dog days of winter

And cats too, of course. Yesterday I worked my annual "Give me money
for the animals!" volunteer shift down at Macy's. So many nice people
and just what I needed during this time of red, green, stress, sorrow and
worldwide turmoil. My peaceful equilibrium returned. Happy holidays...

who knew?

A year ago, if you had told us that we'd be watching BASKETBALL on a
rainy Sunday afternoon, we would quickly and firmly say, "no way!" But
there we were yesterday, watching the Warriors, enthusiastic new fans. The
grace, the teamwork, the joy - these guys are such a pleasure to watch.

the end of an era

chocolate cake with banana from Dianda's

Patrice with Marsha and her two dogs

Patrice and Lani

Yesterday was Patrice's last day and I will miss her a lot. She taught me
the ropes when I started and she has a wicked sense of humor which is
greatly needed when working retail. We have gone through a lot together
including a stressful management change - none of us has handled that
very well, if truth be told. Yes, you may read between the lines...

it will happen...

...and in my lifetime. There will be effective gun control. The NRA
will be forced to give up their choke-hold on so many of our
lawmakers. It might happen city by city, state by state and then
finally, America will take action on a federal level. Who in God's
name needs assault rifles? How come the NRA gets to be in
charge of national security? I know in my heart that change is
coming - a new and strong feeling of outrage against gun
manufacturers and all the people who make money from guns
and ammunition. NYTimes tomorrow - a front page editorial, the
first since 1920. Gun regulation now.

a poem for Friday

Mirror


You'd expect a certain view from such a mirror—
clearer
than one that hangs in the entry and decays.
I gaze
past my reflection toward other things:
bat wings,
burnt gold upon blue, which decorate the wall
and all
those objects collected from travels, now seen
between
its great, gold frame, diminished with age:
a stage
where, still, the supernatural corps de ballet
displays
its masquerade in the reflected light.
At night,
I thought I'd see the faces of the dead.
Instead,
the faces of the ghosted silver sea
saw me.


Richie Hofmann

Second Empire
Alice James Books

the Geneva Steak House

Aren't we lucky to have friends who don't mind a seedy looking
restaurant in the part of SF that hasn't been gentrified? Down on
Mission and Geneva - old San Francisco, not pretty, but the cranes
will move in to build yet more housing one day soon. We read about
this Steak House recently and loved the one employee, a taciturn
man who doesn't eat steak. Very New York City-like. But what's this?
A nice fresh green salad, a perfectly baked potato and the steak was
big and edible, not great, but A-OK.  Belated happy b.day to the
Great Plotnik, we had a lovely time with you and Ducknik, as always.

NY Times bestseller

This is a beautifully written novel by Lauren Groff and I'm currently
reading it on my LindaKindle2. Fates and Furies starts slowly, in
my opinion, but I'm definitely into it now and yes, I do recommend it.
My rule has always been to test a book by reading 40 (not 39) pages,
but it's different on the beloved e-device, don't you find?

the butterfly lands

G.dot Ceci came for dinner last night and we loaded her up with our
old Vizio TV because we bought a new Smart Samsung yesterday. She
has signed a lease for a house up in Napa for a year (!) and this is a
cause for celebration because Ceci has a reputation and a history of
flitting around from place to place, job to job. Remember that she is a
chef and can always find work, but she is happy at Morimoto's where
she works very hard. We love hearing about her daily life, her new
friends and now her new home. This also means more visits from her
mama (Nancy) and papa (Scott). Good news all around. (Sorry about
another fuzzy photo, I need to start taking more than one, but I know
you appreciate the red candles and sparkles.)

NYC in the thirties

Yesterday we thoroughly enjoyed a short Word for Word production
featuring four short stories by E.B. White, Damon Runyon and Joseph
Mitchell. Fun, professional and a good introduction to the holidays,
in all their overrated glory. The Z Space does it right...

next up

Step #1 - take down orange lights and turn on garish little multi-color

plastic xmas tree. Put away the orange, bring out the red and green.

Step #2 - sit down and breathe deeply while we accept that it is

almost December once again. Sheeeeeeesh.

It's been awhile

Cold here - almost a REAL winter!

the fuzzy afterglow

Sorry about another out of focus photo - must be that retina issue. Anyway,
I'm busy making notes for our Thanksgiving folder. Guest Philipp said,
"the weakest ink is better than the finest memory," and that is so true as
the years pile up. Anyway, we had a delightful time - a great blending of
friends who overlooked the icky Costco mashed potatoes and the turkey
that was a tad too well done. We both forgot the peas - we asked our guests
to visualize green on their plates and they did. The hosts enjoyed themselves
so much and now for some leftovers.

a better table pic

prep Wednesday

The house is clean today, Thanksgiving 2015. We both slept after a
reasonably busy day cooking and cleaning. Carlini sent early flowers
so I had time to arrange them and I even managed a reward hour of
binge TV (Person of Interest) between lists and errands. I went to the
gym on 24th Street and passed by a table of still-steaming pies and
bought an early pumpkin to keep us thankful. And we are...

