grass, kids, dogs

grill @ padaro
Originally uploaded by the omster.

To the right is another huge expanse of lawn and a big sand box filled with buckets and toys for the kids. Lots more tables with none too close together. Good food too, although I'm not an expert (yet).

my favorite new restaurant

lunch on tuesday
Originally uploaded by the omster.

This will be my final vaca blog because today we have the SF Blues Festival and that will really get me back into city life.

a snooze in the sun

bliss & auri
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Dogs add so much to daily life, they also require a lot of time and attention and I was able to give them both, with pleasure. This is on Ginger's big patio, surrounded by orange trees. She would squeeze fresh OJ for me every morning. Heaven.

yurt @ cachuma

yurt @ cachuma
Originally uploaded by the omster.

I had never heard of this huge Cahuma Lake before ~ it's about 20 minutes from downtown Santa Barbara and there were hardly any campers. Each yurt has bunk beds (we peeked) and one electrical outlet. BBQ is on the other side. They rent for $65 a night, but of course you need to book about a year in advance. Since that day I have seen or heard the here-to-fore unknown word "yurt" about 6 times. Life is odd...

one of life's great pleasure

south 101 9.18
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Driving at dawn ~ this was last Monday. I was already singing and happy as a dog in the sunshine (photo to follow).

rich widows with small dogs

That's how my friend Joan described one of the parks near her
home in Montecito. I told her that it would be a great name for
a short story.

Another great women-filled day. Nothing exciting, which is just
fine with me. The 3 of us had coffee this morning at the Cafe Luna
(which used to be the French Bulldog) and that's where this new
chapter with friend from college started two years ago.

Then we 3 women with 3 dogs walked again at Padaro Beach
and today the tide was low so we could walk a lot further than
we have in the past. No stars (Dennis Miller also lives here)
and very few walkers or surfers. It was so nice just to talk and
walk and feel close ~ interesting that there is very little stuff about
the college days (daze) because we are so active in our current
lives and looking forward to the future. Lots to laugh about, too.

Tonight? Burgers at home and maybe even on the patio because
Ginger hosed off all those ashes this morning. Yes, I did a little
work too, I know that will surprise everyone.

I return home tomorrow ~ get ready for photos galore.

they don't sell carpets

OK, before someone else corrects me. The name of the
little beach town where I spent the day only thinking of
ME/Me/me is Carpinteria. So sorry.

self indulgence in carp

So this is how that other 1/2 lives! Today we went for a private
workout with machines and yoga and all sorts of soothing
movements...for two fabulous hours. Then a quick lunch at
the Cajun Kitchen in Carpeteria, then an hour long massage.
All this took place in this quaint little town called Carp, by
the natives. I then walked down to the beach while G. had
her massage and now I am in a liquid state, drinking an
espresso before I hit the bubble bath.

Tonight is dinner with our friend Joan ~ the 3 of us were
college buddies, as everyone knows by now. Early dinner
and early to bed. Weather? Gorgeous. Mood? Muy mellow.

Still no cafes advertising Wi Fi, so when I come home on
Friday I'll be posting photos instead of words.

time out on tuesday

Today was almost too lazy to discuss. My friend Ginger had lots
of dental work and (honest!) I did offer to go with her, but she
said "no", so I put my feet up, looked out at the ocean and read
my old New Yorkers until lunch time. I did take the dogs out for
a walk and since I'm not currently a dog owner I forgot to bring
PLASTIC BAGS, so I had to ask another true dog walker if I
could borrow a couple of hers...and just in time.

We had an outdoor lunch at the Grill at Padaro Beach and that
was so unusual. Huge grassy area with picnic tables and a big
sand-box for the kids to play in. Dogs are allowed, but we left
our girls at home. Food was excellent too. Then back to my
lounge chair until about 4pm when we took a 4 mile beach
walk and now it's dinner time and some more relaxing. I love
having the time to really read the New Yorkers ~ I still think
it's the best magazine ever published.

Weather? Started out with fog this morning, but that was good
for the wild fire situation (there are ashes here) and then warm
and sunny this afternoon. Perfect.

yurts rock!

I'm using my friend's computer tonight because she doesn't
have Wi Fi and I couldn't piggyback down here in Summerland.
So this will be short, but I wanted to report in that I did have
a totally delightful day. Photos to follow...

Started driving the moment the sun came up and it was
smooth and beautiful. Reached Michael's in Goleta about
10am and after coffee and some chat, he drove me to Cachuma
Lake where they have yurts! These are tent like structures on
raised wooden decking right next to the lap lap of the lake.
Very peaceful and serene. Photos to follow...

Then I drove to Ginger's here in Summerland and we took a
fine beach walk with her two dogs. Kevin Costner was out on
his deck, but he didn't wave at me, so I didn't acknowledge
him. It is fabulous weather, warm still tonight with stars galore
in the clear sky. Then Ginger fixed a tasty chicken dinner for
Michael and myself and we listened to the new Bob Dylan
CD which is excellent. Photos to follow...

leave it to king city

Well, wouldn't you know ~ this has the easiest and fastest
Wi Fi of anyplace I've been yet (except home, of course)?
I'm staying in a semi-seedy motel and just had a rather
dreadful supper at Maggie's Diner, but I'm relaxed and
delighted to be here. The drive was easy and I listened to
Len Tillum, that NY lawyer-guy on KGO. I'll be up early for
my drive to Santa Barbara ~ Ken (our Toyota) requires
tapes, not CDs, so I bought a whole bunch of those for
driving and singing tomorrow morning. I'm tired tonight,
early to bed in King City...

dispelling the big bad mood

It's strange. Yesterday I was ready to resign in a huff
(which I'd never do, but it's nice to visualize it) and
today I had a relatively OK day at work. A minor issue
(we never say "problem" in the business world) with a
man who was drunk and belligerent, but then he tried
to take the up escalator down and I felt vindicated.
Anyway, somewhere along the way my attitude
switched from mean witch-bitch to warm and loving
(for me) and I'm SO much better that I had to try to
figure out why the change?

I decided it's because I started writing about my friend
Irving who died last week. Not beautiful writing like my
Tiapos friends, just "I want to remember this about him:
the bad, the unusual and the wonderful". And I think
this is helping me immensely. I have a bunch of letters
here from him and I will include some of his words in my
essay. And I will blow up a photo from two years ago, he
is wearing a red knit hat...it was only 98º out that day.

Writing eases pain, but we all know that...

two more days

I am seriously packed up for my annual trip to Santa
Barbara. This year I am not taking the train (see July
travel notes), so I am driving and I will stay Sunday
night in glamorous King City, then head south in the
early Monday morning hours. It's a wonderful test for
me ~ being on my own, visiting with friends and
catching up on my reading. Santa Barbara is extremely
mellow compared to my life here in SF and that's just
what I need about now. I'm a bit tired of work and right
on the edge of saying something snappish to show how ultra
smart and clever I am. That's always dangerous....

the fucking reaper

I heard that an old friend of mine died yesterday. I've
known him for almost 20 years and I miss him already.
He was 87, lived a good life ~ blah, blah. But I still won't
hear from him anymore or laugh at his jokes nor listen
to his wise counsel. He moved to Florida about 4 years
ago and I did my grieving then because I knew I wouldn't
really ever see him again. He didn't have email and his
phone skills were almost as bad as mine. When I wrote a
mutual friend, the above headline was his response. Fitting.

