monday weather report

Is this the worst summer ever? Do I say this every summer?
Fog and more fog. Vichyssoise sky with cold breezes. Windshield
wipers on the way to/fro work. Argh.

Yesterday I was talking with a customer from Seattle.
Me: "What's the weather like up there?"
He: "Just like here."

I leave for Seattle on Wednesday.

iPads, e-books, onward

Here is RR working on the blogmaid's new iPad. That is Josie,
the 3-legged cat, beside her. Really, it is always about cats, as
well it should be. RR is all outfitted in her BTS (back-to-school)
trendy clothes as she gets ready for first grade.

I spent $8 and $9 each on the e-books on Amazon. It took all
of 2 minutes. No wonder the Big Box bookstores are in danger.
It felt good to take the Lindakindle to work yesterday and I
found myself irritated at those backward people who said,
"I'll never use one of those!" without even looking at it. I
used to be one of those people, but that doesn't mean I wasn't
a bit braggy and e-superior about the whole thing.

good things too!

Jon Carroll recommended this mystery in his chronny column
and, behold, it's on the LindaKindle and I fell asleep while
reading last night. Do I like it? I love it! It seems so natural
to me and I'm as surprised as you are. It took me about two
minutes to register the LindaKindle and to order two books
through Amazon. Of course it will be traveling with me to
Seattle and Whidbey Island next week.

No wonder e-books are outselling hardcover books. I told
Husbando that I think I'll be reading more now.

What I'll miss as I ride the wave of the future ~ passing
beloved books on to friends and vice versa. But hey, that's
what blogs and emails are for.

Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan takes place in Ann
Arbor, Michigan and since I've been there, it's even more
enticing. Linda, thank you soooooo much.

Speaking of the future. Our blogmaid is getting her iPad
today. Don't let me touch it, I need to save money to redo
the kitchen, bathroom, etc. Right you are/were, notthat...

no room for fashion

I'm starting to pre-pack for my trip to Seattle next week. I'll
be taking MsBook, camera, Kindle® (!) and all the cords and
accessories that go with them. I know you've all gone through
this when you travel, but I spend a lot more time and space
with this STUFF than I do with the outdated travel questions
such as: how many shoes? which tank tops? one or two pair
of jeans? sweater? coat? umbrella? hat?

transplants

Last night the museum stores hosted a party at Darla's (9th and Irving)
and it was really quite fun with good food too. The folks above all
worked at Borders, so we tended to gather together and talk books.
From the left: Kristin P, Boss Dennis, msmush and Louisa. I am
lucky in my work world, but you already know that.

the final step finally

I think this whole interior re-mo started with "yuck, we need new
drapes in the living room." Yesterday our glorious wooden blinds
were installed and we once again congratulated ourselves on
selecting the perfect color and product. We want to salute Costco
for the windows and these Hunter Douglas® blinds. Great service
and prices ~ the workers were always on time and cleaned up
before they left. Yes, we are feeling smug on Mullen Avenue.

women only dinner

Last night Linda and Jane and I had a delicious dinner at Vinorosso
up on Cortland. Here you see Jane learning how to use the Kindle®
which Linda loaned us. I might be taking it on my trip, after Jane
sets it all up. I had such a nice time and our conversation leaped
around: writing, men, technology, homes, work, shoes, friends,
the internet, our youths, parents, siblings, food and more! Thanks
to these two loving friends for a fine, fine evening.

i'm looking over...

