day one in clarence, ny

Rob and I started with coffee, of course. He knows
everyone in town AND their children.

Willow tree in Rob's front yard.

The front yard. No sprinkler system ~ nature does it!

One tends to forget how green the rest of the world is, even in summer.
We had a busy day of running around on errands, but I did get a nap
in before the rest of the family arrived yesterday afternoon. We were
almost late to temple in Buffalo and you know that makes me tense,
but there were a lot of people to organize in assorted "big" SUV-type
cars. The g. dots here are very sweet and fun. Today is Lindsay's Bat
Mitzvah followed by a Kiddush Luncheon and then a party at the
Country Club tonight. Wonderful sleep last night!

more coffee, honey?

It's 8:45am here in Buffalo and I just finished a large breakfast
at Bob Evans down the road. A typical not-SF-like coffee shop
with perky waitresses on the good side of 50 (or 60)? In any
event, my cell rang during the sunnyside up part and it was JetBlue
telling me they would be delivering the "mishandled" bag before
10am today. Oh, double hooray!

I did sleep a bit, after taking inventory of every single item that
might have been lost in the bag. Then I expanded to a shopping
trip to find something to wear to all these family events and it's
amazing that I slept at all. Oh, the mind, the mind.

The youngest stepson, Rob, picked me up at midnight and he really
is a joy. I almost killed him during his teen years, so seeing him
now with the grey hair is a shock. But that same delightful humor
that kept him alive when he was young, was most appreciated
after consecutive hours on planes.

I have experienced lost luggage so many times that I now travel
with a photo and I include the dimensions of my bag. It was a
huge help. And I stay calm. Talk about a nasty job, dealing with
folks with lost luggage.

Weather? A warm almost-drizzle. Real summer.
OK, I need to unpack.

it's all in my mind

I know, I've read the articles. This stuff doesn't work and what do
school teachers know about the immune system? But I do know that
I used to always get sick after being on an airplane, and since I've
been using this, I don't. Those planes are filled with germy people
and Airborne® works for me every time.

Yes, I'll write from Buffalo tomorrow. Thanks, everyone!

just like the old days

I was up this morning at 4am to do some much-needed projects:
online banking, overdue emails, thank you notes, etc. It felt
great to have some time to myself, but of course I'll be yawning
after lunch and beyond.

The JetBlue flight(s) leave tomorrow morning and I'll get into
Buffalo around midnight. The youngest stepson has kindly
offered to do the airport pick-up thing, which is very sweet.
I'm bringing MsBook, so of course I'll be in communication.

One more day of work. I can do it.

learning from tourists

Last night I talked to a family from Florida. On this trip to SF they
had been concentrating on Diego Rivera. The above is from his mural
at City College of SF and they also spoke of another Rivera mural
on Sansome St.. It's bad enough that we haven't been to Alcatraz, but
now that I'm in the art biz, I really need to see these and be able to
recommend them. So we'll have an adventure or two after Buffalo...

don't bother

Midsomer Murders is boring and convoluted. Don't even rent it,
and that's an order. I guess the lesson is that even if everyone has
interesting British accents, the series is not necessarily well
written. Thankfully I was warned beforehand not to get my
hopes up.

lost in paris

As predicted, I am LOVING The Elegance of the Hedgehog by
Muriel Barbery. There are two enchanting main characters:
a 12 year old girl and a concierge in her fifties. They both live
at 7, rue de Grenelle, and at this point they haven't really had
a conversation, but they will. It is one of those books that I
need to read slowly and with care, I should probably even be
taking notes. Occasionally I will read a passage to Husbando,
the ultimate sign of the best-of-best ever books.

