why we pay extra for HBO

 There is a lot of buzz about The White Lotus lately and I just started to watch last night. Rich white people acting like idiots ~ what can be more fun? 

are we true believers?

 Yes, we are starting to really feel hope this baseball season. The Giants just keep winning. Yesterday our team beat the blue scumsucking Dodgers again. We have the best record of any team. 

American Girls with medals

 The Blogmaid is so creative and the BEST American Girl mother ever. USA, USA, USA! 

another Grove

 Yesterday Ginger and I walked all around Stern Grove and yes, we had blue sky and sun. Neti told me how to drive down into the parking lot so that made all of this possible. It had been years since we had been down here for Sunday concerts and we used to bring our dog to splash around in the lake. Now the lake is fenced off, probably a good thing for the ducks and turtles who live here. There is a big, open dog park and we love watching all the different breeds frolic and dash about. Then thermos coffee at a front row table by the stage. A good day indeed.

this kind of Monday

 

On the left is Neti's eleven year old computer and the gorgeous new one (hello) is on the right. Now all we have to do is transfer a few things, correct? Apple makes everything easy, and yet it never is. So yes, it was a long day and there will be more. 

dogs in the Grove

 It's been some time since we met for hot dogs in Pat's backyard (she is on the right in the top photo) and yes, it was a tad chilly. I made Cowboy Caviar again and we had a fine time discussing all the big and small issues of the day. And, the Giants won!

the sports ritual

 Isn't it pleasant to have the Olympics on TV in the background? I love to watch the fearless skateboarders and there will be even more in and around our city now that it has become an official Olympic sport. I admire the citizens of Tokyo for putting up with all the craziness now.

an Apple a decade

 Neti needs a new iMac and off we went to the Stonestown Apple store yesterday. The Blogmaid is helping us virtually with this big decision. I am Neti's IT person but my abilities are limited to, "Here try this, click on that and take notes!" We can do this thing. With help...

patriotic postcards

 I am wrting to West Virginia voters again to urge them to call Senator Manchin's office so maybe he will help pass S-1 ~ For The People Act. This is through Sister District and I love the rabbit stamps. We do need a strong federal law so that all voters are able to cast their ballots quickly and easily. I, for one, love voting by mail. I write five postcards a day. Every little bit counts, or so I hope.

what I learned during the pandemic of 2020

 I learned to read at home, really read, not the 20 minutes before bed, no, the two hour sit down and relax kind of reading when I was a shut-in last year. Before that I would read on vacations, at work (ahem) and in bus, train or airplane. I could read for hours on holiday, but when I read at home I would usually jump up to take care of some silly task or other. So, that said, I just finished The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman and it was a fun Hollywood plot. Next I'm reading The Long Bright River by LIz Moore ~ highly recommended by The Great Plotniks. Gotta run...it my time to read.

kids on bikes in the fog

 There were probably 50 or so fresh faced teenagers on rented bikes yesterday when Ginger and I walked at Crissy Field. It was early and the other tourists were probably waiting for sunshine (a long wait these days) so we sat and watched them bounce down steps and ride by. One kid stopped to catch his breath and I asked him where they are all from. Utah! We know some lives were changed by a trip to SF,  right?

Jen's goodbye

Yesterday Jen's nephew Stephen and I illegally sprinkled her ashes all over the grounds out at the Legion of Honor. the museum she loved. I met her there when she was 85, and probably more than any woman she taught me how to age. I am not doing it with the grace that Jen did, but she is always on my mind. We talked to and about her and I read this poem:

How To Be Old - May Swenson 

It is easy to be young, (Everybody is,
at first.) It is not easy
to be old. It takes time.
Youth is given; age is achieved.
One must work a magic to mix with time
in order to become old.

Youth is given. One must put it away
like a doll in a closet,
take it out and play with it only 
on holidays. One must have many dresses
and dress the doll impeccably
(but not to show the doll, to keep it hidden.)

It is necessary to adore the doll,
to remember it in the dark on the ordinary
days, and every day congratulate
one's aging face in the mirror.

In time one will be very old.
In time, one's life will be accomplished.
And in time, in time, the doll–
like new, though ancient–will be found.

(Jen kept her childhood doll on the top shelf of her bedroom closet.)

yet another food post

 Doug and Barb picked me up and whooshed me over to Berkeley for a huge meal at this wonderful Sicilian restaurant, Agrodolce. We shared salads and three pastas and then grandma's tiramisu (imported from Pinole) and it was all quite wonderful and filling. Then we drove up into the hills to a park that Doug used to love when he was a student at Cal Berkeley. A delightful evening!

I am a superior chef too

Dinner one night last week.  I know you are impressed and you should be. 

three for the TV tray

 My dear neighbor Lynn has been busy this week and I have been the beneficiary. From the top: shrimp with grits, farro soup and then last night was split pea with turkey and green peas too. Lynn learned to cook as a little girl in Puerto Rico when her grandmother made her taste everything in its raw form before she tossed it in the pot. Of course she doesn't use recipes and everything is luscious. Lucky me!

the rare ray of sunshine

 The three not-so-merry widows (Pat, Neti and I) had lunch at the Mission Rock Resort, and it was so clear and beautiful that we sat outside and oooohed/ahhhhed. Parking was worse than ever but the food was yummy and we enjoyed catching up on our active lives. Then, of course, I went home to nap.

