pumpkins and goblins

It's fun being on the USF campus for Fromm ~ the unexpected. During
the lunch break there is a young woman student helping us with all
our electronics and although I haven't needed her, there are usually
people waiting to talk to her with their devices in hand. No charge.
(For the retirees without handy grandchildren I guess.)

And then this line of pumpkins smiling and frowning at us as we
walked to the student cafeteria yesterday. The American History class
yesterday was fabulous ~ the professor is enthralled with the Mueller
indictments and cautions us to keep our eyes on the Republicans, not
the Democrats during this process. It is up to them...

and one more

I also really liked this painting by Gustav Klimt. Quite a change from the way
I usually think about him. You'll also see some interesting landscapes by this
Austrian painter (1862-1918) out at the Legion of Honor.

upstairs at the Legion of Honor

Usually the special exhibits are downstairs, so I was impressed with the
Klimt installation at the LOH, upstairs with the Rodin pieces. Both
artists loved the female form and everything works beautifully here.
There are three rooms of Klimt art including the more colorful
pieces that we all know and love, but I was especially impressed
with the panel pictured above. And yes, I will return. (Through 1/28/18)

doing Dogpatch

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of the Great Plotnik in style. New,
industrial style. Alta MSP is right next door to the Minnesota Street Art
Project and reflects that clean urban design beautifully. Husbando had
read the restaurant review and clipped it out for Doug's b.day.
A thick blanket of aged cheddar clings to the thick, medium-rare
patty enhanced with bacon, lettuce, slices of bread and butter pickles,
aioli and a well-toasted bun. The usual SF price of $17 per burger.
Doug had a fried chicken sandwich which was also outstanding.
Oh, and warmed olives. Yum. A lovely outing with good friends.

now a movie (to avoid)

I just started this book and I understand that it is waaaaaay better
than the movie. The Reluctant Fundamentalist tells the story of
a Pakistani man who is educated at Princeton and moves to NYC
for a great job. I like it a lot. By the way, do not bother with that
Eye for an Eye book I recently read ~ ridiculous.

writers celebrate

Here is a bad photo of the Great Plotnik over at Suzy's last night. We
celebrated him and his b.day and watched in horror as his baseball
team down south blew a decent lead and lost the game. Good grief.
But we had fun anyway with chips, guacamole, tacos and birthday
cake with ice cream.

October blues

When I think of Texas I think of Rick Perry and small minds, so we
are hoping that the Dodgers win the World Series and then explode.
The Great Plotnik is a Great Dodger Fan, so this will be fun and
scary for him. Maybe LA will take the series in four and we can
all relax and watch Netflix again.

our rescue team?

On October 6th there was a commentary in the Washington Post written
by Newton N. Minow who served under all five Presidents pictured above.
It is long, but well worth your google time. Here is an excerpt:

I ask the five of you to combine your wisdom, your courage and your
patriotism. You can speak out together against current abuses and
reaffirm constitutional values. You can lead the nation to explore
informal and formal next steps.

Yesterday Professor Rothmann told us about Mr. Minow's letter and
pictured the five ex-Presidents going to the Senate to supply the
leadership that our country is missing. Yes, Trump is unstable and
very dangerous. Yes, there is hope...

The Lily Cai Dance Company

Lily Cai teaches dance in North Beach and is a friend of Marsha's and
yesterday we went to her home season concert in Cowell Theatre, Fort
Mason. I had never seen Chinese dancing before and I was overwhelmed
with the beauty and elegant movement of the six dancers. They also
use many colorful props (umbrellas, scarves, fans) and glorious back-
ground music. What a treat!

on Sunday with love

what love isn't

It is not a five-star stay. It is not
compliments and it is never ever
flattery.
It is solid. Not sweet but always
nutritious
always herb, always salt. Sometimes
grit.
It is now and till the end. It is never a
slither, never a little
it is a full serving
it is much
too much and real
never pretty or clean. It stinks—you can
smell it coming
it is weight
it is weight and it is too heavy to feel
good sometimes. It is discomfort—it is
not what the films say. Only songs
get it right
it is irregular
it is difficult
and always, always
surprising.

YRSA DALEY-WARD

Bone
Penguin

celebrate my city

View from our back deck ~ October

The Strand Theater on Market Street

Coffee shop on seediest part of Market Street ~ am I in Paris?

the meditation market

I met Marsha before this fun play at The Strand last night ~ this is such
a great little theater.  Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl takes place
at a silent retreat somewhere on the East Coast. It makes fun of everyone
who seeks the pursuit of enlightenment and happiness by participating
in the search for spiritual peace during these digital times. Highly recommended!

Blade Runner (1982)

I missed this back in the day. Yesterday there was a free showing at
Fromm and I met Ginger for coffee and this movie and it was really
amazing. It takes place in 2019 (ahem) when we have ruined the
environment and it rains 24/7. The wealthy people live way up
in tall buildings and Blade Runners capture and kill (retire) the
"aliens" (it's a long story) and now I will go to see the new one
soon. Harrison Ford has aged well.

back to the past

The Coffee Cantata

Yesterday after studying the stars (how timely that two just collided a
million light years or so ago) I walked down to Haight Street and enjoyed
a delicious latte at Coffee Cantata. I'm pretty sure that this was the first
real coffee house in SF back in the days of free love, hippies and pot.
Today the Haight Ashbury is filled with tourists and druggies and very
expensive homes on the neighboring streets. The stores do a brisk
business selling beads, fringe clothing, boots and Frisco merchandise.

