Sunday, May 31, 2015

New Vases AND New Flowers --- Day 4/122

Walk: Utilitarian Loop: Sacramento Street, Laurel Village, Trader Joe's, Fillmore Street
Distance: 4 miles and home yoga

  

  

              

Not easy.  Trader Joe's has been having a difficult time with Ciwt's favorite flowers so she's been forced to work not only with new vases but new flowers.  Sigh......


Saturday, May 30, 2015

Free(way) Fallin -- Day 4/121

Walk: Too cold and windy (again :( )
Distance: 0, home yoga



So, Ciwt's cute and talented brow girl is moving to L.A. with her boyfriend Rivvrs who has been Following Her (press link) for quite some time. He's a talent, and so is she!  They're excited. Good luck, Have Fun!!

Friday, May 29, 2015

Check, Check, Check... --- Day 4/120

Walk: Corte Madera/Macy's, Terra Linda Sears, Terra Linda Rugs, Strawberry Shopping Center Watch Repair and Plant for sustenance, many trips up and down Ciwt's mighty stairs
Distance: 1 mile and home yoga


Pooh rests after accomplishing many errands.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Vase Hazard --- Day 4/119


Walk: Van Ness, Errands
Distance: 2.5 miles, teeny home yoga

  





 

After working with clear glass for years, Ciwt is struggling a bit with making lovely flower arrangements in her new ceramic vases....

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Blue Freedom --- Day 4/118

Walk: Union Square
Distance: 8 blocks and small home yoga

On her first day of  freedom (sort of)* from regular teaching, she thought of the expressionistic freedom artists of many sorts (architects, musicians, filmmakers) found in pre-WW I Germany. Experimenting with bold new ideas, non-realistic forms and artistic styles, they released energies which continue to this day in all the arts.

In the fine arts, the best known expressionistic movement (along with Die Bruke) is Der Blaue Reiter, centered around the Russian immigrant, Wassily Kandinsky, and the German, Franz Marc. It was a manifesto-less school.  Even so the artists all shared a desire to express spiritual truths through their art. They believed passionately in the very new modern art and in the connection between visual art and music.  To them color had spiritual and symbolic associations, and blue in particular awakened the desire for the spiritual eternal.  Their approach to painting was spontaneous and intuitive.

Sound familiar, modern art students?  Here we see its strongest origins bursting out.  Exciting and powerful.


Franz Marc, Great Blue Horses, 1911

Kandinsky, Blue Horseman
Wassily Kandinsky, Der Blaue Reiter, 1903
(This may or may not be the painting from which the movement took its name.  There is evidence that it was renamed after the movement was torn apart by World War I).


*Ciwt is irreplaceable!! (So far).  So, she's been asked and freely chosen to sub the class she retired from yesterday - on a week-to-week basis until a new teacher is found. Best of all worlds - freedom plus valued students.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Retirement Time --- Day 4/117


Walk: CPMC, Trader Joe's, Mindful Body
Distance: 4 miles and teach Last Regular Yoga Class

After 15 years in the yoga teaching business, Ciwt reverted to non-yogic, completely materialistic thinking and chose this for her retirement watch...in her mind's eye that is :

1

The Rolex Datejust Ladies White Gold Diamond Pave watch has a case that measures 26 millimeters in diameter. The case is made of 18k white gold and is beset with 150 diamonds. The band is also made out of 18k white gold set with diamonds. The dress style ladies watch has automatic movement and hours, minutes, seconds and date functions. The dial is diamond pave. The price of this watch is $109,350.  (2 years ago, probably more now)

Monday, May 25, 2015

Memorial Day, 2015 --- Day 4/116

Walk: Hi-Tech Nails (new yoga toes)
Distance: 8 blocks and home yoga practice

Advance Memorial Day Wishes – Quotes, Status, Thoughts, Greetings Pictures Wallpapers

Ciwt's personal honor to my father's brother, TCA, who is still on Leyte under a simple white cross.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Fleet Fleeting Times --- Day 4/115

