finally I get to Emerald City!

What a treat ~ Wicked on St. Pat's Day! I was trying to find a photo
showing all the green, but this will do. I met my friend Patrice at
The Metropol on Sutter and we had too much food, so we walked
down to 8th and Market and spent the afternoon with Glinda, Fiyero,
Boq and Elphaba. I most certainly recommend this fabulous
production ~ my blogmaid friend and RR have seen it twice and
I can understand why. It's long, the first act was about 2 hours and
another hour for the second act, but there is so much energy and
fun that the afternoon flew by. I especially loved the flying monkeys
and the scene when they arrive in Emerald City. It's one of those
plays that is meant for both kids and adults ~ different levels of
humor and sorrow and happiness. Yes, go and go soon.

a walk at Crissy Field

Who could ever tire of this?

New building with classrooms and a small cafe.

My friend Ginger and I have been walking here for more than 20
years. The natural habitat area is growing by leaps and bounds and
yesterday the sun was out and everyone was delighted to be outside
walking after so much rain this past winter. Since I'm in knee-
protection mode my friend slowed down to accommodate me, so
we had lots of time (and lattes) to discuss everything and everyone.

Husbando joined us for lunch at Eric's and then Ginger headed back
to the East Bay, vowing never to drive again from there to here, if
she could manage that. Two hours yesterday morning due to a
BART snafu. Yikes.

Today is lunch and Wicked with my friend Patrice. I am loving
my extra days off this week!

mondays with livvy

Yesterday was most likely my final outing with Mistress J's pooch. It
has been 4 (or 5?) weeks and we have gradually gotten used to each
other on our Monday afternoon walks. The first time she pulled me
into the Bernal Beast pet store was a real surprise, but by now I know
that she starts thinking about it two or three blocks away. Olivia is
such a gentle dog, so different from our days with the Irish Setter
when every walking moment was filled with tension because, though
not very bright, he did love to growl and confront other dogs, lift
his leg on expensive bikes, try to trip us with his leash, etc. I did find
with Livvy, that I slowed way down for an hour and was able to match
my step to hers. Easy does it, look for the little joys along the way.
Ah yes, smell the flowers.

Finally I had coffee with Mistress J and I'm thrilled to report that
she looks terrific. She's back. We had such a nice chat. Thanks, Jane.

they tempt me too!

OH NO, NOT AGAIN! (the prompt)

Well, I think this is the perfect time and place to discuss exclamation
points, don't you? I am one of those writers who would overuse them,
if given the chance. It's the first thing I do when I go back and reread
an email or a piece of my work. Remove, remove, remove. Not
everything is quite so exciting, Ms. Stein. You are allowed one per
email and that's it. (I was going to use one in that previous sentence,
but now I can't because I gave you the One Rule and I'll probably
need the exclamation point later.)

One of my friends gets emails from her mother and she forwards them
to me and they are packed full of them. Not just the single, but lots of
doubles and triples, which don't tempt me unless I am making fun of
someone or something, but that isn't nice. Here is an example of
her mother's writing:

We landed in London yesterday and had to wait two hours for the bus!!!
We had jet lag last night and your father still snored enough to keep me
awake all night!! Today we are meeting our friends that we met in
Tunisia, remember Edgar and Betty Bumgarden? She's the one who
insists on wearing that stupid red hat and purple scarf!!! I just looked
out the hotel room window and it looks like rain!

My friend isn't exactly close to her brother, but when they email each
other they overuse mom's exclamation points and I think that's rather
amusing.

I managed to get through this whole write without a serious need to
exclaim. But it wasn't easy...

for fans of our elusive Ellen

OPEN THE BOX (the prompt)

The daily round robin write, with a nod to that Lord of The Rings
author (you'll see):

There was a package on her front porch when Ellen returned
home from yoga. No UPS or USPS or Fed Ex labels or stamps,
so she guessed that it had been hand delivered. It was bulky
but not heavy, "probably not a bomb," Ellen murmured to
Salmon her big orange cat.

