culture vultures

First we went to SFMoma for a special Members Only night. That was
great and not very crowded. Seeing an exhibit twice is a good idea for
me, and Carlini hadn't seen the Matisse/Diebenkorn even once, so it was a
treat for him. A beautiful day in SF, as you can see.

Then we hopped in a Lyft and went to Don Ramon's for dinner. Nurse
Carlini used to be a waiter there and he is much loved by the owners
and staff, as you can see.

season 3 is here

Wonderful British humor on Amazon Prime. Catastrophe is the story
of an American man and an Irish woman who now have two little
less-than-perfect children and daily struggles to keep their marriage
together. Excellent writing and fine acting too. Set in London and
yes, that makes it even more special.

talk about the weather...

...not the score. It was a beautiful day to sit in the sun at the Jewel.

it takes concentration

Sarah, Eric and Dougo

Last night was another great Tiapos over at Suzy's charming home in Oakland.
We had assorted unhealthy snacks and the most unforgettable piece was by
Suzy who recently hiked this dangerous and horrible slippery trail in Hawaii.
I had nightmares about her activities during the night. Thankfully the Giants
beat the Dodgers and I could bounce back to that happiness between Suzy's
slips and tumbles.

today let's celebrate Edna

"What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why"
by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

 
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.
Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

         

 Arthur Smith Comments:One of the great pleasures in re-reading Millay’s sonnet “What Lips My Lips 

Have Kissed, and Where, and Why” is encountering its complexity again.  

Millay chose one of the oldest and most venerated of literary forms—think 

of Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent”—in which to declare her 

independence from gender roles and general decorum that she found 

so stifling.  In so doing, she extended the range of the sonnet while 

challenging some of its basic assumptions.

It is important to remember Millay in her own era.  This sonnet was 

published in 1922 and later included in The Harp Weaver, for which she 

received the Pulitzer Prize in 1923.  James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922), 

Eliot’s The Waste Land (1922), Wallace Stevens’s Harmonium (1923), and

Pound’s Cantos (begun in 1924) were already winning the day for Modernism, 

and poems such as Hart Crane’s “My Grandmother’s Love Letters” (1926) 

posed the unanswered, and perhaps unanswerable, question of how one 

deals with memory, with sentimentality, with aspects that make us human.

our favorite post

seven pups ready for their forever homes

an orange cat and a boy

you call this fun?

The SF Giants currently have the worst record of any baseball team. It
is so discouraging. The blue scum-sucking Dodgers arrive in town and
their goal is to humiliate us further. Argh. Thank goodness for the
Warriors who are in the playoffs and doing very well.

democracy in action

I really enjoyed the two hour Town Hall meeting yesterday with State
Senator Scott Wiener and State Assembly Members Ting and Chiu.
It was held in the auditorium at Mission High ~ lots of young and old
folks in the audience and since the three men are all progressives they
were singing to the appreciative choir. So no yelling or rancor like
when the GOP appears to face people who worry about healthcare
and the environment. Big push for Senate Bill 562 - Healthy California.

The March for Science was yesterday too, but since I'm still on clean-up
from this cold I felt it best not to try to do everything.

the Legion gets a re-do

The new director (Max from Germany) is bringing a little whimsy to the
staid old Legion of Honor. I like the whimsical installations and it's time
that place was shaken up a bit. When I sent these pix to a friend she
thought that I'd been to the Tate Modern. Now let's see how the donors
react to this new art...

back to the Legion

We finally hit the Legion of Honor yesterday for the exceptional Monet
(The Early Years) exhibit and it was wonderful indeed. I had heard that
the best time to go was during the late afternoon when the buses of people
and school kids had departed, so we followed this very good advice and
were able to see all of these magnificent paintings without much interference.

finally ~ a win

Such a pleasure saying good bye to Bill O'Reilly yesterday. Congrats to
the women who worked so hard to bring this smug, mean, sexist man
down. And thanks to the advertisers who pulled their money ~ the key.

could it be?