I don't know why, but the BEST tv is always on Sunday night.
Oh those halcyon days of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Deadwood
and now Rubicon, right before Mad Men. This is a complicated
spy/puzzle story with a bunch of brainy people working for the
government and trying not to get killed. It's very New York City
and that, to me, is always the best location. Paris is OK too.

sweet and powerful

An unusual role for Colin Firth who plays Professor Falconer in
this movie entitled A Single Man. That's Julianne Moore (is she in
EVERY film?) and her role is minor. This is based on Christopher
Isherwood's novel and it all takes place in one day in 1962. I was
really moved and impressed ~ one of the best I've seen in quite a
few months. Sit near a Kleenex® box...

my new travel worry

Now really, isn't it bad enough that I have to fret about plane
crashes? I have heard and read horror stories about bed bugs
which is an epidemic here and across the world. The best site
to pre-check hotels seems to be TripAdvisor.com and my first
hotel in Seattle seems to be OK. But oh, the horror stories about
luxury hotels at Disneyland, Las Vegas, etc. It's not just a poor
people problem any more. One traveler advises everyone to
toss everything out when they get home. Oh, swell.

welcome back, old friends

Curt sketched these delightful people in Paris.

From Curt and Neti ~ plus my great grandparents' wedding certificate.

"Shutters" (1984) by our friend Curtis Fields, who died several years ago.

Neti's flowers will be perfect here.

We've been living without art work for a few weeks. Partly to
admire our walls and the fact that we actually decided on a great
color without benefit of marital discord. And, we wanted to
review our collection and decide which are our favorites.
These (and a few others) made the final cut. There is another
Neti oil of me back in 1906 or so with our first kitty Fanny,
but I don't need to look at that everyday, so it's on hold.

modern poetry (check out the blue notes)

Pillow Talk

As an insomniac compulsively flips a pillow
to cool the cheek, I turn you over again & again
& again in my mind when I need the cold side
of the said affair to rail against
"the ruinous work of nostalgia."
If life imitates art, then each stillborn
has its own mucus-bright Blue Period.
Sharks keep moving to prevent dying.
People keep moving too, unwittingly staving off
the comfort of stasis, the virility of expiration, blah, blah ...
But Death, the great highlighter, makes us all shine
a bit more dearly. I'm a widowchild who needs sunblock
against your blinding legacy. I used to get my cardio up
by just sleeping next to you. In a sane world,
I'd be bumped off to warn the others of a sky
so blue at the end of the working business day
if your veins hadn't stolen the purest
Pearl Paint blue first. A broken thoroughbred—
I need a passport & vertigo pills to reach you.
Godspeed, galloping into your Misty Blue
OMG I miss you.

Jeni Olin

Hold Tight: The Truck Darling Poems
Hanging Loose Press

because I promised myself...

Today I have nothing to borrow and not an original thought to
share with you. I haven't been writing and, as we all know, not
writing leads to a blank slate on screen, paper and mind. So
I read some emails, checked out Facebook, listened to NPR
and wondered why, oh why, I made the promise to post in
commano every day.

The Giants, as you may have noticed, are doing GREAT and
notthat wonders if we should root for the Padres or those blue
scumsucking Dodgers in their series.

Work is fine, nothing to report from there. Michael suffers
at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara and even though he
knew this would be the worst week, it's still very hard to
endure. Rough days currently, but a little easier than the
first Chemo go-round.

There was some sunshine yesterday ~ I'll keep that at the
front of my mind for now. There, post done. Good job,
M.A. Go have breakfast.

i am a geek (not)

For the first time, I'm actually considering an e-book. Me. The
great book and book-only woman ex-bookseller. It seems
ideal for travel and to/fro work and I know that the Duck
Plotnik loves hers and I am seeing them more and more,
especially on BART. I still don't like deep-reading on the
computer, so I will need to think of my e-book as a book,
not a computer. But I won't rush into this decision...

Then in January I will finally get an iPhone when Steve lets
Verizon be one of the carriers. That should offer a few
challenges and frustrations.

feet, skates and parking

Good sleuthing on the toe shoes from yesterday ~ I hope they
work, Ms. Brain. I have seen them on Frisco people and stared.

Now let's get this over quickly. It cost me $24.50 to park at
the museum yesterday. I have never done that before and I
will never do it again, but it was a mess out there and I caved.
Husbando surprised me by guessing $30.00 and then treating
it lightly. Anyone who knows him will be shocked.

