a rainy Easter Sunday?

That doesn't seem quite right, does it? Especially after our winterful of sunshine.
In any event, enjoy the day and celebrate Spring and don't jump into any runny
eggs. The above is courtesy of Joe, my friend at work who taught me how to
avoid colds by gargling with peroxide.

lunch at Limon

Yesterday I met my old friend Ken (the person, not the car) on Valencia Street
and we ate too much delicious food including the rotisserie chicken that
Limon is famous for. It was delightful! My writing partner, Chef P, sent me
a timely piece about the difference between people who painstakingly cut
every sliver of meat off the bone and the ones who gnaw and chew and leave
nothing but the empty carcass on their plate. Alas, I belong to the latter group.

creative hangover

I never sleep very well after our Tiapos writing group meets ~ too much
to think about, details to process, remarks to absorb. Some nights I succumb
to 1/2 of a magic pill, but last night I decided just to work it out while
I tried to sleep and ended up dreaming about my brother who died in
1998, and was a small part of the piece I submitted, but a big part of my
childhood. Today I feel all "floaty"~ sort of like a hangover, but since I
don't drink anymore, it's just a lot of emotion that I have to work through,
but in a good way, honest. I love Tiapos, it's such an honor to belong to
this group of intense, fun and talented people. Tonight I'll sleep...

write this one down!

Last night we watched the third episode of Top of the Lake by Jane Champion.
It's on the Sundance Channel, so it might be difficult for some of you to get now.
The story is about a 12 year old girl who disappears when she is pregnant (I
know, scary stuff) and Elizabeth Moss from Mad Men plays the detective,
Holly Hunter has a strangely engaging role too. We are hooked!

a full day of friendship

Anna at Crissy Field

Linda's sea glass table ~oh, my!

Outerlands on Judah

we love outside dining

three friends

Tom and Linda discuss how to focus a camera

Linda and Tom's wonderful home

another walk after lunch ~ what weather

Michael's cousin Anna is here from New York (see Dutch Hill Farms, an
excellent blog) and we met at Crissy Field early for a walk. Then we found
Linda down at the Sutro Baths and went to lunch at crowded Outerlands.
We got to sit outside! It was a terrific day and the weather was spectacular.
Linda and Tom live in a very special house on 45th Avenue, they can
see the ocean from their living room. She baked a gluten free cake and we
had more coffee before our next walk. Thanks to you both for such a
delightful day.

scenes from Passover 2013

It was a glorious evening with wonderful friends and lots of joy. I swear I
learn something new about the rich history of the Jews every Passover. Oh,
and the food was scrumptious!

remember Ruby?

It's been too long since I met Tanya and Ruby, so yesterday we finally
hooked up down at MY Precita Park which was teeming with kids,
parties, parents and a few dogs too. It was a lovely day for me.

First to SF Moma for the Garry Winogrand photo show (big!) with
Husbando, then we lunched at the Buckhorn Grill where I introduced
him to Dancing Jen's Roadhouse Salad topped with 455 fried onion
rings, then I went on to Macy's for that Flower Show and then home
to Casa Verde before the long awaited Ruby Time. And we were
blessed with glorious sunshine the entire day!

another flower show

It's Easter Week and I always hit the flower show at Macy's Union Square.
This year it's an Indian theme  and very colorful. The top photo is from the
first floor which was a little lackluster, but the displays on the 6th floor
(bottom two pix) were impressive indeed. Downtown is packed with
tourists and folks from the burbs and a few of us who live here too.

green table turns blue

We took advantage of the fact that our Casa Verde is spotlessly clean and
entertained again last night. Also our friend Bill W. is here from Las
Vegas and we don't see him very often and he loves the SF crab. So
that's why the newspaper is on the table ~ we just dump the shells on
there, then roll it all up and have dessert and coffee on the nice clean
tablecloth underneath. Wish I had taken a photo of the 10 lbs. of crab
covered with butter and crusty garlic, enough garlic to insure that no
customer will get too close to me today.

and it's not a downer!

The Sessions is based on a true story about a man (John Hawkes) in an iron
lung who finds a sex therapist (Helen Hunt) and this movie is so frank and
intense that you wish every young person could see it before their first
sexual experience. Of course it's really all about love, something often
missing from that first time. Beautiful film, one that stays with you for a
long time. From our Flix® friends...

BTA at the DY

As beautiful as most of the floral arrangements are at Bouquets to Art, I'm
happy to only be working there one day this week. The deYoung is PACKED
with people and I am lucky to spend the rest of the week out at the quiet Legion
of Honor. Still, it is quite an experience to see all these flowers, my favorites
are the "black" tulips in the photo above because they remind me of London.

monday's heart throb

Buttercup is an Australian Kelpie MIX. Most of the dogs are of the Mix
Variety. She is small, less than knee-high and very timid. Very sweet.
Three years old and much-loved by the workers and volunteers, including
this woman. Since I feed the 50 or so dogs, I know she doesn't require
any of the specialty foods like venison, duck, unusual vitamins, chicken
appetizer enhancement, etc. An easy dog, I'm guessing, if there is
such a thing.

new family member!

The Great Plotniks created and delivered these daffy beauties to us on
Sunday. Aren't they just perfectly gorgeous? Grown from bulbs, something
I might try next fall, I've never done anything this impressive garden-wise.

how green is our table?

