with Jerry Brown's public appearances, given his inability to not stare at boobies. That said, I'm cautiously excited about what Ron Dellums is going to do for the city.

Now that Mayor Gavin is single, who are you going to set him up with?
given his addiction issues, i think that he'd be well-served to date Cupcake Brown, author of A Piece of Cake and kick-ass lawyer and addiction/abuse survivor.

You can tell someone is a local here IF
They know which cafes supply water bowls for your dog.

SF would be soooo much better if only
BART ran all night, there were more community gardens, and mixed drinks started at 3 bucks (Smitty's in Oakland!) .

Best Burrito
the carnitas burrito at El Farralito on East 14th in East O

Best Restaurant
Pizzialo

Best movie scene filmed in or about SF
I haven't seen it, but Mistress of Spices was filmed in part in Old Oakland, which makes me happy on the inside.

Favorite artist to come out of the bay area
Mark Taylor

Favorite author to come out of the bay area
Beth Lisick and Jack London

Place you always tell visitors to check out
the Albany Bulb

Favorite Bridge in the area
the bicycle bridge that goes to the Berkeley Marina

You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do
I'm going to get stuck in Modern Times with an iced coffee and read zines until I puke.

I have found/sold/bought the following on craigslist
Found:
• My boyfriend, who is the BOMB and who I would've never met in my social circle (he's a lawyer nerd who lives in the Berkeley Hills, I'm a freelance weirdo who lives in the hood)
• My old housemate Carla, who kicks serious butt, and is now the publisher of Kitchen Sink
• My current housemate Megan who rocks so hard as an ER nurse who specializes in refugee health care
• Darren, my dog's off-leash walker and an awesome dog-whisperer type guy
• 2 foster dogs

Sold:
many pieces of furniture

Bought:
my bed frame, 2 awesome microfiber orange armchairs, horseback riding lessons, an antique rocking chair

I want all the SFists out there to know
that by unplugging your cell phones, laptops, etc., when they're done charging (and remember to unplug your chargers!!) you can significantly reduce your energy use, and help curb climate change.

Tell us a San Francisco Story
This town is so small that any degree of separation normally associated with living in a big city is down to about 1 to 2 degrees in the Bay Area. Case in point: I am now close friends with 2 of my exes exes, and I run into people I know everytime I'm out and about in the city/East Bay. I guess that's another sign of getting localized,
huh?

Question you'd ask if you were doing this interview
Where would you go if you had to leave the beloved Bay Area?

Who would you like to see interviewed in the future:
Beth Lisick!