Dick causing problems

Well, well, well. We were a little hesitant to start this series on Amazon
Prime because a couple of the reviews said things like, "Well, it's funny
but..." and "Beware" ~ so it's pretty dirty and we are totally enjoying
I Love Dick after two episodes. We know Kathryn Hahn as the Rabbi
on Transparent and of course Kevin Bacon is always a delight. Despite
the title, this series features a strong feminist storyline. Yes!

Rockies 3, Giants 5

Finally a WIN, and even a Sweep! Ginger and I had a great time at the
ballgame yesterday and were able to improve our seats because the
ushers were almost encouraging people to slide down into better
locations. From here we had a clear view of home plate and most
of the field and the usual wonderful Giants fans are always such
fun to watch.

hats off to Degas

some customers dressed for the show

my favorite piece

Yesterday Husbando and I hit the Legion of Honor for the new Degas
exhibit. It wasn't crowded and we both enjoyed all the fine artwork
and millinery displays. There were quite a few other artists shown
too, including Renoir, making it all worth seeing. I do not, however,
miss working there ~ not even for a second.

gorgeous georgettes

We are enjoying the first season of GLOW on Netflix. A lot of physical
strength and stamina involved, as well as a strong dose of always-welcome
feminism. Ten fast-moving episodes:
                                          Glow = Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling

an inspiring documentary

I treated myself to this movie Saturday ~ the true story of a woman named
Gertrude Bell who traveled in the Middle East back in the 1920's. She
was sort of a female Lawrence of Arabia and this movie was created
from her letters and travel books, lots of old photos and memories from
her friends. Yes, I recommend Letters from Baghdad with Tilda Swinton's
fine voice as Ms. Bell.

love is love is love

I heard on the radio that the small town of Visalia is celebrating Pride
weekend for the first time ever. It seems like SF has been doing this
forever and I have fond memories of spending my lunch hour at the
parade when I worked at Borders. We love this rainbow-themed
holiday and wish our LGBT friends a great celebration.

nutty knitters

How does this work? Do they knit right at the tree? How many
people involved or is it just one person? I love yarn bombing but I
worry about the mental health of the individuals involved. Here
we have a couple of trees down in Civic Center ~ brightly wrapped
in bright colors and intricate designs. 'Tis a puzzle...

pride = proud

I snapped this GREAT photo the other night while we were walking after
seeing Eddie Izzard. The colors move and change, but this mixture
really appealed to me. I'm always extra delighted to live here during
Gay Pride Week. One of my best memories is when then Mayor Gavin
Newsom said, "They shall marry!" Now that took real courage because
we were the first city in America to honor same sex marriages.

we love Eddie

This was actually a book promotion event last night at the Nourse
Theater and it was packed. With each ticket we got a book and then
two hours of the unbelievable Eddie Izzard. Such a smart way to
sell books ~ $50 included everything. I went with Terri who knew
and loved Eddie when we worked at Borders, I had never heard of
him, but I quickly became a HUGE fan too. He is so quick and
funny and just a delight. It was a great evening in SF and right
before the transgender Friday night event ~ will he stay?

see you in September

Today I sign up for Fromm and I will be taking Professor Andrew
Fraknoi's course entitled Exploring the Universe: Mars to the Stars
(and Galaxies) because I am woefully uneducated about this subject.
The other course I will take is entitled Truman to Trump with
Professor John Rothmann. Now this is a subject I do keep up
with, but of course I will learn a whole lot more. I am already looking
forward to school which all begins on September 11th. Hooray!

yes, sweetcakes

Yesterday I spent an hour or so with my big fat poetry file folder. No
order, I just print 'em out and keep the ones I like. Here is a poem that
Will Walker sent me for my birthday back in 2014.

God Says Yes To Me

Kaylin Haught

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don't paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I'm telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

young urban professionals

Two couples intertwined and trying to talk things out, stay connected.
Not easy in this world, is it? We went to the matinee yesterday of
You Mean To Do Me Harm, a new one act play commissioned by
SF Playhouse and playing at ACT's Strand theater on Market.
We both liked this play and loved the little 3/4 circle theater
because it is an intimate story and we felt like we were part of
the lives of these four interesting and intense people.

lawful detention

Here we go again. Season 5 of Orange is the New Black and it started
off with a nice little prison riot. This program has a lot to say about
privately run jails and how when "the profit motive" is brought into
play the last thing they worry about is people. Sort of like the corporate
world in general, but don't get me started on that. Anyway, this show
has not lost a beat after five years, I'm happy to say. Binge-worthy.

take time to read

Dancing Jen recommended this book and I like it a lot. Pachinko
is a novel about Koreans who live in Japan ~ once again women
have such strength, even or especially when dealt a poor hand in this life.

from neglect to adoration

before

after

after

We have a tiny problematic garden and one would assume that two
people could easily take care of it. But then came the drought, the dank
nature of the area, the achy knees and blah blah. On Tuesday Amelia
and Huck came to weed and prune (8 bags full) this garden and they
also planted new things. I asked for flowering plants so I could take
some pretty things upstairs on a weekly basis. The gardeners were
expensive but worth it. We are both happy and ready to weed with
diligence this time. Promise!

ancient pipes

Ten men, three trucks and about eight hours of work. This was Monday
afternoon and on into the night. The 1935 pipe right in front of our
house decided to call it quits and hats off to the SF Water Department
~ they did not stop working and I was going to offer them coffee but
we had no water. City dwellers became even more adaptable as we
move cars and gather with neighbors to watch them work. Good thing
we have extra water stored and lots of bottles of hand sanitizers.

congrats to the Dubs!

