Between xmas and New Year's

Nothing ever happens between xmas and New Year's. This is my feeling. I mean, I've been dumped between xmas and New Year's. The Chronicle ran an article about a couple who met on New Year's eve to encourage people to go out. (Kathleen said "I don't think people need encouragement to go out on New Year's." But it turns out she is planning to stay home. I'm at home now, and I'm terribly bored and lonely.

I just listened to This American Life #370: Ruining It for the Rest of Us. I learned that a team can be ruined by one bad apple: a jerk, a depressive or a slacker. A really good leader who listens can ameliorate the negative influence. I'm not sure that's something I can cultivate. I think it's something a person is born with. The show said something else interesting: "Nothing is so big that it can't be ruined. Entire civilizations have been ruined."

Let's extrapolate. Are things ruined by being a jerk, a depressive or a slacker? Are all things ruined those ways? Having managed to ruin most things in life at one point or another, I can see that in myself. But when I look at conflicts I've had with others, Sometimes it seems like they ruined things also by not listening. Accepting all 4 characteristics, I think we've covered all ways of ruining things. Can you think of others?

The flip argument is that some things aren't meant to live. I never wish I had stayed with my high school sweetheart. Some things become ruined because they were never the right thing. Some jobs, apartments or friends are not meant to last. They serve their purpose, and then everyone moves on to something that's a better fit for that next moment. Maybe there is a time and place for measles too.

Thank goodness tomorrow is nye. I don't think I can handle any more limbo.

folding bike/business man

I saw this guy in full suit and tie snoozing on BART earlier in the year. He struck me as the perfect businessman/commuter. He didn't even loosen his tie before beginning his nap.

Tour de Fat... a little late

Tour de Fat was last summer. So, I'm grossly en retard as KT would say. It's the end of the year, and I have a few days off work which gives me time to go through photos of the year. Lots of people say "Better late than never." At least, I have that going for me! I'm not never. Consider this a "year in review" post (among others).

This girl was adorable in her green with green bike and purple tights.


This guy with old fashioned bicycle needs no commentary.


Yay bikes. Yay pink. Yay cowboy boots.


Loved the mini-skirt and the socks.


I caught this lady post-fat texting a friend while waiting for another using the facilities on the panhandle which, incidentally, I don't recommend.

Random quote

Doing a little housekeeping over here... or at least, I hope I'm starting to clean house. These words are jotted on a scrap near the computer:
"Nothing says mediocrity like an unblemished record of employment."
Sounds like something Garrison Keillor would say...?

what i learned today...

My alarm went off at 9:30 this morning (after I re-set it when it went off at 6:30) because I had to move Marie Lyse's car at 10. Now I don't have to move it again until Tuesday. Amazing how easy it for this religiously carfree woman to slip into the concerns my car-full friends have.

I listened to NPR for a while this morning. They discussed the Story Corps Project in honor of the national day of listening when people are asked to spend an hour listening to their loved ones. One recorded story was of a couple, deeply in love, Danny and Annie. I jotted down a quote from Danny (may be inaccurate), "No matter how bad your day was, (when you're married) you always have a shelter to come home to....Being married is like living in color, you never want to go back to black and white."

The next Forum was about the Science of Happiness. They discussed all the usual things like doing things outside yourself, getting exercise and being grateful. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of new information, but I guess that means I'm now a happiness expert. My mother gave me for xmas the book How We Choose to Be Happy. I'll be sure to let you know if I learn anything.

First In - First Out

This is just a cool photo from my files. I shot it last spring. She's probably wearing something totally awesome too.

draft Resolutions

I just came from Revolution Cafe with my ladies. I made them talk about resolutions, but the conversation didn't go very far due to loud live music. Here's what I have so far:

Get back to printmaking
Buy a house
Have a baby
Barrel forward no matter what

Dating:
No more Australians or names starting with "J"

What you need according to the Beattles

Thanks, Dylan

Last year's blossoms -- there's hope!

I shot this photo last spring, but I wanted to share it with you now to indicate promises for what is to come. The trees will bloom in about 2 months and you can walk your bike with your buddy/ies in stockings, crazy pigtails and rain boots. It will still be raining.

Good Bye, George Bush

I saw this decoration in a window near my house. I don't know what it means, but it sure is entertaining. The photo may not do the window justice.

