Two more days --- Day 7/153

Walk: Union Square, Presidio
Distance: 4.5 miles, small yoga

Never fails, even for short, nothing trips.  Cats are picking up on it, getting a little hyper.  

Such is life 😅

Outthinking Cats -- Sure..... Day 7/152

Walk: Monday Errands and around home setting up, carrying out
Distance: 3.5 miles, small yoga

Busy day for Ciwt setting up early for catsitter so cats can have sneak preview of new arrangement before she goes to Seattle for a few days.  Hopefully they will have factored the new look in and not freak out when she is gone.  Hopefully.......

Sunday in Amsterdam --- Day 7/151

Walk: No, in by the heater researching 
Distance: 0, yoga

Wind and cold gave Ciwt the opportunity to spend her now beloved kick back Sunday continuing to bond with her newish cats and researching her upcoming (imaginary) (fall) trip to Amsterdam* (and Paris).

* Oh dear, Ciwt just read articles telling us Amsterdam has become a "lawless jungle" where authorities have "thrown up their hands" trying to control the violence. Maybe she should just stay home and continue bonding with her cats....

Transitioning Blind --- Day 7/150

Walk: AMC Kabuki (Blindspotting), Fishhouse
Distance: 2 miles, yoga

Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal in Blindspotting

Real life, talented (Diggs is a Tony-award winner for a dual role in Hamilton) (and Casal is a rap poetry savant) life long Oakland buddies play modern day Oakland buddies in Blindspotting.  The result is modern day spot on and, thanks also to first time director Carlos Lopez Estrada, extremely entertaining.  Ciwt thinks (city) people, go see it.

Impossibly Indestructible --- Day 7/149

Walk: AMC Kabuki (Mission Impossible: Fallout), TJ's
Distance: 3 freezing cold, windy miles, yoga



Say what she will about Tom Cruise's 'religion' and bizarre behaviors, he just owns the silver screen.
Still, at age 56. Or you could say, even better at 56.  Definitely better and younger looking than his last Mission Impossible a few years ago.  Whoever has worked on him deserves a medal for flawlessness; Cruise looks absolutely natural, handsome and elegant. Another medal goes to whoever tailors his clothes. They fit him and drape perfectly whether Cruise is making one of his signature mad dashes, hanging off a helicopter ,  or roaring through Paris on a motorcycle .

In Mission Impossible: Fallout  he's paired with actor Henry Cavill, a tall, younger, gorgeous hunk  and is absolutely his equal.  Same goes for three much younger, drop dead gorgeous women; it never comes across as old man/young woman.

Watching the indestructible Cruise continue to own a 20-year old franchise was Ciwt's main draw,  but Fallout was one of the few MI's with a, you could even say, very good, almost stand alone plot.  Also the armchair traveler in Ciwt appreciated the great cinematic presentations of Paris, London Kashmir - and some neat shiny BMW's/  It felt exhilarating to see a strong cast collectively save the world the old fashioned way: with brains, brawn, high energy passion.

He's 

Pardon My Bliss --- Day 7/148

Walk: Sausalito
Distance: a few lovely blocks



Kind of impossible to capture an image of what makes Sausalito energy so uplifting.
And how clean and fresh and unprentious the food is at Cibo, one of its eating places.
No matter, Ciwt has always loved going there and is happy it is right across the GG Bridge
from her.

Lost and Not --- Day 7/147

Walk: www.artworksfoundry.com/about, Ceramic Artist Studio Visit
Distance: 2.5 miles, Yoga

Molten Bronze being poured into molds at Berkeley Artworks Foundry

Ciwt always feels lucky when she makes a successful trip to the East Bay - meaning a trip without getting lost.  Today "lost" had quite a different meaning, as in "lost wax."  It is an ancient casting process dating back to China about 200 BC.  Because the lost wax process is extremely accurate in recording details and produces works with great durability and longevity, it has been the choice of artists and architects (and dentists)  throughout the ages.  Rodin's foundries used the process and it is still very much alive right across the Bay in Berkeley.

It is also a complicated, multi-stage process that, try and read and think as she liked, Ciwt has always been pretty lost on understanding.  So it felt particularly fulfilling today to finally see the famous wax in the process of being lost and becoming a work of art and to have accomplished that without getting lost in the East Bay.

SF Tan --- Day 7/146

Walk: Union Square
Distance: 3 miles, Small Yoga

Sooner or later San Francisco summers come to this.  (Hopefully Ciwt's skin won't be the color of the package).