I meant to save this novel for the trip to Buffalo next week, but
now I'll have to go book-shopping at the airport.

a week filled with pony love

RR spent a week with Cheyenne at Pony Camp

Thanks, blogmaid, I woke up and thought, "I have nothing/nothing to
post this morning" and here were your photos! RR and a few of her
lifelong (a little joke we adults banter about) girl friends attended this
fun camp and not only did they ride a lot, they learned to do all the
horse-work that is necessary when animals with big brown eyes are
involved. The blogmaid herself even braided a horse tail and of course
was delighted with that task. One of the little girls (not our RR) cried
and cried because she had to leave her horse. Kindergarten starts on
September 8th, so this was a little end-of-summer vacation treat.

guilt free zone

A perfect day off. First Dr. Wong actually complimented me on
recent tooth and gum care! Then Ginger and I thoroughly enjoyed
the Squeak Carnwath exhibit at the Oakland Museum. I had been
perusing a book about her while working at the DeYoung, so I
was prepared for her wonderful paintings. One for instance,
was a large white canvas with her handwritten words, "I am sorry.
I am very sorry. I am sorry" scribbled about a million times on
the work. She is also big on circles with the words "guilt free
zone" and is there a woman (person?) alive who couldn't use
that? Alas, the Oakland Museum closes for re-mo on August 23,
so if you want to see Squeak, you need to scamper.

Then Ginger and I had a wonderful lunch at a Vietnamese
Restaurant at 10th and Harrison and talked/talked/talked
until almost dinner time. I am rich with friends.

new readers, new friends

I'm off to see my dentist, Right Wing Wong, in Oakland this morning.
Then I'm meeting my oldest friend, Ginger, for a Museum (!) visit
and lunch. Maybe a short walk. We have so much to catch up on...

But I want to say one thing about work. I've met some amazing new
friends there and what's wonderful is that I still am in contact with
my Borders friends too. Just think, if I were incredibly wealthy and
didn't have to work, I'd never know these amazing/fun/bright
folks and it would be MY loss. On the other hand, did I need a
cash register freeze when closing last night at the Legion? No,
but I learned a little more about "the system", or lack thereof.

The Trader Joe's bag is in the hallway because a week from today
is the trip to Buffalo, NY, for the g.dot's baht mitzvah. When I
don't travel I get anxious about travel. Solution? Travel more!

lunch with friends

The highlight of my day off yesterday was lunch with Husbando, The
Great Plotnik and Ducknik at Aperto on Potrero Hill. (Yes, Karen, your
name came up often, and with love.) Today is Barb's b.day and we
enjoyed catching up with our lives, because we haven't seen our friends
enough lately. Full-time work takes its toll, no?

When Husbando and I had our own business (the Great American Dream)
back a few decades ago, we had an office down on Connecticut Street
and lunch out was our salvation, and business write-offs, of course. We
know all these restaurants and shops and still love The Hill. There is
a special table for two at Aperto that we still consider "our table".

Owning your own business is the toughest job in the world. Ours was
Fantastic Sam's, haircare. We were franchisors and franchisees and we
took it in the chin and lived through the whole thing. When Mistress
Jane talks about her long days and nights of running her business,
the memories are as sharp as pin pricks all over my skin.

my next book

"A high wire performance", says the L.A. Times about The
Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Next I'll put
it on Facebook to see if there are a few less dramatic
comments, perhaps.

but you aren't making any sense

The Soloist is an amazing movie. Jamie Foxx becomes this
completely disoriented homeless musician, and Robert Downey,
Jr. and Catherine Keener are also excellent. I was shocked at
the scenes of downtown L.A. with their population of 90,000
homeless. Imagine. This is a true story by the L.A. Times reporter
Steve Lopez and I strongly recommend that you Flix® it.

I dealt with a lot of unbalanced homeless people when I worked
at the big box in downtown SF. They can be scary. As I result, no
matter how broke I am, I always/always send money to Glide
because they do their best to feed and house the men and women
whom we are all responsible for, in my opinion. I liked when one
of the case workers told Lopez to stop analyzing and trying to
label his friend. Oh, yes, about 3 Kleenex® were destroyed while
watching this film, but well worth it. Now where's my checkbook?

penguin to penguin

Today is another Sunday No Car day. From the Academy of
Sciences in Golden Gate Park to the Zoo. Thankfully I'm
working out at the Legion of Honor, so I won't have to
face road closures this morning. These have been very
successful, and I'm sure we'll see more Car Free Sundays
in SF next year.

