A while back I took a tour of Mountain View Cemetery. The cemetery also has tours about different things people find interesting; Saturday was a tour called "Symbolism in the Cemetery", about the different symbols used on graves.

Zorro, Mexican California’s original champion for the 99%, returns to Oakland December 1, 6-9pm for a reprise of “Zorro by Night,” Peralta Hacienda’s popular gala fundraiser.

Thursday will be the 20th anniversary of the Oakland-Berkeley hills firestorm. At the time it happened, I was house- and pet-sitting for some friends in Alameda. Like a lot of people, I learned about it first from TV -- I was watching the 49ers game, and John Madden circled a cloud of smoke with electronic chalk and said something like: "You see this? This is smoke. Apparently there's a big fire in the Oakland hills." I switched to another channel for news coverage, then ran outside to see for myself when I found out how big it already was.

On the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month, docents lead tours around Mountain View Cemetery. It's not just a great place to learn about Oakland history, it's 226 acres of beautiful open space with views out over Oakland and the Bay Area. While some people come to remember loved ones, many people come simply to enjoy the peaceful open space. We saw people jogging and walking their dogs; the docents said that some people come just to read, meditate, or eat their lunch; the cemetery even hosts weddings.