Compassionate Dignity --- Day 12/302

Walk: SF Opera (Omar)

Distance: 3 miles

Great, great care and fathomless passion have gone into the opera, Omar, from its inception to its most recent performance.  That performance was at SF Opera today for Ciwt and she's still allowing its quiet, dignified power sink in.  So far she feels the costumes!, sets! lighting! singing (individual and chorus) and dancing were richly stunning - the music, message and pacing not so much.  It does seem to her to be an important opera to see if any of her readeres have an opportunity.

Hold On There --- Day 12/301

Walk: AMC Kabuki (The Holdovers)

Distance: 3 miles

So, director, screenwriter and producer,  Alexander Payne has won many awards in his long career including two Oscars.  Based on that Ciwt has to assume that the editing of his latest movie, The Holdovers, was intentional.  

However if Payne were once again a young film student and Ciwt was his editing professor, she would give him a D-.  D for disjointed and D for distracting.  For instance: in the many snow scenes none of the actors got snow in their hair or on their clothes; the viewer was told the temperature outside was 13 degrees, but none of the actors either wore a hat or buttoned their lightweight jackets; cigarette smoke swhirled around the headmaster in the movie, but when the camera pulled away, there was neither a burning cigarette nor an ashtray.  On and on these mismatches went taking Ciwt's attention away from the movie until finally she just said "oh well" and was able to get into it.

And when she did, she found the "life lessons" and acting mostly transcended the technicalities and shallowness and gives the movie a gentle thumbs up 👉, ooops 👍.

Open and Closed --- Day 12/300

Walk: deYoung Museum

Distance: 4.3 miles

The de Young Open 2023 (2 of 40+ walls)

Ever wondered how the Parisians felt at their annual art exhibits 

where the works were hung 'salon style,' or nearly edge to edge and floor to ceiling?  Well, here is your opportunity to find out for yourself.

For the third year our deYoung Museum has opened its walls to the voices and visions of Bay Area artists.  7,766 artists were invited to submit an artwork and eight curators windled down those works to the 883 that make up the exhibition.  Yes, 883, grouped more less by theme.

And, yes, it is overwhelming to take it all in.  The 'open' sort of 'closed' Ciwt's mind from overwhelm after a while.  But it will continue until January 7 so she and other locals and visitors will have more opportunities to view the exhibition.

At first glance, Ciwt found it exciting to get a visual sense of the number of Bay Area residents that are engaged in devoting their passions and talents, energy and time to making art.  Some exploring environments (urban and natural), others looking at their fellow travelers, some abstractly, some realistically or surreally.  And it is equally stirring to see our prestigious museum strongly support their efforts.  It must be wonderful feeling for the artists and their friends to see their works on the walls.  And equally it is uplifting and inspiring for Bay Area residents to get a sense of the amount of creative artist energy they are surrounded by.    

For reasons unknown a few works of the 800+ jumped out of their crowded walls to Ciwt.*  Most turned out to have passages of warm orange.  Maybe she still has Halloween on her mind.

The beautifully rendered orange sunflowers on the left called to Ciwt.

*The signage beneath the works is only by number, and decoding who corresponds with what number is quite daunting for the viewers.  Maybe when Ciwt returns she can get more clued in and then let her viewers know the artists' names and titles of their works. 

4:00 Thursday Afternoon --- Day 12/299

Walk: Crissy Field 💝

Distance: 4 miles

You walk out looking at the Golden Gate Bridge 

leaving the City far from your thoughts.  

Then at Hoppers Hands*  next to Fort Point, you turn around.

And WOW.  There's that pretty city. Never gets old. It's moving every time;  particularly on fall afternoons like this one when the fog leaves San Francisco for a while.

Disspirited After the Big Een --- Day 12/298

Walk: Hood

Distance: 5.5 miles

Halloween* Decoration Contest Winner: Every (Non)Body Wins! --- Day 12/297

Walk: Hood

Distance: 3 miles

And More.  They are all Halloween winners for brightening and frightening Ciwt's Neighborhood.  Happy Halloween, dear readers.    

*

Why is Halloween celebrated on October 31?

There are two answers to this question: a pagan one and a Christian one.

The ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain, which occurred on November 1 but kicked off the evening before, is considered the earliest known root of our secular Halloween traditions. It marked a pivotal time of year when seasons changed, but more importantly, observers also believed the boundary between this world and the next became especially thin, enabling them to connect with the dead. This is also where the history of Halloween gains its "haunted" connotations.

As the etymology of the name suggests, Halloween has Christian roots too. Celebrations of Christian martyrs and saints date back to 4th-century Rome. In the early 7th century, Pope Boniface IV put All Saints' Day on the calendar when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to the saints, but the day was May 13. In the next century, Pope Gregory III changed the day to November 1 when he dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica to the saints. Yet another century later, Pope Gregory IV added All Saints' Day to the universal Christian calendar, officially extending the celebration from Rome to churches everywhere.

With the Christian celebration of All Saints' Day on November 1 came All Hallows' Eve, or Halloween, on October 31, as well as All Souls' Day on November 2—a three-day holiday collectively called Hallowtide.

Get Ready, BIG Guardians: Halloween Tomorrow --- Day 12/296

Walk: Fingers mostly

Distance: 2 miles

Buddies Dressed to Kill On Halloween --- Day 12/295

 Walk: Hood

Distance: 4 miles