What? Finally? Sunshine after weeks of grey, damp and ugly weather?
I walked in my nabe, up to the post office at Van Ness and 21st Street.
It's a bit of a grubby area and that's OK by me. Too much sanitizing
of a city seems to justify high real estate prices. I had my latte in the
sun and as I was walking home this splendid sidewalk garden almost
knocked me over. Welcome Spring ~ not a day too early.

Bunji and Mariah

These two are always side-by-side. You can just barely see the one in
the black box. They are gorgeous and I hope they are adopted soon.

toss in some history too

We are having a great time watching Shetland ~ streaming from Flix®.
It's a detective story so we do get a few murders and lots of lies and
emotions. The Shetland Islands are officially under Scottish rule (Jen's
current favorite country), but they think of themselves as Norwegian
citizens ~ the Islands have been passed back and forth many times.
No ponies so far, but lots of ferry rides between islands and the peet
farms are weird. Yes, highly recommended so do watch this.

Easter Day with clouds

...and probably rain. Oh well, a good day to stay indoors by the fire.
The Warriors, Giants and a fat Sunday Chronicle. Ham, yams and
banana creme pie (not homemade) and maybe a nap or two. Happy
Easter, Spring is near.

a man called mean...

We are all suckers for the gruff-old-man turns into nice-guy stories,
aren't we? A Man Called Ove is extra special because it gives us
a nice look into Sweden and how people live there. I believe I loved
this movie more than Husbando did, but that is often the case with
the really good movies without gruesome murders, isn't it? Do
note the cat at Ove's feet here. (Streamed on Amazon Prime)

escapism

This is better written than I expected. All about a woman cellist and
her family and one drunken afternoon at a BBQ. Truly Madly Guilty.

poetic Paterson

This is a quiet movie celebrating love and the simple life. Paterson is a
bus driver and a poet who is infatuated with his adorable wife. Some
might find it slow, but to me Paterson is filled with richness and warmth.
It is now out on DVD via the Flix®.

something borrowed

My dear friend Linda walks at the ocean in SF everyday. She has the eye
and she has a camera and a blog and I just needed to have her photo for
my blog. Today. I did not ask permission, but I do give lots of credit
and thank you talented woman by the sea.

yesterday = almost perfect

from the cast of Hamilton

the beautiful passover table

Opening Day and we won! The only worry is that our team leader
Buster Posey was hit in the head with a fast ball. I planted myself
in front of the TV and praised the game of baseball all afternoon.

Last night was another spectacular seder dinner at the Great
Plotniks. It felt good to laugh and get the Jews out of Egypt one
more time. So nice to gather with these friends once again.

your Flora update

I know you remember Lucybelle from my museum life. We all went to her
wedding and then the baby shower and here is the most recent photo of her
daughter Flora, there on the left. The family has settled right outside of
Portland now, buying a home and working hard with enough time to
enjoy the great Pacific Northwest. After living here out in "the Avenues"
Lucy needs to be by an ocean which they didn't have when they lived
in Indiana for a year or so.

April is Poetry Month

(Now for some REAL poetry to celebrate this month ~ it used to be my
favorite when I worked in the bookstores.)

Out of Some Other Paradise

And people walked out of churches and bars,
cafés and apartments, cities, towns, photographs,
someone's Friday night party,
someone they once knew or slept with.
They walked out of meetings and dinners,
out of lives, on each other, on love
and rarely on time.
Some walked out of dark places,
slow places, strange places, places
they wouldn't go back to, places they never did find.
Then did. And walked out again
for the third, fourth, fifth time perhaps.
People walked out through doors
and through letters, through looks across rooms,
gifts that gave nothing of what they withheld,
what they couldn't give back. Then others
just walked out on everything. That was that.
What can be said about what we do to each other.
What street, I don't remember,
on the way to someone's going-away,
I saw you, as if in the middle of a sentence,
snow: your new evening clothes. 
ALEX DIMITROV
Together and by Ourselves
Copper Canyon Press

poetry practice

Jane was a poet and inspired me to try my hand. I wrote this ten years
ago and feel safe to post it now that I don't have bosses to worry about.