Then today, Ann Richards. Very sad. What a woman. It's
an emptier place on earth today.

why I love frisco (reason #445)

new paint
Originally uploaded by the omster.

This was a nondescript apartment building at Alabama and Cesar Chavez. Instead of painting it beige or grey, we now have this delightful mixture of bright colors. Now I ask you, would you see this in Wichita? Now I answer you, nope. I've decided that even if I'm not always 100% in favor of the color choices, I'm just so pleased that we have this visual feast. And speaking of our city, the Blogmaid took her daughter to swimming lessons in SF yesterday and she wrote me a wonderful description of the two gay dads playing in the pool with their child. Now I ask you, would that happen in Wichita? (Well, maybe, I hope so anyway.)

the robins at rest for now

Yesterday was the last time I had to do the daily 10 minute
write for the Round Robin class. It is a great relief now because
I was running out of steam, words and patience. I get into
that, "who do I think I'm kidding?" kind of mood and pretty
much dislike everything that I type. And I mean type, not
write. Anyway, I'll be skipping the next round because I want
to take an Italian class in October.

What happens, however, is that I start missing the prompts,
the partners and the routine. Probably next week I'll be
feeling less creative, sort of wishy washy and empty. Of
course I don't push myself to write when I don't have to.
Let me remind you that my friend Jane's classes are about
the best you'll ever find if you want to write. The Round
Robin is mostly online, a marvelous invention of the Salon
Mistress, but there are many classes to chose from:
The Writing Salon :: Welcome

everything perfect, except the game...

how could we forget?
Originally uploaded by the omster.

We had a terrific time last night at the Jewell. Isn't this a tasteful 9/11 memorial? The names of the victims are printed on those big sheets of many colors. It was quiet there by the Willie Mayes statue as people gathered to meet their friends and locate their tickets. Beautiful weather and yummy polish suasage dogs ~ too bad the game itself wasn't very enjoyable. Our seats were in Row 21 very near 3rd base. (My favorite place to sit since our old Candlestick days.) I was impressed that Barry played so long and so hard and there's a new rookie pinch hitting named Freddy Lewis and he is impressive indeed. I learned to love baseball at The Stick, so the Jewell still seems a little crowded and small to me, but I know I'm in the minority. And good grief ~ about 433 more logos than the last time we attended a home game, or so it seems. But we had a wonderful evening, especially with the free good karma parking space on 4th Street and the expensive seats that TGP gave us. Thanks again!

short shrift sunday

I'm in a rush because the most generous Great Plotnik
has given us tickets for tonight's Giants vs. Padres game
at the Jewell. It's a 5pm start so that means it must be
an ESPN game and it also means that I need to rush about
a bit right now and when I get home from work at 3pm.
These Giants might be taking us into heartbreak territory,
but who can resist? Climb on board, wear the orange and
stock-up on Kleenex®....

not worth a thousand words

pesto perfection
Originally uploaded by the omster.

This isn't such an attractive photo, but many people are eager to hear how the "maybe too much garlic" pesto turned out. It was THE BEST! We sprinkled lots of parmesan and pine nuts on the individual servings and then had about 6 servings left over to freeze. I'm not sure about that because I wasn't in the kitchen much last night. I did make sleepy time tea after the baseball game (we won!) and now I pack my lunch and head downtown. I might breathe some garlic on customers who get too close...

the link to maj

Amazon.com: Reviews for The Laughing Policeman (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard): Books: Maj Sjowall,Per Wahloo

there will be no escape

My friend Mary in Bisbee,AZ, sent me this long and wonderful quote from Maj Sjowall.
I have been doing a lot of writing and complaining lately about the approaching holidays. Our mutual friend Irving always said, "Christmas has me by the throat".
I'm not there yet, but Costco did have lots of holiday shit out on Wednesday, Sept. 6th. I am not kidding. I don't know this author, but I will link him later ~ this passage describes Christmas in Sweden.

"Even the spate of useless tips from the general public has begun to dry up.
The consumer society and its harrassed citizens had other things to think of. Although it was over a month to Christmas, the advertising orgy had begun and the buying hysteria spread as ruthlessly as the Black Death along the festooned shopping streets. The epidemic swept all before it and there was no escape. It ate its way into houses and apartments, poisoning and breaking down everything and everyone in its path. Children were already howling from exhaustion and fathers of families were plunged into debt until their next vacation. The gigantic legalized confidence trick claimed victims everywhere. The hospitals already had a boom in cardiac infarctions, nervous breakdowns and burst stomach ulcers.
The police station downtown had frequent visits from the outriders of the great family festival, in the shape of Santa Clauses who were dragged blind drunk out of doorways and public urinals. At Mariatorget, two exhausted patrolmen dropped a drunken Father Christmas in the gutter when they tried to get him into a taxi. During the ensuing uproar the two policemen were hard pressed by screaming children and foul-mouthed boozers."

green gold

basil = pesto!
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Husbando and I used to make a batch of pesto every August, but in recent years we started buying it at Trader Joe's. It isn't nearly as tasty, so today while we were walking out on foggy Clement, we found some in a little grocery store and bought 8 bunches, along with some parsely and garlic. We worked together (rare because we are both control freaks in the kitchen) and produced 6 servings. We might have put in a wee bit too much garlic, but that will keep the evil spirits away. If you plan to make a batch yourself, add lots of olive oil to the basil, parsely and garlic while you mush it up in your Cuisinart®. The hardest part of the operation is cleaning the basil, but these bunches were unusually clean and only $1.39 per. We'll test it tomorrow night for dinner.

We started the day at "The Monet" and breezed through since we don't do water lillies. It was a pleasure to see some of those paintings without 300 people in front of us.

always looking for answers...

A friend sent me this to help me keep things in perspective.
Enjoy...it's one of the best.
Dance, Monkeys, Dance - Flash animation

world weary

A 3-day holiday weekend in retail is about 3 days too many.
But it's over and I have two days off to relax and catch
my breath. The good news is that the tourists have spent
all their vacation money and then some, so we can now
actually walk up and down Powell Street without being
forced off the sidewalk. I love the ones who walk 4 in a
row, especially if they are the hefty types from Germany
or the Midwest. The sun is shining and Husbando plans
to BBQ hamburgers and I'm going to Santa Barbara in
a couple of weeks so everything is hunky dory. Dorry?

brief reviews from a tired worker blogger

Thank goodness I'm reading so much again. Sometimes I'll
go for what seems like a long time without getting lost
in a book.  I finished The Poe Shadow (okay, not great)
and Water for Elephants (excellent!) and today I brought
home this novel that has had so many magnificent reviews.
Powell's Books - Suite Francaise: A Novel by Irene Nemirovsky
This is the work by the woman who died in Auschwitz ~ 64
years later her daughters published this "singularly piercing
evocation...of life and death in occupied France."

