oooooooh, good one!

We are watching Rectify now on the Flix® DVDs because we don't get the
Sundance channel, alas. This is the story of Daniel and his family who live
in some unpleasant small town somewhere in the midwest or the south.
Daniel (on the left) has just been sprung from prison after 20 years for a horrific
crime he didn't commit, according to new DNA findings. Assorted thumbs up.

back room back to normal (almost)

OK, things are getting organized around here again. The painters were
so fast and tidy, putting the complicated TV and Roku® back together
in about 5 seconds, while speaking Spanish and laughing a mile a
minute. We had the bookshelves and table painted white to match the
trim and the wall color is that beige-plum featured in the rest of Casa
Verde. It's beyond our expectations. Truly. Happiness reigns.

The kitchen needs some final touches and I will report on that in due
course, along with some photos to keep you all entertained.

Hats of to Husbando who thoroughly cleans EVERY item and puts
it back in place while I lounge around the museums discussing the 10¢
a bag policy and all that entails.

museum humor

out at the deYoung

Coffee by Richard Diebenkorn

I love this exhibit of 120 paintings and drawings by the artist who was raised
in our own Ingleside Terraces SF neighborhood and then lived in Berkeley
from 1953 to 1966, when these particular works were created. I love the
(what I call) pensive women room, but Diebenkorn captures the Bay Area
landscape in truly impressive ways too. Now through the end of September.

saved by the text!

The Great Plot and Duck invited us out of the garage for a real meal
last night. Deeeeeelicious salmon, mango salad, cucumber salad,
grilled asparagus, toasted Acme bread, coffee and Mitchell's ice cream.
Very nice, thank you so much, we needed that and some catch-up
conversation too.

it all started here

San Francisco City Hall celebrates the Scotus decision

Nine years ago the first same sex marriages in the United States occurred
here under the bold leadership of Mayor Gavin Newsom.  Yesterday the
Supreme Court said "Yes!" to equality and justice for all. It was a great
day indeed and much celebration all over the world.

I also want to give a "YOU GO GIRL!" to the filibustering Sen. Wendy Davis
who stood and talked on the legislature floor for 11 solid hours in (of all
places) Texas to keep that draconian anti-woman bill from passing last
Tuesday night. There will be more fights ahead, but Wendy and her
supporters are certainly prepared.

Today I am filled with hope and yes, pride. Sometimes progress seems so
slow, then we go backward, then onward. I guess it's always been that way...

muddling through

Breakfast prep on the washing machine here in the garage, right next
to my office. The painters are doing a great job ~  you look forward to before
and after photos in about a week. THEN you'll know the color, I said then
and not before. Now I must turn on the TV to see if Scotus did the right
thing re marriage equality for everyone. Fingers, toes crossed...

blinded by pink

hmmmmm, I thought I fixed this, but it was a luscious cake!

guests gather

Chris surprises Lucy

guest of honor and many gifts

beautiful baby blanket

Ruby remembers her shower

It was such a successful baby shower yesterday ~ lots of food, people, fun,
laughter and gifts for the mother-to-be. We couldn't use the backyard of
the hostess because of the rain, but that didn't really dampen anyone's
spirits. I used the GPS to find the house in Oakland and what a fabulous
invention that is. I'm good within the confines of our SF, but am directionally
challenged outside of my little world. Lucybelle is loved by so many people
at the museums and we were all able to shower her with some of our
warm feelings yesterday. New girl child will be born in a month...

temp kitchen in garage

This morning at 8:30 the painters will arrive to spend a few days with us
and of course there is some upheaval, but Husbando and I are staying calm
and when he saw the above he said, "oh, like a picnic!" I'm missing the dogs
and cats this morning because there is a baby shower for Lucybelle over
in Oakland at noon, so fur will fly around here anyway. Onward!

the Bluths before sleep

Every night we watch one or two episodes on Arrested Development
streamed on Netlix® via Roku®. We never watched it before and
now understand why so many people were hooked on it for so long.
Half hour episodes, surprise guest stars, very Southern California,
funny and totally crazy family, irreverence, political incorrectness and
there are 68 episodes. We are on number 20 now ~ these fools are quite
wonderful after a harrowing drama or bad baseball game.

sunshine and flowers

I had a delightful day puttering in the garden and taking care of some
chores in the house. Cleaned up (well, re-stacked) some papers in
my office and just relaxed and appreciated my life. Got my exercise
in up at 24 LITE and walked that neighborhood before coming home
to a bubble bath and three more episodes of Arrested Development
on Roku. How did we live before that invention? I work today and
tomorrow, so I needed my mostly people-free day off.

hoarders unite!