We had a lovely corned beef and cabbage celebration yesterday ~ lots
of laughter and so nice to be with friends for this Irish feast. Special
thanks to the three who sat at the grandchild table down at the end, a
tight squeeze in this small house. Casa Verde is getting back into shape
now, preparing for a Friday night party and then we rest until the
winter holidays.

costume party

Meet the Lumieres, they go to a lot of work to dress up for these French
events. This was out at the Legion of Honor yesterday for the Louvre
Snuff Box exhibit. I talked to one brightly-decorated woman, she said
it takes her about an hour and a half to get into costume. Lordy, I have
vague complaints if I spend more than 10 minutes dressing. But, hey,
it was fun and greatly appreciated by drab retail workers and the other
museum customers.

horses and poetry

Now that RR is becoming a talented horseback rider, I'm much more
aware of all things equine. I love this poem...

Landscape with Horse Named Popcorn

The hummingbird hovers over bougainvillea, darting in and out
of blossoms as the bride throws
her corset among laughter and waving hands. Seeing you, glass in hand, sunlight
piercing the punch bowl's crystal, I remember
the horse, an Appaloosa, the white and grey markings
like clouds, cumulus, one
later on his grave, the 2 × 4 cross with name
above a swell of land that could bring
a man to his knees,
or make him look up at fumbling shapes, cotton-fumed
and slow. I can hear the screeching
still. The colt had grabbed a turkey nesting in scrub oak, and prancing,
shook it in his mouth as we ran
reaching toward black feathers—then the fine
spray of blood—until beyond adrenaline we began laughing,
as laughing now, brushing confetti away, you hand
the bride flowers, narcissi, their green throats pushing up
from wet stones in a jar.
Mark Irwin

Large White House Speaking
New Issues Poetry & Prose

big time spring clean-up

We're having our traditional St. Patty Day dinner party on Sunday and this
is the perfect opportunity to thoroughly clean the house. I've had two days
off and what a pleasure to have time to dust and polish, scrub and wash
assorted dishes that we only use twice a year or so. For someone who has
always loathed house cleaning, this feels strangely virtuous. Maybe I'm
finally turning into a Good Wife. Shoot me now...oh, let's have a round
of applause for Dianne Feinstein for stomping on that creepy Cruz jerk
yesterday. How dare he treat her like some stupid nincompoop?

back to what's important

Well, we have the new old Pope so now I can show you the Brothers Striped.
Bengie and Sammy ~ very sweet. I'm a big believer in the theory that if you
want one cat, you really want two. This was from my Monday visit to the
SPCA and I'm hoping that by now the boys have been adopted.

daily Round Robin piece

IT'S A SCIENCE (the prompt)

Today I'm borrowing heavily from word-a-day. Stealing. The word is ~
SUFFRAGIST

ETYMOLOGY:
Via French from Latin suffragium (voting tablet, right to vote). Ultimately 
from the Indo-European root bhreg- (to break) that also gave us break, 
breach, fraction, fragile, fractal, infringe, irrefragable, and fractious. 
Suffrage? Remember, a broken piece of tile was used as a ballot in the past.
 Earliest documented use: 1822.

NOTES:
While we have come a long way in treating people equally regarding the 
right to vote, there are still places where a woman is not considered fit to 
vote or to run for an office, for example Saudi Arabia and the Vatican.
USAGE:
"Women had not won the right to vote; one suffragist slapped Song 
Jiaoren in the face for not taking up their cause."
The Song of Song; The Economist (London, UK); Dec 22, 2012.

I'm a life-long feminist. It pisses me off to see the men marching into
the Vatican to cast their precious fucking votes for the next pope man.
The nuns wait patiently in the courtyard and I bet a good percentage of
them are as annoyed as I am.

So there, today we learned where the word comes from, it's a science, sort of...

some truly great theater

Say a trained sniper returns from Iraq or Afghanistan. A likable young man
who did his job extremely well, too well. Where can he find work to support
his wife and baby-on-the-way? ACT presents Dead Metaphor and it's one
of those plays that will stay with you, and it should. Great acting from:
George Hampe (the solider), Tom Bloom (his dad), Sharon Lockwood (his
mom), Rebekah Brockman (his wife), plus Anthony Fusco and the always-
incredible Rene Augesen.  Excellent play, riveting.

the first emperor's afterlife

We had a fine time at the Asian Art Museum yesterday ~ the Terracotta
Warriors (and horses) guarded the First Emperor until 1974 when they
were unearthed to the amazement of China and the world. There are 10
life-size figures (out of thousands), all different and exquisitely detailed.
The emperor spent three decades working on his tomb and afterlife,
seems sort of silly, but hey, that was before the internet. The exhibit is
here until May 27th and well worth seeing, that's for sure.

oh, such acting

The Master is out on DVD now and you shouldn't miss it if you haven't
seen it already. All my adult life I've been irritated by Scientology and the
whole L. Ron Hubbard worship-fest and this movie tries to explain the
cult and it's leader.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is more caring than I
expected and his loyalty to the crazed and beat-up Joaquin Phoenix is
indeed touching. Explosive scenes, incredible acting ~ disturbing.