First some coffee. The yoga made her mellow and she had a
busy day of sleuthing ahead, so she boiled the water for her
little Melita® funnel and changed into her detective jeans.
These were comfortable with a waist band that didn't leave
angry red stripes after sitting in her car or following Keith
on foot. She would wear her navy blue blazer for a more
professional look that might be needed when interviewing
hotel clerks, librarians and/or retail workers. Shoes were always a
problem, she'd need to take two pair, but she'd start with the comfy
New Balance® first and throw the Dansko® sandals in her car.

She packed up the tape recorder and camera and then sat down with
her black coffee to open the box. Salmon climbed up on her lap and
helped by pawing the paper from time to time. The address label was
computer-generated, no hint of anyone's handwriting. As she removed
the plain brown paper, Ellen could see that it was the distinctive teal
blue Tiffany box and inside, neatly arranged by index cards with dates
were photographs, hundreds of photographs. It seemed like the
entire life of her missing sister Laurel, from the time she was a babe
in hospital to just recently when she was at the Noe Valley Library
watching Ellen grumble over the poor selection of fiction choices.

Laurel lives!

season #5 of Weeds

Sheeeesh, these half hour episodes fly by. We watched two
Weeds last night and we're quickly back into the crazy life of
our gentle drug lord Nancy Botwin and her family, friends,
lover and travels in California and Mexico. The youngest son
is growing up way too fast, and Husbando asked, "are you
sure that's the same kid?" We did that with The Sopranos
too. That part is just like real life.

more about that war

Last night we rented HBO's Into the Storm featuring Brendan
Gleeson as Churchill and my favorite Janet McTeer as Clemmie.
If ever a man was born for leading The Brits to victory, it was
Winston ~ his wife endured it all, but we see how much she
hated the whole thing. To me, the best part was when they
attended the Noel Coward play after Winston was defeated in
his bid to be Prime Minister post-war. A new social order
was emerging and and no room for his old thinking.
From the Flix®.

Nice lunch with Ken at Starbelly ~ sitting outside! Catching
up with sun and chisme.

SF is good to and for vets

Beautiful view...

Part of the huge VA Hospital complex

Battle of the Bulge trail down to Legion of Honor parking area

Yesterday I finally walked the 5 minutes from where I park to take
the easy trail up to the VA Hospital where I had lunch. Not great
food, but terrific prices ~ big sandwich and a Coke® for $4.75.
The whole area is always packed, but the cafeteria is organized
well and I took my lunch outside to enjoy this spectacular view.

Spring is definitely in the air here in Frisco and I so appreciated
the view and I saluted all the vets milling around and vowed to
return here often for a different perspective.

scalping can be fun?

The blogmaid gave Inglorious Basterds to Husbando, so I had
plenty of time to avoid watching it since we weren't in a hurry
to return it to the Flix®. I knew it was bloody and the whole
WW II horror still gives me nightmares, but I wanted to see
why Christopher Waltz won best supporting actor last Sunday
night. Well, surprise ~ I loved it and I even think I'll watch it
again. Bill was there to tell me when to cover and open my
eyes, so that really helped.

Not only was Christopher Waltz wonderful, I so enjoyed Brad
Pitt with his hillbilly persona. My favorite scene was when the
guy comes out of the tunnel with...well, some of you haven't
seen it, but the sound effects are impressive. It takes place in
occupied France, but I'm sure you knew that. See it!

a little poem to cheer you

Bitter Pill

A bitter pill
doesn’t need
to be swallowed
to work. Just
reading your name
on the bottle
does the trick.