Ruby Tuesday (yes!)

Ruby and Tanya 2012

Ruby in 2017

Our little Ruby darling is now in school in San Diego. Her mama texted
me this photo last week and I was just waiting for a Tuesday so I could
share it with my faithful readers. I miss them both and think of them
everyday when I walk down Precita Avenue to Mission Street.

a little more mayhem

We just started to binge on Mindhunter on the Flix®. This is the story
of a couple of FBI agents back in the 70's, working with criminals and
psychologists to figure out the why? of deranged killers. Good stuff.

one rough week

Coming home to the orange-ness of Fall in our little house helps so much.
We think about the fire damaged wine country and all those brave people
constantly. How about a light rain up there?

not easy to watch

This a one-man, one-act play about the Holocaust was written and acted
by Roger Grunwald and directed by Nancy Carlin. It is powerful and
extremely well done. The Great Plotnik took me to the Potrero Stage
last night and he reviewed the play. I dragged out Kleenex® and wondered
once again how people can hate so much.

just for today

(With thanks to Linda Z. on Facebook)

escapism rocks

A little violence helps one forget the horrible fires up north. The Girl Who
Takes an Eye for an Eye is going to be just fine, as far as I can tell here
on my LindaKindle2.

what I learned in my science class

Professor Fraknoi presented this tee shirt photo amongst an array of
stars and planets yesterday. I now know all about the death of big stars
and the truth about black holes. They are hard to see...

October in California

Hot, windy, dangerous. All of our thoughts are with our friends in the North
Bay (Santa Rosa, Napa, Sonoma, Silverado Trail) where there was that
HUGE firestorm (actually 14 fires) and something like 1,500 homes were
destroyed. Awful.

an intervention in black and white

Barbecue at San Francisco Playhouse is a fabulous play. See it if you
possibly can. It's the story of a dysfunctional family (first all white,
then all black) who gathers to get one sister into rehab. It is surprising
as well as very funny. The final scene brought tears of happiness to
my eyes.

straight off the farm

Ceci a

Granddaughter Chef Ceci has been working on a farm up in Nevada City
so she can get more involved in the farm-to-table movement. It is hard
work, no pay and the interns have to use an outhouse. She and Jason (just
a friend) are here for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden
Gate Park and they joined us for breakfast down at the Precita Park Cafe
this morning. Such a delightful grand girl!

Pier 24 ~ new exhibit!

my photo of a photo from the exhibit ~ haven't we all been here?

We met Ginger here yesterday morning ~ such a wonderful place, and
it's free. You must sign up first online so it is never crowded. Here
is what we saw:

THE GRAIN OF THE PRESENT

April 1, 2017 - January 31, 2018

---

The Grain of the Present, Pier 24 Photography’s ninth exhibition, examines the work of ten photographers at the core of the Pilara Foundation collection—Robert Adams, Diane Arbus, Lewis Baltz, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Lee Friedlander, Nicholas Nixon, Stephen Shore, Henry Wessel, and Garry Winogrand—whose works share a commitment to looking at everyday life as it is. Each of these figures defined a distinctive visual language that combines formal concerns with a documentary aesthetic, and all of them participated in one of two landmark exhibitions: New Documents (1967) at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, or New Topographics (1975) at the International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester.

back to my park

God, I love the Conservatory of Flowers and I did NOT want to miss the
light show that ends October 21st. Of course these night photos don't do
this justice, but it was glorious and perfectly wonderful in every way.
It actually started at 7:18 pm, but we parked right in front about 6:30. A
private party was happening, however the best seats were for us common
folk sitting on benches and on the grass. Thank you again, SF.

lamb at its best

Here we have The Great Plotnik carving this delicious lamb which we ate
with greed and delight last night. A wonderful evening, as always. Grateful.

oooooh, a murder mystery

Thanks to Susan (aka the Fevered Brain) for this wonderful novel.
One of those that is difficult to set aside for silly things like chores,
food, conversation, etc. The Dry takes place in Australia and I
will be reading more Jane Harper, that's for sure.

HOW many more?

It wears us down. When can we have real gun legislation? Ever?
Here is one quote from the carnage in Las Vegas that gives me hope:

Caleb Keeter, the guitarist for the Josh Abbott Band, who performed Sunday at the Route 91 festival in Las Vegas, wrote that the tragedy had already changed his mind on the need for gun control. 

"I've been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night," he said. "I cannot express how wrong I was."

Keeter wrote that the band and crew felt utterly powerless and terrified during the shooting, and that crew members who had concealed-carry permits couldn't use them for fear of being mistaken for the shooter.

this fancy resort

Yesterday we went for a great walk in the (almost) wilderness. Right on
the bay. Candlestick Recreational Park has been here forever and now
that the whole Bay View Hunters Point area is being gentrified, it is
tempting to go and explore. The big difference, we think, is the Third
Street Muni system that runs the whole length, all the way up to the
baseball park. People were fishing, walking, barbecuing and relaxing
out here at the park yesterday ~ easy parking too. Beautiful.

new Apple product

Buffalo, New York

Trader Joe's San Francisco

lunch on Mullen Avenue 

Rob and Sarah were ecstatic about the Sweet Tango ~ a new university-
produced apple. I brought two home from the fun downtown Trader Joe's
and told Husbando that I asked for bubble wrap at checkout. $1.29 each.
Worth it? Oh, my yes. The best apple EVER. Treat yourself.