an american tragedy (not over)

We finally finished watching the Spike Lee movie and I
feel wiped out and wretched. Of course I forgot that the
Insurance companies would be spending all their energy
trying to figure out how NOT to pay all those claims.
If our government doesn't finish you off, big business
will ~ except for the damn human spirit and the truly
inspirational music. I loved that part. I've been having
nightmares since we started watching this, but I live
in paradise and a few bad dreams are nothing. Oh,
yes, now the speculators and developers have arrived
and gentrification has begun in the 9th Ward. Very sad.
HBO: When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

O silent majority

Speak Out
And a vast paranoia sweeps across the land
And America turns the attack on its Twin Towers
Into the beginning of the Third World War
The war with the Third World

And the terrorists in Washington
Are drafting all the young men

And no one speaks

And they are rousting out
All the ones with turbans
And they are flushing out
All the strange immigrants

And they are shipping all the young men
To the killing fields again

And no one speaks

And when they come to round up
All the great writers and poets and painters
The National Endowment of the Arts of Complacency
Will not speak

While all the young men
Will be killing all the young men
In the killing fields again

So now is the time for you to speak
All you lovers of liberty
All you lovers of the pursuit of happiness
All you lovers and sleepers
Deep in your private dreams

Now is the time for you to speak
O silent majority
Before they come for you

-- Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Poets Against War

This poem is hanging in my messy office here at home.
I snipped it from the Chronny when the war first began
and here we are, STILL in Iraq. What have I done to stop
this insanity? Nothing. Maybe a few pathetic words in
the blog, but that's about it. Shame on me.

thank you molly ivins!

This is Molly Ivins ~ isn't she wonderful? From yesterday's Chronny...


AUSTIN -- I know it's bad form to brag, but I am now a "graduate" of Texas A&M University, and you can't stop Aggie pride. I became a diplomee of the great institution in College Station after successfully completing the three-day short course in beef cattle this summer. I specialized in forage management and graduated Quel fromage!, meaning avec distinction.

The most amazing part of cow college was meeting the cow whisperer.

Think of everything you know about moving cattle from one place to another -- for shots, round-up or loading into trucks for market, just physically moving a lot of cattle. GEE, GIT ON, GO DOGIE, whistle, whip crack, move 'em out, chase 'em down. Turns out that all these years we've been doing it wrong.

What happens when you scare a cow by making a lot of noise and chasing it down and forcing it to move where it doesn't want to go is that the cow responds by relieving itself. And since a cow has several stomachs, it can unload up to 20 percent of its total weight at one go -- the last thing you want just before you take it to market to sell.


So the latest thing in cattle handling is cow whispering. (I'm not making this up -- this is straight from A&M.) Either on foot or horseback, you just kind of sidle around your herd without upsetting them, talk to them gently and suggest they might like to go that way for a while, and then perhaps a tour along the pen line, and then perhaps some consideration of the gate and another little tour of the pen line.

But all of this is done without loud noise, sudden movements or eruptions of testosterone. It's such a revolutionary development of an American macho tradition that it's a little like watching NFL teams come onto the field in tutus. But it also works a lot better on the cows.

I bring this up because I recently attended a women's peace movement meeting, sponsored by the Code Pink group founded by Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans and Diane Wilson. The female peacemakers also included Cindy Sheehan, writer Anne Lamott and Col. Ann Wright, who served 29 years in the Army and more than 15 years in the Foreign Service before resigning in protest over President Bush's drive to war in Iraq.

I must say, they were a lot more emphatic than the cow whisperer. In fact, as I left, they were saddling up to ride down to Bush at his ranch with a people's posse peace warrant. Lots of whooping about it.

Female peace activists, as a rule, have totally solved the gnarly old dilemma: What do you do about hating the haters? If you're a female peace activist, this is Step 101 -- you spill love and calm and reassurance and, well, peace all over them.

For those of us who have not mastered this advanced technique, a Revolution in Favor of Kindness and Libraries seems like a nice idea.

Lamott, one of the funniest people in America, has developed a scenario for a Revolution With Good Manners, in which we are all extremely Nice to one another. Good manners never hurt anything. "Our Revolution decrees that we will fight tooth and nail for these things, politely."

War is about rounding up people with Shock and Awe and really loud noises, and about thinking you can herd them by hurting and killing them. Politics is what you do if you're not so stupid that you walk into an unnecessary and unprovoked war.

I'm founding Cow Whisperers Against the War.

olbermann steps up to the plate...

I loved Keith when he used to talk about baseball on ESPN,
but now I realize that he is even better as a political
commentator. We will start looking for him on tv.

FOCUS | Keith Olbermann: There Is Fascism, Indeed
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/083106Z.shtml
Keith Olbermann says: "The confusion is about whether this secretary of defense, and this administration, are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek: the destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City so valiantly fought. And about Mr. Rumsfeld's other main assertion, that this country faces a 'new type of fascism.' As he was correct to remind us how a government that knew everything could get everything wrong, so too was he right when he said that, though probably not in the way he thought he meant it. This country faces a new type of fascism - indeed."

the man from fremont

The human spirit is stronger than anything
that can happen to it.
                                        George C. Scott

I seem to be into quotes lately, looking for inspiration,
I suppose, during these bleak times. I saw this one at the
General Hospital today when delivering magazines to the
folks in the Psych. Ward on the 7th floor. It's always
easier to do this when the sun is shining, as it was today.
There is a nice outdoor patio here, but seldom any
patients outside in the fresh air.  And I was thinking
about the folks who were smashed by the man from
Fremont in his black SUV yesterday. A "psychotic
break" they said. Honestly, we have enough of these
poor people of our own, do they have to drive all the
way over from the East Bay? I bet he was heading for
the bridge. It is a magnet, we are such an attraction...

tuesday in the dark

"Religion, which should most distinguish us from the beasts, and ought most particularly elevate us, as rational creatures, above brutes, is that wherein men often appear most irrational, and more senseless than beasts." ~ John Locke

I should have slept in this morning, but I'm up too early
and don't need to be at work until 8am. I adjusted quite
well to my strange mid shift yesterday, and my fellow
workers were quite surprised to have me around after
3pm. Much discussion, illustrating how boring our work
days really are...

Quel surprise that JonBenet's killer isn't. And how much
wasted time and news space that could have been
devoted to criticizing our government's many destructive
policies. My mind, she boggles.

Of course we could discuss baseball ~ I do NOT want to
get my hopes up again this year and be crushed by a
dramatic defeat at the hands of the blue scumsuckers.
The game today is at 4:30, channel 2 ~ the dreaded
red chop-chop business. Egads.

my rare tv treat

Because I don't have to be a work until 10am (ish) today, I
was able to stay up and watch the Emmys last night...what
fun. Now the Blogmaid and I can send emails back and forth
discussing who said what, who wore THAT and isn't Helen
Mirren (Queen Helen) just the best? Reflect for a moment on
how HBO has changed the whole television landscape and
did someone forget Deadwood? Andre Braugher has long
been a huge favorite since his days on Homicide Life on the
Street and isn't it refreshing to see Mariska Hargity with
a little meat on her bones? Congrats to Jon Stewart and
his two Emmys ~ who knew he had so many people helping
with his show? I had some kitchen tasks to do while Barry
Manilow was singing ~ and now I'd better rent Entourage
which we've never watched. All in all, with its many flaws,
it was a satisfying award show for the after-9pm deprived.

we're all acrobats

Remember going to the circus when you were a kid? I
want to recommend Water for Elephants, one of the
best novels I have read in a long time. Ms. Gruen has
thoroughly researched the strange world of circus
people and animals, as well as the 1930s, when life in
America was so excruciatingly difficult for so many.
This really should be a best-seller!

