speaking of books (were we?)

just finished

just beginning

I will be forever grateful to Linda for giving me (!) the first LindaKindle
because I got hooked early on. Of course I still read REAL books, but
there is something special about climbing into bed with the type size
large enough so I don't need glasses and tapping away until the thing
falls on my nose. I also use it at the gym while I'm biking and bitching.
LindaKindle2 is superior to the first model in many ways, but I always
think of my friend when I pick it up to get lost.

Night Film was an exuberant novel and since most of it takes place
in NYC it held my interest. The characters are exceedingly interesting
and there is lots of (unbelievable) action. I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 rating.

The Goldfinch has a strong beginning, also in NYC. I'm a huge fan
of Donna Tartt and I also saw the painting that the title is based on
recently at the deYoung. Remember the little finch CHAINED to
a small shelf?

day of the dentists

So much for Halloween. The above photo is from Dr. Yee's office at 450
Sutter (of course). I also visited Right Wing Wong in Oakland and Dr. Im
in SF. All because of one tooth that has been giving me fits and starts for
too many years. #14 will be removed in the near future and I'm OK with that.
You can see that it was a beautiful day in MY city. Keep flossing...

october 31st

So far my favorite Halloween sign was the one on the bank on Mission
Street requesting customers to remove their masks before entering.
Ah, city life. Thanks to my work friend Joe for this lovely art. You
remember him, gargle with peroxide and salt water to squelch your cold.
Then have a nice smoke of something green, I presume. Enjoy the
holiday ~ November starts tomorrow. Yikes.

lunch companion

Well, at least someone likes bread crusts. The Golden Gate Park squirrels
are too bold by far, filching food and crawling around on the benches
next to us. But yesterday I couldn't resist and tossed this little guy some
of my always unappetizing left overs. He was grateful and, probably,
emboldened.

kittens three

art shot

ahhhhhhhhhh...

The Blogmaid requested cat pictures so, here, from yesterday, a little
gathering to amuse you all. I had a quiet, productive morning fixing
breakfast for the dogs, upset that a few of my faves were still there.
The SPCA has a great website, check out Misha and Dieter in dog world.

war, ghosts and even comedy

Our first SF Playhouse drama yesterday and it was disturbing, but
well worth seeing. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo has been
described as a "ferocious comedy" and we saw some of our favorite
actors: Will Marchetti, Gabriel Marin and Craig Marker. Excellent.
The writer, Rajiv Joseph, was a finalist for the Pulitzer for this and,
in our opinion, he deserved the top prize. 

city sidewalks

Fog rolls down 29th Street (my fave latte spot)

Two men dressed as chickens on Folsom

Guerrero Street ~ typical SF apartments

Church Street ~ J car runs down the center

I had two fine walks yesterday with a latte reward each time. Met old
friends Linda and Tom at Thorough Bread (too clever by far) on Church
and we chatted in the shady back patio. Delightful. Hopped on public
transportation when the feet started smokin' and was home in time for
that unbelievable baseball game. What a strange way to end it ~ since
when is a tangle an obstruction? Always, I guess.

let's walk, Alice

I was going to take my computer this morning when Husbando asked me
to exit Casa Verde so he could clean it. How can anyone argue with a
request like that? Instead of lugging MsBook, I grabbed Dear Life and
although I have read most of the fabulous short stories before in the
New Yorker, I am enjoying them all over again. What a writer. Here
when two ex-lovers run into each other:
It finally happened. Crossing a crowded street where you could not
even slow down. Going in opposite directions. Staring at the same
time, a bare shock on our time-damaged faces.

my friend, Hoan

I just ordered Hoan's newest book on Amazon. Joan Easton Lentz is
her other name, we started calling her Hoan back in college ~ one of
us must have been taking Spanish, or maybe drinking a lot of tequila.
Today she is a famous naturalist and teaches bird watching in Santa
Barbara and she was just here with her jusband (thanks, Blogmaid),
as you might remember. One of the great joys of my life was re-
connecting with Hoan and Chickenhead (Ginger) a few years ago
down in Santa Barbara. Another gift from the Seahorse, may he RIP.

almost here...

