Baltimore in the 60's

I've been watching The Keepers, a true crime drama on the Flix®.
Back when this nun was murdered the Catholic church ran the city,
even and especially the police department. Young women were (as
was too often the case) the victims of abusive priests. Probably young
boys too, but that's for another documentary. Yes, I recommend this,
but prepare yourself to be angry and disgusted. Seven episodes.

dog daze

Animals don't know or care about human holidays, so nothing changes
at the SPCA. It is a little less hectic because the rooms don't have to be
spotless before 1pm when the first customers usually arrive. The top
photo is often part of my job and the five dogs who wouldn't pose
for my iPhone camera are going to socialize together and learn to
get along with others in their small dog play group.

what the ZUT?

Joe, Pamela and I celebrated her belated birthday yesterday at ZUT on
that bustling 4th Avenue in Berkeley. We talked and laughed and cried
just a bit. All quite wonderful, as you can see.

wedding bells again

Daniel J. and Kati were married yesterday at the Depot Hotel Restaurant
in Sonoma. Some of you will remember that Dr. J and I worked together
at the Borders store. It was a beautiful wedding, perfect in every way.
My ex-boss John and co-worker Lev were my dates and we sat at the
Doctor Who table which warmed my heart. (The Blogmaid and family
are Doctor Who fans.) I felt honored to be invited to this event and
I know that Dr. and Mrs. J will be VERY happy together. Very.

how can they possibly?

This is the true story of a trial in London. There really are people who
say that the Holocaust never happened. Denial (a DVD from the Flix®)
features Timothy Spall as the villain with Tom Wilkinson as the lawyer
out to prove him wrong. Rachael Weisz is a professor ~ enthralling.

head to the ocean

Eggs Benedict with pulled pork(!)

friends in green chairs

We are celebrating Linda's b.day at the Beachside Cafe on Judah.
I love that place, the beach and Linda.

the Ritz Carlini

This is the one and only time that Ms. Puma has been on or in her
extravagant new condo. Carlini will just give her time because he
knows cats and their strange behavior. Ingrate.

escape to China

I'm guessing that Lisa See did a LOT of research on the mountain
people in China before writing this book. I am about half way
through, getting to know the little girl who was adopted by
American parents who live on Hummingbird Lane in Pasadena,
California, of all strange places.

on and off stage

The San Francisco Playhouse has a program they call Rising Stars ~ donors
pay for seats for high school kids to come to the theater. It benefits everyone
and yesterday Carlini and I (both donors) attended the Ice Cream Social,
but didn't stay for dessert. Carlini is an usher there as well, so he knows
quite a few of the people involved at SF Playhouse. Then we escaped for
coffee, but you probably already guessed that.

the Sunday lunch tradition

Such a fine lunch and conversation yesterday with Dancing Jen here
across from Portsmouth Square. The restaurant wasn't as busy as usual,
perhaps because of the insanity of the Bay to Breakers, which didn't
really effect either of us, thankfully. A delightful catch-up time and
I am still feeling calm and grateful today.

Saturday in the City

California Historical Society 

Peet's downtown on Mission Street

First we hit the California Historical Society for more photos from the
Summer of Love 50th Anniversary. Such a pleasant museum. Then we
went across the street to MOAD (Museum of the African Diaspora)
and then we happily sat outside with coffee to watch ALL the people
and even saw a crazy or two. You can see it was a beautiful day...

Sam and Wapo

Patio days. I enjoyed a lovely lunch visit (she cooks!) with Meriel last
Thursday and I know you wanted to see her black and white boys. Bart
makes for an easy to/fro ~ they live in San Leandro (of all places) where
it is a lot warmer than MY city.

a brave little lion

This is a true story. There are something like 60,000 homeless kids
who try to live on the streets in India. Lion tells the story of one such
boy who was lucky enough to be adopted by a loving couple in
Australia. But he needed to find his home back in India and he did.
From the Flix® on DVD. Excellent.

hide that broom

Well, so far Ginger and I are 0-2 for games we've attended. But we
celebrate the beauty of the Jewel and the gentle breezes that cooled
us in the bleachers yesterday. Oh, and an easy Muni to/fro - that counts.

even better than last year

We are both really enjoying Season Two of Master of None on the Flix®.
For two episodes our friends are in Italy, but now they are back in New
York, that city of energy and some crazy. GREAT TV.

mothers and flowers

Not one unhappy child on Facebook as we see all the old pictures and
glowing memories. (I bet the therapists were busy yesterday.) But Doug
reminds me that our dinner was a Mother's Day celebration and I did
want to acknowledge the beautiful bouquet from my step Nancy who
is so good to us. And the Blogmaid had a happy day with George and
the most wonderful RR and I love this photo.

lamb shanks and pasta

We had an absolutely marvelous (truly) dinner at the Trattoria La
Siciliana on College Avenue in Berkeley. Thanks to the Great Plotniks
for introducing us to the splendid restaurant and for driving us across
the bridge. A delightful evening to be remembered forever.