Click Here: Check out "Powell's Books - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen"

what a difference a day makes

"All things in this world are impermanent. They have the nature to rise and pass away. To be in harmony with this truth brings true happiness." ~ Buddhist chant

For the past four (maybe five) years I have had Tuesdays and Wednesdays off. As a result, our theatre tickets are for Tuesday night and Husbando makes his appointments for Thursdays. But now my weekends will probably be Wednesdays and Thursdays and I'm trying to show everyone how adaptable and cooperative I can be. It's funny too, when I pretend that I'm Ms. Flexible at work (which by nature I'm not, as you might have guessed), it's somehow easier to actually be that Team Player and Excellent Employee.
"Act as if..." Now I get it.

the man from amtrak®

Yesterday I discovered that one of my customers works for
the train that we took from Portland back to Portland, before
we jumped on the plane to San Francisco. We gather emails
from customers and this is how I found out about his work
life. I told him that we were on "that train" and he seemed
to know exactly which one I was talking about, and he seemed
positively gleeful. At least he could have feigned sympathy,
even though he wasn't on the clock. I would have. Maybe.

trees, houses, hills, fog, blue sky

view from lundys lane
Originally uploaded by the omster.

This is from my Tuesday walk, after the latte. Note the fog burning off, always a welcome sight. It was one of those indescribable mornings when the air energizes, and I say, once again, "yes, I did the right thing when I moved to San Francisco". Plus, I need to carry these moments when I'm locked inside all day, as I was today.

two birds and one ommmmmm

(this was my daily write today...the prompt is from my
beautiful writing teacher, Jane. I changed the yoga teacher's
name so I can return to class next week)

GRADUALLY, WITHOUT EVEN NOTICING IT....

I was thrown into advanced yoga this morning. My first thought was to bolt
and go out for a latte and a walk like I did yesterday. For some reason I
was the only student in the klutz class, even though last week we had
maybe 14 or so, so my teacher escorted me down two floors to Orlando's
class in the living room.

"Oh, oh", I thought. I know Orlando because he has substituted before and
he is one of the pretzel guys. I don't give a royal fuck if he can put his
foot behind his head, it looks grotesque and what good is that position
to anyone? But he does have a nice sense of humor and I think he is
a kind person, so I trudged down and spread my towel and smiled
at Orlando and thought mean non-zen like things.

I made it through most of the poses, I just skipped the add-ons and little
back breaking variations that Orlando and his band of show-offs like to
use. The class went by quickly and in the end I had to admit that it was
good for me to try some new things and I was even able to doze a little
during deep meditation. Even though that's illegal (the mind stays alert!),
I always get some shut eye to prove to everyone that I can really relax
in whatever class I attend.

And gradually, without even noticing it, I have become a true yoga person.
Instead of making fun of the chants and cliches, I have memorized them all
and even use some of them in my everyday life. When I first started, all I
cared about was staying limber and stretching some unused muscles. But
now I want it all: breathing, chanting, meditating and stretching. And hooray
for me for going to Orlando's class instead of to the Muddy Waters.

thoughts on cigarettes and sunshine

Lazy day off today. I took a long walk about 10am and
had a latte outside at the Muddy Waters on 29th Street.
I know I shouldn't be sitting in the sun, basking like a cat,
but I couldn't help it. The other outsiders were smokers
and I wanted to warn them that cigarettes are going to
be something like $8 a pack after November, after we
vote. And no, I don't think cigars should be taxed more,
and yes, I know there will be a huge problem with cigs
coming across the California border illegally. But still,
if one person that I know stops smoking because of the
expense, it's worth it to me. Not to be negative, but
lung cancer is an unpleasant (shall we say?) way to die.

One of those odd thoughts occurred to me as I was
sitting there, half reading my New Yorker. It was very
noisy: traffic, honking horns, street repair, a sidewalk
being torn up, folks yakking on their mobiles. Yet I
was as relaxed as I would have been if I were alone on a
deserted beach. I guess it's the city noises that soothe me.
Not the sound of gun shots, of course, but just everyday
working world noises.

Once again I wondered. Who works? The coffee shop was
filled with people who should be on the job. Lap top, cell
phone and coffee at each table. No couples, no officially
retired looking folks, no tourist types ~ early millionaires
perhaps? Wealthy screen writers? Artists?

And now we've just returned from a rare treat. No Flix®!
Movie at a real theatre ~ Little Miss Sunshine. Delightful.

tonight on HBO

Don't forget to watch Spike Lee's documentary on New
Orleans: When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.
Yes, it will be heartbreaking, but I believe we have to
feel this horror again as the first year anniversary comes
up in a few weeks. I remember a couple of sleepless nights
with images of those poor people running nonstop through
my mind. How could this have happened in a country with
all our wealth and know-how? I have no more answers now
than I did then...

what a difference a door makes

I deserve an office
Originally uploaded by the omster.

I had to displace a few people in order to get this office, but I always say that change is good for us. The Picasso came from home and is quite faded ~ it looks lovely with the dirty grey wall. I am not allowed to have a Giants' shrine at work and that is the reason our team is not doing so well. Sorry. When I dwelled in my previous "open air office", I had not a pinch of privacy. People would "borrow" everything on my desk and wander off with whatever they needed. But the worst thing was how they would stand over my shoulder and pretend to talk to me so they could read my emails. I do the same thing, so they couldn't fool me. If one of my readers would like to have fresh flowers delivered to my desk once a week, I could accept that. You can't see the calendar, but it features B&W photos of NYC. I'm a happier working woman now...

and we beat L.A.!

I'll be at work, unfortunately (for many reasons) today when
"my baseball email group" starts to clog cyberspace with
the rehashing of last night's game. Dodger Doug was there
to suffer with his cha cha bowl, notthat will have details
that no one else could possibly know and the Blogmaid is
an authority on shrines and anti-shrines. Snowglobe Sally
is in Great Britain, missing all the fun here. For my part, I
had to laugh when the "Beat L.A." chant started in the first
inning, about the 5th pitch, I think. Giants fans are so much
more enthusiastic than those blue ones, or maybe they just
drink more. Tonight's game should be even more exciting.

sick of the little blonde beauty queen

Lordy, Jon Benet is back in her mascara and come hither
look on those awful video tapes. One would think that no other
child has died these past ten years. No disease, no poverty,
no abused children in our little world. We do love the macabre,
don't we? The media is going to milk this for all it's worth, I
really need to cool it here and not be sharing my opinion
with everyone. Not that I could stop this ghoulishness from
playing out until the end (and then some). Too hideous.

that extra day ~ delish!