Sometimes I love my job. Yesterday they had a special walk-through for
employees at 8:30am because this Hockney Exhibit is so huge, almost
400 pieces and on two floors. Curator Richard Benefield had lots of insights
about his meetings with David Hockney and he obviously worships him.
This officially opens on Saturday, you'll want to see it. Everything in here
was created after 2002, and includes lots of video and iPad work. This
artist, at 76, is non-stop and brilliant, embracing technology. You can tell
that he still has that sense of wonder. Lucky SF!

my little sleep aid

LISTENING TO THE RADIO (the prompt)

I call it Insomnia Radio and I perfected it these past few years. I used to
listen to the little transistor under my two thin feather pillows, but now
I have the earplug which I occasionally forget to take out when I hop
up in the middle of the night to go for a pee. Ooooops and loud clatter
disturbs the husband, so sorry.

I've learned not to listen to real talk radio anymore, it pisses me off
too much. Oh, those right wing nutcases wriggle into my ear and I'm
wide awake and feeling very angry in a very short amount of time.

So now it's KNBR, sports and more sports. Of course I prefer the soothing
voices of our Giants baseball announcers, but even then if I knew we had
lost the game, I couldn't listen to the midnight rerun. Too distressing.
Currently it's mostly about football and soon basketball. I don't give a
damn about either of those sports, so the radio serves its purpose.

Since we are living in 2013, I do have my stash of Ambien, but I have
such an addictive nature that I'm afraid I'd get hooked. I save it for special
occasions when life punches me in the nose or when I go to my writers
group and drink a full cup of coffee while we laugh and cry and read
each others' work.

ah, Mill Valley

Summer, Almost There by Bette Trono

Bette's Marin Dusk I and II

Lunch at the busy Depot

Note the dog we picked up ~ big and friendly

After preparing dog food yesterday, I joined some work friends over in
glorious Mill Valley. Bette Trono (on the right, above) is extremely talented
and we wanted to see more of her work. We had a delightful time, walking
and talking and then a pleasant lunch INDOORS because all the tables
in the sun were full of other artists and their friends. The trees were turning
up there in Marin, so beautiful. Keep your eye out for Bette's name and work!

oh, that's right...

...it's a museum. I tend to forget that because during breaks and lunch I
mostly want to sit in a chair and maybe check my emails or fiddle with
my iPhone. But yesterday it was slow and I decided I'd better track down
one of my favorite pieces that had been moved from upstairs Africa to
downstairs Modern, very near the dramatic burned church piece. This is
a huge king size blanket-like wall sculpture by El Anatsui, a famous artist
living in Nigeria. Flattened strips of aluminum taken from the necks of
discarded liquor bottles. It's called Hovor II (2004) and it's fabulous.

yup, it's in the air

I bought a few too many gourds and pumpkins this year, but what the hell,
how often is it really, truly Autumn? Sunshine every day, cool nights and
just a hint of fog in the early morning. A great time of year for long walks
and restorative naps. Soon the rain and the fireplace...

who's your daddy?

Sarah Polley is a Canadian filmmaker and here she gives us an interesting,
sometimes painful exploration of her family and the fact that as an adult,
she discovers that her father is a man that her mother had an affair with.
Stories We Tell involves everyone in her family, including both fathers
and all of her siblings, old and new. We both found this DVD to be quite good.
From the Flix®, naturally.

the passing parade

Yesterday I went downtown to meet Ken (the person, not the Toyota)
for lunch. Of course I went early so I could enjoy my latte at the window
counter seat in the Starbucks at Target. I did noodle around a bit on my
iPhone, but mostly I just did some active and undiluted staring.

There's no place like a busy downtown for people watching. Airports are
OK, but then you have to worry about all that stuff you are carrying and
it's not easy to enjoy a coffee without a table or counter top in front of
you. And then someone might have the audacity to sit right next to you
and that breaks the spell ~ and they might want to talk, yikes.