My second real grown-up job was as a copywriter at Capwell's in
Oakland. I am still friends with Ginger and Susan, whom I met there,
waaaaaay back when...

CAPWELL'S

It was here that I learned that friends
are more important than corporations

that nothing is fair in business or, I'm
sorry to tell you, the world beyond

that some people work harder than others
and bosses were not promoted because

they wee necessarily smarter or kinder
than others, in fact just the opposite it seemed

then, and probably now, but I don't really
think about it anymore because it doesn't matter

to me one bit and I've wasted too many precious
hours worrying about business and losing sleep

over things over which I have absolutely no
control, on the other hand I did learn more about

myself and others during my working career
and one thing I know for sure is that, damn it all,

no matter what the job, it's always the people,
not the tasks, and delegation comes easier if

you give them a little humor and praise along
with the tedious assignment that was due yesterday

August, 2007

a little Puma time

Yesterday I climbed back on BART to visit Carlini and we had lunch in
downtown Walnut Creek and then went to his home for coffee and
sweets and I got to visit with Ms. Puma who is a total delight. She
doesn't eat flowers and we talked about our previous cats who did and
how fortunate he is with this adorable Calico.  She might have a sister
or brother soon, how cool would that be?

my four dog day

Hoooshie

Max, Leo and Lilly

Patrice is dog sitting out in Dublin and so we sat outside with all these
puppies and enjoyed our sandwiches from Togo's. I do like dog-centered
homes and people, perhaps you've noticed?

day and night in SF

Every year I just have to see Macy's Flower Show and every year I am
underwhelmed. Carnival was the theme this year and it was better than
no flower show, but we all know that traditional retail suffers and this
year tourism is down because of travel bans. A very small line for the
cable cars and Peet's seems to be the busiest spot in town.

Then last night we dined at Tartine Manufactory on Alabama Street.
You can see that we were early (surprise!) and I can assure you that
they were busy by the time we left. Delicious and unusual food and
wonderful service. Home in time for baseball and a WIN.

pray for fog, rain, sleet

There are only 7 episodes of Big, Little Lies and the finale might be the
best that I've ever experienced on TV. So go for HBO On Demand and
have a heavenly binge experience with Laura Dern, Reese Witherspoon,
Nicole Kidman and other familiar faces. The setting is in our very own
Monterey and with a little grey weather you can justify some daytime TV.
I might do a rerun on that last episode today, despite sunshine.

the best farce ever?

We had seen Noises Off years ago and I was a bit worried that we
wouldn't enjoy it as much or laugh during all the chaos of slamming
doors, missing sardines and constant chaos. No worries, it was
just what we needed and we both applaud the hard working actors
and imaginative sets and costumes at the SF Playhouse. We had
a wonderful afternoon and came home smiling despite the Giants...

and so it begins...

...thank goodness. Ginger and I went to the Coliseum in Oakland yesterday
for the final exhibition game. We won. It was a beautiful day, as you
can see, and the A's have upgraded their old stadium. We sat in the bleacher
section surrounded by the opposition, but they are fun fans and nice as
can be. (Not like the blue scum-sucking Dodger fans.) Today is the
official Opening Day and our Giants are in Arizona. Play ball!

Stow Lake (like)

I used to sit up here to relax with coffee and/or lunch when I worked at
the deYoung. But it is even more beautiful this Spring because I don't
have to rush back to greet customers with a smile (or disdain). Stow
Lake is a one mile circle, flat and easy to navigate. Lots of benches and
a decent hot dog which Husbando and I appreciated yesterday before
our walk. There is so much to see: turtles, raccoons, ducks, geese
and people of all sizes and colors. I like to watch the folks climbing
in and out of the rental boats while we soak up the sun. Delightful.