Today is that 3rd day off in a row that I try to take each
month to keep me sane. I have a friend named Mary who
lives in St. Louis ~ she is in her 80's and is very beautiful.
She also gets up early and one time she emailed me about
6am to say, "aren't the early mornings delicious?"

pondering the journey

"One isn't born one's self. One is born with a mass of expectations, a mass of other people's ideas — and you have to work through it all." ~ V.S. Naipaul

I write a lot about this journey that we're on...it's so simple,
really. Getting to know who we really are and then having the
courage to say, "sorry, no can do ~ that's not me".  Or, "yes,
I'm comfortable here, I want to do this or live here or be with
such and such a person, or not." In my case it's admitting that
I need more alone time than other people seem to, and I don't
have much tolerance for intolerant people. Hence I like this
dirty, hurly burly city with all our strange citizens who
probably would not be accepted in my home town, Pasadena,
California. I grew up there knowing I wanted to leave and I
was able to breathe freely once I moved to San Francisco.
It's just part of being me. (I told you it was a simple theory.)

no pho photo

Originally uploaded by 20mm.

...because we were too busy slurping the luscious soup at Mangosteen here today. My camera shot of Ellis and Larkin didn't turn out, so I'm borrowing this one from Flickr®, with thanks. Anyway, both Pagolac and Turtle Tower were closed, so we walked a few feet further to enjoy our belated Ducknik birthday lunch with the Great Plotniks. And call it what you may, it's still the Tenderloin (TL) and it's still a very rough part of town. However the 4 of us enjoyed our adventure, each other's company and the all-over lime green (even the chop sticks!) restaurant. But I am curious as to when these signs first appeared and also what exactly was in the bag that the man tried to sell The Great Plotnik?

so I'm addicted to wikiquote?

"Call for the grandest of all earthly spectacles, what is that? It is the sun going to his rest. Call for the grandest of all human sentiments, what is that? It is that man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep." ~ Thomas De Quincey

when tom was just a boy

Flipping around on the tv, endless talking heads. But by
a wonderful accident I happen on Tom Hanks in Big (1988).
(Also Elizabeth Perkins, who is now in Weeds.) Anyway,
every time I see one of those bonsai ears of corn in a
salad, for instance, I remember this scene that I love.
Tom, in his sparkly white tuxedo, picking up that little ear
of corn and nibbling up and down each row, just like it's
a real grown-up ear of corn. Too perfect.

hiding in my computer

It's the top of the 8th inning and I don't want to watch the
Dodgers win tonight. The game is tied currently (0 to 0),
but after watching baseball for a few years, a fan knows
when the tide is turning and the heart is breaking. As
Krukow might say, "the momentum monkey has jumped
into the other dugout". Damn that blue monkey...

wikiquote from wikipedia

     •     I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you might nudge the world a little or make a poem that children will speak for you when you are dead. ~ Tom Stoppard

The July 31st New Yorker has an article on Wikipedia
(Page 36) and of course that makes it legit to me. So after
hearing about it for years from my friend Michael, I
decided that I'd better check it out. It's very easy to read
(what did I expect?) and I loved the Wikiquote, a daily
feature. And here's a quote from the NYer: "What can be
said for an encyclopedia that is sometimes right, sometimes
wrong, and sometimes illiterate?" Well, for one thing it's
free and it is certainly an endless source of fun, but of
course I'm a brand new browser here. See for yourself:
Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

take me to the tenderloin

My newest best food friend asked one of his other best
food friends about pho restaurants and this was my
email from Michael Bauer today:

I would send her to Turtle Tower in the Tenderloin, and
Pagolac isn’t bad either.

So now I have another goal for next week. One is to return
to the Legion of Honor at 9:30 am, before the crowds, the
other is to find some fabulous pho. And here you thought I
sat around all day reading blogs and doing daily writes.

There are SO many tourists downtown this year. Too many.
The line up Powell for the cable car often reaches past Ellis.
It's big money for the city, that much we know.

when bloggers answer emails

I'm going to try to ignore the whole horror of the airlines
tonight and let others write and talk about the next wave
of possible terrorism. It's too awful...

One of my favorite blogs is from our very own Chronny
restaurant reviewer, Michael Bauer. I now read him every
day and I especially enjoy his posts on service and such
topics as: if the restaurant is almost empty, why do they
try to seat us at the very worst table?

The other night I wrote Michael because our favorite pho
restaurant out at Clement and 11th is gone forever. He
had sent us there originally and I felt he should help us now.
Well, he wrote back the very next day that one of his fellow
food writers is researching pho restaurants and there
should be something in the paper very soon. I was impressed.
(Oh, pho is a Vietnamese soup, but you knew that.)
Michael Bauer: Between Meals

time to get enthused

This morning I had a lovely time with RWW (Right Wing
Wong), my dentist for many years. We have a running
battle about flossing (what else?) and today he suggested
that I try to floss five times a day! I responded in a not
very nice manner, and he said, "it's about time you get
enthused about flossing!" OK.

Here is a poem from the New Yorker:

MADMEN ARE RUNNING THE WORLD

Watch it spin like a wheel
and get stuck in the mud.

The truck is full of caged chickens
squawking about their fate.

The driver had gone to get help
in a dive with a live band.

Myrtle, Phyllis ~ or whatever they call you girls!
get some shut-eye while you can.

                               Charles Simic

every day with sunshine!

legion of honor view
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Isn't this the best summer ever? No marine layer, very little wind and these perfectly clear and sunny days. All the tourists who are dreaming of moving here have no idea. That's OK, let's keep them in fantasyland. Today we ventured to the other side of the city to the Legion of Honor to see Monet in Normandy. Alas, we were joined by about 14,000 other art lovers, so it was a little difficult to actually move around, let alone see too many of the 53 paintings. We plan to go back, however, because this is definitely worth seeing. I mean, who doesn't love Monet? The show will be here until Sept. 17th. We met our friends Steve and Marita from San Rafael, and also Mollie who followed us home from Portland. But crowds are difficult for me because I have the opportunity of working within a people-packed Cuisinart® five days a week.

a bit discombobulated

Instead of my usual 6 to 3 shift, I worked from 9 to 6
today and here is this is what I noticed:

. nice to putz around at home in the morning, I didn't
  really sleep in past 4am, but that's OK
. walking when it's light out is easier and I get to see
  the murals and gardens that I've missed
. LOTS of day laborers on Cesar Chavez
."you're so late!" from the woman I buy the Chronny
   from in the BART station
. BART is very crowded, standing room only
. morning folks at work claimed they missed me and
  the later crew said it was too weird having me there
. I wasn't as exhausted tonight as I thought I would be

Actually, I decided that it was beneficial to change my
work routine. It was an excellent day, all in all.

our overnight guest

I'm always a little nervous when I about talk about work in the
blog, so I'll just make this brief. Of course I usually write
at least 6,000 words per post, as you might have noticed.