Cracker selection, I thought today, is like superstition. I always buy the same cracker. At some point years ago, I did a complete analysis considering price, taste and nutritional content and chose these. Now I buy them blindly, not remembering the content of my analysis. It's like not eating pork or filing the teeth of young people. People probably had a very good reason once, and that reason may no longer be relevant.

music video

Fish, chips and something else I forgot

Today has been interesting, surprisingly, since nothing has happened. Gosh, now I have forgotten all the things I wanted to tell you. Here's one thing: Fish and Chips.

I've had it at 2 more places I haven't told you about. Don't feel threatened! I was thinking of you the whole time.

1) The Front Porch
They do a sort of variation on the traditional fish and chips on Mondays only. It's spicy. I wasn't overwhelmed, but it wasn't bad either. The coleslaw was nice.

2) Weird Fish
We went for lunch, and I don't know if that makes a difference. My companion has shared my obsession with The Pheonix's fish and chips. They were traditional. The fish was fully-cooked, thick, and nicely flaky. The chips a bit too skinny and hip for my tastes. My companion said they were "as good" as The Pheonix (not given the option of better), but I was not sure. It remains a possibility. Follow-up may be required.

In addition, we have identified 2 places for investigation:
1) Nickies -- plan to try this Thursday
2) Woodhouse Fish Co.
So, I found those by accident, but Yelp reveals 1216 hits when you search for Fish and Chips in San Francisco. I have a lot of work to do!

Hey, Pal!

These kids were hollering up to their pal's window one morning. White socks not withstanding, they looked pretty cool in mostly black. I was particularly taken with her red skirt.

Their pal saw me from the window. "A person over there is taking your picture," she yelled to them below. I waved, and she waved back.

Notes from NPR

I rolled myself out of bed at the brisk hour of 10:30 this morning. Sometimes sleeping in is an accomplishment. The sun's about to set now, and I haven't yet left my apartment. I will need food for the week; so, it's inevitable.

The day went towards processing photos and other personal, electronic catching up. NPR played in the background. I wrote down 3 interesting things I heard:
The darkside of freedom is loneliness. (Garrison Keillor)
(Someone) finally allowed himself to be funny. He said it was like he'd been having a fistfight with himself all his life and it turned out both fists were tied behind his back.
(In the late '90s) The internet was becoming a growing concern. (John Hodgeman in conversation with Dave Eggers)

Bikeman Ben

Kathy, Lindsey and I were headed on our bikes out towards the beach (and the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit at the de Young Museum) when Lindsey announced troubled gears that needed attention. We planned a detour to one of the shops on Stanyon until we nearly rode into Bikeman Ben set up mid-panhandle for just this kind of crisis.

Lindsey explained the problem, and Ben also fixed about 3 other things on her bike for just a small fee.

This sort of thing makes me love San Francisco even more (if that's possible).

No one wore anything fashionable, but you can reach Ben for your mobile bike repair needs at bikemanben at gmail dot com.

Art Break

Fernand Léger (1881-1955)
1943-48
Huile sur toile
H. 129 ; L. 161,5 cm
Musée national Fernand Léger, Biot.

Aux cours de plusieurs voyages aux Etats-Unis entre 1931 et 1939, Fernand Léger avait été impressionné, par New York, qu'il qualifiait "de plus formidable spectacle du monde". Exilé aux Etats-Unis pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, il enseigne à l'université de Yale, puis à Mills Collège, il croise les jeunes étudiantes qui s'habillent sans conformisme. La jeunesse adopte alors une mode osée aux couleurs criardes. Le mauvais goût est une caractéristique de ce pays, le mauvais goût, la couleur forte peut donner ici le plein usage de son pouvoir. Les filles en short, habillées comme des acrobates de cirque. Si je n'avais vu ici que des filles habillées avec goût, je n'aurais peint ma série des cyclistes... Les Cyclistes font partie de la série de peintures, appelées La Belle équipe qui se termine par La Grande Julie (MOMA, New York). Léger nous restitue plus exactement le choc des couleurs que la provocation de la jeunesse, il impose un style brutal, incisif qu'il préfère au "goût" sophistiqué français. Les Quatre cyclistes posent au cours d' une fête sportive. Le balayage des projecteurs, lui donne l'idée de séparer la couleur du dessin figuratif. Dans les rues de New York, il avait déjà été impressionné par le jeu des projecteurs publicitaires "je parlais à quelqu'un, il avait la figure bleue, puis vingt secondes après, il devient jaune.... cette couleur-là... elle était libre, elle était dans l'espace. J'ai voulu faire la même chose dans mes toiles