a reader request

 The Blogmaid asked me to write about Annabelle because yesterday was our three year anniversary. You can see from the photo that she was not pleased when I awoke her to wish her a Happy, Happy. Honestly, I do not know how anyone can live without a cat, especially a solo person in a difficult world. Annabelle has some wonderful only-my-cat features: food is foremost so I have leverage when trying to find her and imagine that I have locked her in the clothes dryer or other nightmares. She is cuddly. She is smart and she has no desire to be an outdoor cat. That is unusual as most cats want to explore outside the home. My girl is not shy and will greet every visitor and roll around their feet. Who can resist? She has a few nicknames and she responds to them all ~ Snugglebutt, Girlfriend, ABC (Anna Belle Cat), Swella Bella, etc. She loves to nap and yet she will usually follow me all over the house in dog-like fashion when she is in the mood. Of course neither of us wants to sleep alone and right there she earns her keep. Oh, her main nickname is BEST CAT EVER. 

and it's not even Fogust

Well, you can almost feel how very cold and foggy it was yesterday when Ginger and I walked down at Pathetica. Brrrrr. But the ocean air was invigorating and we moved quickly. Not many other walkers, for obvious reasons. It was too windy to have our Thermos coffee and sweet by the sea, so we returned to Ginger's neighborhood Lafayette Park and it was just a bit warmer. And today? I see fog...

 

Pier 24 ~ Looking Back

 Hmmmm, thanks to Linda (of LindaKindle fame) for alerting me that my post did not go through this morning. Well, yesterday I went to Pier 24 to see many, many of our old favorites from the past decade. I was pleased to see the one I am featuring here, The Brown Sisters by Nicholas Nixon, 1975 - 2019. It is fitting that my photos are so bad when so many of the greats are here at Pier 24: Avedon, Arbus, Weston, Friedlander, Winograd, etc. The top photo shows the four women as old ~ nothing says Time Marches On like people photos, don't you agree? This gallery was Bill's favorite but I didn't well up once, it was the first time I'd been back since he died. I had a really good day...

breakfast downtown

 Chris and Mark were visiting from San Luis Obispo and were kind enough to treat me to breakfast at Cafe de la Presse yesterday morning. I worked with Chris at the museums and we bonded. The homeless problem has now reached SLO, so that was interesting to hear. We solved that and many other problems over eggs benedict and coffee galore. 

Sound of Metal

 Riz Ahmed had to learn how to be a heavy metal drummer AND how to do sign language in this beautiful movie which is more about being deaf and accepting life on life's terms than it is about music. He is such a wonderful actor with his soulful eyes. I enjoyed reading the back story about this film. It is free on Amazon Prime and I so recommend it.

the pandemic three pod

 It's been awhile since this was my Thursday safe haven during Covid-19 and my, how did we get through those 18 months? To translate ~ back to Doug and Barb's lower back deck for pizza and garden appreciation. Also catch-up re friends and family. Lovely. Gratitude. 

recommended by the New Yorker

 Feel Good consists of half hour comedy segments written by Mae Martin (on the right) who is a Canadian expat living in London. Lisa Kudrow is glorious as her mother and although I have only watched the first episode on the Flix®, I will watch both seasons. 

powered by Los Gigantes

 It was not easy getting a photo of this huge billboard at 26th Street and Mission yesterday, what with the traffic and all. I think it was paid for by our valiant baseball team because orange and black are their colors and behind the white truck it reads, "powered by Los Gigantes". You can tell that I had a fine nabe walk, however, especially since Karl the fog finally burned off. Finally.

beautiful, despite fog

 Back to Crissy Field yesterday with Ginger. It felt "heavy" and this June Gloom is lasting a bit too long. Well, better than extreme heat or hurricanes or floods. Today I will walk the nabe again.

SF Moma open and busy

 What a treat to have lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen with Mr. and Ms. Blogmaid and Audrey, mother of the Blogmaid, yesterday. Then we toured SF Moma, starting at the top 7th floor and all the way down to see the glorious Diego Rivera mural on the main floor. This huge mural was transported from City College and that took months and a lot of work. Pan American Unity was painted in 1939 and one can see it for FREE at Moma. Do so. 

endlessly amusing

 We cat lovers share photos like this. Annabelle is the only cat I've had who has no desire to go outside, having lived (I fantasize) on the streets of Modesto before I found her at the SPCA. Neighbor Heidi sent this picture from a friend-of-a-friend. Too perfect. 

back to North Beach

 Carlo has a booth at the North Beach Farmers Market and I wanted to buy one of his succulent creations for a gift, plus walk around this neighborhood that I love so much. I stopped for a latte and bagel in the sun and soaked in the atmosphere of this still Italian area of SF.  Carlo's family in the top photo ~ we worked together at the museums, but of course you remembered that. As you should...

movie night

 Minari has been on my list for a few months and I finally started it last night. A rental from Amazon Prime. Beautiful story of a Korean family who moved to Arkansas, of all places. So many interesting details of an unusual time, place and people. They start by working in a factory "sexing" baby chickens ~ separating males and females. Not easy...

thank you for this!

 My friend Karen in New York sent this poetic contribution. Enjoy!

Commas

Miller Oberman

Came home and found my typewriter case a little crushed it’s my fault probably for leaving it looking like a stepping stone for someone not tall enough to climb onto the toy chest but who very much likes to clamber up there my father built the toy chest for me and now the result is my comma key sticks won’t fly up to make its mark so no more clauses of that tender kind or just imagine them there or figure out how to use a semicolon or type the word comma when I need one lots of things are called commas not just punctuation a certain butterfly a bacillus responsible for cholera the chest’s nails are slowly withdrawing I notice pulling themselves out in the invisible hammerclaw of time or else the wood itself’s ejecting them feeling maybe hey it’s been long enough let me just be planks again or it could be the climbing itself did I also climb and all that climbing’s worked against those nails a little each time after my father held one in his hand one in his mouth and with his hammer made a box

the jury is still out

 I'm watching Manifest on the Flix and so far I am saying, "Well, one more episode..." It might be a bit too supernatural for me. On the other hand, why wouldn't a commercial jet airliner disappear for five years without a trace?