Roz Chast rocks

Yesterday we hit the Jewseum and spent some happy/sad time with the work
of Roz Chast, one of our favorite New Yorker cartoonists. The above is
actually a subway car filled with shell-shocked life travelers. This is
an excellent exhibit and I recommend it highly, but there is a lot of sorrow
along with the humor. Just like life, no?

posters, pins, fringe, color, music

Summer of Love ~ the 50th Anniversary. Now in full pulsating color at
the deYoung. No, I didn't love this exhibit, but Husbando really wanted to
see this and I am nothing if not the Devoted Wife. I'm glad I went and
of course I saw a whole bunch of much-loved ex co-workers and that
was great fun. I really liked some of the Stuart Davis exhibit and will
tell you about that at a later date.

a loving couple

All Richard and Mildred Loving wanted was a quiet life in Virginia,
but their biracial marriage back in the 50's ended up at the Supreme
Court. Loving is a beautiful and inspirational movie ~ Ruth Negga is
one of our favorite actors. Yup, a thumb's up on this movie!

when your boss is a buffoon

I almost feel sorry for Sean Spicer, but since he doesn't seem to have even
a dash of integrity, we just have to laugh when he hides in the bushes
to avoid the media as he tries to figure out how to lie once again about
why Trump is such a disaster. May we live in interesting times, but
2017 is something else ~ total insanity.

happy retirement!

Yesterday I hopped on the 24 Muni (which traverses the city nicely and often)
to meet Liz and Pat who treated me to a retirement lunch here at Garibaldi's
on Presidio Avenue. We had a lovely time, completely oblivious to the latest
drama from that Trump guy firing Comey (the FBI director) in a totally
unprofessional manner. Every day is a shock lately. I do want to recommend
the burger and chocolatey dessert here at the restaurant, however. First
things first...

daytime TV

Well, so much for my promise not to turn into one of those retirees who
watches television while the sun is up (and bright). Watching Sally
Yates before the Senate Committee yesterday was just so inspiring
and my desire to drown Ted Cruz in some Texas oil well has not
diminished one bit. Mesmerizing ~ and I still smell impeachment in
the air, don't you?

a quick read

One of the online book clubs had a $1.99 special on The Pull of the
Moon by Elizabeth Berg, so I left Lincoln in the cemetery and read
this story about a woman who runs away from home after her 50th
birthday. She writes her husband everyday and fills in her journal
and finds herself. There is not a married woman on this earth who
wouldn't understand and appreciate this book.

it's a good news Sunday!

Only Linda, and her husband Tom, know how hard she has been working
with Mimi. This is wonderful and very exciting news and we here at
Commano congratulate Linda (and Mimi) with all our hearts.

is there a prettier spot?

Crissy Field

Ginger and Mary Ann

Ginger, Husbando and I headed to Crissy Field for some sun and inspiration
yesterday. So beautiful and good for the soul.

delicious and quiet

We met our friends Ron and Judy at 16th and Guerrero last night for
some outstanding pizza here at Mozzeria. This restaurant is owned by
a deaf couple and the staff uses easy to understand sign language too.
Most of the other customers were signing also, so it was interesting to
watch everyone communicate. The pizza was excellent and we
enjoyed ourselves immensely. No need to ask anyone to turn down
the overhead music...

Ashland approaches

I'm starting to get excited! Here is from one of Bob's emails ~ thankfully
he makes ALL the arrangements and gets really good seats for us:

Tuesday, June 6th, 1:30pm               SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
Tuesday, June 6th, 8:00pm               No performance
ALTERNATES:     Bob will go see MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR - unless you are a hard
                                core Shakespeare fan, you probably wouldn't like it.
                                JULIUS CAESAR should be good if you want me to book you.
                                Each plays in the evening.
Wednesday, June 7th, 1:30pm     MOJADA
Wednesday, June 7th, 8:00pm     THE ODYSSEY (outdoors)
Thursday, June 8th, 1:30pm      No performance
ALTERNATES:     CAESAR and HENRY IV play if you are interested.
Thursday, June 8th, 8:00pm      UNISON
Friday, June 9th, 1;30pm        HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO

what's a bardo?

I'm ready to start this book by George Saunders (who is a genius) and
I of course I had to do the google:

1. (in Tibetan Buddhism) a state of existence between death and rebirth,

    

   varying in length according to a person's conduct in life and manner of, 

   or age at, death.

   
   

   
   

a reprieve?

Here, from yesterday's edition of NEXTDRAFT by David Pell:

For the past week, you've been inundated by stories about 
Trump's first hundred days as president. It turns out that, in 
a pretty notable twist, the top story of days 101 and 102 was 
more about Trump's absence. Congress has passed a budget 
deal that will keep the government's doors open through 
September. The National Endowments for the Arts and 
Humanities, getting a boost. The Corporation for Public 
Broadcasting, no cuts. NASA, more money. EPA, about 
the same. Planned Parenthood, same. And for the wall, nada. 

And yes, every day with this Trump guy is exhausting...

sunny Sunday in my city

Crepe House on Valencia Street

Small art gallery on 21st Street ~ there are goldfish in the tub!