In which Ciwt miiiiight play some golf --- Day 7/145

Walk: Presidio
Distance: 3.2 miles, 1/2 mile run, hit small bucket of balls

Don't worry, Pooh, we'll find your ball 

Dear Diary,

So Ciwt is that close to resigning from her golf club where she never plays and hardly goes since her knee debacle almost a year ago. But then there is the matter of no sport in her life - or at least no physical activity to focus and challenge her.  Even though that 'sport' has been near the bottom of her list all her life, and even though she is not good 😒at it, and even though she is used (should maybe say 'was') to being good at a sport and even though she doesn't like to make a fool of herself/be not good in front of other people.   Even though, even though.....she's thinking maybe she should try again to step up to the tee one more time after her fall.

And then there is the business of her art tour business not being full time demanding.  And the business of being with people as you get older.  And all the other businesses.....that make her think she maybe should hold off resigning for a little longer.

A Good Day for Loners --- Day 7/144

Walk: Presidio
Distance: 3 miles, Yoga

When she was young Sunday was Ciwt's most dreaded day.  There was the possibility of boring church, friends were often involved in traditional family meals (sometimes Ciwt's family too) so no one was around.  In the winter when dark set in the worst of Sunday began: school the next day loomed over her.  And then later, work.

But over the years - and post school and work -  Ciwt has come to treasure Sundays because they are completely undemanding.  A lot of public places - like museums, Crissy Field, Trader Joe's - are crowded so Ciwt gives herself full permission to stay in and feather her nest or go alone to a rich matinee or walk early in the quiet of morning or read.  It's a day just for her if she wants - guilt free.

She can also sense the enjoyment of other (temporary maybe) loners everywhere.  You New Yorkers with your Times, crossword puzzles and coffee, that means you too.

Some Butter, Some Flour and a Lot of Love --- Part 7/143

Walk: Clay Theater (The Cakemaker)
Distance: 14 blocks, small yoga

Soft lighting, careful timing, and exquisite acting make for an unusual, delicate, sweetly melancholy confection. 

Real Freshness --- Day 7/142

Walk: AMC Kabuki (Eighth Grade)
Distance: 2 miles

Elsie Fisher as Kayla in Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade

There are many times watching a movie that Ciwt feels for the actor - scared, happy, sad - as they encounter some on screen experience.  But Ciwt can't remember the last time the psychic distance between herself and the actor was essentially zero. When Eighth Grade main character, eighth grader Kayla, had to handle a situation, Ciwt was right there trying to handle it for her, and, at the same time, trying to shelter Kayla from having to go through the situation at all.

Eighth Grade reminded her of the honest truth that virtually every situation faced by a middle schooler is a new experience with no answer except the one you cobble together in the anxious moment. And what you come up with might literally ruin your life if your peers - or you -  consider it uncool, unmasculine, dorky, pathetic. Or, you might handle it in a way that sets you on an important life path - but you don't discover that until years later.

As Kayla, Elsie Fisher's artless and superior acting is so present and alive you live every fresh moment with her.  And remember that prolonged eighth grade 'freshness' is something you never want to experience again.  It is the freshness of a train wreck coming at you - now with technology to factor in.

Await --- Day 7/141

Walk: Hood & Marin Driving Day
Distance: 4.3 miles, teeny stretch

Ciwt awaits inspiration.

'Sup? --- Day 7/140

Walk: Donations
Distance: 1 mile, PT, Yoga

Living in San Francisco with all its hills, everything is at some sort of slant.  Ciwt sometimes gets confused about what's up or down.  Maybe the plants and shrubs do too.

She's Away: Two Versions --- Day 7/139

Walk: Presidio
Distance: 6 miles

Here's what will be happening with her cats when Ciwt is away in a few weeks:

Special cuddling by cat sitter

followed by sleeping securely with each other

 then more special cuddling

all the better to relax securely in each other's paws.

And, here is what Ciwt pictues happening when she's away:

So, you may ask where Ciwt is going and for how long?  Sounds like a Major excursion.

Well, no, she'll meet her brother and his wife for a weekend in Seattle. Some cat owners are calmer than others....

Are my interviews over yet? --- Day 7/138

Walk: Monday errands, Presidio Sports
Distance: 2 miles, Massage (ahhh)

Cat spent in Ciwt's office chair after day of exhausting pet sitter interviews.  Catch you tomorrow.

On the Road --- Day 7/137

Walk: No - Too busy passing Defensive Driving Test
Distance: 0, Yoga

So Ciwt passed her (required) online California Traffic School (grrr*) course.  After reading all those accident  statistics and cirmcumstances, part of her is reluctant to ever get in a car again.  The other part of her now needs to open her DMV Driver Handbook and start cramming for her upcoming license renewal test. 

* See CIWT Day 7/130

Three Different Reasons --- Day 7/136

Walk: AMC Kabuki (Three Identical Strangers)
Distance: 2 miles, Yoga

1. Interesting facts she guesses, 2. well done she guesses, 3. disheartening+ she knows, so in all Ciwt does not personally recommend Three Identical Strangers.  But Rotten Tomatoes and audience critics do, so your choice.