Sturdy! Finished!

she does everything right

RR turned 12 (!) yesterday and she wore the horse sweatshirt that we gave
her and she allowed her mom to take this kong themed photo. My morning
email from the Blogmaid was filled with happy and colorful details from
the birthday yesterday. Yes, it was indeed a wonderful day for a terrific girl.

the play's the thing

We so enjoyed Stage Kiss yesterday at the SF Playhouse. It is great fun for
two hours - lots of action and laugh-out-loud antics. We are huge fans of
both Gabriel Marin and Carrie Paff and the audience gets to sit close
enough to see every facial expression. The Great Plotniks, in fact, were
in the very first row...an added bonus!

after work party

Last night a few of us walked a few blocks to Modern Relics on
Cabrillo where Joe was exhibiting some of his work. I really like
this crowded little store and I should have snapped a few pictures,
but I was busy trying NOT to get out my credit card. The owner
has such a great eye for Stuff, which we all know I do not need.
So the above is a stock photo, but a good one.

our nabe

I didn't take this photo, but I love it because it shows our little Bernal Hill
and the moon up there on the right. There is a blog named Bernalwood
and it is over there, listed under links. All sorts of big and small news
items about our neighborhood. Some fun, some not.

speaking of the kong

Here is Sabine, dog of the Blogmaid, with her Kong®. There might
even be peanut butter involved. So, now you know more about this
red rubber doggie toy/feeder than you ever wanted to know.
(A side note: today is Jon Carroll's final column in our Chronicle.
He has been in our lives for decades and we will miss him a lot.)

chef stein

We didn't know about Kongs® when we were trying to be good dog
owners. They help keep dogs from gobbling their food too fast,
something we could have used. I took last Monday off from my
SPCA gig and here is a sweet email I received from Marsi who
volunteers with me:

Jean gave you the rundown…all went well but I have to say, I now

 know why you leave those darned Kongs til the end! What a pain! 

Especially when you don’t have enough large ones! I had to find a 

way to stuff 4 cups of dry with wet plugs into Kongs! But no Panacur!! 

Yes! It did make me appreciate having a real chef there on Mondays!! 

(Panacur is a medicine for god knows which doggie disease)

no drive zone

This is Powell Street in the heart of SF. Only buses, taxis, street cars and
crazies are allowed to drive here for about 4 or 5 blocks - from Market St.
to Sutter (I think). Anyway, I was downtown today (via Muni, of course)
and I am in favor of this traffic change and hope it spreads. I'd like a car-free
city but I'm sure many would oppose my way of thinking. Too bad.

hooooray - they're back

The Great Plotniks were in NYC and Italy for three or so years, or so it
seems. Today they will have jet lag and no one will feel sorry for them.
SF is better when our friends are back where they belong. Welcome home!

happy sunday tourists

the ice skating rink at Union Square is open!

our dinner spot

Last night we stayed at the Hotel Vertigo on Sutter Street. I want to thank
dear Dancing Jen for arranging this, we had a GREAT rate and a wonderful
room and we kept saying, "it's just like Europe," as we settled in to explore
one of the many SF nabes that we don't know very well. Ginger met us for
lunch at Fly (we enjoyed watching the diners/drinkers there and the food
was fine) and then Husbando settled in with his Sunday paper while G. and
I walked downtown for coffee and talk. She took the BART on home and
I strolled back to our hotel. After some reading/snoozing, we walked to
this delightful Indonesian restaurant for dinner - delicious. Honestly, it was
just one of my best birthdays and I want to repeat in next year! I know I
sound like a tedious broken record, but I love, love, love Frisco.

when west met east

French inkstand

Linda's friend Lucille was there!

