saying hello to 2024

 Mr. Higginsworth does not even appear when I google, but I like his philosophy for the New Year. Tonight is a special celebration with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen and I will go to bed when it is midnight in NYC. Stay safe, everyone!

it's stay-inside weather

 All those years of drought and now we have non-stop rain and storms. I did NOT take the big wave photo above, I'm too smart to go and stare at these monsters. Glad my fireplace is working and even though I need and miss my walks, I will catch-up eventually. Oh, I have my cat, too. Tee hee, you knew that.

Minestrone, then Maestro

 Bradley Cooper becomes Lenny Bernstein in this powerful movie. Last night Neti brought a big pot of veggie soup and we watched Maestro on Netflix. Everyone smoked ALL the time back then and of course that was exhausting to watch and we both felt like my little back room was filled with smoke when the credits came on. This is an excellent film ~ see it!

excellent TV

 The Kennedy Center Honors are always a treat and last night was no exception. This morning I'm watching a few tributes again on YouTube ~ just because they were so special. 

BFD Tuesdays

 The Alamo Drafthouse offers movies for $9 on Tuesdays and yesterday Amy and I saw one of the best movies EVER ~ American Fiction with the amazing Jeffrey Wright who plays a serious author who writes a black ghetto story in order to make money. Just see this, OK?

Crissy Field on Christmas

 Just what I needed, a good long solo walk ~ fresh/fresh air and time to appreciate this beautiful city and my privileged life. Tons of people and dogs, few bikes (yay) and a lifetime of memories with a warm nod to those who are no longer with us. This was always Husbando's favorite walk and some of his ashes are here, of course. Then I had dinner last night at neighbor Heidi's as her husband and sons got depressed about the 49er loss. I missed my Pumpkinville friends, but they are healing from Covid and knocking back Paxlovid. 

still a Merry Christmas

 Mr. and Ms. Blogmaid are fighting the Covid, so plans have changed and I will have a nice walk and then dinner at neighbor Heidi's tonight. I worry about my friends ~ Doug has Covid too and yes, this thing is with us forevermore. Light cases though, thanks to vaccines and Paxlovid cures quickly and leaves a horrible taste. Heal, dear friends. 

Holiday inspiration

 Lots of applause to Annette Bening and Jodie Foster for this great movie based on the true story of Diana Nyad, a long distance swimmer who at age 64 swam from Cuba to Florida. Lovely to sit comfortably in my warm pajamas and blankets feeling motivated to turn NYAD on the Flix®.

traditions

 The sending and receiving of holiday cards in this age of texts and emails is one of the great pleasures of the season for me. From far away and next door ~ each card counts and brings joy.

she names names

 This is a fabulous book to read and to listen to because Liz Cheney has a good strong voice and she obviously took careful and detailed notes while she was serving Wyoming as a Representative in Congress. No surprise that Kevin McCarthy resigned when this memoir was released. Oath an Honor should be read by every American. 

the official photo

 Here, from Doug's camera, is our writing group last Sunday. Doug and Barb's new grand girl is featured on the left. What a party, what a group, what a day!

my very nice life

 This is a lovely quiet week for me. Mornings by the fire and then a walk and latte in the neighborhood when the rain stops for an hour or so. Catching up with friends far and near and of course worrying about the health and happiness of people I love. Gratitude galore.

Poor Things

 Amy and I went to the Alamo Drafthouse for a real movie going experience yesterday. Emma Stone is fabulous and some wonderful acting by William Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo too. Whoosh, Poor Things is an over the top fantasy romp across Europe and do I recommend it? Yes!

we writers can party!

 Doug and Barb hosted our annual Tiapos/Fluff holiday party yesterday and we laughed and cried as we read our work and made fun of each other. I will publish the group photo (on Barb's camera) later, but here are a few happy pictures for this rainy Monday. 

snails and low tea

 Dear Dancing Jen treated me to a luscious escargot and steak lunch at Le Central yesterday. Oh, yum. So good to catch up with my friend who has traveled to exotic places since last we met. And then some neighbors gathered around my fake fireplace in the afternoon for tea and talk and much needed laughter. There is stress this time of year, perhaps you've noticed?

dinner with friends

 Pat, Neti and I went to Jeanine and Patou's for warm wishes and yummy stew last night. The city was packed with traffic (I drove) and beautiful lights and I do love a full, real tree which is featured here with our friend Pat. Today and tomorrow are busy too and then I can see some free catch-my-breath days next week. Annabelle is happy about that.

time for a change

 The smell-good evergreen wreaths in my nabe are starting to turn brown already so I decided to go with this fake feather beauty and an old ornament on our front door. This makes me very happy and I have no idea why. 

more than a spoonful of sugar

 Gini has the perfect Victorian SF home for tea and scones and cookies and candy. The book club gathered yesterday to trash tRump at our annual Christmas tea. A lovely afternoon for sure.

