Personal Bouquet Favorites --- Day 10/41

Walk: Presidio

Distance: 4.5 miles

Forget Me Not Florist, Maggie Wan; Jullian Mak, co-exhibitor (San Francisco) in front of Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatric, Watercatcher, 1995

Floristika, Emma Soloveychik, MS, EMS, CCF (San Francisco)  in front of Robert Henri, O in Persian Costume, 1913

Noovo Bloom, Alan Hhan Do (San Francisco), in front of Richard Mayhew, Rhapsody, 2002

Maybe for their overall simplicity and colors, Ciwt particularly enjoyed these bouquets to their selected art pieces.  If you go to the site ourself yourself, maybe you'll have other favorites.  https://deyoung.famsf.org/bouquets-to-art

"A Celebration of Their Lives" --- Day 10/40

Walk: Green Apple Books, Sloat Garden Center

Distance: 4.5 miles, Yoga

Eko W. Tjoek (San Francisco)

So, today Bouquets to Art, a weeklong display of fresh floral installations inspired by works in the de Young's permanent collection returned to our Fine Arts Museums for the 37th year.  It is their principal fund raising event -  gorgeous, and immensely popular. And always sold out so that Ciwt long ago abandoned the idea of  attending.  But, to her happy surprise, this year Bouquets is being offered on line*. 

On her first virtual visit, understandably, Ciwt found that the pandemic, along with the art, has inspired many of the talented and specially invited floral designers. She thought the arrangement above was particularly lovely, and was deeply moved by Eko W. Tjoek, the artist's, statement:

This past year has been a difficult and unprecedented time for all of us.  The pandemic has affected our daily lives, our way of living and how we think.  There is a lot of heartache and sorrow.  But it also allows us to pause and slow down.  I want to dedicate this arrangement to my parents, whom I lost to this virus, and to millions of  families who also lost their love ones.  Think of this arrangement as a celebration of their lives.

I chose this location because of its simplicity  No art, no paintig or sculpture.  Just the room, glass windows, and the garden outside.

Peace and serenity.  That's all the world needs right now.

*You can attend too! (just click on this link).  

Who is M.B.? --- Day 10/39

Walk: GG Pickleball

Distance: Just a mile, 90 minutes pickle, yoga stretches

So just a week ago Ciwt didn't know who Mayim Bialik was and now she's rooting for her to be permanent host of Jeporady.  

Every single guest host so far has commented repeatedly on how difficult it is to fill Alex's shoes.  Not just his likeability, but the fact that Alex made an exceedingly challenging job look easy.  And isn't that the ultimate sign of exceptional talent?  You watch Roger Federer speed around the tennis court like a graceful and beautiful gazelle hitting the most remote shots with perfect timing and think "tennis looks so fun." Not, omg, what a struggle, he's trying so hard, I could never do that, etc.

And Bialik has that special something.  Like Alex, smart as a whip, personable with the contestants, fast on the draw with comments and evaluations of the contestants' answers, human, humane, humble, fun.  Etc.  She is so good she handles every moment as if it is perfectly natural, plus she's likely to draw a whole new crowd of viewers while keeping us old ones glued to the show.  So, in answer to one of TV's most pressing questions, Ciwt is ready to answer "Who is Mayim Bialik?"

(But then again a few weeks ago she was championing Buzzy or Ken or Bill.  So guess she better wait to see all the candidates before buzzing in.  The really good news is there already are several great ones).

Not Blowing in the Wind --- Days 10/36, 37, 38

Walk: 1. Presidio Pickleball  2. Vogue Theater (NT Live: Cyrano de Bergerac  3. Monday errands

Distance: 1. 2.8 miles, 1 hr. pickle, yoga  2. 2.4 miles, tiny yoga  3. 3.5 miles, Yoga

So where has Ciwt been past few days?  Well, it is summer, so like any good San Franciscan she has gone inside.  To get away from the wind and cold, that is.  While the rest of the country comes to life, sun bathes, swims, has backyard barbeques, plays horseshoes, we turn on our heaters or just stay in our down jackets when we give up chasing pickleballs in the wind.  Did Ciwt tell you about the birds that were blowing over trying to stand next to a golf green she was putting on?

With all her excess energy Ciwt turned to not just one but three cultural events yesterday.  First, National Theater Live's Cyrano de Bergerac.  Like many people who know that play, Ciwt was expecting to see a bough covered balcony with Cyrano hidden beneath crooning sweet poety to Roxane.  Nope!  Not in 2021 where classics are a thing of the past.  This Cyrano was haughty, vaguely homosexual, dancing hip hop, swearing like mad and speaking in modernized rap verse.  He was also quite gorgeous and completely buff (with no artificial nose) and played beautifully by James McAvoy.

Then it was back for an informative and passionate art lecture about the ever impassioned Vincent van Gogh.    

Vincent van Gogh, (Last) Self Portrait. 1889

Finally she Netflixed a movie she'd missed from a recent film festival. Turned out the (gay) main character was the opposite of the two emotive artists she had spent the day with: cold, remote, cruel. 

Alfonso Herrera in Dance of '41

Finally, she threw her down comforter on top of all her other covers and went off to sleep with her cats curled up beside her.

Puzzles, Quizes and Ciwt --- Day 10/35

Walk:  Hood

Distance: Just 1.8 miles (So Windy😞)

Ciwt's lowest score so far on the NYT daily mini.  Do Not ask about her NYT Weekly Quiz scores....

Respectful Farewell --- Day 10/34

Walk:  Presidio

Distance: 4 miles, Yoga

Always hard for Ciwt to let go of all the artful covers and high quality writing.  

Around the Table --- Day 10/33

Walk: LP Nails

Distance: 2.5 miles, Yoga

Horace Pippin, Domino Players, 1943, 12 3/4" x 22," oil on fiberboard 

DC is an art lovers heaven for, among others, young working women, which CIWT was when she lived there in the 60's.  Many first rate museums were - and are! - free, so Ciwt's big decision on her walk home was whether to stop in at the Smithsonian or the National Gallery of Art or, closer to her home, The Phillips Collection.  If she chose the last, she couldn't to wait to come around the Collection's blind corner and encounter, boom, Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party 

Maybe because she was so blissed out by colors and the merriment of Renoir's party, she doesn't recall seeing Horace Pippin's Domino Players, which, since Duncan Phillips acquired it in 1943, has been in the Collection.

Renoir's young and beautiful friends are enjoying food and drink in a convivial river setting while Pippin's  domino players are occupied with other humble daily pleasures: table games, friendly competition, quiltmaking.  But, take away the different settings, and Ciwt sees everyday people enjoying the relaxed pleasure and comfort of each other's company.  And this warms her heart. 

She's beginning to contemplate a trip back to DC, and, if she takes it, hopes to encounter that old Luncheon friend around the corner and meet a new one somewhere near it on the walls of the Phillips.

 

Pickle-Tennis Anyone? --- Day 10/32

Walk: Lisa and Douglas Goldman Tennis Center

Distance: 6 miles, 1 hour pickle

Before: 

After: 

Hurray!  San Francisco has a great new tennis and Pickleball facility in Golden Gate Park.  The generosity of certain old SF Families and Foundations is truly amazing.  We are very lucky.