Anyway, when Doctor Jay, Orlando and I opened the store
at 6am, we already had a customer! He had spent the night
in the cafe and did not set off even one alarm. Of course
he was probably in an altered state of mind, if you get my
drift. It was an extremely scary situation, especially since
it took the cops 15 minutes to get there after I called 911.

I will be forever grateful to the doctor and Orlando for
helping me so much this morning. Honestly, I wasn't ever
really scared because those two stood by me. The first
thing the "customer" said to me was, "oh, I'm so glad
you're here at 6, I was afraid I'd have to wait until 10."
It's good to be appreciated. Nothin' but fun in retail.

today's daily write ~ SOUND is the prompt

It's very quiet here in Bernal Heights right now, I can't even hear the sound of a siren or a car horn. People who enter our home for the first time are surprised that it is so still, they expect downtown-type noises, I guess.

When it's quiet like this I can hear the buzzing in my ears. It once worried me so much that I had my hearing checked a couple of years ago and the technician said that everything is normal. Back in the past, I had a friend named Roger who had such dreadful tinnitis that he talked about suicide and he did, in fact, kill himself.
I didn't want the ringing to get any worse than it is now and the ear expert said it probably wouldn't. Roger's condition began after he had routine ear surgery and I swore then and there that I would NEVER let any doctor stick anything into my ears.

But I digress. When I was typing away here there was a siren. Not too loud and certainly not on our street. My husband is a siren chaser and so was my mother.
He will step out on the back porch and check the skyline to look for puffs of smoke. If the ambulance or fire truck is on our street, he will go outside the front door and see what's happening and where. I don't do that, preferring that he come back and give me all the colorful details.

I am a person who loves quiet. I normally don't turn background music on unless I really want to hear something. Being a word person I need to hear what the singer is singing about and when I love a song or a CD, it's always because of the words, not the melody.

more camera talk

Click Here: Check out "Giant Camera, San Francisco, California"
No, I don't know Jack & Bev, but their knowledge seems
V-A-W-S-T

want more?

Scroll down in this delightful blog for more photos of
Olivia and her cat sister Reecy.
Click Here: Check out "My Great Breast Cancer Adventure

who can resist our muse?

livvy at tiapos
Originally uploaded by the omster.

We have a new member of our writing group ~ meet Olivia Bouchet (Livvy B. for short). She is the sweetest puppy ever and she belongs to our Salon Mistress and her Jackie P. There were only four humans at Tiapos (This Is A Piece of Shit) last night, so we had lots of time to discuss Livvy and Reecy the cat who is adjusting nicely to her new housemate. Of course we missed Doug, Sarah and Will, but we had a fine time with our small group of writers and animals.

mysteries surround me

The other night we watched a strange film from Flix®:
Bubble - Movie Info - Yahoo! Movies
It's a short one, so you won't be investing a lot of
time here. There are no professional actors, but the
plot builds in such an interesting manner that I
believe you'll be as riveted as we were as the murder
is solved before our eyes.

What am I reading? A great mystery by Matthew Pearl.
Ever since my Nancy Drew days I've loved getting lost
in a well crafted mystery and this one blends history
and literary detection revolving around the death of
Edgar Allan Poe.  Takes place in Baltimore and Paris,
in 1849. Amazon.com: The Poe Shadow: A Novel: Books: Matthew Pearl

unclear on the concept

It's been a few weeks since I've been to yoga, so today
was not easy for me. Still, it felt pretty good. My teacher
knows that I'm not exactly a "spiritual being", and I think
she held her breath when she announced that the Institute
was hosting a 'fasting lunch" later this week. I tried, I
really tried to keep my mouth shut, but I was forced to
say, "so, I guess I'd better eat something first, right?"
True yoga people do not appreciate my humor, but I
can't help myself. Sounds like a cheap way to entertain,
if you ask me...

drat, no camera

Husbando took me to lunch today down at the beautiful
and expensive Cliff House. As most of you know, we have
separate bank accounts which means that it's a big deal
when one takes the other out ~ so today I chose not only
the restaurant, but I specified that we needed to sit in
the extravagant part, not the wait-in-line cafe side. He
threatened to sit and watch me eat, but at the last moment
ordered pasta for himself. I had a divine lamb "sandwich"
(the menu had quotes there), no top slice of bread, so
now you know what the " "s indicate. I don't think this is
a universal restaurant symbol...
CLIFF HOUSE Seafood, Restaurants, Wedding Receptions

It was such a gloriously clear day. Damn that camera
resting in my office here at home. We watched fishermen
climb up a dangerous looking rock and could almost feel
the spray in our faces. They never caught anything, but
it must have been such an exhilarating experience for them.

I wanted to go into the Camera Obscura ($3 each) but the
ticket taker had disappeared. I will do that one day soon.
Stopped at Sloat Garden for some flowers for the back deck
and will plant those tomorrow.

On a happy note, the man in the bucket arrived yesterday
and our phone is 100%. I can use my very own Wi Fi too.
Life is good in Frisco...

new blog book beckons

The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil comes out on
Thursday. She believes that corporate blogs will become a
new form of marketing vehicle, even though she admits
that the most provocative blogs tend to be be published
by individuals. At the end of this post I'll link you to one
of the best-read blogs in Europe, according to Ms. Weil.

"Blogs are no fad. They are cheap and easy to do. And
blogs fulfill that deepest of human needs as defined by
psychologist Abraham Maslow: self-actualization. People
write blogs because they want to know themselves and
want to be known by others and because they want their
lives to count. When a communications medium is...
tapping into a deep need, it's no fad."
                              Richard Karlgaard, publisher of
                              Forbes magazine, on his blog,
                              December 26, 2005

OK, here's the link to Hugh Macleod's blog ~ it's a good one.
gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards" by hugh macleod

no phone, no bucket, no service

We are dealing with AT&T aka SBC aka Pac Bell because
our land line home phone is dead and has been since we
arrived home Friday morning. I punch many buttons on
my mobile and from work today and basically I get that
tedious bureaucratic run-around that we all know so well.

There is a problem in one of the outside cables and the
man in the bucket won't be here until Tuesday, maybe
Wednesday. I'm lucky that our nabes want me to use
their Wi Fi connections otherwise I'd really be up the creek.

I endured my first day back at work today. 204 emails
about a vast assortment of subjects and issues. My friend
Michael told me a few years ago that God gave us the
delete button in the hopes that we will use it freely and I
did so today. Amazing how many problems dissolve with time.

take me to the ferry building

take me to the ferry building
Originally uploaded by the omster.

If I didn't work most Saturdays I would be here at 8am as we were this morning. The best breakfast is from Rose Pistola sitting right out here next to the Bay. Today there was a buzz amoung the vendors because Tony Blair is in town and who knows where he'll show up? After breakfast we bought many pounds of colorful tomatoes, basil, peaches and an unusual melon for me to ball for tomorrow's breakfast. I also bought a huge bunch of flowers for $5.00 and admired the many strange and colorful people and dogs. A ton of toddlers too, many eating fruits and vegetables!

Our land line is down and Bossman thought I had unplugged the phone, but alas, he reached me by email. I have been "borrowing" the nabe's Wi Fi in order to keep up with friends and blogs. Also Round Robin #10 has started and I am doing daily 10 minute writes again. Next vaca is not until September. Can I stand it?

planes, trains, taxis...

finally home
Originally uploaded by the omster.