I'm tired after closing the De Young stores last night.
But it's always about 4 million times easier than the
horror of closing the big box and getting home at midnight
or later. How did I do that? I'm shocked that I didn't get
more customer complaints than I did at Borders because
I can get down right snippy when the store is closing and
folks are loitering. Errrrrrr, shopping.

the pink paper is important

I'm a woman of few words, except when it comes to parking in SF.
Last week notthat over there had a post about the clunker parked
in front of his home and how it took up two spaces. Yes, I know,
the space in front of Casa Verde isn't really OUR exclusive parking
place, but sheeeeez, could we park there every once in a while?

I have three pet peeves:
1) people who only use their garages for storage and then park their
car(s) on the street. Get rid of your excess stuff. Donate.
2) families that have more than 2 cars ~ really irritating.
3) I hate the big monster SUVs. Hate them. Ban them.

So, SF has a web site now and we can print out our warnings!
This one reminds the driver that there is a 72 hour limit or they
could face a $75 fine. Much better than my old hand-written
"are you EVER going to move this huge, ugly SUV?" signs and
probably more effective.

(The link isn't working here today. Use Safari and
try www.sfmta.com/cms/penf/13444.html)

congratulations!

To Sonia Sotomayor, our newest Supreme Court Justice. She is
by no means a radical leftie (drat), but we know she will make
an impact. Here's to more women and minorities in positions
of power. (Hello, is this a recording?)

enough with the racist stuff

We watched Gran Torino the other night and I need to write it
down here as this blog is also my Dear Diary. It was violent, but
what bothered me most was all the racist name-calling. Yes,
I know it is a time and place thing, but I think they overdid
that a bit. There was, thankfully, less blood-and-bullets than
I expected and I did like the plot line and the next door neighbors.

how late it is...

I had to scurry this morning for an early meeting and my inner clock
isn't as "good" as it was when I worked for the big box. I like to post
in the morning, but I didn't even have time to open the MsBook
cover before I made my lunch (deviled ham wich), gobbled my
blueberries and picked up a fellow worker at 7:20 am.

OK, the photo here is from yesterday. One of the best things about
living in SF is that there always seems to be something to discover.
When I work up in the 9th floor Tower at the deYoung, customers
point to a nearby green hill and ask what it is. Our cheat sheet says
it's the Grand View Park and you can see that it is well named. If
you want to explore, it's 14th Avenue and Moraga Street. We
lucked out with a clear view and could see forever and beyond...

catching up with the kidlets

Here we have Neti and Frank's grand twins ~ Sam and Ben at 2 days old.

The adorable Kingston, Dancing Jen's nephew extraordinaire.

RR went to Disneyland last week and had a dinosaur painted on her face.

back to the fifties

I'm enjoying The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer who
also wrote The Confessions of Max Tivoli. The setting is the
Sunset District here in San Francisco and we have an innocent
and dutiful housewife and a mysterious husband. Then a
stranger...but I'm not there yet. Yes, it's in paperback now.

more fun from Great Britain

The Invisibles ~ two aging thieves retire to a fishing village, but find
that they miss the money and excitement of their former occupation.
From the Flix®, of course. Perfect after a busy day of retail. This was
a TV program so we have 3 discs to enjoy.

a city of foodies

There is a hot new restaurant in town and we joined the line last night
at 5:30 pm for dinner. Name? Flour + Water, so perhaps you can guess
that pasta and pizza are their main dinner choices. We did get a good
table for four (with Neti and Frank) and we were not disappointed.
We have watched this restaurant being built for (it seems) years at
20th and Harrison, across from Gratitude (which we don't care for).
Call us ingrates.

Flour + Water features a beautiful warm wooden interior with tables
not too close together and a high ceiling so we could actually hear
one another speak. Husbando and Frank started with sardines
which they loved, and I enjoyed my pear salad. Then I had pizza
and the others ordered different pastas and no one was even
a smidgen disappointed. We shared one pistachio dessert and
excellent coffee. The place was packed, but we didn't feel rushed
or crowded. We'll be back!

adoption in the old days

Yesterday a new friend at work asked me about being adopted
because she reads da blog here. I found this old daily write and
will add/subtract a word or two before publishing. This is from
2004, and after I wrote this piece the blogmaid tracked down
the book from E-bay (e-Bay?). How sweet is that?