Kay Ryan

the good olde days

(photo borrowed from the internet)

I was in a "how come I have to work on a beautiful Sunday?" kind
of funk yesterday morning until Mistress Jane wrote that she
liked my daily write. My whole day got better, so here you go:

IN THE FREEZER

We've kept a big freezer in our garage since the beginning of time. A
vertical kind, not one of those long horizontal mothers wherein people
find dead bodies in the movies. We also have a second refrigerator
down there where we keep extra cold stuff that we buy at Costco,
plus some fake beer, fruit juice and eggs.

But let's attack the freezer this morning. I wonder if Bill remembers
the days when we had to defrost the freezer? Oh, that was fun ~
removing everything and then getting out the hair dryer, pots and
pans of scalding hot water and listening for the big ice chunks to
drop after about an hour or so. Oh yes, we'd also go in with dull
knives and try to chip away, chip away. Good lord, what a
waste of a day that was. And a mess, of course.

Yes, we've come a long way with appliances, in many respects. On
the other hand, a friend was telling us about her rather new stove
and how it's computer-based now and the repair bill for something
small was $700. It brings to mind the new cars and Toyota and
how many of us think the gas pedal problems are somehow
computer-related and what a hornet's nest that can be.

This write makes me want to hold on to both our stove and our
2000 Toyota with the manual roll-up windows and gas pedal
that doesn't have a mind of its own.

big box reflections

I'm still an avid reader of the Borders web site by and for
employees (and hated by management) and that's how I
know that they just endured another round of layoffs. I
still have emotional ties to the big box and reams of daily
writes about my experiences there. Even though the
company limps along, they are shedding their older
employees and trying to exist with mostly part-time
workers who don't get those expensive benefits. When
I first started working there they wanted only FT people
because we would be the most dedicated. How times
change in such a short time (9 years).

My move to the museums was the right thing to do.
At the end of Tut (3/28) my contract will be up, but I
might be asked to stay on for The Impressionists.
We'll see, I don't want to get my hopes up. In the
meantime, we've tucked a lot of money away for the
rainy days and I've made some terrific new friends.
It's been a fabulous experience, so please tell me
why do I still miss the insanity of my Borders life?

we will not be silent

We are gearing up for International Women's Day on March 8th.
I've been a Feminist for decades and even though I see a lot of
backward sliding, all in all things have improved dramatically.
When I was growing up I never saw a woman bus driver, dentist,
senator, doctor or lawyer. Now there are role models for young
girls and choices galore. Back in the dark days there were 4
choices: housewife (#1), teacher, librarian, secretary. It was
a screwy time and recently one of my round robin partners
(in her 30s, I guess) wrote about how we had spoiled it for her
generation because she had to work at a boring job and she
could be married, raising darling children and having a loving
relationship with a devoted husband. Oh no, that wasn't the
way it worked ~ go watch Revolutionary Road again.

new book awaits!

I popped into Books, Inc. yesterday to give some daffodils to
my friend Ken and to pick up Cutting For Stone which is
finally out in trade paperback. My friend Susan (and lesser
professional reviewers) recommended this novel which is
about orphaned twin brothers born of a secret union.
The author is Abraham Verghese who is a professor at
the Stanford University School of Medicine.

now let's be honest

Love Ricky Gervais? Me too, but this movie is just plain not
very good. It's about an impossible world where everyone
tells the truth and Ricky discovers how easy and productive
it is to lie. So even with the Netflix, my suggestion to you
is to skip this movie and catch this genius on The Daily Show.

meet Mr. Patchen

There is a tiny exhibit at the Legion of Honor that impresses
me far more than Cartier. Kenneth Patchen was an artist and
poet (1911 - 1972) and I had never heard of him. I LOVE his
work and I urge you to pop in downstairs, next to the cafe
(you can visit the stores and cafe for free!) and enjoy this
little exhibit. Here is something I wrote down to remember
him by:

Everyman is me, I am his brother. No man is my enemy.
I am Everyman and he is in and of me.

This is my faith, my strength, my deepest hope and my
only belief.
-Kenneth Patchen

saved by Mary in Bisbee!