Walk: Embarcadero Cinema (The Clouds of Sils Maria), Bay Bread
Distance: 3.5 miles


Today Ciwt once again put on her down coat and slogged through the cold, grey, windy clouds Image result for san francisco fog blowing in of San Francisco to The Clouds of Sils Maria, which looked nearly identical in the movie when they snaked up through the Alps from Italy to Southern Switzerland.                                                                                                                                                                   Image result for maloja snake   
What also blew in like a force of nature was Kristin Stewart's powerful performance.  She recently became the first American to win the french equivalent of the Oscar and is Ciwt's early pick for this year's Oscar nomination for Best (Supporting) Actress.  (Possibly with Juliette Binoche as Best Actress nominee if that's how the Academy decides to label the roles.  Otherwise both will probably be nominated for Best Actress.  We will see...)


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Ex's --- Day 4/114

Walk: AMC Van Ness (Ex Machina), Japantown
Distance: 3.8 miles and home yoga

Ciwt took herself to Ex Machina, a movie about artificial intelligence and stared and stared at the superior visuals, excellent acting, beautiful female robot.  There was tension but for her it was along the lines of 'When is there going to be any action around here?"  Luckily, Oscar Isaac's character, a sort of 21st century genius/gorilla provided a lot of that.  She tried, but Ciwt had to admit to herself that she is still way back there struggling (since high school English) with the exact meaning of deus ex machina.  
 And as luck would have it, she came home to find in her mailbox her high school alumna magazine.  So she sat down and stared and stared and stared at the rolling Connecticut countrysideImage result for ethel walker school, the lovely historical buildings, the reports by ex-classmates and alumnae about families and their multi-generational estates, vacation homes and thoroughbred horses..  Almost as surreal as the sci fi movie.  Then she took a nap.


Friday, May 22, 2015

A Life of Textiles --- Day 4/113

Walk: Noe Valley
Distance: 1 mile and home yoga


Henri Matisse, Odalisque in Yellow Robe, 1937

Ciwt needed to solve another carpet puzzle today and encountered a couple of rugs which had been named "Matisse Rug" by their manufacturers.  Not quite she thinks, but a sincere homage she imagines.

For one thing the carpets were machine produced.  This would have been an anathema to Matisse who had been born in a small weaver's cottage in Bohain, France where people still traveled everywhere on foot or horseback even though the railroad had recently arrived.  His father's family were weavers - silk weavers, the aristocrats of the trade - as were most families in the ancient town. Those who mastered the exacting demands of this profession were highly sophisticated, resourceful, inexhaustibly original and constantly innovative.  Also competitive.  Working with threads as fine as human hair, each shuttle in the hands of such talents performed the function of a paintbrush.

These standards of excellence and this way of life formed Matisse - his work ethic and ever-demanding aesthetic among other things.  Although other early influences drifted away, textiles retained their power for him throughout his life.  His studio in Nice was a treasure house of exotic Persian carpets, delicate Arab embroideries, richly hued African wall hangings, and any number of color cushions, curtains, costumes, patterned screens and backcloths.  
 Henri Matisse, Seated Odalisque, Left Knee Bent, 1928, o/c





Thursday, May 21, 2015

Light and Lovely Coastal Towns --- Day 4/112

Walk: Sausalito
Distance: Just a little; a few blocks

Henri Matisse - Les toits de Collioure
Henri Matisse, Les Toits de Collioure, 1905, 23.4" x 29" oil on canvas (Hermitage Museum)

Lunch today with a friend in Sausalito. To Ciwt Sausalito has a similar feeling to Matisse's beloved Collioure, the joyously light-filled place where he first encountered rich, vibrant color and was set free to eventually - with Picasso - give birth to modern art.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Sky Around Us --- Day 4/111

Walk: Van Ness, Japantown, Fillmore
Distance: 3 miles


Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night Over the Rhone, 1888, oil on canvas