All By Itself This Time --- Day 7/135

Walk: Hood
Distance: 3 miles, wee yoga

Maybe part of why Ciwt finds this photo - by a 9 year old - so wondrous is that these are real stars, in a real sky, a hour or so from her home.  For so many years her San Francisco sky has had maybe 10-12 visible stars and often none at all because of our fog and/or city lights.  

Talented Kids, part 2* --- Day 7/134

Walk: A few errands
Distance: A few blocks, a little yoga

Magritte, 

Rene Magritte, Empire of Light, 1950, o/c

eat your heart out.  Here's one of Magrittes's paintings exploring sky, light and home.  And above is a photo by a college classmate's grandson.  He planned ahead at his grandparents' vineyard, waited until a certain hour, adjusted his new camera's speed and lens,  hoped for clear skies and shot this of the Milky Way in Northern California.  He is 9.


* Please see Day 7/3, Street Art in the Hood

Where Do I Place My Paw Print? --- Day 7/133

Walk: Union Square
Distance: 1 mile, small yoga

Ciwt spent today enrolling her new cats in 'home pet sitting camp.'  Photos and form after form for each cat and each service.  She started off thinking "Okay, this time I'll just drop them off at a cat boarding place."  Well, the one closest to her charges - are you ready - $175 a day for her new little darlings.  The 'less expensive' places require her to bring all sorts of beds and toys that will cost a pretty penny plus the girls must arrive perfectly groomed with lovely nails and Ciwt knows what that means...( a groomer appointment).

Ciwt has her fingers and their paws crossed in hopes her adorable, clean, youngish, healthy cats will be accepted because, one of these days, she would like to take a trip.

Better Late Than....-----Day 7/132

Walk: Palace Hotel Garden Court, SF Playhouse (Sunday in the Park with George)
Distance:  None, 2 driving trips downtown to see an out of town old friend and later a play

Takes a while (30 years in this case) for Broaday to come to San Francisco, but always worth the opportunity to see plays as excellent as this Tony winner.  

                                                                               

                                      Georges Seurat (Fr. 1859-1891)

Studying --- Day 7/131

Walk: Hood 
Distance: 1 mile, small yoga

Busy studying for Trafic School Exam

$CHP$ --- Day 7/130

Walk: Not really
Distance: A few blocks, a little yoga

So, a month or so ago Ciwt followed an off ramp and came directly to this:

 A huge, black dumptruck as wide as the road.  Since that is all she could see, she followed her leader until she heard thudding on her passenger window.  She looked over and saw...the highway patrol (CHP)!?

Turns out Ciwt's truck was actually on the shoulder.  Who knew?  The CHP of course, and they gave the truck, Ciwt and two others behind her traffic tickets for "Passing on the Shoulder."  $248 tickets that somehow took a half hour to write.  As Ciwt sat there waiting, ten or twelve other cars were pulled over for the same PotS 'violation,' but were waived away by the other CHP guy.  Obviously there was some visibility problem or the off-ramp was feeding directly onto the shoulder.  When Ciwt asked why she'd been stopped while others had been allowed to go on, her CHP guy said "We don't have enough room on the side of the road right now.  When you leave, believe me, we will be sure everyone gets a ticket."

So, poor Ciwt.  A traffic trap.  She hadn't seen one of those since those small towns in Nevada when she used to drive to Sun Valley.  Oh well, guess even the richest counties need more income these days.

At first Ciwt felt so gypped she planned to go to court to protest.  But, you know how that would probably go. Plus they do make it easy to handle these things right from your computer these days which is what Ciwt did when the ticket actually arrived.  She's paid on line for it and for the traffic school which will take the ticket off her record if she passes the necessary test in the alloted time.  So, now she is studying her lessons on line and hopefully will pass the on line exam with the flying colors.  

Darn, and Ciwt's sympathies to the driver of the black truck who probably didn't have a half hour in his work day or @$300 to spare.

Not That Soft --- Day 7/129

Walk: Curran Theater (Soft Power)
Distance: 4.7 miles

  The gorgeous Curran Theater

Soft Power stage set from Ciwt's front row seat

Politics; you can't get away from them these days.  Ciwt didn't read about it in advance so she wasn't aware that David Henry Hwang's new play Soft Power is intensely political and personal.  It traces the full trajectory and present day scope of  his emotional reaction to the 2016 election.  Most of his views are exactly what you hear all the time - if you live in San Francisco.  But many of them Ciwt had never heard before.