We have had record winter rains and snow and all are looking forward to a wonderful spring with wild flowers. The old timers say that we will see a profusion of wildflowers whose seeds have been waiting to bloom for years. The mountains have been covered in snow all winter. So, inspite of the unusual cold weather, it is quite beautiful. The tourists have started arriving for the great bird migration. Because of the cold weather, the winter birds are still here, the ones who stay here all the time are around, the ones who nest here are beginning to arrive, and the migration has begun with a trickle. Soon all of Cochise county will be filled with bird song. A friend came down from Tucson and wanted to climb the mountain in Old Bisbee where folks have built altars. It was quite arduous, but we made it. A very strange place. When I lived in Old Bisbee, my house was just below that area. and I would occasionally hike up there. There are large permanent grottoes (how did they get the materials up this steep mountain?), but people also leave small mementos and little bits of glass and beads tucked among the rocks. The trees are draped with those Tibetan prayer flags called 'wind horses'. It's a living process. And as a result the area breathes human hope

but not for me...

Husbando and the rest of the audience appreciated Bertolt
Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle far more than I did
last night. My favorite actors were in this play: Rene Augesen,
Anthony Fusco, Rod Gnapp, Gregory Wallace, Jack Willis
and the entire cast was terrific. Plays like this make me
feel really dumb and unsophisticated and I'm ready for a
dose of Big Love tonight. Now THAT I can understand.

better than his first!

I took the rare Saturday off yesterday specifically so we could
go to this 5pm show at the Marsh. This is Dan Hoyle, son of
the clever and wonderful Bay Area performer Geoff Hoyle
and his The Real Americans is based on his 3 month trip
to small-towns down South and in the Midwest. Dan becomes
the people he meets, men and women who are angry and
disillusioned, not thrilled with our President or Congress.
We both actually liked this better than 'Tings Dey Happen
which ended up in New York. We predict the same for this
90-minute play, but we hope it stays here longer so more
people can see it. It is supposed to close March 6th...

that parade again

I have memories of working at the big box on the Saturday of the
Chinese New Year's Day parade. Oh hell, oh agony. Thankfully
I never had to close, but the "customers" would start lining up
at the windows early on in the day. They would find chairs from
God-knows-where and drag out our books and magazines and
their own food as they sat patiently waiting for the festivities.
Now, that I don't have to worry about my job there, I can tell
you that I had many visions of dropping huge stacks of books
on their heads as I walked behind them, suggesting that they
might want to put their shoes back on and pleading with them
to pick up their trash. And the bathrooms? Don't ask.

I do like tigers, however, and am still grieving for the one that
was shot down at the SF Zoo. Like the animal did anything
wrong ~ RIP Tatiana.

more street art

(thanks to Patrice for this fun stuff!)

Great Crevase Edgar Mueller. Hard work: Together with up
to five assistants, Mueller painted all day long from sunrise
to sunset. The picture appeared on the East Pier in Dun
Laoghaire, Ireland, as part of the town's Festival of World Cultures

He spent five days, working 12 hours a day, to create the 250 square metre image of the crevasse, which, viewed from the correct angle, appears to be 3D. He then persuaded passers-by to complete the illusion by pretending the gaping hole was real. 'I wanted to play with positives and negatives to encourage people to think twice about everything they see,' he said. 'It was a very scary scene, but when people saw it they had great fun playing on it and pretending to fall into the earth. '
I like to think that later, when they returned home, they might reflect more on what a frightening scenario it was and say, "Wow, that was actually pretty scary"...'


Mueller, who has previously painted a giant waterfall in Canada, said he was inspired by the British 'Pavement Picasso' Julian Beever, whose dramatic but more gentle 3D street images have featured in the Daily Mail.

not gone, not forgotten

I still write about Ellen 2 or 3 times a week in Round Robin.
Here is one from last week:

DISGUISED

If Ellen was going to find her sister, she needed to consider
a disguise. She knew she'd be sitting a long time in the car,
And, no coffee that day! She didn't want to be distracted by
the need to pee. That would be the first hurdle, a day
without coffee.

