everybody OUT

 I wonder if these outdoor restaurant parklets (or pods) will be around a year from now. Yesterday I walked in the Castro District and the photo above is 18th Street, filled with happy diners. Of course the weather helps everything and closing streets off to traffic is wonderful, if sometimes a surprise. As I listen to assorted conversations it seems like everyone is talking about Vax #1 and #2 ~ so be it.

when truth is stranger than...

 The artist confronts the thief who stole her artwork and they become friends. She paints him. They are both broken and they help each other heal. The Painter and the Thief is a terrific Norwegian documentary on Amazon Prime ~ I highly recommend this film.

worth repeating

 RIP Lawrence Ferlinghetti who died this week at age 101. When I search this blog I find about six posts with his poetry throughtout the years. He was North Beach, he was San Francisco. 

BLUE ANGELS

And another destroyer of poetry and peace, how about those killing

machines, the Navy’s Blue Angels, who have just carried out their

annual attack on the City? But the poetic life requires Peace, not War.

The poetic life of the City, our subjective life, the subjective life of the

individual is constantly under attack by all the forces of materialist 

civilization, by all the forces of our military-industrial perplex, and we 

don’t need these warplanes designed to kill and ludicrously misnamed 

the Blue Angels. They dive upon our city every year, in a frightening 

militarist and nationalist display of pure male testosterone. I’ve seen 

old Vietnam ladies in Washington Square diving under the benches! 

Do we really need to be reminded yearly how our planes have bombed 

Third World countries back to the Stone Age? In San Francisco, of all 

places, do we really need “bombs bursting in air to prove that our flag 

is still there”? 

What would Saint Francis say?

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

San Francisco Poet Laureate 

October, 1998

the best walk in the world

 Ginger and I have both been vaccinated twice and we are probably safe to explore our city again. So back to Crissy Field yesterday ~ how beautiful, how peaceful. SF is pretty much tourist-free and I know this is rough on merchants and tax revenues, but glorious for those of us who live here.

more than a poor little rich girl

 I loved the Peggy Guggenheim Museum/Gallery in Venice, Italy, and the art lecture yesterday did not disappoint. VERY well done. I will do more of these. Peggy had an unusual life, not free from heart break by any means, but man, she knew and helped lots of artists. Many, of course. she had affairs with and some she married: Magritte, Picasso, Maz Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Rothko, etc. An exciting life. She died in Venice in 1979, at age 81. Oh, interesting, her father died on the Titanic ~ he put on his evening clothes and helped others into life boats. These are the details that make peoples' lives so unusal and interesting. 

02/22 x two

 I set yesterday as a wishy-washy deadline to do my taxes because this is the date that I did them last year and because Turbotax, my friend/enemy, has a little sale (save $30!) to encourage us to file early. A few frustrations along the way which I will soon forget. This is when I salute the simple life and even though I probably made a couple of mistakes along the way, I am but one Small Potato to the tax folks.

back to Rome

 The first episode of Stanley Tucci's travels in Italy was a delight last night and now I really, really need some pasta carbonara. CNN has a few too many advertising breaks, but I do want to recommend this program to you. No masks, must have been filmed in 2019. How we look at things now...

and #3 in the series

 Well, so I am not doing the tax prep work, deep house cleaning, gardening, online calculus classes or reading the works of Rilke. I am HOOKED on these British mysteries by Susie Steiner. Remain Silent opens with a body in a tree and how could I not keep on keeping on? Thank you, Ms. Steiner, for your plot skills and wonderful sense of humor.

and then I exhaled

 I went back under the big Kaiser tent yesterday for the 2nd Covid-19 Vax. My arm is just a bit tender but no other abnormal issues ~ Dancing Jen said that she got the chills 24 hours after the shot. I can handle that, I'm just so very relieved and I feel grateful and hopeful.

one door closes...

 I try to be philosophical when favorite restaurants close, especially the ones where Husbando and I spent a lot of time and money and happy hours. He LOVED seafood more than anyone I have ever known. So when Spenger's closed I was okay because really the fish food was so-so, but when the Red Hill Station up on Cortland shut-down, it hurt. And will Tadich's return? But then, but then! Yesterday Doug, Barb and I sat out on the sidewalk on 24th Street and had delicious smoked salmon, shrimp salad, New England clam chowder and all with fresh/fresh watercress salad. Oh, heaven. When we walked in to this white tiled, sparkling clean fish market and restaurant (oddly named Billingsgate) my first words were, "Oh, Bill would have LOVED this place." We felt like we were at the Westminster Dog Show sitting out there on the sidewalk ~ a delghtful experience. Open one month and a definite be-back restaurant.  

and I get the SYMBOLISM

 

A short poem, but beautiful

Reception

Chard deNiord

The guests were sitting at their tableson the lawn, when suddenly I saw them risein a line and approach a door that openedonto a field of clover and rye.I was in awe of them, the way they stoodin the shadow of the door and sipped their wine.The way they laughed and cried.I watched a Cessna hum across the skyas something that was there for a whilein the form of pure idea, as somethingthat would burn one day like straw.I saw the endless line move along, move along,pulling me in like a cloud, forgetting everythingas they passed beneath the high dark beamof the door and were gone.

no groundhogs in SF

 And soon I will bore you with the bloomng cherry trees and magnolias. Spring is on the way. Trust me.

applause, please

 I baked this cranberry almond cake (Budget Bytes) with Terri's texting help yesterday. Yes, people who bike and exercise need rewards. Chef Terri assured me that it is a foolproof recipe and so the mistakes I made just added to the delightful taste. Hint: use dry cranberries, no need to wash/chop fresh ones. 