We are still learning basketball, but thought it was a tense and exiting
game last night. There were fireworks in the city and in Oakland too,
I'm sure. The Cleveland team went home ~ back where they belong.
Next is the parade and tomorrow I go to a Giants game. Time to win
a few here, but it's been a rough season so far for our team. Maybe
the Warriors will inspire Bochy and crew?

the play's still the thing

Yes, we went to the theatre yesterday to see and appreciate SMUT at
the Z Space on Florida Street. The Great Plotniks and The Great
Chronicle recommended this and since it was the final performance
we sort of had to go, didn't we? Well, good decision. This is from a
short story by the brilliant Alan Bennett and features the Simulated
Patients used to train medical students. The man in the dress is
an SP played by Robert Parsons, one of our favorite local actors.

home by my hearth

downtown Ashland

Lithia Park ~ Ashland Creek

Here are a couple of Ashland photos that I couldn't download earlier in the
week. We had a quick ride home yesterday and Husbando met me at BART
and then started the laundry when I unpacked. That's the way I like it,
uh huh. It's so, so good to be home. My writing this morning consists of
how fortunate I am to be living here and knowing that this very spot is
exactly where I belong. It was a great vacation and just what I needed,
but this is home/home/home. Nothin' like it...

home again soon

I'm up early and we will leave around seven am for our six hour trip.
Our final play was Hannah and the Dreaded Gazebo and it was the
story of a Korean-American med-student who flies back to Seoul
when her grandmother commits suicide. Very well done even though
none of us quite got different parts of the story and symbolism. I'm
OK with not understanding everything in the theater or life.

Damn Warriors lost to Cleveland last night.
Damn Giants lost to Minnesota last night.

Yes, time to get back to San Francisco, but this was a delightful trip.

more than poetry

Last night we saw UniSon a new musical based on the poetry left by
August Wilson when he died. It was fascinating and beautiful. The rest
of the day I lazed around watching Warrior re-runs and James Comey
who was testifying in Washington, D.C. He called Trump a liar twice
and then of course I had to listen to everyone analyze everything.

very busy Wednesday

the tour ~ Allen Elizabethan Theatre

The Odyssey ~ Allen Elizabethan Theatre

Good, we get pix today. At 10am we had a great two hour tour of all three
theaters. Then at 1:30 we saw Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles ~ excellent.
Then at 8pm last night we spent 3.5 hours outside with The Odyssey and
that was extremely well done. Today is easy ~ one play tonight so I am
watching Comey and reading about the Warriors game last night. There
is a bit of rain and I have six umbrellas back in San Francisco.

first of five plays

Hmmmmm, the Blogger (still an ugly name after all these years) web site is
not allowing me to download photos this morning. We had such a nice day
with one play and three stops at Starbucks. Dinner at the restaurant with
Shepard Pies for Barbara and John. Also some walks and computer noodling.

The play yesterday was an energetic "Shakespeare in Love" and today we
have a stage tour and two plays. A little cooler today and that's OK by
me. I need to get moving now and will try the photo thing one more time.

I had a great night's sleep ~ hooray.

on the road again

Ms. Puma regrets

Mt. Shasta = magnificent

Dinner by the creek last night

It's good to be here in Ashland. I just returned to my Best Western Room after
a Starbux and daily writing early morning trip. It's so good to be outside
whenever possible and I am. There are five of us this vacation and I will try
to get a group shot. The first play is today ~ I am happy. Can you tell?
Oh, big difference since last year ~ gushing creeks, lots of green due to
heavy winter rains.

twists and surprises

Yesterday Husbando gave his ticket to daughter Nancy and we thoroughly
enjoyed The Roommate at the SF Playhouse. It is a women's play with
just two actors ~ women in their 50's who room together and discover
surprising things about each other. I highly recommend this play!

my steps

Nancy is in town from Illinois and John came over from Berkeley. We
had a harmonious (!) family dinner last night with Husbando's famous
artichoke and sausage pasta. It's always a joy having Nancy here, she
knows the house and humans so well that everything runs smoothly.
Plus, she cooks!

the new fifth season

Well, Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright don't seem quite so outlandish
in the White House these days what with all the insanity that is really
happening in our government. But we are once again enjoying
House of Cards on the Flix® ~ in between baseball and basketball.

these difficult times

Yesterday the Orange One pulled out of the Paris Accord on Climate
Change. He is such an embarrassment to so many of us Americans. I
am proud to live in California and our Governor Brown and ex-Governor
Arnold were impressive with their responses.

down in the basement

Donovan

Joan

Jim Marshall photographed all of the rock bands back in the 60's. He took
pictures every day of his life. SF City Hall now has an exhibit of 80 photos
and they are well worth seeing. This was our 3rd (and final) Summer of
Love exhibition and is by far the best. There were maybe two or three
other oldies there, admiring Jim's photos and remembering names and
music from the past which makes it easy to see, but really more people
need to go and appreciate this immense talent.