Sunday, June 30, 2019

Friday, June 28, 2019

New Computer, Hopefully.... --- Day 8/85

Walk: Pickleball,  home for new computer installation
Distance: 1.5 miles, 2 hours pickleball



Ciwt is still working with her marvelous tech guy and hoping she won't have to go back to corresponding with her readers by pen and paper.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Gon Fishin --- Days 8/81,82,83,84

Walk: PGCC, Julius Kahn Park, Hood
Distances: 3-5 miles, hours of pickleball and working with trainer





Ciwt hs gone Fishin, Pickleballin, Workin Out but still thinking of you.  Pearls await when she returns from summer.

Sunday, June 23, 2019

A Movie of the Highest Order --- Day 8/80

Walk: Pickleball, AMC Kabuki (The Last Black Man in San Francisco)
Distance: 1 Hour Pickle, 2.5 miles, small yoga stretch

Ciwt could go on and on with the pictures of/from The Last Black Man Standing. They are all important just the way every moment, word, visual, song is a mesmerizing and elemental part of this amazing film.  It is way beyond Ciwt's words: poetic, mythic, simple, profound, in the moment and timeless, classicall dramatic and grounded in confident new vision.  All with flawless, deeply affecting acting.  Makes Ciwt proud to be a movie goer.

Saturday, June 22, 2019

4 Enjoyment --- Day 8/79

Walk: Hood, AMC Kabuki
Distance: 5 Miles




















Toy Story 4 is so well done - visually, in terms of casting, directing, cleverness and heartwarmingness - Ciwt found it easy to overlook that the message(s) are a bit underwhelming.  But then she's not 10 years old  (or younger) so she doesn't know that they are perfectly pitched to what that age group resonates to will take forward through life.  She does know she wasn't as emotionally traumatized as she was watching Toy Story 3,  stayed to the very last credit and recommends the movie highly to all.

Friday, June 21, 2019

A Little History --- Day 8/78

Walk: J Kahn Park
Distance: 1 Mile, 2 Hours Pickleball


Yelamu Ohlone Village of Chutchui until 1775 (before Spanish established Mission Dolores)

Mission Dolores, est.1776 as part of Spain's California Chain of Missions 

Mission Dolores San Francisco Today, Oldest Surviving Structure in San Francisco

California's history has nothing to do with the Mayflower, Plymouth Rock or Pilgrims.





Thursday, June 20, 2019

Come On, Ciwt, Just Five More... --- Days 8/75, 76 & 77

Walk: PGCC & Hood Errands, No, PGCC
Distance: 2 Miles & Exercise Class; Nada; Exercise Class and Personal Training


Ciwt has now lived long enough to decide to do something she has put off her whole life: work with a personal trainer.  Boring, expensive, but probably worth it for a few sessions at least.  Stay tuned as Ciwt tunes up.....

Monday, June 17, 2019

Sportsmanship, Yes --- Days 8/73 and 74

Walk: 1.No, Sunday Cleaning and Arm Chair Traveling  2. J. Kahn Pickleball Courts
Distance: 1. Bunch of Stairs, Small Yoga   2. Pickleball, Small Yoga




















Ciwt really likes that our Warriors took out a full page ad in the Toronto paper to congratulate the Raptors on their NBA Victory.  Good Old-Fashioned sportsmanship is nice to see.

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Light Night --- Day 8/72

Walk: Vogue Theater (Late Night)
Distance: 2 miles


What's not to like about Emma Thompson?  Ciwt thinks that every time she sees the wonderful English actress/comedienne in a movie.  And now we have Mindy Kaling who is climbing the 'What's...?' ladder.  Late Night was partially written, produced and starred in by Kaling along with an excellent cast.  A mixture of comedy and social commentary, Late Night isn't quite excellent, but an intelligent view into some of the unfunny aspects of the TV comedy world as well as a lightish, well-acted get away.

Friday, June 14, 2019

Winged Non-Victory --- Days 8/69, 70, 71

Walk: 1. PGCC (all day: golf clinics, bridge, lecture)  2. Marin Driving Day  3. J. Kahn Courts, Clay Theater
Distance: 1. Buckets of balls, a few Blocks 2. 2.5 miles, Exercise Class  3. 2 miles, Pickleball


Not sure if the image above is of de Lorean or Alec Baldwin who personified him in one of those reenactment docudramas.  So, that's one thing the filmmakers and Baldwin got right in Framing John deLorean, the lookalike. But, by the end of the film, Ciwt felt like the first people (filmmakers) were too insistent that deLorean was some sort of misguided hero instead of the core level creep Ciwt saw on the screen - and remembers during her lifetime.  


Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Birds Do It, Bees Do It, ....... --- Days 8/67 & 68

Walk: 1. Can't Remember, Toooo Hot  2. PGCC, Joe's
Distance: 1. ?, Easy Enjoyable  95 degree Yoga  2. 3 miles, exercise class 


So, yesterday Ciwt came home in the heat to find a helpless baby bird on her steps looking forlornly and helplessly up at her.  Of course, her heart went out as she cast around for ways to save this little orphan.  She didn't know much but she did know not to touch the baby bird because then the mother would refuse to feed it.  So Ciwt went inside to get a cardboard box to coax little birdie into.

Amazingly the chick walked right into the box.  But what next?  Now she could hear the mother frantically chirping and fluttering close so Ciwt lifted the box to a higher ledge where maybe the mother would do - what? - whatever mother birds do.  But the mother flew away and the bird thudded out of the box.