We watched Whip It last night. That's Juliette Lewis (left)
and Ellen Page in green. It's far-fetched, but I'm a sucker for
strong women movies and I really enjoyed this. Husbando,
not so much. Marcia Gay Harden was the mama. As you
know, it's all about the Roller Derby in Austin, Tx. Fun.

but what about ME?

Have you seen these five toe glove shoes on people? Weird.
In any event, today is the SF Marathon and getting from our
house to the deYoung will not be easy. I might even have
to pay for parking, which I have not done since I began
working there. I should have requested the day off so I
could enjoy the fog with the rest of the citizens of Frisco.

remember the strawberry

RELAX

Bad things are going to happen. 

Your tomatoes will grow a fungus

and your cat will get run over.

Someone will leave the bag with the ice cream 

melting in the car and throw 

your blue cashmere sweater in the drier. 

Your husband will sleep 

with a girl your daughter's age, her breasts spilling 

out of her blouse. Or your wife

will remember she's a lesbian

and leave you for the woman next door. The other cat—

the one you never really liked—will contract a disease

that requires you to pry open its feverish mouth

every four hours, for a month.

Your parents will die.

No matter how many vitamins you take, 

how much Pilates, you'll lose your keys,

your hair and your memory. If your daughter 

doesn't plug her heart

into every live socket she passes, 

you'll come home to find your son has emptied

your refrigerator, dragged it to the curb,

and called the used appliance store for a pick up—drug money. 

There's a Buddhist story of a woman chased by a tiger.

When she comes to a cliff, she sees a sturdy vine 

and climbs halfway down. But there's also a tiger below. 

And two mice—one white, one black—scurry out

and begin to gnaw at the vine. At this point

she notices a wild strawberry growing from a crevice. 

She looks up, down, at the mice. 

Then she eats the strawberry.
So here's the view, the breeze, the pulse

in your throat. Your wallet will be stolen, you'll get fat,

slip on the bathroom tiles of a foreign hotel 

and crack your hip. You'll be lonely.

Oh taste how sweet and tart 

the red juice is, how the tiny seeds

crunch between your teeth.

Ellen Bass
American Poetry Review 
July / August 2010

back to the Oakland Museum

They are growing vegetables in the courtyard. Very cool.

And here's a sampling ~ I was loathe to take photos inside because
I can't mute my flash. But, trust me, there are some totally wonderful
pieces in here to appreciate. Arneson, David Parks, about four Joan
Browns (I love her work) and lots of Thiebauds. Nice to be able to
move around easily, not that I don't love the blockbuster exhibits,
of course. Such a nice day and thanks to our dear docent, Ginger.

we'll always have Oakland

What's this? Blue sky? Cat basking in the sun? Oh, I see, we have
to head East and out of the thick fog every once in awhile in summer.
This shot is right across the street from the Oakland Museum where
we met our friend Ginger today. Since it doesn't open until 11am, we
had some time to sit on the front steps and catch up on our lives.

We had a great time at the newly re-done museum and then enjoyed
a huge lunch at the Joy Luck restaurant down on 8th Street. Too
much food for not much money.

Tomorrow you'll see photos from inside the Oakland Museum.
Should you go? Yes indeedy ~ take BART and get off at the Lake
Merritt Station. Walk less than two blocks and you are there!

wednesday is kid day

Alphabet bath time for Kingston, Dancing Jen's nephew with the
dancing dark eyes.
RR and the blogmaid are safely back from Nebraska where
they learned (as we all do) that sunshine does not always
equal the beautiful summer days of our youth. Hot, hot
and more hot. They will be over for Husbando's famous
grilled cheese sandwiches today around noon. Hoooooray!

The twin boys are a year old now and I don't have a current
photo, but will bug the grandma Neti for one or two (hahahaha).