The Bernal Heights Grand Prix

 About the only things I really miss about my little gym on 24th Street are the bikes and the latte (with sweet) reward afterwards. So with the Blogmaid's help I bought this bike from Amazon, then set about making room for it in the garage. That part took a few weeks because I had not made a dent down here after Husbando died. I like the recombent bike because it protects my back. Next I texted Mr. Singh a few hundred times and finally two Singhs arrived Saturday morning and in 1.5 hours (and a few ahem $$$) I have my wonderful new bike. I am very, very happy. So is my heart. 

perhaps a little cat-obsessed

 Honestly, Annabelle watched a lot of this documentary with me. Here we have the cats of Istanbul who freely roam the streets and are taken care of by the citizens who love them. One woman cooks 20 lbs. of chicken every day, some fisherman seem to give half their catch to the cats. Quite a few friends have recommended this movie Kedi on Amazon Prime to me and I finally succumbed. A fine way to end Impeachment #2. Also a terrific travel movie and now I want to go to Istanbul. Annabelle says NO.

I am not THIS cat-obsessed

 I did, however, sort of stalk the young woman who was carrying this one-eyed cat on her back. When she put her burden (not really) down on the outside bench at our Precita Park Cafe I asked if I might snap a photo and of course she nodded and smiled proudly. And no, we do not want one of these cat packs, honest. Not even for xmas or birthday. 

The Year of the Ox

 With a heart thrown in too. Today is Chinese New Year and yesterday I was downtown and enjoying almost every moment (not the dentist) and I even did a spot of smart shopping at Macy's. There won't be a parade this year but that's OK by me. I missed the Thursday Pod Lunch at Doug and Barb's so today I will wear red and join them on the back deck. Downtown is coming back everso slowly, but it still makes me happy just to be in the heart of my deserted city.

with Impeachment #2 in background

 I started my Wednesday with Victor and his 100 plus exercise students and then to house tasks and the truly riveting hearings. How can ANYONE still support tRump? I finished this puzzle of Peru without Annabelle's help, but she wanted to take credit and so she shall. 

another park discovery

 That's the bay (on a grey day) in the bottom photo. Ginger lives near Lafayette Park and even though it is a relatively steep hill walk, we found a quiet picnic table yesterday for coffee and chit chat. Lots of dogs, kids, walkers and people with their lap tops. Another round of WE LOVE SF, please.

Lafayette Park is an 11.49 acres park in San Francisco, California, United States. Originally created in 1936, it is located in the neighborhood of Pacific Heights between the streets of Washington, Sacramento, Gough, and Laguna.

one beautiful movie

 Oh my, I do not write this lightly. Netflix did everything right with The Dig and I encourage everyone to watch it at once. I'm already fantasizing about my trip to the British Museum to see these treasure that were found on the eve of World War II in Sutton Hoo, England. Ralph Fiennes, Carey Mulligan and Lily James are among the fine actors in this excellent movie.

Super Bowl Sunday

 I don't like football, Kansas, Missouri or Florida and of course didn't really care who won, but I did watch and mute some of the game. I started with popcorn and a Mexican Coke® and then nice neighbor Lynn from Puerto Rico brought me miso soup that she learned to make when she lived in Japan. So I got out of the midwest and icky Florida and celebrated diversity, SF style. 

Saturday in photos (walk, latte, zoom)

 

when the mood strikes

 Shortly after Bill died my friend Terri told me about Budget Bytes. The chef emails a weekly newsletter and now, 2.5 years later, I actually do a bit of cooking. The recipes are easy to read and print out and the dishes are small, ideal for one or two people. I do NOT want to spend a lot of time chopping, cooking or cleaning up, so this works for me. I salute Beth Moncel who created this simple site back in 2009. 

the Thursday pod

 We all liked the composition of this photo of Barb and Doug yesterday. The stairs (which I avoid like the, ahem, plague) add a pretty touch, plus the yellow tulips and pink face mask. They are so good to me and the only disappointment was that El Chapo (or La Chapa) did not appear for ear scratches and pretty kitty talk. Next week? We covered a ton of important and mundane topics ~ all good, I assure you.

oh oh

 I started the second in Susie Steiner's mystery series yesterday. I tried not to. Persons Unknown is just as fun and engaging as Missing, Presumed. Annabelle said that it is okay if our home isn't spotlessly clean. Well, bless her little heart. However, proudly I report that I'm doing the exercise class faithfully every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. All is not lost. 

after the rain

 This is why artists still flock to Paris and SF ~ the light, the vistas, that feeling of, "Oh, I don't think I can live anywhere but here." The air was clean and invigorating yesterday and I was eager to get out and walk after the last rain drop. Instead of a latte I did some deep breathing...

simple pleasures

 Walking before the rain and being able to sit outside with my latte at this friendly coffee shop on Valencia Street. I took all of this for granted a year ago ~ human nature. 

an A+ mystery

 Smart, beautiful young woman disappears in this British (because they do it best) excellent, intriguing novel by Susie Steiner. Missing, Presumed provided this blogger with a perfectly delightful Sunday on the LindaKindle4. I am trying NOT to pick it up this morning as I need to get a few things done. Help.