RIP Detective Pembleton

 Some celebrity deaths hurt more than others. Losing Andre Braugher is one of those. We discovered him in Homicide: Life on the Street back in the 90's. The Blogmaid gave Bill his favorite mug which I am using this morning to honor our all-time favorite detective. Damn...

Best Limited Series?

  

Netflix makes an early bid for the year’s juiciest new series with “Beef,” a twisty, dark and stellar showcase for Steven Yeun and Ali Wong in which the escalating fallout from a road-rage encounter spirals out of control. Disarmingly funny and increasingly nasty, it should make everyone think twice before honking at that idiot stranger who just pulled out in front of you. That was an official review and Beef was just nominated for a Golden Globe so I started watching last night. Yes!

in the neighborhood

 Lights and holiday colors here ~ I always look forward to when my neighbors across the street switch on all the white lights. The top photo is an outside (!) tree on Precita Avenue. I had a good walk to meet Terri for coffee yesterday afternoon. City love persists...

a Barbie tree!

 So beautiful. Here is the tree of the Blogmaid down in Pumpkinville. Lush and lovely. Great job, everyone. I look forward to seeing it on 12/25.

another grand daughter cooks!

 Samantha and Luke (and Harlow) came for dinner and it was fun and enlightening to watch her cook. She uses her iPhone and follows Alison Roman, a young NYC chef. Sam seemed surprised and delighted that I had printed out the recipe, but I am a relic of the past. I had shopped for most of the ingredients, forgetting only the red pepper flakes. We had a very nice evening and today I have some clean-up and dishes and that is so worth it.

Happy Hanukkah

 The family has been texting photos of their menorahs, this one from Rob and Sarah in Florida. There is greater meaning this year, I believe, with the war and tragedy. We all need the symbolism of more light as the week progresses. Here from my friend Joe Zitt in Israel:

We do it a little differently here. In the States, we lit the shamash candle (effectively Candle Zero), used it to light the others (one tonight, then counting up to the full eight, night by night), then set it in its place, usually at the center or slightly higher than the rest of the candles. Here, we light another candle, light the shamash and the rest with it, then blow that one out. I don't know what you'd call it. Maybe Candle-Square-Root-of-Negative-One.

We're using a different type of cool-looking candles tonight. They look sort of like the usual wax candles. They're tapered to fit in the same menorahs, but are made out of gelled olive oil. I'll have to get some. As it is, I have a few candles left from last year, but will run out before the end of the holiday.

A different one of us lights the office candles each night (unless, toward the end, everyone already has lit them once). Tonight, it's our head of Sales. Someone opens the prayer book to the right page. He doesn't look at it. Like many of us, after all these years, he has memorized the text.

After each blessing, one of us conducts the others in a sort of choral "A-A-men." On this first night, there's an added prayer, with thanks for keeping us alive and well for this season. This year, in the midst of war, it rings a bit differently, as it does when I sing it on other holidays for the people in the continuous care wing of the House of a Hundred Grandmothers.

a little humor, please

 If a bottle of poison reaches its expiration date, is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous?

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Hard to believe I once had a phone attached to a wall, and when it rang, I picked it up without knowing who was calling.

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My tolerance for idiots is extremely low these days. I used to have some immunity built up, but obviously there's a new strain out there.

and the bacon is hung

 A few favorite ornaments (including the bacon) are out and I will buy a wreath soon and continue with the holiday red and green changeover. I have been addressing cards, a few at a time, respecting my carpal tunnel wrists, as per usual. The fireplace mornings keep me calm...

Liz and Rachel

 These two very bright, outspoken women disagree on almost everything. However last night was fascinating as Liz Cheney tells Rachel Maddow (MSNBC) about how dangerous Trump was and is ~ keep in out of the Oval Office, on that we all agree. Well, almost all of us...

exactly one year

 We had our Sister Party on December 4th, 2022. That is Neti in the middle of our happy threesome. What a wonderful difference and blessing it is having Sister Jane in my life. 

A Nearly Normal Family

 So much really good TV lately. This is a Swedish crime drama (six episodes) on the Flix®. The family is falling apart and then there is a murder and well, you'll see. 

American Symphony

 This is an amazing documentary on the Flix® ~ Jon Batiste is a hugely talented musician and his wife is best-selling author Suleika Jaouad who undergoes a bone marrow transplant for cancer and writes about it. Batiste is a Juilliard graduate and grammy winner and all-around good guy.

Sandro Botticelli

 This exhibit at the Legion of Honor is mostly Botticelli's drawings and sketches, with a few colorful exceptions which I photographed to share here. The fact that all of these works from the late 1400's even exist is pretty amazing and wonderful, so for that reason alone this is well worth seeing. And of course the LOH is always such a pleasant experience.