Monday, July 31, 2017

Questions --- Day 6/161

Walk: Sonoma, Santa Rosa Properties
Distance: 1 mile
For Instance
In her quest to make absolutely sure she is ready to be owned by a new cat(s), Ciwt is living a few questions.  Today's was whether she (and her new cat(s) might  enjoy having a second home near San Francisco where the weather is warm, the skies are clear, the parking is abundant, etc.  So she met a realtor in country like that and found, yes, all those things are there And the houses have things like: large yards, multiple bedrooms and baths, large modern kitchens, huge garages, pools, nearby golf, biking and hiking trails.

How nice to be on the land and sense lovely things growing; all this space, beauty, comfort and ease should make Ciwt (and the cat(s)) happy.  But actually, it turned out Ciwt's favorite part of the day was returning to her fog-bound, windy city and aerie condo with its New York sense of space (ie, every inch can/must be used for something).

Hope the cat(s) aren't disappointed...





Sunday, July 30, 2017

C & O and Friends --- Day 6/160 (2)


Walk: Already Noted Today


Ciwt just had to post this feel good pic of Steph Curry at the White House with Barak Obama's dogs Sunny and Bo.  


Such a Pretty City --- Day 6/160

Walk: Marina Up and Over to Ghirardelli Square
Distance: 4 miles, Home Yoga


      Ciwt leaves her heart in San Francisco every time she takes a walk.





Saturday, July 29, 2017

After Out There ... --- Day 6/159

Walk: No, good intentions foiled by wind, cold, fog.  Plus ...(See Below..)
Distance: 0, Home Yoga




Friday, July 28, 2017

No Passing --- Day 6/158

Walk: Biro & Sons Silversmith, Vogue Theater (The Midwife)
Distance: 1.5 miles, Home Yoga

























This was dead ahead of Ciwt taking the entire width of the street at base on her usual downtown driving route today. Stright out of a sci-fi movie and one of the reasons navigating San Francisco now takes at least twice the time it used to.

Night at the (Merola) Opera (Training) --- Day 6/157

Walk: Sf Conservatory of Music
Distance: About a mile


In her new out and and about life Ciwt accepted an invitation to a Master Class at Merola Opera Program.  Mer ..what? you might ask.  Ciwt had heard the name but not connected it to a prestigious 'only in San Francisco' summer training program for select young opera singers, accompaniests and set managers.  She, who knows little but is learning about opera music, was fascinated - and anxious for the performers.  With their exceptional vocal 'equipment' each young talent sounded fabulous to Ciwt right from their first recital.  But not so for the world world renowned opera trainer who - in front of the audience - reviewed and critiqued virtually every note and gesture of each singer's aria then instructed them to sing according to his 'suggestions' again and again and again....  They would literally be breathless at the end of their master class- and so would Ciwt.  Amazingly exacting and thrilling stuff...

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

All Peopled Out for Today --- Day 6/156

Walk: PGCC for Golf Clinic, then Putter's Clinic, then Lunch with golfers, then Bridge and a glass of wine.
Distance: A mile or so, small yoga


Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Remind Me Again Where That Hole Is --- Day 6/155

Walk: PGCC 18 Holes
Distance: @ 6.5 miles (Mostly UPhill ☝), Home Yoga


Ciwt's return to the links was definitely challenging....She's still processing.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Drivin, Drivin --- Day 6/154

Walk: Monday Errands
Distance: 3 miles, Home Yoga


Tomorrow Ciwt will test drive 'the links' after a 50 year hiatus, and she's feeling a bit shakey.  Good luck back, hips, knees, shoulders, elbows and, especially, head 👧.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Dunkirk, What to Say? --- Day 6/153

Walk: Goodwill Donation, Vogue Theater (Dunkirk)
Distance: 3 miles, Home Yoga




Ciwt doesn't know what to say about Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk.  It is an ambitious war movie spectacle by a famous director about one of the most triumphant military retreats in recorded human history. And, somehow, Ciwt could have easily left after ten minutes.  There was a lot of brutal, harrowing action but minimal personal engagement for Ciwt.  The movie is stark, terrifying and arty/poetic at the same time.  Ciwt could feel the mind of the director but couldn't exactly feel for the characters and multiple plot lines that appeared, then went away, then came back.