No, no ~ we are actually prepping for a painting project that begins next
Monday and will probably last for a week or so. Kitchen, back room,
back porch, pantry and cupboards. This has been a perfect time to wash
everything thoroughly and to toss things we haven't needed in 10 years or
more. So far the marriage is holding up okay, but those of you who have
gone through this know that it can be a strain on those ties that bind.

a day @ the Jewel

new coffee spot!

an almost-fight ~ Padres fault, of course

That was a GREAT game yesterday, in the sunshine, of course. Need I mention
that we won? But then I bussed home to hear the very, very sad news about
James Gandolfini. Oh, how we looked forward to those Sunday night Soprano
events, really our work and home lives revolved around Carm, Tony, Dr.
Malfi, Meadow, Big Pussy, AJ, Paulie, etc.  One of the BEST TV series in
the history of television. R.I.P. James/Tony.

guess again

London? Paris? Amsterdam?

NYC? Boston?

Nope, this beautiful area is in downtown Oakland, 9th and Broadway to
be exact. It's called "Old Oakland" ~ of course it's all rather new and
impressive. Quite a few restaurants around here too, I'm sure the condos
are pricey, but not as bad as SF. I came upon this yesterday after my
visit to Right Wing Wong, dentist extraordinaire. Alas, a lot of downtown
Oakland still needs work...all those empty store fronts.

not an illusion

Somehow these air bubbles look almost magical, don't they? Here we
have RR floating around at the San Mateo Fair and looking increasingly
like her sister Claire these days. And her mama is one damn good photographer!

Black Watch ~ amazing theater

Ten men in the elite Black Watch Regiment from Scotland ~ two hours
of bagpipes, explosions, boredom, sorrow, history, politics, dancing and
drama. This might be the best anti-war play that I've ever seen. It's
universal, yet personal. I got my Kleenex® out about two minutes into
the production and didn't put them away until the two standing ovations
for these hard-working actors. ACT staged this at the (1914) Mission
Armory, a fortress with a history at 14th and Mission. Alas, this was the
final performance here in SF and it was phenomenal. (Again, check out
the SF Theater Blog over there on the right for a GREAT review.)

A friend of ours who saw the play too, said that he'd foolishly go to war
again for the whole "I'd die for my mates and country," theme. He
served in Vietnam and HATES war and all it stands for, so you can
see how powerful this production was on so many, many levels.

cleansing the palate

My friend with The Fevered Brain recommended Louise Penny and
her mysteries that take place around and about Quebec. I'm certainly
enjoying this first one on my post-LindaKindle®. Some books are
just made for e-reader joy...

remember masked mama?

My anonymous source sent this photo from last night.

coffee before work

That bright blue strip is the ocean. I needed a little solitude after all the
visitors, so I went to the Legion of Honor about an hour before my work
shift and just sat to watch the (few) golfers and appreciate the cool,
clear air and my strong, black coffee from home. It's all been a great
whirlwind and I can't tell you how much I have benefitted from marrying
into a large and perfectly functional (ahem) family. Nancy is everything
a step mother could wish for ~ strong, warm, loving, fun, etc. And,
thankfully, her daughters (though very different from each other) are
so much like her in so many ways that the eternal beat goes on, as it should...

there are burgers, and there are...

Boulevard burger and fries

Caramel bar w/ popcorn, ice cream, grape tapioca (?)

OK, I really need to fast for about a week after Nancy leaves this morning.
Yesterday we had our fancy family lunch at Boulevard. What recession?
Honestly, that was the BEST burger ever, after the baby romaine cesar salad
and before the unusual and glorious dessert. It was fun and special and
we won't forget that meal for a long, long time.