My favorite book as a little girl was "The Chosen Baby". My parents used
to read it to me and then when I could read I still loved that book best.
It told me how I was so special because I was selected, whereas other
poor parents had to take whatever child popped out. My brother was
also adopted, but he never seemed interested in The Book.

Adopted children live in a fantasy world, I think, of finding their Real
Parents and living happily ever after. Mine lived in a villa in rural
France and spoke English, of course. They didn't give me away,
because I was way too lovable, but someone stole me out of that
regal nursery and took me to Baltimore, Md Then my adopted
aunt took me on a train to (of all places) Pasadena, Ca. This fantasy
nourished me throughout childhood. I understand that children with
Real Parents also harbor these make-believe parents, but mine
were more possible because I was a Chosen Baby.

After mother died, I did try to search for my birth parents. It was
before the internet, so the search came to a dead end. I did discover
that my mother's name was Catherine Carter, and for some reason,
that was enough for me. Doesn't sound very French, does it?

I wish I had some medical knowledge, but other than that I sort of like
the idea that I was adopted. There is a certain mystery. Today the
process is all very open and civilized with couples taking care of the
birth mother and staying in contact throughout life. No French villas,
no dramatic homecomings for little girls who had been abducted
when they were a week old

and now who's crazy?

For some reason I'm having trouble uploading a photo this morning
and I need to scamper, so I'll be all talk and no image. Pardon.

We went to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on Tuesday night
and loved it! Of course it had been decades since we saw the movie
and had never seen the play before, so this was a treat. Instead of
Jack Nicholson as McMurphy, we had Hansford Prince, a black
actor who was fabulous and Susi Damilano was Nurse Ratched
(Rat Shit) ~ she was excellent too.

Some things don't change too much since this was set in 1958.
A friend of mine was talking about someone she knows who has
to undergo electro-shock therapy. And of course society still
doesn't trust people who are "different" and we still fight "the
man", or at least we think about doing so when we have the
time/energy.

Great job, SF Playhouse. I urge you readers to attend, all though
I'm happy to report that it was sold out the night we went.

motion and emotion

There was hardly anyone in the exhibit rooms for the Richard Avedon
show at SF Moma yesterday morning at 10am. You'll want to see
this one! More than 200 photographs from his remarkable career,
including some of our old favorites: Marilyn Monroe, the guy with
bees all over him, fashion shots with elephants, etc. The crowds
seemed to be with Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams and I did
pop in there, but this (in my opinion) is the exhibit to behold.
Through Nov. 29th, but don't dawdle.

summertime (elsewhere)

The blogmaid and family are down in Southern California, a place we
sophisticated SF citizens make fun of, yet I have to admit this pool
play looks delightful to me. I believe that purple swim toy is a Croc®.
Is it not? RR spent hours in this pool yesterday. Yeah!

Last night was a closing of the museum stores for me and by the time
I left, the fog here was so heavy that Ken and I had to use the wipers.
But today I'm off and we'll bundle up and go downtown to another
museum. The Richard Avedon exhibit at SF Moma is supposed to
be terrific.

talk about rumpled

The Fevered Brain convinced me to give Wallander a try again on PBS.
And yes, she's right, it gets better and better. I could almost smell
Kenneth Branagh who hadn't eaten, slept or bathed in days as he
tracked down the ruthless killer. Sunday nights...tune in.

who could ask for a better wedding?

On the path from the parking lot to the "chapel"

Before the ceremony

We all had a wonderful time yesterday down at The Family Farm, a
private oasis in Portola Valley. Perfect, perfect weather ~ not too warm
and no wind. The bride and groom stood at the altar as the sun
filtered through those amazing redwood trees. (We didn't get lost
on the way down and only once on the way home.)