I like to watch strangers, not talk to them. Yesterday was a feast:
dogs, strollers, crazies, young people in colorful costumes, elderly
people in even odder dress styles, workers in business attire, kids
of all ages and even a few characters trying to pass for normal.
(Lunch with Ken at Buckhorn's in the Metreon was very, very nice also.)

day off in SF = heaven

latte with a few others

someday we'll do this

small charm on Sutter Street

lunch

baseball!

I met Ginger at the Embarcadero for lattes and chit chat in the sun. Then we
took the #2 Jackson over to Sutter and Franklin to poke around a bit and have
more lattes at Peet's at Civic Center. She hopped on BART back home and
I endured the #49 Van Ness and hurried to mi casa to text the Great Plottie re
his Dodgers who won. It was 1am in Bologna and he was watching the
game on his iPad and that in itself makes all of technology so worthwhile.
As the Blogmaid wisely said, you don't need as much sleep in Europe.

lunch with husbando

Yesterday we enjoyed "a little Chinese" at the Wild Pepper in our very
own nabe (26th Street off of Guerrero) and it was very pleasant and
inexpensive. Roast duck for me, Mongolian beef for he. Free tea, the
way it's supposed to be. Lots of rhyming today for Linda D!

and bring your entire family

No, no, it wasn't this bad although I did text Husbando at one point that
the DMV was filled with kids and elders, "just like doctors' offices", he
responded. Anyway, they took me early for my appointment and the only
question I missed on the written test was the one that lets me know that
when I tow another vehicle or trailer (that's me!) I can use either of the
two right lanes on a four-lane freeway. Good knowledge. Yes, I studied
and worried about the test, but that's me. Sign me, Relieved.

I think it was, maybe...

Yesterday I rode in the deYoung elevator with an older man in a cap. Two
other men were with him. When he opened his iPad there was the most
beautiful abstract drawing instead of the usual bland desktop. David Hockney
is visiting us, getting ready for his HUGE exhibit that starts on the 26th of
this month. I hope it was the famous artist, let's pretend it was.

ms. october

My new favorite team, pesky Tigers. Yes, last year they were our sworn
enemy, but such is baseball. Yesterday I watched the two games and I
really do not like St. Louis and those boring fans. I hope Doug's Dodgers
win some when they come back to La La Land tomorrow night. But who
deserves a big parade more than the city of Detroit? No one.

night sparkle

I worked in the Bulgari store last night at the deYoung. The moving lights
on the big screen are crazy making and are in our line of vision at all times.
I have yet to see the Bulgari exhibit because those big ass fancy jewels are
not my thing. But I'll get in eventually. There is always dancing and music
on Friday nights and I photographed them from above. Nice, no?

congratulations, Ms. Munro!

Alice Munro just won the Nobel Literature Prize (and lots of money)
for her wonderful short stories. I have Dear Life here waiting for me
and a list of about a dozen more I want to read. Ms. Munro is a
Canadian and we've been reading her short stories for years in The
New Yorker ~ she's an exquisite writer. Hoooooray!

tea and more tea

My friend Gini loves Samovar, so I treated her to lunch at the 18th Street
location yesterday for her b.day. It's not my favorite place because the
moment I walk in I yearn for coffee. They changed the menu a bit, getting
rid of the salmon and replacing it with vegetables in the quiche (sigh)
and thankfully destroying the old dish rag napkins for plain black ones.
On my b.day Gini can take me to Noeteca and I'll start with a steaming
cup of very black java...and end the lunch with the same.

enemy territory

I snagged this photo from the blog of The Great Plotnik, a Dodger fan,
of all things. He went to the game down there in L.A. and if you want
to punish yourself, check out his blog. They won, they clinched ~ blah,
blah. But we are happy for Plottie who will ruin his expensive trip to
Italy by always looking for games and scores and who got hurt? How
could that ump be so very biased? How many more outs? Why is he
pitching to a right handed batter? Important questions...

with oversized bouquets

Sometime back in the early 1970's my mother (of all people) married
Alden Gillette and they were (of all things) happy! I'm opening my veins
again for Tiapos and spent some time yesterday with baseball and photo
albums. Is it me? These old pictures often make me sad and I thought
they were supposed to make me glow with nostalgia at my advanced age.
Oh, well, the piece I'm writing about Mother and Alden is now sort of
titled "Last Tango in Pasadena" but that will probably change. Mother
actually found joy in the last years of her life and when she died I wrote and
thanked Alden for this amazing fact. I wish I had that letter, or do I?

so many saints...