Google/T: In the course of several trips to the United States between 1931 and 1939, Fernand Léger was impressed by New York, called it "the greatest show on earth". Exiled to the United States during World War II, he taught at Yale University, then at Mills College, he crossed the young students who dress without conformism. The youth then adopt a fashion bold colors garish. The bad taste is a characteristic of this country, bad taste, color can give strong here full use of his power. Girls in shorts, dressed as circus acrobats. If I had seen here as girls dressed tastefully, I had painted my series of cyclists ... The cyclists are part of the series of paintings called La Belle team that ends in La Grande Julie (MOMA, New York). Light returns us more accurately the clash of colors that the provocation of youth, it imposes a style sharp, incisive he prefers to "taste" sophisticated French. Four cyclists pose during a sports festival. The sweeping headlamps, gives him the idea to separate the color of figurative drawing. In the streets of New York, he had been impressed by the play of advertising projectors "I was talking to someone, he was found blue, then Twenty seconds after he became the color yellow .... then .. . It was free, she was in space. I wanted to do the same thing in my paintings. "

Thanks to Didier Couval

Revolutionary Road

Sultan took me to see Revolutionary Road. The last movie we saw together was The Dutchess. Both are about miserable relationships. I do not believe he intends any message, but maybe someone else does. (Sultan is happily married.)

In RR, I completely empathized with all characters. The actors gave amazing performances. Even the cinematography was beautiful. I don't want to watch it again. Sultan said, "It makes you grateful for what you don't have."

I had kind of a bad day. I missed a meeting this morning bc no one told me about it and then was late to our team lunch. My mother flaked out on me by not planning her time well. My hip was stabbed by the metal gate at Mountain View transit center -- it seriously hurt!

So, I went to yoga where I realized all kinds of things including that one big thing we want from our relationships is to have someone to come home to when we've had a bad day. I think I need to study up bc I have certainly messed that up a bunch of times.

Pandora Radio fades in and out of my everyday experience. It's Patty Griffin Radio today. At this very moment, 10 Million Miles is playing. I also find Be Careful deeply moving.

Einstein Quote

For years I've been "quoting" Einstein, "If you can't explain it to a 5-year old, you don't know what it is." I was about to send this quote to a consultant who won't explain a statistical calculation bc it's "proprietary." Now, maybe it's normal for calculations to be proprietary, but I have never heard of such a thing, and I don't think you can expect clients (and the public) to believe findings without explanation. Supposedly, we live in a democratic society.

But before I emailed the quote from memory, I did an internet search on it. Turns out the quote is "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." Alternately, "You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother." However, the source is Kurt Vonnegut, not Albert Einstein. That's just not as good, is it?

more pandhandle vogue

Like this woman, but unlike many of the cyclists we blog, I stop riding to talk on my phone. I loved her boots, coat, hat and skirt. It was an overcast Friday afternoon, and the panhandle is my favorite park in San Francisco because of all the old trees.

Holiday Greetings from Specialized

The Nutcracker Suite Performed on Bicycle Parts

Merry Christmas

Market and Octavia again

The intersection of Market and Octavia is dangerous for cyclists. But this woman seemed completely un-phased as she biked through the bike lane and chatted on her phone. She looked cool in hip white helmet and black clothes.

Davis Vogue

Occasionally, I am forced to leave my beloved San Francisco. Usually it's a family obligation. Davis has world-class biking facilities; so, it's not surprising that I saw this woman in long skirt, cowboy boots and yellow top waiting at a stop light as we left town.

4th and King/Fluttery red skirt

Leaving the Caltrain station at 4th and King in San Francisco one evening, I rode along with this woman in a fluttering red skirt. She had someplace to go in that awesome outfit; so, it was a little work trying to capture her likeness without seeming like a total weirdo. (I sometimes thank my stars we're girls keeping the blog.)

A gentleman riding along side me asked me what I was doing. (I might have been creeping him out.) I explained. He tried to run interference for me, but alas, this was the best photo I got of her with more than 20 shot.