Twilight of the Year Continues --- Day 327

Walk: High-Tech Nails 
Distance: 8 blocks

Now that Melissa and Tony have won Season 14 of DWTS


and I've seen the good movies in town (some twice)
Argo (2), Searching for Sugar Man (2), Lincoln, Skyfall, A Royal Affair, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Sessions, etc...

the next trick for skirting around my mismatch with this stretch of the calendar will be



Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and many others together at Phil's Terrapin Crossroads Gala tomorrow night.

Kind of an ordeal for CIWT to go to these things, but, for old Grateful Dead's sake, I'd really like to see these two founding members together in a small, intimate venue.  These were the types of venues where The Dead began their 'long, strange trip' in the 1960's.  Long, strange and I might add indescribable.  A journalist recently tried for a description in The New Yorker of all magazines and came close in parts - the parts that related to his personal memories of listening to concert tapes while he was in college.  But, overall, especially at the end of the long article where he attempts to capture Phil, Bob, Furthur, the soul of The Dead's journey into the future, he is tone deaf at best and sensationalizing, shtick-seeking journalist at worst. I doubt even The Dead understand themselves or care to; never have, don't try.  They just keep searching for the sound and Heads keep showing up and history keeps forming.

And the Mirror Ball goes to... Day 326

Walk: Mindful Body
Distance: 8 Blocks and teach two yoga classes

My big decision for today is whether to actually watch the finals of this season's Dancing With The Stars to find out who the winners are.  Or whether to check online with East Coast sources who will know three hours ahead of San Francisco and not watch.  Probably I'll watch, but may be tired from teaching 2 classes in a row.  Hmmmm?

Meanwhile, my projected winners are: Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough.



But Wait, Surprise!!  The coveted Mirror Ball Trophy




went to....Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani!

Good and Empty --- Day 325

Walk: Chiropractic, Yoga Tree Hayes
Distance: 2 miles

Just back from back adjustment (gawd, that neck part!) and yoga class with lots of advanced twists. 
Feeling kind of empty in a good way. Think I'll let it last...

Tosca --- Day 324

Walk: Opera Building (Tosca)
Distance: 1 mile

I get to 2-3 operas every year thanks in large part to the proximity of so many places and events in San Francisco.  Personal growth is right at your fingertips; you sort of just can't...

By now I've been to enough to think I can evaluate what I've seen.  At the beginning - especially when there were no supertitles - I felt like such a hick not understanding most of what I was looking at and completely unable to know good from whatever. Now I also buy good seats;  then I used to stand in back which is a life of its own.  Standing is more social in its relaxed way, but I find that at some point in my more expensive seats I begin talking with the person next to me, and usually have a very rich conversation.  People at operas are interesting I find.

So, what did I think of Tosca today?  Okay, Cavaradosi, the tenor, did not hold my interest particularly. The music is beautiful with gorgeous arias but, I hate to say it, to me kind of boring between arias.  My favorite singer today was the man who played the evil Scarpia, Robert Frontali.


Today's Tosca, Angela Gheorghiu, is beautiful, especially in black.  But I think I especially would have loved to have been able to see Maria Callas (below) as Tosca.  Wouldn't a Lot of people?!

Sh'ma/Listen, David Gelernter --- Day 323

Walk: Mindful Body, Office Depot, Laurel Village
Distance: 3 miles and teach yoga class

A friend sent a video on the artist, who painted the images below, David Gelernter.





http://vimeo.com/54038440

Whence Black Friday -- Day 322

Walk: Sacramento Street, Laurel Village, Trader Joe's, Big O tires
Distance: 5 miles

Day after Thanksgiving is:

-Black Friday, (on and off it turns out but since 2005) the busiest shopping day of the year.  If you wonder like I do what the name relates to, this is what Wikipedia has to say: The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.^[4][5] Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black.

- The busiest day of the year for residential plumbers.

- Sadly possibly the busiest day of the year for  Emergency Rooms.

- The day KFOG starts playing Christmas Carols only.

- This year a day the Dow soared indicating (to me) that we are just fine with our present and future president.

- The day my car had its tires rotated and front end aligned.

- A beautiful, clear, calm, quietly productive - you might say Zen grey - day for Callie and me.

Cavallo Point for Thanksgiving & Beyond --- Day 321

Walk: Fort Cronkite Loop, Cavallo Point
Distance: 6 miles



Cavallo Point is a truly lovely resort and spa in an unparalleled setting.  It is just across the Golden Gate from San Francisco (10 minutes) and a thoroughly tranquil and pleasant place to stroll around - on the large, expansive green, onto adjacent trails or along the water. They also offer a calender of cooking, artistic and other activities.  Totally first class and well done re-invigoration of old military buildings - very accessible even if you don't spend money on dining or spa services.

Every time I go there - which I did today for a casual but sumptuous Thanksgiving meal after a long hike - I am so impressed and reminded I should do it more often and keep it in mind to recommend to (outdoorsy) people looking for a 'perfect' place to stay in the Bay Area.

http://www.cavallopoint.com/lodging.html

Enjoy Your Meal ---- Day 320

Walk: Mindful Body (Acupuncture), de Young (Paley, Nureyev and one room of American collection)
Distance: 6+ miles

Thinking about all the meals people will be sitting down to tomorrow, I visited this portrait (sorry, a bit fuzzy) while at the de Young today.  Dinner Table at Night by John Singer Sargent.  I'm sure I've sat at this woman's table and probably seen her at boarding school events.  I know the pursed lips/tight mouth, the direct conversation with us/her dinner guest and the remoteness of her husband who is financially in the opulent picture but facing away and not entirely in the portrait.  I know the gleaming silver, the perfectly controlled environment.  I know the correct utensils, posture, conversational topics and the feeling of emptiness even after the maid has cleared away the last plates from a sumptuous meal.



 http://www.johnsingersargent.org/