from Susan (and so true)

over and out

Last night we watched the final (enthralling) episode of The Night Of
on HBO. It was a GREAT ending and yes, we find out who killed the
beautiful young woman. John Turturo (above) is the colorful lawyer,
in over his head with this high profile case. So if you haven't already,
set aside time for this series of eight dramatic episodes.

here's an odd one

This one looks more like a slipper than a rabbit. He has very short black
ears and his fur is very fluffy. A staff member told me that this breed is
called the Lion Head Rabbit. He is also friendlier than most ~ came right
over to the window to get his picture taken. Yes, I wanted to pet him...

one fine day

It was a treat just for me. I bought an expensive cheap balcony seat for
yesterday's Carole King Musical at the Orpheum Theatre and for almost
three hours I was awash in music and memories. Not just Carole ~ also The
Drifters, Shirelles, Righteous Brothers. Such fun. The sort-of-story of
Carole's life, but mostly it was about the music, more than 25 songs and
today I will play my old Tapestry CD and enjoy it all over again.

my city in "summer"

Temperature Graph August 2016

 Avg. Hi  Avg. Lo  Actual Hi  Actual Lo  Forecast Hi  Forecast Lo

on BART to Berkeley

Joan Brown's RAT

Arneson's TYPEWRITER (note fingernail keys)

Ginger is a member of the new Berkeley Museum so we met yesterday to
explore and have a couple of important coffee chats along the way. Yes, it's
worth seeing this Museum and I will return, but I'd like more of the local artists
(Diebenkorn, Thiebaud, Bischoff) than they currently have on display. The
entire downstairs floor is Chinese art ~ I don't know if it is permanent or not,
but I've seen better at the Asian Art Museum here in SF. But you know I'm a
snob and despite this hint of criticism, I will be back. Berkeley is something ELSE.

how l-o-n-g until November?

This is the nastiest and worst presidential campaign ever. Everyone knows
that this blog loves HRC and I don't know how she can withstand the
absurd attacks from numb nuts Trump. I just want to go hide until my
ballot arrives in the mail, but of course I keep watching and reading and
getting all pissed off every single day. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Be brave, Hillary...

yet another lunch

Gini and I were able to sit out in the patio at Starbelly (Market and 16th St.)
and she insisted on treating since I am newly retired. So far I've done VERY
nicely with this gifty-lunch celebration thing and I am grateful and also
in need of the gym today. I had the French toast with a side of b-a-c-o-n.
Gratitude...

reading and enjoying more

The Nest was a retirement gift and I am enjoying it thoroughly. GREAT
scenes of NYC and Brooklyn and really fun characters in this family
with four adult children bickering over money, as so many families do.
Yes, indeed I do recommend it!

balmy alley

It's been quite a few years since I've had the time and/or energy to walk in
Balmy Alley here in the Mission. It is still as fantastic and colorful as
ever and there were many appreciative art lovers with cameras. This all started
back in the 70's and thank goodness it just gets better.

animal kingdom

Carlini's  cat Desi

Linda's fireflies

Anonymous

Thanks to three friends for these important photos for all to enjoy.

do not miss this!

Stranger Things reminds me a lot of Stand By Me with a whimsical

touch of E.T.  A small town in Indiana back in the 80's. Winona Ryder

is a single mother raising two boys and suddenly weirdness arrives

in many forms. There are eight episodes on the Flix® but we can only

watch one at a time because the show is so INTENSE. 

green women & thai food

My retirement lunch yesterday was deeeee-lightful and I'm grateful to Linda
for treating me out here on Taraval-in-the-fog. We talked of many things
and I ate too much and had a really, really nice time. I recommend Vanida
Thai Kitchen to one and all.

must we?

....discuss the baseball game yesterday? Argh, and we were there. Nice
front row seats and a solid 4 to zip score until the 5th inning when our
pitcher walked 3 or 4 in a row and suddenly, we lost. Our Giants have
not been doing well since the All Star break and yesterday was the
classic Bad Loss. The Pirates swept us, but as The Blogmaid said, "now
we can get HRC elected and not worry about that World Series and
Parade business." (something like that, apologies for the clumsy misquote)

But then last night was fun ~ Tiapos over at Doug's home and Suzy is
back from her arduous 18 day hike and she wrote about it. I shared a
retirement piece and Doug sang a new song, "she texted me goodbye"
and Blaze continued with her story and all in all, a lovely evening.
No one asked me about the Giants, thankfully.

lost and found

The found part is that I now have more time to read and I'm actually
thinking of investing in LindaKindle #3 at some point in the future.
There are a bunch of "lost girl" titles floating around and I decided to
sample this one first and I got hooked. So far it's the story of a woman
and her niece and a lovely old cottage on a lake in Minnesota. I think
it is very well written and The Lost Girls by Ms. Young is a find, in
my most humble opinion.

now it begins

OK, I've given myself one full month of no work, all play, and I have
enjoyed myself immensely. I love the freedom. Believe me, any of those
worries about "what will I do when I retire?" are gone. GONE. But
always, in the back of my mind, I remember Ellen and my promise
to finish the novel. Starting this afternoon I am back in the land of
Who Killed Seth? and I hereby pledge to write five pages a week
until the damn first draft is finished. But first, to the gym...

yet another party!

Had I known it was this much fun to retire and be the center of attention at
parties I would have done this earlier and more often. Last night was a warm
and glorious gathering at Pamela's in the Berkeley Hills. All the museum
special occasions start and end here, or so it seems. I am SO fortunate to
know these friends and to feel their love and good wishes. It was such
a delightful evening. Now I have two more Retirement Celebrations ~ one
with Linda this week and one with The Blogmaid in Pathetica.

a pitcher of light

It all started in December in Paris in the 70's. The trees on the Champs
Elysees had lovely little white sparkle lights. Enchanting. Then when the
Blogmaid lived in Pathetica I would marvel at her clever decorative lighting.
"You and your lights," Husbando said when these new ones arrived from
Amazon last week. I plopped them into mom's water pitcher (not used in 20
years) and smiled happily. These Fairy Lights are battery operated and
yes, there will be more.

another lunch OUT

Yesterday I met Neti here at the Mission Rock where we enjoyed calamari
and Thai chicken wings. It could not have been a prettier day, clear and
sunny, but not too warm. This retirement celebration lasts and lasts...hooooray.

he lost the bet

Husbando and I had one of those silly arguments and I won. He got to buy
lunch and he selected a new restaurant on Mission Street called El Buen
Comer. One time in Mexico we fell in love with chilaquiles which are
hard to find here in the USA, but they were here and very tasty. The woman
who owns El Buen Comer used to sell her food at BART stations, Farmer's
Markets, etc. so this is a lovely success story. Everything was exceedingly
fresh and we were both quite happy, especially me, since I was right (again).