...so many "issues". A friend gave me this pretty St. Dymphna chip, not
because I'm mentally ill (usually not, anyway), but to help with the
inevitable memory loss that occasionally (ahem) accompanies the lovely
aging process. Of course I forgot and almost left her in my jeans for Husbando
to launder, but St. D. came to the rescue and I remembered just in time.
Already I love this little gal who wants me to be pure in mind and soul.

msmas to Moss Beach!

talented father helps RR with complicated mouth thingie

nice walk to visit other horses ~ note ocean in background

RR, Derby and the Blogmaid

me, your trusty blogger

Quite a few other people wanted to drive down Highway One (through the
new tunnel) yesterday, but it was an easy time for me and my GPS. Ember
Ridge Corral is a beautiful spot and Blogmaid and I did manage to get in a
women-only walk up the hill to feed carrots to assorted horses and admire
the glorious views. Really, it's a special place for RR who is learning all
about horses and how to care for them. After her ride, she and Bill washed
down Derby who then gleamed and preened.  As we were leaving, sweet
Derby rolled around in the dirt on her back, gloriously happy. I assume
this is yet another life lesson for RR?

OUR place

We've been devoted customers of La Taqueria for decades. The big selling
point is that they don't ruin the burritos with rice. It's right on Mission Street
and one time we were here with Rob (youngest) and saw someone stabbed.
A highlight. Anyway, we had lunch here yesterday and sat right out front
and neither of us had our iPhones (!) so we watched and listened and
enjoyed every bite. One young man said to his friends, "this is my favorite
place in the world." Yes, he probably hasn't traveled all that much, but his
enthusiasm for the moment was delightful. I like the vegan burrito and
Husbando always has the chicken, accompanied by a cheese quesadilla
(halved) and authentic fresh fruit drinks. Take THAT Taco Bell...

back to books

I'm currently reading Night Film on my LindaKindle2® and it's
refreshing after the heartbreak of Still Alice. This is simply murder
and mayhem, I can handle that any day of the week.

Congrats to the Great Plotnik and his first Dodger WIN last night.
We all dislike the Atlanta Braves and that stupid chop business.

1776 ~ the musical

ACT opened for us yesterday with this old chestnut (1969) and I wasn't too
excited about it, to be honest with you. There are no memorable tunes and
although others laughed along the way, I was (as usual) not one of those.
However, this true story about how our country nearly didn't come into
being (again, those damn conservatives!) is really interesting, especially
since I was in Philadelphia only last year. John and his brilliant wife Abigail
Adams are terrific, along with about 24 others. I probably won't suggest you
spend the money to see it, but if you get freebie tix, do go.

On a personal note, we have switched our theater to matinees this season
because we want to take public transportation. That worked out just as
smoothly as we had hoped. Only next time, we'll have lunch downtown,
it's only right.

my new team

There is a lot going on in the big, wide world ~ government shutdown (thank
you, Tea Party), affordable healthcare online web sites opened yesterday and
then ~ taaaa daaaa ~ the playoffs. I will root for the Pittsburgh Pirates for
as long as possible. They aren't one of those BIG MONEY teams and we have
family living there and we have seen the ballpark. That's enough. Go Pirates!
And yes, it's sort of nice not to be crazed about our Giants this year.

gimme five

These pups are a mix of Chihuahua and god-knows-what-all. Maybe
dachshund, maybe dashitall. All the same litter. The one part of their
DNA that no one can dispute is that they are heavy on CUTE and full
of energy when they weren't gobbling down breakfast.