First the car. Something innocuous like maybe a black Honda
would work, but she knew she couldn't stand something on her
head for more than 20 minutes. Maybe a basic sun hat, could
she tolerate that? Dark color, floppy over her eyes which
would be covered with big sunglasses. Did she need a new
camera? A smaller one? Probably.

Then she remembered her old Radio Shack tape recorder. That
would certainly work, better and easier than taking notes if
she was drivingand following Keith or Laurel or Aaron or
that damn white van ~ whoever or whatever needed her sleuthing
on any given day.

For the umpteenth time Ellen was glad that she took Keith's $500,000
check which allowed her to rent the car and feed her big orange cat,
Salmon. And she had used the money to pay off all of her outstanding
bills and put some in her Orange Savings Account for emergencies.
She still had lots of money to work with. She was determined to find
her sister and for that she could wear a hat for 8 hours at a time,
if necessary.

pins and kneedles

Acupuncture used to be considered exotic in Western medicine, but
now it seems commonplace. Nonetheless, I had never tried it. On
Monday I went for my first treatment for my knees and they already
feel better. It took about 1/2 hour with a needle in each elbow (a
little ouch here that goes away quickly) and 4 (I think) in each knee,
these did not hurt at all, but I couldn't bring myself to look at any
of them. Squeamish? Oh, yes. About 15 minutes later a Chinese
herb was warmed and held over each knee ~ it smells rich and
musty and felt so soothing. The acupuncturist warned that my
knees might feel worse for a day, but in fact they felt better at
once. Part of the joy was Jamie's no nonsense attitude and total
belief that my knee pain would be gone after a few sessions.

On Monday afternoon I walked some hills with my terrier girl
friend Olivia and, believe it or not, NO knee pain! I'm a believer
already ~ why did I wait so long?

climbing, climbing

For his 70th b.day, our friend Philipp wanted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
and his wife didn't. He took their two kids, both in their twenties. To
prepare he started long city walks, including an 8 hour trek once a
week. He was never particularly physical before, but for the last year
or so he has concentrated on this incomparable mountain in Tanzania.
We watched a special on TV last week about the mountain and how it
is changing and how maybe the glaciers will be gone in 5 years.

On Sunday I had this great e-mail from his wife Gini:

Philipp and Peter and Victoria have just climbed down the mountain
and Ph will be home next weekend. They all made it to the top.
He just told me "you said I was crazy,well, you were right." !!!!

way far from Japantown

It's a hot new Japanese Restaurant at 21st and Mission, of all
places. Last night 12 of us from work gathered to say sayonara
to a young woman who is now a waitress at Nombe. We had
such fabulous food ~ things I never would have ordered:
pork belly, butternut squash tempura, calamari, blood
orange salad, chicken wings with honey, rice cakes, salted
salmon and more. So good that I'll be taking Husbando
back one of these nights. Easy, free street parking, too.

loving the big apple

New York, I Love You is a companion film to Paris, je t'aime
which was so wonderful. Not every story is fabulous, but most
of them are so delightful that it gets the coveted RENT IT NOW
Commano approval. Included in the great cast: Julie Christie,
James Caan, Ethan Hawke, Chris Cooper and many more. My
favorite vignette featured Christina Ricci, you'll see...

visit Valparaiso with Doug and Barb!