These concern what it is like being Chinese American, which Hwang, who wrote the Tony award winning M. Butterfly, is.  What he had to say stretched Ciwt's world, and according to the Chinese woman she sat next to, totally resonated with the the Chinese audience members.  That would be about 85% of the today's audience.  According to Ciwt's seatmate again, Chinese people don't go to the theater for the most part because it tends to be predominately white in story and audience.

It was not a comfortable stretch but it was so original and artfully done Ciwt stayed with Hwang in spite of herself.  For one thing he put many of his thoughts to music, and for another, this music was chock full of the very best show stopping, high kicking, soul belting, love song musical theater.  The kind of music that people who go to musicals can't resist.

Soft Power worked for Ciwt.  She liked it a lot plus it made her think, and her seatmate felt the same, perhaps for slightly different reasons.  But behind her on the way out one man was telling his wife he thought it was 'overly ambitious,' 'too creative and original.'  But to Ciwt, those are characteristics of America she likes even though they can be unsettling so, okay, have them in the play.

Apparently this intensely personal, intensely political, intensely outspoken, over the top play is on its way to New York.  That should be interesting...

Calendar Those --- Day 7/128

Walk: Therapeia Massage and Hood 
Distance: 3 miles

So Ciwt had her annual massage today.  Massages feel so good (and necessary) she always vows to have them on a regular, like at least monthly, basis.  But you know how those vow things go..

It took her a while this time to locate a place for her massage.  Even in her hood there turned out to be special tub massages, group!? tub massages, body scrubs, massages with hot rocks and massages offered in Asian characters that seemed to make some mention of 'tricks' you might be up for.  Hmmm, wonder how long those last will be operating.

Finally Ciwt found the one on one, hands-on type she is used to.  It felt great, and she's definitely going to have massages on a regular basis from now on - perhaps in conjunction with her international trips....

Ever on the Way --- Day 7/127

Walk: Marin Driving Day
Distance: 2 miles, small stretch

Properly Attired --- Day 7/126

Walk: Hood Ramble
Distance: 3.5 miles, Yoga

Dressed for the Fourth, Ciwt's second favorite holiday after Thanksgiving.  (What will she wear then?  Stay tuned.....)

Nine?! --- Day 7/125

Walk: Union Square
Distance: a few blocks.  necessary rest.

The request for proposals to develop Fort Winfield Scott*, the 30 acre, mostly vacant, 22-building mostly early 1900's property went out from the Presidio Trust in January.  The Trust sought "mission-driven organizations" willing to work in the "unusual confines of a national park and a campus of historic buildings."  Oh, the initial infrastructure outlay they said would be at least $200 million and climbing.  And did Ciwt mention the Trust also wants a new 'transit facility' (meaning new roads and transit hubs) as part of the project as well as 'environmental sustainability upgrades'?  And finally there's this little stipulation, it 'prefers' that the developers self-finance rather than raising money through philanthropy.

Finding such a tenent probably seemed a bit of a pipe dream even to the Trust - or at least a long term waiting game until the organization showed up.  Or maybe Ciwt is just imposing her thinking on the Trust. In any event, at the recent and very first deadline for submissions, there are NINE teams competing for the 'redevelopment' (to say the least!), seven of which are non-profits.

Public hearings begin at the end of this month.  Oh boy...But still, Ciwt finds this a hopeful way to go into Fourth of July, 2018.

*See CIWT Days 7/5 and 7/117

"All I ask is a windy day....." --- Day 7/124

Walk: LP Nail Care
Distance: 8 grey windy blocks, Yoga

John Masefield would have had many happy days in San Francisco.

Portraits and Colors --- Day 7/123

Walk: Legion of Honor (Truth & Beauty: The Pre-Raphaelites and the Old Masters)
Distance: A few blocks in our amber sky* 


So today at the Legion it was that mid-19th century group of young Brits who called themselves The Pre-Raphaelites Brotherhood.  Their paintings are even more vibrantly and richly colored and exquisitely detailed in person than in all the pictures Ciwt has seen over the years. But, something important is missing for Ciwt. Soul; do they have it?  No, in Ciwt's opinion; ultimately they have the presence of very fine illustrations that leave her feeling quite removed.

Here's one of her 'favorites' from the show. Leisure Hours (1864), a double portrait by John Millais that hangs at the Detroit Institute of Arts.  Just gorgeous colors, and every detail from the screen behind, the goldfish in front is as exact ('truthful' in PRB terms) as the fabrics, hair, skin of  the girls  in the painting.  But do they look like they are having fun? Do they even look leisurely?  Do you care?

On the other hand, here's Raphael himself painted by himself in 1506 that has human depth the girls lack. There is something soft, serious and tender about this young artist that draws Ciwt toward him.

* Smoke from several Northern California fires is having eerie effects on our Bay Area skies.