There was a long cocktail hour and we enjoyed chatting with new and
old friends. Dinner for 150 people is usually not too exciting, but our
steaks were really quite good and we sat with some v. interesting
and charming people. Husbando remembered how to knot his tie
and of course we all said and received, "you haven't changed at all",
to people we hadn't seen in 20 or so years.

The bride and groom are absolutely delightful people and will be
moving here from NYC in the fall. Congratulations to Jessica and John!

big wedding weekend

Jessica, the daughter of our friends (John and Mary) is getting
married today and last night was a cocktail party here at the
Fairmont Hotel. Even in the fog the city was stunning and of
course we found a parking spot on California Street, a half block
from this glorious old hotel on Mason. I love old hotels.

In one of those cruel twists of fate, Mary's mother died yesterday
morning, so her family's side was easily identified by their red eyes
and stunned looks. The Circle of Life and all of that, but still a
rough time during a beautiful weekend. I'll take the camera today
and be another unofficial photographer. The wedding is in Portola
Valley and people in the know say it will be sunny there today.

herding cats

Over the years at Tiapos (our writing group ~ This is a Piece of Shit),
I have become the "let's get going" bossy broad who gets the folks
to finally sit down and start the reading/commenting process. It
used to be because I had to be at the big box (where I no longer get
a discount) at 6am, but now it's like they are all waiting for me to
do a little not-so-gentle pushing to get everyone to sit down.

It was one fine evening with everyone in attendance and we even
enjoyed the company of Suzy Parker. All the pieces and songs
were terrific (as usual), but I have a touch of SF irony here. My
piece was about my street here in Bernal Heights and how the only
real negative is the parking situation. A short daily write that I
will fill-in with 3 more sentences per sentence (I promise) for
the next meeting in two weeks.

I got home about 10:30pm and there was a car parked across
our driveway. I called Husbando (who knows all cars, even
their brand names!) and he said it belonged to one of the
neighbors next door in The International House of Women.
I climbed up their stairs and rang the doorbell. The woman
who answered (and thank God for that) was hugely sorry and
asked me how her car got there. WTF? But she moved it
quickly and I calmed down over tea and my novel before
sleep. It ain't easy, this city life.

nothing plus nothing = nada

Today is one of those days when I have the time, the reason and
even the prompt (Success!) to write. Tonight is our delightful
writing group, for heaven's sake, and we even have a full house.
But I can't think of a thing to say, I've said IT ALL and not very
well, in my own valuable opinion.

I went to yoga and I feel calm. I was agitated earlier because of
the stupid Blue Dog Democrats and that horrible feeling that
we might miss our One Chance to reform this miserable health
care system in the USA. I sent DiFi an email and she didn't
respond. The nerve.

OK, the page is no longer blank. I will do my Round Robin
daily write and I will remember that my job is to put fingers
to keyboard and stop the whining. Write, woman, write...

shop and bleach

Yesterday I went to Stonestown (an icky SF mall) to buy some work
slacks that are on sale at Nordie's. Success. Then I wandered around
the mall to see what is new and right there, in front of God and the
whole world, was a tooth whitening kiosk. A circle unit with 4 chairs,
each with a TV. Young men in white were helping customers and I
succumbed. I have been tempted to have my teeth whitened over
the years, but could never bring myself to spend $500 or invest in
the time it takes. But what the hey, this cost me $75 and I was out
of there in 1/2 hour, with a coupon for a free follow-up bleach in a
month or so. It's called the Wowsmilexpress.

They make a mold and fill it with bleach and you watch TV for 10
minutes with an infrared (I think) device on your mouth. There was
a tingle afterward, but this morning my teeth and gums feel fine
as I drink my forbidden, problem-causing, delicious coffee.

Do I have the whitest teeth in America? No, but I do think that they
are maybe a shade or two whiter and I'm glad I did this impulsive
thing, which is so unlike me, as you may have deduced through
this blog.

day off with fog & kids

Once again, just from this pose, we can see into the future.
RR and her friend Pablo don't even realize that it's
45º below zero down at the beach.