The Great Plotniks have traveled from Santiago to Valparaiso, Chile
this past week. His blog is terrific and I love seeing things that I
wouldn't proabably ever have a chance to know about. I direct my
readers to his wonderful travel adventures now: Plotniks.

identity theft, deafness, words

I bought Talk Talk yesterday as a reward for finally getting the
H1N1 shot and because we had just read a short story by T.C.
Boyle in the New Yorker. He's a fine writer and the blurbs on
the back cover were intriguing. Plus, I'm so ready for a new read...

tear out his eyes

Oedipus el Rey at the Magic Theatre tells the son-loves-mother story
once again, but this time it takes place in the barrio, maybe just a few
blocks away in the Mission District. The Greek Chorus (coro) are four
hip hoppin' Chicanos and the main character is a young man named
Joshua Torrez from Chicago and he really IS the play. Fabulous
acting and dancing and the stage set is one of those where they do
so much with so little. Very clever. It's a 90 minute one act play and
you'll stay wide awake the entire time. Lovely guitar music too.

our newest writer

This delightful paragraph was in my yesterday's morning email
from our blogmaid:

One of the things I gave RR for Valentine's Day was a
little notebook with a kitty on the front -- from that
Japanese store I went to with Linda. She put it under
her pillow last night, along with a flashlight and pen,
and told me that when I left the room she was going to
write in it. She fell asleep before I left, so I moved
the items over to her bedside shelf, but in the
middle of the night (3 am) I heard sounds coming
from the monitor, and I went in to check on her and
she was sitting up in bed, writing in her
notebook with the flashlight. It was beyond cute.

a restaurant with many lives

Last night Bill treated me to Valentine's dinner here at Beretta on
23rd and Valencia. It's been many different restaurants over the
years, but this is an Italian theme with variations. Great food and
service, but a little noisy and we felt out of it because we weren't
checking our iPhones and texting throughout dinner. You get my
drift. He had oso bucco risotto and brussel sprouts, a salad and
thinly sliced multi-salami for me. A very nice waiter who admired
our tiny bright Fine Arts Museum flashlights that we needed in
order to read the menu. A lovely evening, too much food = not
such great sleep.

King Tut was sold out yesterday at the deYoung. It was a rough
day because we were short staffed and I rushed around covering
breaks and lunches and that was it. No tasks got done, too bad.

ever been to Nepenthe?

It's this glorious restaurant in Big Sur that overlooks the ocean,
the mountains and the world. We spent a lot of time there in the
seventies and the granddaughter of the owner wrote a memoir/
cookbook and I gave it to Husbando for Valentine's Day. The
photos are fabulous and recipes, though very basic, will certainly
be usable from time to time. But really, the memories are the
best and one picture features "our chairs" where we used to sit
and talk, eat and drink and just be. So lovely.

valentine's day 2005 & 2010

It's been five years ago today since we went to NYC, and here I thought
it was last Thursday. We had such a fabulous time despite the rain and
snow and tiny apartment with that uncomfortable bed and dicey shower.
A fabulous trip and we both loved New York even more after that. The
Central Park Christo Extravaganza was unforgettable, what a thrill!

Husbando gives me a long (for him) love note on V. Day and this one
included an invitation to dinner Monday night. He isn't up yet, but
I have decided to accept his offer. Like most women with significant
others I like Valentine's Day, but I understand how single people
think it's a crock of shit. But love in any form beats anything else
that I can think of today. Even retail.

thanks, Mr. Z

This will be Husbando's Valentine gift tomorrow. Mr. Z in Cleveland
managed to get it into print form again and I sent it to Kinko's and
now we have 2009 all wrapped up and ready for the hearts & flowers
Sunday. It's thinner than the two previous years which probably means
that I am becoming even MORE succinct, if possible.

My Round Robin writing partner this week is Chef P who is also in our
Tiapos group. We know so much about each other now and I find my
writing freer and more personal than it usually is. Today I wrote about
my mother who was born in February and died in February. From age
12 on I could never remember her birthday, and now I can't remember
her exact death date either. We punished each other, yes we did. On
the other hand, I know the exact dates of my dear father's birth and
death. Ah, something to cause me a little stress today? I think not...

did you say Argentina?