Maybe this was because Nolan assumed Ciwt and all viewers were already intimately familiar with the "Miracle of Dunkirk'" which is legendary in England.  If you already know what the Dunkirk 'deliverance,' (for lack of a better a word) is all about, then that poetry might be exactly the way to touch your heart in the deepest way.  But if, like Ciwt, you are very familiar with the name Dunkirk but not with the evacuation "Miracle," then you need more specifics, less technique.

Or something. Ciwt was so busy making linear sense of all the cross-cutting while being dazzled by the close-up particular scenes, she cared but couldn't really get into the movie as a whole. Actually, it was sort of a gift not to be that involved because, gawd, what horror - and heroism.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Japantown Collectibles ---Day 6/152

Walk: PGCC, Performing Arts Center (Merola Opera Program), Japantown
Distance: 6.5 miles, Home Yoga, Hit Bucket of Balls


Seems to Ciwt that she has quite a lot of stuff going on these (post-Callie) days...




Friday, July 21, 2017

Busy with Golf Club Bridge --- Day 6/151

Walk: Fillmore Street, PGCC
Distance: 1.5 miles, home yoga, hit balls



No, not that kind.  This kind: 




Thursday, July 20, 2017

Book Now --- Day 6/150

Walk: Sausy/Cibo, PGCC Book Club (Lost City of the Monkey God)
Distance: Basically a non-exercise day; busy on line





1300 people have just finished reading this..

Now it is 1800,  Decide NOW!!!

Ciwt is busy making reservations for a trip back to Midwest summer.

2,000 are now considering every flight she is looking at.....

Gotta act fast.  Catch you tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Head Trip --- Day 6/149

Walk: Union Square
Distance: 4.5 miles, small yoga

Ciwt's trip downtown today was all in her head.

First, her dentist for that $$$$ tooth 


Then on to interview a possible new hairdresser  

Finally on for some fun playing and purchasing some hats at Hats on Post,
her favorite hat store .





Tuesday, July 18, 2017

I Think This Might Be The Way --- Day 6/148

Walk: Not Really, PGCC Book Group
Distance: Not Much, Hit Bucket of Balls, Small Yoga Stuff


New Club, New Book Group, New People, Golf on the Horizon,  No Cat.  All good, just kind of temporarily mystifying for Ciwt.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Consider This --- Day 6/147

Walk: High-Tech Nails, PGCC
Distance: 1 mile, Hit Bucket of Balls, Home Yoga


Ciwt doesn't think she's living in the past.  First Breaking Bad (2008-2013), now Harriet Doerr's Stones for Ibarra (winner of the 1985 National Book Award for First Fiction among other honors).  It is a wonderful book, well worth the wait - and inspirational: Doerr was 74 when this debut novel was published.  After that her second novel, Consider This, Senora was a national bestseller.

Ciwt takes heart!!   
                                                                Harriet Doerr

Sunday, July 16, 2017

And There Are Two More Episodes (?!) --- Day 6/146

Walk: PGCC
Distance: A Few Blocks, Hit Bucket of Balls, Small Yoga


A Good man...
           
Breaking Bad viewers know exactly who Ciwt has pictured above.  To 'console' herself after losing her cat, Callie, Ciwt began binging on BB, which she had never watched.  She certainly knew going in the series is widely regarded as the best TV show ever but, even so, she wasn't entirely prepared for its consistent quality at every level from writing, to acting to directing, to cinematography, you name it.  

Also - frighteningly - its unpredictability.  Viewers go in blind - and even the cleverest of them can't figure out what is coming.  Sometimes the episode is slow, menacing, setting a scene, developing or deepening a character, sometimes it is shocking, unnerving, violent.  But absolutely nothing prepared Ciwt - or critics and viewers in the millions on 9/15/13 when it was it first aired - for Ozimandias. Stunning, gut wrenching, making reveals heartlessly and waaay sooner than reasonably expected (if expected at all).  Listen to critics and viewers:  "the hardest tv episode I have ever watched," "pretty much put the nail in the coffin for viewers holding out hope..," "the greatest Breaking Bad episode Ever.....," "can't get out of my chair...," "can't stop crying..."