All our recent overcast has put Ciwt in mind of the sky and this Van Gogh painting - so much more vibrant and intense when she saw it in person on its visit to San Francisco a few SF 'summers' ago.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

I Said NO --- Day 4/110

Walk: CPMC, Mindful Body
Distance: 3 miles and teach yoga class (one more to go)



This cat absolutely does Not want to go for a walk on a leash.  Here's a video of another cat who takes refusal even further by faking death.  Ciwt knows posting a video is sort of a cop out, but she guarantees you this one will make you laugh. http://cestnormalauquebec.com/2015/02/un-chat-fait-semblant-detre-mort-pour-ne-pas-aller-dehors/

Monday, May 18, 2015

Sad Men and Women --- Day 4/109

Walk: Pets Unlimited (Callie fine!), Fillmore Street
Distance:  2 miles and round and round and round the condo


Image result for end of Mad Men

Condolences to my Mad Men friends.  One wrote to say she "can't imagine life without Don Draper and the gang."  Also that she - And her husband - teared up. Luckily, though, most of the millions and millions of fans were happy with the finale.  

Sunday, May 17, 2015

All Square, Sir --- Day 4/108

Walk: Fillmore, Geary
Distance: 3.6 miles and home yoga




After another day of arrangement derangement, Ciwt wishes her home looked like this.  All spacious, organized, squared away, calming.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Now, Where Does This Go? --- Day 107

Walk: Sacramento Street, etc.
Distance: 3.6 miles

Image result for whole house being rearranged

Are you like Ciwt?  All it takes for her is a new vase or two (see Day 4/104 ), and suddenly her entire environment (and mind) is subject to re-arrangement.

Friday, May 15, 2015

New York or Hollywood --- Day 4/106

Walk: Fillmore Street
Distance: 2.5 miles

  
Waterfall                                             New York or Hollywood

Ciwt hadn't noticed until recently that there are two basic styles (and probably more) of carpeting stairs.  She chose the first, Waterfall, for her common hallway.  In her unit she went for the more expensive style.  It plays a bit with her mind that some carpet dealers call this more upholstery style New York while others call it Hollywood. Such different connotations...

PS - Thanks to very kind and professional painter, yesterday's baseboard disaster is all good again.  Thank you, Joe!



Thursday, May 14, 2015

The Good and The Too Bad --- Day 4/105

Walk: To and From Car
Distance: 6 blocks or so and home yoga



The Good: New (Taupe) Hallway carpet installed with continuous lines all the way up.

                   

The Too Bad: New Hallway paint afterward.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

All the Pretty Vases --- Day 4/104

Walk: CPMC (all good), TJ's
Distance: 3 miles






Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Hiatus Coming --- Day 4/103

Walk: Fillmore Street, Mindful Body
Distance: 1.8 miles and teach yoga class


   
So the Big news you've been waiting for from yesterday is that Ciwt is taking an unknown length hiatus from teaching yoga.  What will she do?  Maybe some more writing, or......Together we will find out.



Monday, May 11, 2015

Far From the Junior Year --- Day 4/102

Walk: Van Ness, Sundance Kabuki (Far From the Madding Crowd), TJ's
Distance: 4 miles and small home yoga



Ciwt will make a big announcement tomorrow (stay tuned) and needed to keep herself diverted today. So, she went way back to junior year in high school - and watched a movie of the novel she read then, Far From the Madding Crowd.  It always amazes her when she re-reads or sees screen adaptations of books she read back then that they were taught to young students with essentially no capacity to grasp any of the adult nuances.  Guess we were  meant to get acquainted/exposed so we would be grounded and gravitate to these classics in later years.

Ciwt can't exactly remember the book, but today's movie seemed to her to do the Thomas Hardy novel justice.  (Except for the rake/husband (Tom Sturridge) who had no draw whatsoever for her and, thus, diminished her sense of Bathsheba Everdene - along with her out to lunch understanding that she should immediately drop everything and hang onto the smoldering, gorgeous sheepherder next door (Matthias Schoenaerts)Image result for far from the madding crowd ).

