Another Entrant in Halloween Contest --- Days 9/184 & 185

 Walk: 1. Presidio Pickleball and T. Joe's   2. No, Day of Rest                                                                     Distance: 1. 3.3 miles, 90 minutes pickleball  2. small yoga

Creepy entry way

Ghoul and skeleton tree across sidewalk from entry

The Importance of Heatwaves --- Day 9/183

 Walk: No, Inside avoiding heat                                                                                                                     Distance: 0, a little restorative yoga

So today Ciwt's cats hid under the bed or wherever they could find shade from our heatwave.  And Ciwt took the opportunity to pull down her shades and begin her homework on the Contemporary Drama course she and her friend on 'the other' coast will begin on Zoom in a few days.  

Assignment #1 was The Importance of Being Earnest by, of course, the one and only Oscar Wilde.  It was first premiered in London in 1895 and, in Ciwt's opinion, Wilde's brilliant, incisive, satirical wit is just as alive today as when he wrote the play.  With robust energy, flawlessly and hilariously, he takes down the social customs of Victorian society.

After reading the play, she continued to avoid the heat by watching one of Earnest's several movie versions.  It was filmed in 1986, starred Joan Plowright, was excellent and very slightly made up for having to miss her annual Broadway time with her friend.  BUT Ciwt feels The Importance of Being Earnest really  must be read as well as seen because Wilde's brilliance is non-stop and often spoken in King's English which can sometimes be hard for Americans to translate (😉).   

To tempt you back to your books, here are just a few Earnest quotes, many of which you will probably recognize.  

The truth is rarely pure and never simple

I am sick to death of cleverness. Everybody is clever nowadays

Thirty-five is a very attractive age. London society is full of women of the very highest birth who have, of their own free choice, remained thirty-five for years

To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness

But I don’t like German. It isn’t at all a becoming language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson.

In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.

If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.

Pretty Day for a Civic Vote --- Day 9/182

 Walk: City Hall                                                                                                                                             Distance: 5.4 miles, Yoga 

So, Ciwt is a total sucker for Civic Centers and their grand buildings like San Francisco's City Hall.          

And today felt like a good one for casting her ballot which California counts on the day of the election.  Instead of using a mailbox or waiting for her usual polling place on election day, she walked her completed ballot to her civic center where an extensive fresh air voting center has been established and manned.  After the volunteers ensured that her ballot was properly signed and dated, she slid it through the slot in the bright red box below:

Felt good and on her way back home she noticed for the first time that a statue of Abraham Lincoln sits in front of City Hall (watching voters).

Lincoln erected by public subscription, 1927

P.S.  - Today (the next one) I received this from Ballotrax:

This is a message from San Francisco Department of Elections. Your ballot for the 2020 General Election was received and will be counted. Thank you for voting!

United By Books --- Day 9/181

Walk: LP Nails, Presidio                                                                                                                                Distance: 4.3 miles, Yoga stretch

Oh dear, look at the signage.  It's in Japanese; Ciwt will never find a book here.  

But turn right and look again; English!  

And, wherever she looks there are wonderful books including best sellers and more esoteric subjects like   as well as watercolor books she can paint herself (if she could paint, that is), origami books with patterns she could fold herself (if she was a careful folder).  Gradually she feels her cramped covid19 mind enlarging, taking in the reality of another culture that, just like hers, values books.

This experience is what Books Kinokuniya brought to San Francisco's Japantown from Tokyo in 1947 in its first overseas expansion.  Some time after its founding in 1927, the largest bookstore chain in Japan, had made it a goal to cater to the interests of a wide, diverse clientele as well as its local Japanese clients. Since The Japan Center Books Kinokuniya has opened 13 more bookstores in the United States including New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle.*  It then ventured into the Asia-Pacific market (Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia and more) and launched its first outlet in Australia in 1996.

In all these places, perhaps and hopefully, Books Kinokuniya functions like it does for Ciwt every time she goes there - as an ambassadorship by books.  

PS - Plus they speak CAT 

*In the States you can find books Kinokuniya in Arlington Heights IL, New York City, Little Toyko Los Angeles, Japantown San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Monica, Seattle , Beaverton, Edgewater NJ, Portland OR and Carrollton, Plano, Katy and Austin Texas.

 

Cross Fingers and Update --- Day 9/180

 Walk: Hood                                                                                                                                                       Distance: 2.5 miles, Pedal, Yoga

Ciwt is busy updating her private art tour website.   Just in case.....

Contest Continues --- Day 9/179

 Walk: Presidio Pickleball Courts                                                                                                                   Distance: 3 miles, 1 hr pickleball, yoga stretch

There must be a lot of (grown up) kids on this block.  These houses with skeletons, gorillas and more creepy things hanging off of them are right across from each other.  And the Halloween season is just beginning; who knows how the whole block will look by October 31.  👻

Contest Begins --- Day 9/178

Walk: Presidio Pickleball                                                                                                                                  Distance: 2 miles, yoga stretch, 2 hrs pickleball

So, many San Franciscans' favorite holiday is rapidly approaching along with Ciwt's Best Halloween Decorations Contest.  It's still early, but she may already have a winner.

So Grand --- Day 9/177

Walk: Presidio Pickleball Courts                                                                                                                      Distance: 3.5 miles, Pickle, yoga stretch

                                                    The Grand Canal

Canaletto, Guardi, JMW Turner, Monet, Renoir, and many more artists.  Seems to Ciwt she had seen thousands of up close paintings of the Grand Canal but never seen such a full sweep of the splendid waterway.