Thud. It's tomorrow that The Great Plotniks leave for a l-o-n-g
trip to Chile and Argentina. So soon they'll be gone for more
than a month. Already SF seems like a larger and lonelier
place. We expect the daily post in his blog, but if not, lots of
emails and I will post them here, there and everywhere. Have
a fabulous trip and we'll see you in March. Adios, amigos!

backing up in style

Cute as a button, no? It's my new OWC Mercury thingie and
The Total Mac man already installed it and backed up all the
very, very important stuff here on my newish computer.
I have never used the Time Machine feature, but he showed
me how and, of course, like everything Apple, it is easy as
pie. This looks big and imposing, but it's actually much smaller
than a 2-slice toaster and I'm greatly relieved that I have it.
I appreciate notthat's gentle nudge and Mistress Jane recently
wrote about how it saved her life when her computer crashed.
This hard drive cost $150.00, by the way, and I'm feeling smug.

Andrew also cleaned up msMacBook and the problem seemed
to be some silly thing that I downloaded that I do NOT need.
Things are copacetic technology-wise here at Casa Verde.

poetry in february

I used to include more poems in commano than I have lately.
Not just for "fill", but because it's wonderful when writers
can say so much in a few very well-chosen words. These are
from the Dec. 8th Panorama Book Review which I'm still
reading and enjoying.

THE CLOUDY VASE

Past time, I threw the flowers out,
washed out the cloudy vase.
How easily the old clearness
leapt, like a practiced tiger, back inside it.
-Jane Hirshfield

A ROOMLESS DOOR

I walked past a house
I walked past a house I heard weeping
I walked past my father's house I heard weeping
It sounded like a roomless door, a piano's 89th key
-Jane Hirshfield

today's animation

Waltz with Bashir is the story of director Ari Folman trying
to recapture some memories of his service in the Israeli army
back in the 80's during the Lebanese war. I thought, "well,
it's only a cartoon, it won't really bother me." Wrong again.
It is vivid and upsetting and brutal. I wish I hadn't watched
it before bed, but I'm glad I saw it.

(Msbook2 is still in hospital, but msBook1 here is doing an
adequate job, except for things like downloading, etc. I'm
buying the back-up thingie that notthat recommended and
doing so before I lock the horse out of the closet. Yeah!)

a breeding ground

It's called The Marsh because it's a breeding ground for new
performers and it's one of our favorite little theaters nearby on
Valencia and 22nd in our nabe, where a cup of coffee still costs
$1.00. Last night we missed the end of the Superbowl Game to
see Ann Randolph's LOVELAND ~ a 70 minute one woman show
about her mother, her mother's death, life and the kindness of
strangers. It's funny and sad at the same time ~ the man next to
me brought out his clean white hanky. I loved that, of course.
Imagine ~ it was sold out last night and her show has been
extended until April. Ann is one v. talented writer and actress.

sunday's round robin write

MAKE A LIST, GIVE IT A TITLE

Oh, I do love the lists. I usually don't title them. I always have one
running in the kitchen in "my basket" which also contains: one small
notebook, Ginger in Santa Barbara's address and phone number on
that silly puppy note paper, one ruler, 3 red pens and one black, a
Writing Salon postcard, some actual physical notes from people
that I need to respond to...you get the picture. It's a mess, but
it's mine, all mine.

I actually have two of those small yellow lined notepads in the basket.
I put everything on the list:
Monday - yoga
Go to post office
Call acupuncturist
Write Mollie
E-mail Sarah
Find out about insurance
Send check to Richard
Buy Valentine cards
Walgreen's for hand lotion
When I have filled the page and crossed most stuff off, I transfer it to
the clean notepad directly behind it. Like most list keepers, I revel in the
crossing off. I have been known to write something on the list that I forgot
to note and immediately cross it off because, damn it, I did it and I need
credit for my accomplishments. I have also gone into the trash to
retrieve a crumpled list and scratch out something I have done and
toss it out again. That makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

saturday's round robin write

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

I only woke up once and worried about msBook last night. She froze about
8pm while I was downloading some dumb program that I don't need and
will never use. But really, I just wanted to restart her. So off I will go to
The Total Mac, out on Geary. Since I'm working at the Legion of Honor
I can go there on my lunch hour. We all pray that Andrew will be open.