Ciwt could go on with the quotes but she'll let reviewer Nick Harley have the last word:  

I cannot think of a single thing that I have ever watched on television that was as good as tonight’s episode of Breaking Bad. Of every television show, series finale, made for TV movie, television broadcast of major motion picture, sporting event, and award show, there is not a single thing that I can point to that kept me in such utter suspense and captivity. For the duration of "Ozymandias," my mouth was agape in pure shock.  


Saturday, July 15, 2017

Jumping for Joy --- Day 6/145

Walk: SFMOMA, Fillmore 
Distance: 3 miles, small yoga




















Another Tour Completed; More Happy-in-Spite-of-Downer-Art  (They Said) Clients!!!

Friday, July 14, 2017

Bring in the Clowns - Please --- Day 6/144

Walk: 'The Club'
Distance: A few Blocks, Hit bucket of balls, small yoga

Edvard Munch, The Sick Child, L: 1896, R; 1907, oil on canvas

So how fun can Ciwt make her tour tomorrow with the Edvard Munch exhibition being the centerpiece?  Challenging because every canvas - without exception - depicts true personal scenes of death, despair, desolation...you get the picture.  And certain particularly wrenching events are painted not just once, but as many as six times in the case of The Sick Child, his depictions of his favorite sister, Sophie's, death.  

Then there is this pairing of the family on that same occasion painted nearly thirty years apart - and very different technically.

 

Death in the Sick Room, 1893; Death Struggle 1915, oil on canvas

The multiple versions and sameness of subject matter are very good for showing Munch's stylistic changes over time.  But how will the heart-rending topics affect Ciwt's tour members?  She'll find out tomorrow....



Thursday, July 13, 2017

Almost Like a Job --- 6/143

Walk: PGCC New Members Night
Distance: 1 mile, Home Yoga






Wednesday, July 12, 2017

S'UP? --- Day 6/142

Walk: No, Drive to Club for Bridge
Distance: A few blocks, Home Yoga

Ciwt was busy today showing up, meeting new people at her (still) new club.


Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Where Are We? --- 6/141

Walk: Fillmore, Joe's
Distance: 3 miles, Small Yoga

Morning, Crissy Field Marsh

Monday, July 10, 2017

Quick Trip --- Day 6/140

Walk: Around the Vineyard
Distance:  1 mile  


Ciwt is just back from a quick trip to the country.  Catch you tomorrow.....

Sunday, July 9, 2017

San Franciscan 'Ruins' --- Day 6/139

Walk: Sunday No
Distance: 0, Home Yoga

Going...

















...And Coming Home
             




Saturday, July 8, 2017

The Shape You're In?* --- Day 6/138

Walk: SFMOMA (Tour Research)
Distance: 3 miles



*Chris Johanson, (American, b. 1968), I Do Not Know But Am Open to Learning, 2013, nylon, blower motor, plywood box, wire



Friday, July 7, 2017

Dark on Dark --- Day 6/137

Walk: SFMOMA (Edvard Munch Exhibition)
Distance: 2.5 miles, home yoga

Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863-1944), Eye in Eye, 1899-90 

Ciwt thinks she remembers reading somewhere that Edvard Munch was actually quite light-hearted and amusing company.  Hope so, because Ciwt is scheduled to give several tours of a large exhibition of his paintings presently at SFMOMA. There lots of them, and they aren't uplifting company.  Eye in Eye above is about as cozy as they get, and rest aren't far off in feeling from his iconic The Scream  (1893).  Onward to locate that happy article before she dives into the necessary deep research for her tours.

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Two for the Road --- Day 6/136

Walk: Jan's Massage
Distance: 2.6 miles

                           

In summer Ciwt notices an uptick in the speed of the cars around her in San Francisco.  And a lot of unexpected car tricks being played by young, out of school drivers doing whatever... to get by her on the road.  

But then she can just imagine what those drivers might be thinking* when they see darling Ciwt ahead of them.


* Incorrrectly 😸🚀

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

No Bid Tonight --- Day 6/135

Walk: No, still nursing tingling feet
Distance: Not far, Home Yoga


Ciwt is just home from bridge at her club.  Catch you later...

