Succession, the Real Thing --- Days 12/130 & 131

Walk: Park, mostly glued to videos of the Cornonation Ceremony

Distance: 2 miles

All That Jazz --- Day 12/129

Walk: Davies Symphony Hall, etc.

Distance: 5 miles

Bradford Marsalis and his Golden Sax receiving a standing ovation

So today's San Francisco Symphony program was tailor made for Ciwt - and many others - on (another) cold, windy afternoon.  Leonard Bernstein, Duke Ellington (Harlem, 1950) and the marvelous Bradford Marsalis floating us through some John Williams.  Light, rythmic, NYC soulful.

Old Soldier Enjoys a New Life --- Day 12/128

Walk: Fort Point

Distance: 2 miles

Fort Point below Golden Gate Bridge

So the most expedient way to build the Golden Gate Bridge was by demolishing Fort Point, the abandoned Civil War fort at the base of one of ends.  That was the original plan until the chief engineer Joseph Strauss took action to preserve it.  Strauss admired the old fort as a fine example of mason's art and thought it should be preserved and restored as a national monument.  

So he reworked the plans to create an arch under the San Francisco side roadway for the sole purpose of protecting Fort Point. And in 1933 the bridge commenced nearly 4 1/2 years of construction opening to vehicles in 1937.

While Strauss was able to implement his intention to preserve the fort, it wasn't until 1971 that a congressional bill made Fort Point into a national historic site and provided for its restoration.  At its dedication ceremony when it was officially turned over from the U.S. Army to the National Parks Service, the Sixth Army commander said the army's goodbye: "Today we are retiring an old soldier after 110 years on duty."

And now it and its spectacularly beautiful site are enjoyed by millions of history and military buffs as well as runners, walkers, bikers and surfers and seals...

Men in White --- Day 12/127

Walk: Marina

Distance: 4 miles

So an East Coast friend reminded Ciwt that the Met Gala was last night.  And, ladies, Ciwt was surprised to see the men stole the evening.  (If total shock is the highest fashion bar for that event).  Maybe a first?

Lil Nas X in Dior

Jared Leno as Choupette

Erykah Badu in Marni

Alton Mason in Karl Lagerfeld

Jeremy Pope in Balmain and Cartier

Success and Succession --- Day 12/126

Walk: Monday Errands - Driving (Cold and Windy again)

Distance: 1/2 mile 😑

If you value a good night's sleep, here is a combination Ciwt does not recommend:  Watching all the dassterly business types on the TV show Succession while your bank with all you savings is on the brink of collapse.  Luckily, there was a successful ending to the bank situation; she doesn't know yet the fate of that ultra powerful Succession tycoon and his poor but rich children.  

"Reading" --- Day 12/125

Walk: Park

Distance: 2 miles

Today Ciwt is determined to finish a mystery book she started months ago.  It is taking forever because she fades away so long between readings she can't remember either the plot or the characters. Does that appen to any of you, dear readers?

Late to the Meeting --- Day12/124

Walk: Park and Hood

Distance: 5 miles

Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong - as every Succession fan knows

So Ciwt has finally gotten around to watching Succession and is hooked.  Better late than never except for the spoiler hazard business of avoiding most articles and conversations about the show which began airing in June, 2018 and apparently is now in its last season.  At the rate she's streaming though, she'll probably be au courant - and more Succession sociable - very soon. 

Clunk --- Day 12/123

Walk: AMC Kabuki, Park

Distance: 4.6 miles

So Ciwt never readt he book, but she thinks it is probably better than the movie of Are You There God?..... In book form readers can have their own relationship with the material they are reading, connecting to the people and happenings they personally relate to.  By readers, Ciwt means children or young, young adults who are deeply sensitive and curious in their own yet unformed ways.  They are also self-conscious and freaked out about body things even though they want to know.

So it was odd to Ciwt that the movie is so straight-forward and explicit, which is kind of what pre-teen girls absolutely are not.  To Ciwt, the movie felt like:  Okay, here's the story, no wiggle room, no cutely upsetting quandry so big that it won't be quickly resolved, that's it, Clunk.  She wonders if today's pre-teen girls will particularly relate.  Hard to know because Ciwt was perhaps the youngest person in the theater with no men in sight, and she supposes everyone of those woment was their puberty changes including getting their period for the first time 😑in the 1950's. Several of them clapped.  Ciwt thought: Clunk.

The movie is good, well done, but somehow there is no reality in all its reality. Clunk.