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Testament Re: Testament... --- Day 4/101

Walk: Cinema Club (Testament of Youth)
Distance: 2 miles and home yoga



For some reason, Cinema Club's last spring session is consistently on Mother's Day.  That would be today, and it was.  The movie was based on Vera Brittain's World War I memoir.  For Ciwt the movie was a bit stiff for her to engage completely.  But, since it was a period drama, and Ciwt has some Anglophile tendencies, she absolutely loved the impeccably precise, pressed, twee clothes Image result for testament of youthas well as the impossibly lovely sweeping English sea and countrysideImage result for testament of youth, the manor house the perfect furnishingsImage result for manor house interiors and Oxford .

Needless to say, the war images were quite another story.  

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Tween Style -- Day 4/100


Walk: Local Hoods (Fillmore, Japantown, Laurel Village, Geary Street)
Distance: 5 miles




In her walks around town Ciwt enjoys seeing how tweens  are putting their outfits together.  Very alive and expressive.  Go tweens!!  


Friday, May 8, 2015

High Needle Artistry --- Day 4/99

Walk: Japantown, Hayes Valley, Opera Plaza Cinema (Dior and I), Local Hoods
Distance: 6 miles

Image result for house of dior paris

Ciwt had one of those only in San Francisco days beginning in Japan (town) strolling through all those inexpensive colorful wares and eateries.  Then on to Hayes Valley to look in wonder at her old working ground (Miller/Brown Gallery) in what was once a remote, fairly dark outpost under a freeway overpass.  Now the freeway has been torn down, and Hayes Valley is filled with trendy/expensive shops, uptown eateries and 'the young.'  Next came New Orleans!  She  had big! East Coast shrimp and listened to jazz at the bar of a New Orleans style restaurant.

Finally it was the world of Haute Couture, specifically the House of Dior with its new head, Raf Simons.  She saw the movie (Dior and I), but it doesn't matter how much Ciwt learns about the haute couture world, to her it is eventually mystical - dependent on the heart, soul and skill of each person who pours their artistry into each piece.

But also an archaic, crazy-making world if you have any head for business.  For instance, Raf Simons Image result for raf simons was hired by the most famous couture house in the world just Eight weeks before the Paris Fashion Show where the (non-existent until he creates it) Dior collection will be presented.  Eight weeks to meet the staff Image result for house of dior paris, get familiar with the company and Paris, learn all the idiosyncrasies of both, envision a new, personal spin on an iconic look with the world watching and other completely pressing matters.

At this very time, mostly unannounced to Raf, all the old-timey House of Dior ways are still in place. This leads to situations where he - head of the House, designer being watched by the world, with just a few weeks before the show of shows - comes to a meeting set for the purpose of seeing the first completed samples of the show's dresses.  Only to find out that there is not one dress there on top of which the chief seamstress (incredibly important personage) has flown to New York to meet with a private client.  This being at the fingertips of important clients, he is told, is how Dior does it.  For his part, he tries to carefully, ever so politely explain (the one would think obvious) that, weeks before such an important show, if anyone is to fly off to meet with a client, it should be a subordinate so the main person can continue the work of show preparation.

Ciwt could just sense the room thinking "Yeah, he will learn." (To be fair, Raf's artistic nature also trumped his business sense at various junctures).  By the end of the movie when the new collection hit the Paris runway, Ciwt was in tears for this impossible, supreme accomplishment - along with all the House of Dior peeking behind the curtains and Raf himselfImage result for raf simons .