Currently I'm typing away on my iBook G4 (msBook #1) that I thought was
dead and gone. I have not plugged it in for almost one year, and yet,
here she is. I know I'm on limited life support here, so I feel pressured
to finish this piece and send it to Marnee and Mistress Jane.

And here I was going to get back to Ellen and have her run the red
No Left Turn sign. First I'd have to go back and find out what she's
driving, I think it's a red Smart Car like my friend Susan in
Sacramento drives. This is no way to write a mystery novel. I
should have stacks of files and then I need to get a huge bulletin
board and fill it with the main plot and many interesting sub plots.
I need to build a few characters other than Ellen and her orange
cat, Salmon. Daunting.

Even thinking about writing fiction makes me appreciate the
people who actually do it. My God, it's difficult. I could, of
course, buy yet another book on How To Write Fictioin. That'll do the trick.

welcome to the Mish!

Rosamunde Sausage Grill has a big new space on Mission Street right
next to the 24th Street BART station. The Great Plotniks introduced us
to these fabulous sausages at the tiny little kitchen on Haight Street,
so it's a delightful surprise to have their second restaurant here. It
has plenty of seating, happy wait people (ahem) and the best so far
was my Mission all beef burger with bacon. Husbando's Italian was
a little too spicy, but don't worry, we'll both be back. Great fries too.

today, tonight, Tiapos

Imagine, Jane is going to host our writing group tonight. An
amazing recovery after her mastectomy on the 27th of Jan.
Alas, I'm scheduled to work at the deYoung where we are
devoting lots of extra hours to King Tut before he prepares
to toddle off to Times Square in New York.

Our Boy King and his accessories will be here until March 28th.
I urge everyone to see the exhibit and what is amazing is how
much the children love all the pharaoh history and pomp.
It's fun. Honest. So purchase your tickets ~ the weekends are
crowded, but even then everything is timed and well-organized
and you will be impressed. Trust me.

we can't unfold our mistakes

I rushed from the Legion of Honor to meet Husbando last
night for the 7pm curtain of Animals out of Paper. Another
terrific play with Lorri Holt (whom we've "known" for 3
decades), David Deblinger and Aly Mawji. The world of
origami was the 4th main character ~ folds leave scars, the
paper must forget that it was ever flat, and lots more
interesting insights. Well worth seeing and we loved The
Great Plotnik's review last week.

food first, culture second

Yesterday we met son John down at the Embarcadero and
had way too much to eat at Perry's in the Hotel Triton. We
have a friend in St. Louis who still talks about Perry's on
Union Street, which has been there for 40 years. They serve
basic American food, but I do recommend the grilled
artichoke, thinly sliced onion rings and huge salads. The
prices are reasonable, the service friendly.

Then we went to SFMoma to check out one floor of the
75 year celebration. There is a wonderful wall of SF Views
from 1935 to 2009. Photos, drawings, etc. ~ check it out.
Lots to see, so we'll be back for another floor soon. Somehow
it seems like a REAL day off when I get downtown. Know
what I mean?

one of the best

I've always enjoyed hearing about the brave immigrants who
settle here and try to balance their new and old lives. Jhumpa
Lahiri is a fabulous writer and these stories in Unaccustomed
Earth are unforgettable. She also wrote Namesake and
Interpreter of Maladies, if you are looking for inspirational
fiction. And the title? Perfect:

Human nature will not flourish, any more than a
potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long
a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil.
My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far
as their fortunes may be within my control, shall
strike their roots into unaccustomed earth.
-Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Custom House"