And here is Dancing Jen's nephew, Kingston. She reports that he's even
better looking than this photo ~ yes, that's hard to imagine.

We're still waiting for the boy twin pictures to arrive.

The closing was semi-smooth last night. One register was $40
over, but someone will find out what happened in the cool,
clean light of today, I'm sure.

a night in the park

I figure that some photographer wanted me to highlight her/his lovely
photo of Golden Gate Park at night. Thank you Flickr®. Tonight is my
first official "close" at the DeYoung. I've opened and closed the Legion,
opened the DY and tonight will be a bit more difficult with additional
cash register balancing, closing reports, etc. But not to worry, there are
lots of guards around and I won't have to deal with shoeless people
carrying wounded sparrows or talking to imaginary friends and enemies.

you called, mother?

Here is the imposing matriarch, Isabella Adena Hunter Williams.
This photo actually has a date. May, 1959. Dressed for church, of
course. You remember that Daddy's photo was also from back
here by the garage. I guess it was deemed "good light" or some such
thing. Mother (and Daddy) hailed from McKeesport, PA and they
loved Pasadena, California the way I love SF.

She was always Mother. Never mama or mommy. She came from
money and married a man who worked in the steel mills. Starting
to get the picture? Women didn't work outside the home in those
days, but she could have run several big companies. Instead she
had three people to over-worry about: my father with his bad
heart and the two adopted children. There were many screaming
scenes with the mother vs. bad boy brother and I would run and
hide in my bedroom with a pillow over my head. Of course today
I crave quiet and solitude the way others seek the social life.

Isabella and I did "make peace" (and thanks for the soothing
comment about the bro, Cute and Creepy) before she died. Not a
smooth and perfect peace, but a few "I love yous". Here was a
woman with more energy than almost anyone I've ever met,
she could not sit still (nor stop talking) until she slept, fitfully,
of course. The irony of this ultra active woman dying paralyzed
from ALS was a bit too cruel, don't you agree?

But wait. The good news. After my father died Isabella married
a sweet man (family friend) and she was HAPPY. A new woman
emerged. She laughed, we talked on the phone every Sunday
morning, she stopped worrying about us for a few unbelievable
years. Oh, and I should mention that she too loved my Husbando,
even though she had only met one other Jew before. She died
in 1976, and they had the audacity to show me a red/white/blue
Bicentennial casket. And yes, she was a conservative Republican.

let's stock up on books!

I stopped by my new bookstore (Books, Inc. on Market) to say
howdy to my friend Ken, and to buy some new QPs. Quality
Paperbacks, but you knew that. The blogmaid, Boise and I
will love this one because it's all about plural marriages, the
Mormon faith and Big L-U-V. I think it's highly Muni-worthy.
The 19th Wife is a novel by David Ebershoff, "as chilling as
it is entertaining", says the NY Daily News.

the car, the movie, the lazy one

The sun is out, The Fevered Brain has her new Smart Car (red)
and here I sit in slug mode, fooling around on the computer.
Time to move, woman!

We feature this DVD out at the Legion often and I have trouble
paying attention to customers when it is playing. The Rape of
Europa is a documentary about the Nazis stealing thousands
of pieces of art from Poland, France and Italy. It is another
shocking visual description of that horrible war. Then towards
the end (of the war and the movie) my beloved Florence is
seen after the Nazis left ~ they bombed the beautiful bridges
and monuments, leaving rubble and destruction. I borrowed
the DVD from a fellow worker so Husbando and I could watch
it from beginning to end. It should be shown in every high
school art and history class, less we ever forget...

huuuuumus anyone?

Michael often mentions that there is no falafel to be found in
either Santa Barbara or Whittier, where he usually hangs out, so
last night I introduced him to TGP's discovery, The Old Jerusalem.
It was the first time I'd been there for dinner and they were
busy (!) and since Michael has lived in many foreign lands, I
asked him to order for me. Yum. Lentil soup, salad, gooey dips
with pita bread, chicken and more.

welcome, boys!