So Ciwt went inside and called various animal rescue organizations until she got an Animal Control 'ranger' on the line and asked what she should do.  His reply: Nothing, absolutely nothing, unless the bird is bleeding or close to traffic.  No on both those criteria.  So, the answer was Nothing.

And here's the explanation.  During the spring and early summer many people in urban and rural environments encounter fledgling birds and react like Ciwt by thinking they should save them.  But these babies are hopping around the ground and panicked because their mother have decided it is time for them to learn to fly and start fending for themselves.  This is is a shock to the babies - and to the humans who find them - but they and their mothers must be left to complete the task.  (Probably the mother bird was frantically chirping to Ciwt to "Get Away!  You are Not helping!").

Still thinking of the little chick's pathetic eyes and cheeps, Ciwt was doubtful about following the control guy's advice.  But at least she was able to sleep without feeling she was abetting a death.  When she woke this morning she went immediately down to the steps expecting to encounter a limp little mass of baby feathers.  Instead: nothing.  Somehow, in Mother Nature's way, the helpless bird had learned self-help.

Oh, and it turns out it is perfectly okay to handle a baby bird - and a bird's egg.  It's mother will not reject it because humans have touched it. Urban Myth for urban dwelling Ciwt.   



Sunday, June 9, 2019

Staycation (# 10,000 at least) --- Day 8/65 and 66

Walk: 1. SF Doc Fest, Roxie Theater (Couper Was Here and other shorts in We Have This in Common) 2. SFOpera (Orlando)
Distance: 6 miles, 5.2 miles

Home Walking Tour Day One:

    Homeless former fireperson, Couper, using skills to take care of fellow community member's broken wrist.





Home Walking Tour Day Two:

    SF Opera stars 'taking care' of  Handel's shell shocked Orlando

So, having cancelled her trips to Midwest, South and So. Cal, Ciwt strapped together her toes, defied Dr, advice, started walking and reminded herself of what an incredibly rich place her home city is.  Probably yours as well...

First stop was a Doc Fest compilation of shorts about different types of present type communities.  We Have This in Common.  Eye, mind and heart opening from beginning to end.

Then there was the classic opera, Orlando, which she left after the first act.  Who would think she would prefer learning more about homelessness over time-honored culture, but welcome to the present day and to your latest SF walking tour, Ciwt.




Friday, June 7, 2019

On Her Toes --- Days 8/62, 63, 64

Walk: 1. No, Toes Stub  2. PGCC Exercise Class  3. Pickleball, bucket of balls
Distance: 1. 0, 2. 6 blocks, Exercise Class, A little Pickleball  3. 3 Pickleball Games, hit bucket of                     balls, TJ's


Remember when stubbed toes hurt like mad for a moment, then went back to normal?  Well, not all of them do that (after a certain age?).  So this week Ciwt went from full rest to cancelling a 10 day trip to the Midwest and beyond - and then to full (rank beginner) participation in, TaDa, Pickleball which has started up just down the block.*




*Well, more accurately reported, she should say she hobbled over to the Pickleball courts and stood near the net barely moving her feet while hitting 'dinks."  But, for Pickleball, turns out, that's fundamental 🌱(seedling)


Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Pug Sunday at the Park --- Day 8/61

Walk: PGCC, T. Joe's
Distance: 4 miles, Exercise Class

    
           

Monday, June 3, 2019

Beautifully Missing A Few 'little' Details --- Day 8/60


Walk: Embarcadero Cinema (Biggest Little Farm)
Distance:  2 miles, yoga stretch


Biggest little Farm is pretty much a must see movie, especially Ciwt thinks for young people (who know about death).  The up close videotography of all sorts of animals is fascinating, educational and a rare opportunity.  And the ups and downs of farming life are just revealing enough to convey the difficulty and heartbreak of that life choice without discouraging any young person considering it as a possibility.  The joys and successes of hard, patient work close to the earth and nature far outweigh any downside.

Ciwt loved all those aspects and the story itself of two 'city folk' giving it all up for farm life.  But, as an adult, she had adult questions.  Primarily, how did they keep going year after year?  The real world finances of Biggest little Farm make no sense; farming is an incredibly costly and risky endeavor.  The fact that this all important element was glossed over bothered Ciwt a bit.  Just a bit; it's still a must see documentary.  

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Rocketman Down --- Day 8/59

Walk: AMC Kabuki (Rocketman)
Distance: 2 miles, Yoga


Rocketman, a biopic of Elton John directed by the same man who directed Bohemian Rhapsody is good, Ciwt thinks you'll be entertained and somewhat informed.  But she left the Freddie Mercury movie feeling wonderfully energized while the Elton John movie left her feeling somehow saddish.  Maybe partly because she wasn't really invited into the music of Rocketman whereas she felt like she was actually standing, clapping, singing, going nuts at Freddie Mercury's legendary Live Aid perfomance in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Voici Un Rhino --- Days 8/57 & 58

Walk: 1. PGCC, Union Square   2. A.C.T. Theater
Distance: 1. A few blocks/Day of Rest  2. 5.5 cold, windy miles, yoga



Ciwt has little to add to the huge body of commentary on Rhinoceros.  It is a classic 'post-war avant-garde, Theater of the Absurb' play written by the French Romanian Jewish playwright/intellectual, Eugene Ionesco in 1959 and showing at our ACT.  Except perhaps that she found its plot a bit more involving than Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, another play of that ilk   Ah oui, smartish but no French intellectual is Ciwt.