OK, good thing we've had some experience traveling. Here was our yesterday:
Noon ~ check out of hotel & check in bags at train station
1pm ~ lunch at the fabulous Portland Grill (30th floor, SW 5th & Yamhill)
5pm ~ climb on train that was supposed to leave at 2:25pm
8pm ~ during bad dinner, conductor announces that train must turn around but first lights and AC off for 2 hours
1am ~ train arrives back in Portland
3am ~ we FINALLY get refund and head for airport, Amtrak pays for taxi
6am ~ travelers take last two seats on United flight to SF
8am ~ taxi home from SFO
Still no sleep, sort of a West Coast only kind of jet lag, I guess.
It's good to be home and the fog looks and feels luxurious.
Only 3 semi-important pieces of mail in this mess on our garage floor.
I miss having a cat or two welcoming me home, Husbando doesnt.

keep portland weird

I've seen that bumper strip on lots of cars up here (not
on the SUVs, of course) and it expresses my thinking
completely. Not this weird, of course ~ we were at the
zoo when the following occurred yesterday. Safely in the
shuttle bus, otherwise we would have helped:
Zoo sex predator attack thwarted, police say

The box of blueberries was larger(!) than the ones we
all love at the fruit store at 30th and Church. Honest.
Or at the fruit store we all love at 30th and Church.
Your choice of phraseology.

This morning we watched the Jon Stewart rerun as we
pack up to go. No rush, no hurry. All of our clothes are
dirty, so it's easy to squish them into the suitcases.
Now I think a final walk around town after a truly special
vacation. Next post from Frisco...

our last full day of vaca

portland farmers' market
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Blueberries ~ $2.50 for a large box, how's that One Foot? We started our busy day walking up to Mollie's, then taking the bus up to the Portland Zoo. From there a free shuttle down and around the unbelievable lush and green Washington Park and another stop at the Rose Garden. It was mercifully cool and refreshing today. We had a marvelous/fabulous lunch at Park Kitchen (artichoke soup!) and then walked over to this impressive Farmer's Market. So far I do believe that Portland has everything that a city needs, and it does seem like an easier city to live in than SF. Of course we aren't here for the endless winter rainy season. This has been such a fine vacation, tomorrow we're back on the train for the LONG trip home with bad food.

why I love Portland

salmon st. fountain
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Now isn't this just a great idea ~ a play fountain in the heart of the city? In the background the river is just barely visible. We drove for more than 3 hours over more and different moutain roads, but it was such a joy to return to Portland, that I really didn't mind it at all. We couldn't wait to get out and walk around again once we checked back into "our" hotel Mark Spencer. Tonight we are heading back to sit outside at Jake's and tomorrow Mollie has booked us, so we will have a little time with Jon Stewart tonight and then an early to bed. Now I'll try to see if I can find our Giants ~ they are playing on the East Coast and I have pennant fever once again. I'd better stock up on Advil and Pepto when we get home to SF. It is a lot cooler here than it was, by the way...down around 70 degrees, I think. Lovely city!

sisterhood

the 3 sisters
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Here are the three Sisters, a beautiful sight indeed

lunch spot

McMenamins
Originally uploaded by the omster.

there is a great court yard here, but it was still too hot to be outside

sisters, brothers, words & boxes

We started our day buying gas ($3.05) and then heading
for the Sisters, 20 miles from Bend. It's a rather precious
little town, but we found a delightful coffee place (photo
to follow) and sat out on the big front porch and listened
to the locals chatting to each other and recapping their
weekends. Very pleasant. I should mention here that the
roads here in Oregon are extremely well maintained,
nothing like our pot hole ridden ones in California.

After walking around town for an hour or so, we got
back in the Malibu to drive a little further and take a
better pic of the 3 mountains. Then we met our friends
back in Bend at the McMenamin Brothers' restaurant
and wolfed down our well done "rare-please" burgers.
The McMemamins are a big deal here in Oregon and
Washington with hotels, restaurants and theaters.
All very clever and extremely popular.

Husbando and I walked some more around the Drake
Park and then at the spur of the moment, decided to
see a movie! There were 4 of us in the audience to
see Word Play, a delightful film about crossword
puzzles, Will Shortz and the fanatics who enter the
yearly contest in New York. We both enjoyed it
thoroughly and recommend it to all word people.

Now, after a little ice cream, we are watching tv
and pre-packing for our trip back to Portland in
the morning. OK, time to fuss with iPhoto. I do want
to mention that one of the pluses of traveling with
msBook is that I can transfer the photos every
night while the memory is still somewhat fresh.

salvation

salvation
Originally uploaded by the omster.

things are looking up!

the town

precious
Originally uploaded by the omster.

called Sisters ~ lots of shoppes like this one.

a tree in the middle...

pine tavern
Originally uploaded by the omster.

We had prime rib here last night at this famous restaurant that has a big old tree (it looks fake) in the center of all the tables. It is next to the Deschutes River and would have been fun to sit on the patio, but it was still too hot, even after 6pm last night. Today Husbando and I are going to the Sisters (3 mountains cleverly named North, Middle and South) and then we will have a late lunch with our friends. I can hardly wait to get back on those mountain roads!

honk if you're in a hurry!

Our friends here in Bend say the drivers are even worse
than in California, and I believe it. When we were driving
to exclaim over the parks, mountains and rivers today,
others were speeding by and honking in their HUGE trucks
and SUVs. Where are they going? To the river to relax?

It is still v. warm here ~ about 100º. We did go "to town"
this morning and had coffee at Mirror Lake and walked
around Drake Park. Then drove to Butte Point or Point
Butte and admired the Deschutes River which is glorious
and runs through and around Bend, always popping up
to surprise the tourists.

Just let me mention that I want to be watching the Giants
right now. I know that's short sighted and insular of me,
but the Blogmaid just wrote that we are moving ahead
and I know that we have won 5 games in a row. Oh,
happy day...thanks to everyone who keeps emailing me
with these important details!

MsBook likes the Comfort Inn, thank you for your concern.

OK, I need to send a couple more photos and give you a
few more Bend details here.

how could anyone...

deschutes river
Originally uploaded by the omster.

not be in awe of this river?

geezers in the park

retirees in bend
Originally uploaded by the omster.

I pretended to be taking a photo of Husbando here so you could see these two with their "fortune finder" machine thingies that zoom along on the grass or sand. I was hoping they would smash into each other. When I pointed them out to Husbando, he said, "they advertise those in the AARP magazine." I don't want to spend my Golden Years searching for quarters in a park...

drake park, bend

all in a row
Originally uploaded by the omster.

How's this for a serene Sunday morning? It is quite beautiful here and I regret all the snide comments that might fall into the blog later.

dam 1 of 2

dam 1 of 2
Originally uploaded by the omster.