Beginning around 1850 artists (and others) started visiting Japan and this
terrific exhibit at the Asian Art Museum reflects the incredible influence
that east had upon the west, and vice versa. Three rooms filled with
treasures including Monet, Van Gogh, Vuillard and some impressive
Japanese artists too. This museum was packed and we then had a
lovely lunch in the cafe, featuring TJ's chicken noodle soup. We had
a delightful day and you MUST check out the Asian. Soon. Go!

we stand together

A few hours after the horrendous attack in Paris, SF City Hall expresses
solidarity and sympathy. Our niece Jill who lives in the Marais district
and Dancing Jen's friends with whom we had the glorious dinner on our
trip are all fine and that is always such a relief. Beautiful Paris, stay strong.

lunch with Lucybelle

A few of us gathered yesterday up at Progressive to spend some time with
Lucy and Flora who now live in Indiana. She misses SF something fierce
and we had a pleasant couple of hours catching up on everything and
everyone. I believe that Lucy misses the ocean more than any of us, she
used to live down in The Avenues and would walk along the beach daily.
Sound familiar Linda and Blogmaid?

don't call it Pathetica

...not on a day like yesterday. I met the beautiful Blogmaid there for a short
walk and then we enjoyed our traditional latte at the Chit Chat Cafe. We
had a lot of post-wedding details to cover and in some circles they might
even call that gossip. But not us, we always rise above that sort of thing.
Thanks, dear friend - such a nice time, APU. (As Per Usual)

golden glove award!

Congratulations to our own Brandon Crawford who richly deserves this
honor as the outstanding National League shortstop. It's been awhile -
2006? since a Giant won this. After watching lots of post season games
this year, I really came to appreciate Crawford anew. Almost error-free.
I miss baseball.

and more family

Nancy's oldest (Lauren) and her boyfriend Pete were here for a vacation
and last night we had Husbando's famous putenesca pasta, bread and
salad - a simple but filling and delicious dinner for the g.dot who manages
a big restaurant back in Illinois. She owns a condo, has a dog and works
too hard - but she can handle it all. A pleasant evening indeed.

more wedded bliss

I think my favorite part of the entire event was when the bride and groom
danced to "These are a Few of my Favorite Things" ~ I did get a bit misty
because they had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to learn some fancy
footsteps and yes, we were wowed. Here's to Claire and Syd ~ thank you
for including us last Saturday, we had a glorious time.

a wedding by the bay

RR with her father (Bill) and sister Claire-the-bride

A spectacular setting for a wedding

I'm going to use a couple of posts here for this glorious wedding that we
attended yesterday down at Maverick's Event Center in Half Moon Bay.
The Blogmaid's step daughter married Sydney and it was such a beautiful
and comfortable event for everyone and such fun because all the people
involved are interesting, smart and just plain NICE. We stayed down there
at the aptly named Comfort Inn overnight and that was a very good idea.
More tomorrow - with photos...

he's a she...

...and one of the BEST at plotting a mystery story. This is the third
J.K. Rowling book for grown-ups and I love her characters and
the way she weaves and unweaves. She writes as Robert Galbraith,
but it's a woman writing. Career of Evil takes off running and
will not slow down. My Ellen mystery has very little blood and/or
gore, but Ms. Rowling is not afraid. Highly recommend - on my
LindaKindle2 currently.

lunch with old friends

We had a delightful lunch here at Boulevard, one of our favorite SF
restaurants. John and Mary came over from Oakland and we ate and
talked and talked and then took our BART trains back home, feeling
happy and satisfied with life and friendship.

kansas city turns blue

Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals - of course I wanted the World
Series to go for the exciting 7th game, however they beat the Mets in five. I
could identify more with the Mets and their crazy fans, but this was such a
big deal for Kansas City that they even closed the schools.  I was very happy
for baseball, but sad that we have to wait months and monhs for Spring
Training. Now let's sign some quality pitchers for the Giants...

future tripping

I've been invited to join Carlini and his friend McEvoy on a road trip
to Ashland, Oregon next April. It's been years and I need a vacation
and of course I have Husbando's blessing or I wouldn't be going.
It's fun to study the list of plays and do some early pre-planning early on.

today's lunch spot

I never tire of going outside for an hour on a sunny day at the Legion
of Honor. The air will be extra clean after yesterday's most welcome rain.
Fall is definitely in the air and we are going through some of those seasonal
rituals: flannel sheets, soup for dinner, pumpkin ice cream. Alas, the
back yard is STILL a mess with construction. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

walking, talking, eating..

New mural on Ripley Street in our nabe

The Ramp with Nancy and Ceci

So nice having my favorite step dot in town and yesterday they brought
Ceci along. We three women went for a nabe walk, oooohing and ahhhhing
at the funky and way too fancy homes. We all prefer the funk. Then to
dinner with Husbando and Scott who had been watching football. That
Santa Clara team is not v. good - thank god for baseball and congrats to
the Kansas City Royals, glad we could teach them a thing or two last year.

don't try this at home

We watched this inspiring movie from the Flix® last night - a small
monastery in Thailand is home to 16 tigers and a few monks. The
film is only about 50 minutes long and you'll wear a smile throughout,
except for the part about the nasty and greedy poachers who love
tigers in the wrong way.