Image result for raf simons dior haute couture

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Expensive and Cheap --- Day 4/98

Walk: Union Square, Strawberry
Distance: 1 mile

Cheap Delicate Flowers - Elegant - Big Vases Blown Glass Tabletop Art Decoration

Ciwt noticed this on line and then saw how it was described:

Cheap Delicate Flowers - Elegant - Big Vases Blown Glass Tabletop Art Decoration

Something about that elegant/cheap combo didn't draw her in.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Yoga RX a la Ciwt --- Day 4/97

Walk: All over the hood
Distance: 4+ miles

Image result for yoga therapy

Just wrote this to a yoga student and think it has relevance to many yogis and yoginis.

Hi __,

Wanted to follow up on our discussion about your pain radiating down your leg from deep in your glut in case I sounded too vague or non-chalant.

First I'm sorry you're experiencing this.  I've found for me and over years with students that issues will come up - often mysteriously - and resolve themselves gradually - again often mysteriously.  The key to letting the healing process happen is paying close attention and leaving that area to do it's healing work while you nourish and keep the rest of your body in healthy movement.  

(Attention in and out of the yoga room; ie, maybe there is a way you stand/move when doing everyday activities that is contributing.  Also, judicious 😉* reading of information on line can be really informative.  * In all likelihood your condition is Not terminal, dire or any of the things some sites leap right into).

That's the first step - and where I was coming from since you weren't reporting spasms or anything acute.  IF after all your best efforts the situation lingers or gets more intense, it would be good to go to a p.t., massage therapist, private session with a yoga teacher, or any healer that calls to you to get a deeper analysis.  With spasms or acuteness, rest, then seek professional advice.

Theses things are complex and individual - like we are - but can be ways into a deeper sense of self.

Ok, take care.  I really value your trust.

___/Ciwt

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Met Gala: Best, Worst, Attention Guaranteed --- Day 4/96

Walk: Union Square, Carpet Contractors, Mindful Body
Distance: 2 miles and teach yoga

Kind of snarky, but Ciwt continues to be a sucker for these Best/Worst entries.

Best:  So Very Few To Choose From
Bee Shaffer. Having Anna Wintour as a mom has clearly taught Bee Shaffer a thing or two about dressing well. Her dress was stunning from the collar to the train. Photo: Larry Busacca, Getty Images
Bee Shaffer                                             (Daughter of Anna Wintour)

Helen Mirren. Here’s more proof that Helen Mirren can do no wrong. Although simple, the Dame’s laser-cut dress was anything but boring and it looked so good on her, too.
Helen Mirren                              (She just keeps doing everything right).

Worst: So Many; Where to Begin?

Chloe Sevigny. OK, we get that the actress was trying to channel the gala’s 2015 theme, but ugh. The bottom, with its beautiful color and ornate embroidery, could be lovely, but the sloppy, droopy top looks messy. Photo: Larry Busacca, Getty Images
Chloe Sevigny

Kim Kardashian/Beyonce/Jennifer Lopez. We’ve reached peak sheer thanks to Beyonce, Jen and Kim’s barely there numbers last night. That little dress and that much skin is just too much of a good thing, and we’re over it. Extra negative points for Beyonce’s hair. (Sorry, Bey.) Photo: Getty Images
Kim         Beyonce    Jennifer      (So predictable by now, ladies)

Dylan Lauren. The color, the belt, the fabric, the rhinestones, it’s all just so… why, Dylan? Why? Photo: Larry Busacca, Getty Images / 2015 Getty Images
Dylan Lauren                                 (Wouldn't Iris* love this bold clunker. Except not enough necklaces).

Going To Any Length For Attention:

Solange. The singer/DJ put the elevator drama of last year’s Met Gala behind her, this year hitting headlines for making a fashion statement with this Giles mini-dress. It's the complete opposite of big sister Beyonce’s sheer fiasco. Like it or not, it’s unlike anything else.
Solange                                         (What is this?)

Rihanna. She knows how to make an entrance. Rihanna won the red carpet by taking full advantage of the Met steps with this golden Guo Pei gown and its everlasting train that took three guys to manage. It's also a dress that launched a thousand memes. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images
Rihanna

*See Day 4/85 if you're not sure who Iris is..