No photos yet, but Neti and Frank's grandtwins were born in
Sacramento yesterday. Ben and Sam are a little underweight,
so they'll be in hospital for a few days longer than usual.
The mothers (Nicole and Gwen) are doing fine ~ happy and
relieved, as are the grandparents. Double congrats to
everyone, all very exciting!

I know, you need pictures. Soon.

a true summer day

Bad photo of cute dog playing in the sprinklers in Precita Park.

Heat wave! The museums were both closed yesterday, so everyone had
a day off while they cleaned and painted, freshened and straightened.
Husbando and I walked to lunch in the nabe and spent 10 minutes
watching this adorable black dog play in the sprinklers. Of course I
couldn't get a good photo, but he had a great time and was soaking
wet when his owner finally convinced him that it was time to go home.

We both had burgers (stuffed with blue cheese and scallions) at the
BBQ place. And yes, we recommend the restaurant and will try the
ribs next time. So nice to see so much sun.

My friend Michael is here from Santa Barbara, so we had (iced)
coffee and talked for a couple of hours, catching-up on this/that.

back to memory lane

Here we have my brother, Evan Hunter Williams. I guess this was
maybe the late Fifties, and we can see the James Dean influence. I
guess Evan was hiding the cigarette somewhere, hoping to escape
mother's lecture. We were never close, perhaps because we were
both adopted, but in my heart I know there was more to it than that.

Evan died in 1998, from bladder cancer. He refused to have a simple
operation when it was diagnosed, and like most of us he died as he
lived. Stubborn.

He was a year older than I am and about the only thing we had in
common was that we both loved to read. His wife said that when he
was dying he re-read the books I had sent him over the years. Evan
was a great and devoted father to his three children ~ one of my
big regrets is that we never "made peace" before he died.

This family history stuff exhausts me. I wonder why...

sunset over my city

It was one of those red and gold evenings.

I took these photos from our back deck and of course they don't
really show you how truly spectacular the sunset was. In the
bottom photo you can barely see Twin Peaks, the fog was much
redder than shown in the picture.

Yesterday was another Saturday off (not like the big box!) and
after yoga I didn't do too much of anything. Today is work, but
I am raring to go after so much pleasant relaxing. The Giants
are on quite a roll ~ could this be another exciting year for them
and for us? So unexpected.

where were you?

When Jonathan Sanchez pitched the rare no-hitter last night?
Why watching Blue Murder (Set 1 of 3), a superior British
TV crime series from our friends at Flix®. Somehow the Brits
do these strong-women DCI dramas waaaaaay better then
the Americans. In any event, sorry about missing the game,
but we highty recommend this DVD with Caroline Quentin as
the pregnant single mother of 3 shero. Gritty, as they say.

my work world, with photos

Here is the glamorous employee entrance.

Everyday the ocean shimmers in a different way.
After being inside all day, my lungs
crave the indescribably wonderful salty sea air.
How DO people live away from an ocean?
Lucky, lucky us.

my days at the palace

Actually, I go in the employee side door out by the many dumpsters,
so I forget how beautiful it is here. Our back office is old and messy
and right now we aren't very busy. There were only two of us working
yesterday and I have my sandwich inside, so I can be there if needed.
But then when it's quitting time and I go out past security, past the
trash bins ~ the Pacific Ocean and the cool breezes practically knock
me over with the beauty, the light, the cool clean air. Even though I'm
in a hurry to get home, I stop for a moment to breathe deeply and
admire this glorious location. Now it's time for me to tour the art
again, too, I tend to forget about that...

thirty years later

The deYoung put on a party for the employees last night and we
were impressed, even those of us who didn't expect to be. Each
employee was given 4 tickets and I lucked out with the 6pm
time slot, so we had lots of time and space to enjoy all the
treasures. Then they served excellent Middle Eastern food and
provided music up in Wilsey Court. (My camera was at home. Sigh.)

Our friends Neti and Frank joined us because we had gone to
the first Tut exhibit together back in 1979. It seemed only right
to repeat the process since we all have different memories of
that first ever museum blockbuster event. I've talked to so
many customers who enjoyed both exhibits ~ lucky me!