It was a thrill to see such power up so close.

from timberline lodge

from timberline lodge
Originally uploaded by the omster.

click on this photo to appreciate
the incredible beauty (or not)

3 waterfalls, 2 dams, a few "issues"

I'm reporting from Bend, Oregon ~ the Comfort Inn, to be
exact. It's still warm, but it's good to settle in after driving
for 4,000 miles on winding mountain roads. Today AND
yesterday. Yikes.

So yesterday we got our gold (color) Malibu rental car in
Portland and when we discussed traffic to/fro Bend, the
agent said, "The traffic will be heavy at rush hour because
of all the people from California". This was a few moments
after she asked Husbando if he is Jewish.

Oh, by the way, it is amazingly beautiful country. We drove
East on 84 and stopped at every waterfall within 80 miles.
We had bad burgers for lunch at Cascade Locks along the way
and to our amazement, every seat faced the huge Columbia
River and it turned out to be a visual treat just to sit there
for an hour and not mention the food.

We toured the Bonneville Dam (a WPA project) and then
the navigator wanted to see Timberline Lodge, so the
sweet (yet beleaguered) driver got lost about 45 times
trying to get there. Even though I am the Queen of U-turns,
it is not easy to do those on mountain roads. It was getting
late and nerves were frayed when we finally reached that
destination, right at the bottom of Mount Hood. Beautiful.

Last night we stayed at a Shiloh Inn in The Dalles, a seedy
town where the main activity might be drunk driving. We
scored a balcony overlooking the Dalles Dam, so we just had
room service and stared at the dam and decided we had
both been snappish during the long and difficult drive,
so I apologized for both of us and the evening was really
quite pleasant.

But, Mon Dieu! This morning I was sending waterfall photos
to Flickr® for commano and the spinning beach ball of
death appeared and would not stop. I mean NOT, for all
the bourbon in The Dalles. So I took her to hospital (the
Windy River Computer Repair Shop on 2nd Street) and
of course she worked fine. I decided that traveling with
msBook is not unlike having a dog (I never toured with a
child) because I have to worry about the heat, the Wi Fi
and what if someone steals her?

Now, however, it is so nice to type away and I dread
trying to send photos to the blog. I've read some emails
and will answer them shortly. We are going to have
dinner at our friends' home here in Bend (ex-Californians!)
tonight. Oh, our bad lunch today was at the Big Bear in
Redmond and the AC was on too high and I had to wear
my Giants jacket because it was colder than notthat's
office. Sheeeeesh. We suspect that a lot of Mormons
live here, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.
This is not a diverse area by any stretch of anyone's
imagination. At lunch I whispered too loudly to Husbando
that I wish I had my "I'm so glad I live in San Francisco
T-shirt" on and he pretended we didn't know each other.

There was a bike race on these mountain roads today,
can you imagine? Up and down and around...it's bad
enough in a car, ask the navigator.

food, culture & foot work

I started out the day doing my favorite new city thing ~
walking all by myself with a map and camera. I expected
to get lost, but didn't, and by the time I reached Mollie's
I had this "oh, I know how this city works now" feeling of
confidence and pleasure. Mollie lives about a block from
Washington Park ~ it is well worth a trip here just to enjoy
this beautiful spot. Lots of walking paths, playgrounds and
gardens. We didn't have time for the Japanese garden,
maybe next time.

Returned to pickup Husbando and the three of us walked
some more, this time down to Dan & Louis' (see photo) in
the Old Town section for lunch. We did stop at Pioneer
Square along the way where they were having a concert
with music not to our liking.

After nap we visited the Portland Art Museum ~ a poorly
designed building with a confusing and unwelcoming feel
to it. No visitors either, but they did offer a couple of
pieces worth seeing. So why can't I remember what they
were? Anyway, we were not impressed, obviously. But
it was cool, have I mentioned that it is HOT here? It is,
but that's OK, no problem with that.

Last night we had sturgeon, salmon and trout at Jake's
and TGP finally gets a food photo of our appetizer. The
crawdaddies were almost as good as the ones we had
in New Orleans, the rest of the fish was excellent. And
we enjoyed sitting outside and watching the world of
Portland go by. Lovely day and evening!

Today we go North to the River Gorge area for some
more adventure. Rental car with many buttons & knobs.

first break off the tail

first break off the tail
Originally uploaded by the omster.

an appealing appetizer

sturgeon too

sturgeon too
Originally uploaded by the omster.

dinner (too much) outside

lunch on ankeny

here since 1907
Originally uploaded by the omster.

washington park

washington park
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Here are some of Portland's famous roses. This is an unbelievable place to walk, filled with people and dogs enjoying the thousands of trees, green/green grass and flowers.

from mollie's roof

from mollie's roof
Originally uploaded by the omster.

This is on SW Main, about a block away from Washington Park. There is a pool, flowers, etc. up here ~ but mostly it's all about the view. Fabulous.

every meal ouside, please

every meal ouside, please
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Note construction across the street and a little traffic to keep things interesting. Fine food and not expensive.

what's a city w/o a river or ocean?

what's a city w/o a river or ocean?
Originally uploaded by the omster.

this is at the end of the street car ride,
also (we think) at the end of the
delightful River Walk, which is one
of the "must do's" here in Portland.

it's clean, but not boring

Portland has a few nut cases and non-yuppie types, I'm
happy to say. Yesterday we asked Mollie to show us how
to use the street car (free for everyone!) and bus, so
we enjoyed those experiences. On the bus to lunch some
woman who had worked 50 years at Meir and Frank was
holding court and Husbando said, "I've ridden with her on
the 27 Bryant".

We started our day searching for a laundry ~ it's not like
NYC with three on every block, and we noticed that there
are no Walgreen's and Rite-Aids downtown. Only one big
and expensive Whole Foods. The stores are pretty much
the same as SF, with an emphasis on furniture stores, so
I guess folks are nesting here. Lots of construction going
on everywhere, street repair too.

After Mollie arrived we hopped on the street car outside
our hotel and went down to the river (photo to follow) and
walked some there. Lots of growth and change since we
were last here. Many condos, more restaurants and always
the coffee shops. Then we took a bus to 28th St. (the
Laurelcrest area) for scrumptious Cuban food on a brightly
painted patio, then back on the bus to hotel for nap time.
We had walked a lot, talking the whole time, of course.

Naturally my camera batteries had died because I had the
audacity to take 3 photos, so I'm missing some good pics,
but I have recharged all batteries and today will be better.

Last night we had a pleasantly late (for us) dinner outside at
the Everett Street Bistro with shrimp and steamed clams and
good salads (photo of the street sign to follow - lucky you!).

Also hit Powell's yesterday, I had forgotten how huge it is. But
it seemed more organized this trip and the booksellers looked
tidier and actually said "thank you" when I bought my postcards.

Today after breakfast hiding in the room, I'm going to walk to
Mollie's and we'll do our "girl walk" and gossip about folks we
know and don't know. Then to the Portland Art Museum, I think,
and maybe a few more sights, but no pressure.

here we are in...

big pretty lake
Originally uploaded by the omster.

Who knows? Dunsmuir?
Shasta Lake?
Albuquerque?
But oh so very beautiful.

strap me in

starlight, not express
Originally uploaded by the omster.

I took the top bunk.
I am a Good Wife.