Monday, July 3, 2017

Adornments --- Day 6/133

Walk: No, Aching Feet 😟😬
Distance: A Few Blocks, Home Yoga

Hats are on CIWT because they are the artistic, historical, socio-economic subject of a thoughtful, well researched and lovingly presented exhibition currently at the Legion of Honor: Degas, Impressionism and the Paris Millinery Trade.

One aspect of the millinery trade - among many - is its liberal use of decorative adornments.  Three types easily come to mind and elicited different degrees of reaction from Ciwt.  The most difficult, and there is literally no other way to put this, is The Whole Bird.



Silk Faille, Velvet and Cord, Jet Beads, African Starling Bird 😬, ca 1890 

The news here is too grim for Ciwt to recount - easily billions of birds as the middle class prospered, began emulating the fashionable elite and women's hats became larger and more lavish.  Eventually societies for the preservation of birds were founded, including the Audubon Society in America and the English Society of the Protection of Birds.  Strongly criticizing the French millinery trade in particular, they struggled to enact laws as well as re-educate the public, particularly women, through public lectures, periodicals and books.  Thus they played some part in ending 'The Age of Extermination' by World War I when more practical styles came into fashion.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the birds were preserved in such poisonous chemicals as arsenic acid which, if they didn't kill the millinery workers outright, led to severe physical and mental conditions.
The phrase  "Mad As A Hatter" was not invented by Lewis Carroll for Alice's time-challenged rabbit but was descriptive of an actual phenomenon in the hat trade.


Michniewicz-Tuvee (F. active c. 1868-1905),  Woman's hat c. 1892, Rabbit felt, ostrich feathers, silk satin ribbon, faceted jet buckles.

Still imperfect but mercifully less upsetting for Ciwt as adornments are feathers.  To be more specific, plumage that could be safely removed from birds - or, better yet but not as frequent, molted naturally.
Ostrich plumes fit this bill and those from African ostrich farms posed no issues with conservationists.  Whew, thinks Ciwt because this is one of her favorite hats in the show.  Simple, tasteful, elegant lines, rich color with that lovely soft touch of plumed femininity.

Maison Virot, Woman's hat, c. 1900.  Plaited straw over wire frame, silk velvet and maline; silk roses, leaves and ferns.

Last and most agreeable in the large adornments for hats department are flowers.  All artificial! And so artfully rendered.  The production of flowers from silk, cotton, velvet and paper was a large industry in Paris. By the 20th century an estimated 28,000 artificial flower makers were working in the city and swelling the ranks of newly liberated women.

The Fine Arts Museums have begun to accompany selected exhibitions with free on-line, interactive and excellent introductions they call "Digital Stories."   Ciwt lifts her hat and highly recommends the Paris Millinery Trade link for those wishing to see and learn more about this important and complex aspect of fashion, social and artistic history.








Sunday, July 2, 2017

Lines --- Day 6/132


Walk: Crissy Field, Sloat Garden
Distance: 3.8 miles, Home Yoga


Lines




Saturday, July 1, 2017

Hat Tricky --- Day 6/131

Walk: Car errands
Distance: A Few Blocks, Home Yoga


Ciwt has a longtime fascination with hats and a small collection.  She can actually look quite fetching in them, but rarely wears one.  For one thing, there is the near constant wind in San Francisco.  But, mostly it is a matter courage.  Wearing a hat, a true chapeau, takes a certain amount of  courage and willingness to be 'seen.'  The proper way for a lady to wear one is Always; when she completes her ensemble with the right hat, she wears it throughout the day or evening, inside and out.
Some viewers - especially men - admire and are intrigued by such a feminine high fashion (and individual) statement.  Others damn with faint praise, sideways looks or actual negative comments. No matter what the reaction, you keep the hat on; it can be nerve wracking.

Even in the late 19th century when propriety demanded a hat be worn outside of the home and you were not fully dressed without a hat, wearing one was dicey.  Hats may have been everywhere but they were not taken for granted.  People noticed them and had opinions about the wearer's tastefulness, class, morals, character - sometimes positive and more often critical.  All this at a time when individualism was not valued as it is in our country today, so Ciwt can just imagine how painful it could of have been for women who had chosen the 'wrong' hat, but then had to go about wearing it throughout the entire day and evening.