his last 15 years

J.M.W. Turner created some of his best work in this late period of his life
and you can see more than sixty of them out at the deYoung until Sept. 20.
He traveled extensively and his paintings of Venice are (so far) some of
my favorites. I've only been to the exhibit once and I do need to return,
preferably without other art lovers and with the audio.  The Mr. Turner
movie grows on me too as I watch it while working out at the Legion.
As an aside, I talked to two Tate employees (visiting the Legion of Honor)
and they both said that they have never seen the Turner pieces exhibited
so beautifully as they are at the DY. So go already...

party for Fuzzy Love

hostess and husbando

listening to some wonderful music

the Plotniks and Floyd

Jackie Cole sings to us

Suzy is in our writing group and she brings Floyd (aka Fuzzy Love) to
Tiapos and we have grown to love and appreciate him too. Yesterday
there was a big 65th birthday party for him with tons of food, music
and joy. We dreaded the drive to Oakland, but it was easy going both
ways - everyone else stayed home, or so it seemed. Lovely day indeed.

evenings at eight

courage and pride

Sometimes we progressives wonder if we aren't taking three steps back
for every step forward.  But yesterday was a huge leap ahead when the
Supreme Court said "Yes!" to marriage for gays and lesbians. Imagine,
it all started here in SF in 2004 when Mayor Gavin Newsom started
marrying same sex couples. Somehow I knew then that one day it
would all work out, but I thought it would take a few more decades.
Today we celebrate for our many gay, lesbian and transgender friends!

5th and Balboa

lunch at Muguboka

dessert

Yesterday we went to the Turner exhibit at the deYoung and I will write
about that tomorrow. After lunch. One of the pleasures of working at the
museums these past (almost eight!) years is that I feel so very comfortable
in "the Avenues" - a whole different world from our Bernal life. We
needed some Korean food and this was a good choice. BBQ beef and
chicken and all the authentic little extras.  Yum.

mornings at six

the corner store

How different our lives would be if we couldn't walk down to the store
almost every day. Yes, we love Costco and tolerate Safeway, but the
little markets in the SF neighborhoods are such a part of the fabric of
the city that it is easy to take them for granted. Always open, always in
season and so nice to deal with. "Here, take an extra pound of tomatoes,
on the house." I know when people leave our difficult and expensive
Frisco, they often mention how much they miss just walking to the park,
walking to the store. We are densely populated, but so much is close at hand.

it's that time of year

Kitten season. There must be something mysterious in this bowl of water,
because I couldn't get these two to look up at me for a decent photo. The
SPCA does such a great job of fostering and then finding forever homes for
all the new little furballs. I continue to prepare the dog food and rejoice
when a doggie who has been there for three or more months finally gets
adopted. They warn the new owners of any and all behavior problems
which seem to disappear once Fido is in a new and loving home. Not all
the time, alas, but at least the new owners have been warned.

my secret vice

I'm so enjoying this silly series about a young woman who was held
underground for 15 years and when she finally emerges she goes to
NYC and has a bunch of impossible adventures. Husbando scoffs, but
sometimes he stands outside the room and watches Kimmy Schmidt
for a while.

history comes alive

Last night we finally started watching Wolf Hall and yes, it is just as
intriguing as everyone said it would be. Great acting, luscious
costumes and settings ~ is fun the right word?

kids, dog, beach...

It sure looks like summer to me. My morning email from the Blogmaid
contained a whole bunch of glorious photos with RR, Matthew and Sabine
(who flies). Oh, I forgot to mention the SUN in the headline, but it's here!

new nabe restaurant

Sous Beurre on 24th Street is getting a lot of good publicity, so we went
during Senior Citizen hour and enjoyed a great meal. I had the pork loin,
but my photo was fuzzy, so you will just have to imagine it. Sous Beurre
does not allow tipping and the tax is included in the price and what a
wonderful difference that makes, not fumbling around trying to figure
how much to tip at the end of a memorable dinner. Excellent food and
service and we will return!

as assigned...

...I downloaded Drop City to my LindaKindle2 yesterday and I am
really enjoying it so far.

a change of menu...

...and a change of fortune. The Giants won yesterday because I switched
from a hot dog to Tony's Pizza ($7.75 for a big slice). Of course we
started with garlic fries because they go with everything. Then I came
home to crow and watch the Warriors win and all is right now in our
sports world. And what's this? Sunshine today too?

pho fun

It must be June - cold and gloomy and a bowl of pho is just what we needed
for lunch. Off we went to our first experience at Kevin's Noodle House in
Daly City. They don't fool around there, it is fast and crowded, but we were
pleased with everything, even the parking. But watch out for that HOT
green pepper there amongst the beef and noodles.

mid-journey

Yesterday I organized my extensive notes from the Novel Continuation class
which ended last Friday night. I already signed up for the next one which
begins in July and lasts until December. My goal is to have the first draft
finished by the end of 2015. Here are some nuggets:

• never step too far away from the novel
• what gives Ellen's life meaning?
• the antagonist will use Ellen's weaknesses
• one does NOT have to write in linear fashion - just write!
• why are we in this scene?
• what are the unwritten rules in Ellen's world?
• what is the "magic" in my novel?
• read "Drop City" by T.C. Boyle
• good fiction is really just interesting gossip
• if writing a book was easy, everyone would do it

season three

We started watching Orange is the New Black last night and yes, it is
just as good as it was before. And such a pleasure to stream these
episodes and not fuss with commercials that always interrupt a story line.

and yet another walk

On Thursday I met Ginger at the pre-gentrified 16th Street BART station
and while I waited for her I could have bought any kind of drug, cell
phone or god knows what. When she arrived we hopped on the #55 and
off we went to Third Street because I wanted to show her the new
hospital complex and then up we walked to the Jewel. I snapped this
photo in Willie McCovey Cove for the Blogmaid because we both love Shawon.
We had lattes and split a jerk chicken sandwich and fries and it was all
very satisfying and chatter-filled.

writers at work

note TV behind Eric

Tiapos gathered here last night and that coincided with game 4 of the
basketball world series, so there was a lot of time spent watching
LeBron and his Cleveland buddies get beaten by our Warriors. But
still, we did do some reading and commenting. Chef Sarah was just
arriving and then we tried to concentrate on our work. Sort of.

lunch with Linda and Siri

For Linda's belated b.day lunch we met at the Bernal Star yesterday and
both enjoyed Eggs Florentine (Linda) and Benedict (me). We had relished
a rainy morning and because I'm such a late and grateful learner, Linda
showed me how to use Siri on my iPhone.(I always wondered what that
wavy line was for.) We had a delightful time and I'm so very glad that
we are friends. Thanks for driving to Bernal Heights, Linda.

fish scales

I was having a latte while reading my LindaKindle2 on Monday
afternoon and Ms. Great Plotnik sat down beside me and we had
a lovely visit. She was coming from the gym and I was trying to
get my ass in there, but it was so nice sitting outside. Anyway, I
told her how much I liked this house in front of us and she said
that those were called fish scales. I like when things make sense.

ms. hoffman once again

Some call her writing a bit hackneyed in this book, but I am loving the
plot and the heroine who swims in her father's museum on Coney Island.
(I am partial to mermaids, of course.) This takes place in the 1900's
and Coralie comes of age with the other unusual characters in The
Museum of Extraordinary Things on my LindaKindle2.

just like the burbs

yellow bouncy house

festive green garbage can

Some neighbors up the hill organized a block party and potluck yesterday
and we made a brief appearance before we snuck out through some back
streets. There was music, no traffic (so they must have gotten a permit!),
about six grills with lots of food, wine, beer and some of the guests even
looked familiar to us. We smiled and I was reminded once again that one
of the things I love most about city life is the anonymity.

broken, yet brave

From the moment I heard about Wild I knew I would love the story
of this young woman who heals by walking by herself for three
months, up the Pacific Coast Trail. Need to feel inspired again?
This should do it for you. On DVD from the Flix®.

mussels, fries and sunshine!

On Thursday I met Neti for lunch at Mission Rock where it was warm enough
to sit outside, just like real summer. We spoke of many things: of shoes and
ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings. Also gentrification, husbands,
children, friends, grandchildren, yadadadadada. Enjoyable? Oh, my yes.

what's a Dub?

Husbando and I had never watched basketball EVER until these last two
weeks when the Warriors (Dub = W, I had to google that) got into the
playoffs. Now we are transfixed. Our calendar is marked for every game
and our life revolves around this exhausting game. No wonder team owners
love the playoffs, new fans appear from the most unlikely places. The team
actually plays in Oakland, but SF considers them Ours. We won last night,
the first game of the Finals. Whooooosh.

isn't it rich?

Neither of us had ever seen A Little Night Music and we didn't really
know what to expect yesterday at ACT. The musical is from 1973  and it
won a bunch of awards - everyone knows "Send in the Clowns" but we
had no idea what this Sondheim creation was all about. Well, it is great
fun and this production is exceedingly professional and we were
transfixed for 2.5 hours. It's all about love and romance and the many
complications that ensue. Yes, highly recommended!

the 22 Day Muni Challenge

It's been 22 years since a group of Muni riders banded together to try
to improve our transportation system. I happen to like Muni and I have
tremendous respect for the drivers, and yet, improvements are needed. So the
Mayor and the Board of Supes have agreed to ride Muni to/fro work
every day this month, for 22 days. I've been in cities (Charlotte, NC, comes
to mind) with almost NO public transportation, so I do appreciate our
bus system and I applaud the push to get folks OUT of cars. SF is pouring
lots of money into new buses and drivers this year and I've already seen
improvements, but of course I don't have to take a bus (or two) every day.

it's orange out today

I am wearing orange, are you? The NRA folk are probably dressed in black,
they certainly should be considering all the harm that guns do in America.

halt and watch

We have been watching Season One of Halt and Catch Fire which
takes place back in the 1980's when computers were just taking off.
Most of it (so far) takes place in Dallas, known then as Silicon Prairie
it seems. The four main characters are appealing, escpecially the
two techie women. We are streaming it on the Flix®.