Spring & Thwarted Gardening
Spring & Thwarted GardeningI come from a long line of thwarted gardeners and farmers. Maybe all Swedes are like that- our weather or circumstance is never quite good enough to really explore all o the plant varieties and sun that you want to. I visited an East Bay Nursery last weekend and managed to pick up some annuals and other plants to replace my few pots in my apt.
This geranium cracks me up. You can't see teh pot but it is super tiny, with two huge branches coming out of it, and big red flowers at the end. My dad keeps making reference to Watergate when he sees it. I laugh because it is struggling in the smallest ever pot, but it likes it. Gave it some nitrogen the other day, so it will continue to thrive iadversity. I guess it's a strength of that plant- they like to be "stressed." I know some people who are like that too.
The herbs: chives, because who doesn't like some nice fresh chives?? And basil, which has been a winner over and over again (pesto!!!) but not so good when I make basil mojitos, and serve them as regular mojitos (evil laugh).
This is a hanging basket arrangement that I am inordinately proud of. Center: the black grass that is an accent, but will soon overwhelm. Trailing: little white flowers name of which I forgot, and they're not alyssum. I feel like this was a good choice-- I've noticed this plant doing well in a few planters in the neighborhood. It's the easy way of gardening: finding out what already works in your climate and soil by cruisng the neighbors. Surrounding the sides, "mystery" impatiens. I bought a six pack of budding impatiens having no idea what color they are! Yes, I go out on the balcony every day to figure out what color they are going to be.
Movie Update, Morning in the Hood
Movie UpdateThrew down some brewskies with producer last Sunday and she was feeling bad at not working on the spreadsheet. "All you have to do," I told her, "Was tell me to write. That's it!" She got into it and promised she would nag me. I got a few pages written the other day- Thurs and Fri this week are full writing days. Yay!
Morning in the HoodThe tai-chi folks were tai-chi-ing, the morning pedestrian rush hour was streaming down from Russian Hill and Telegraph Hill, converging and marching through to Financial District. I was searching for a bank that was open and just stretching my legs. How I miss that walking commute! Now I'm a contributor to pollution. Some other city coworkers are Barting in, though it doubles the time. I may start doing that.
Amtrak, Earthquakes
AmtrakThis is the station right across from work. It's one of those things I go by every day and never really look at or recognize. Sure, the first day maybe but after that, nada. A lot of these trains are very pro-American for some reason. I mean, isn't that a bit of a overdose when Amtrak is owned by the govt., it's only a domestic service, and most passengers are American? Gotta love it that we have to remind ourselves every day we are American in some kind of insecure way.
EarthquakesWorking in this renovated warehouse in Emeryville next to the train station has inured me to earthquakes. We had a wind storm in March that was truly fantastically crazy in that warehouse, but the regular tremor of trains going by has killed any sensitivity towards the big E. Are you all sick of hearing about earthquakes? The other night my sister says, after I was waxing poetic about our crime rate here in the Tel-Hi hood, "Thank god you're not talking about Earthquakes!" well, I was about to tell her how I'm on an earthquake preparedness committee, but hey, saved that for another day.
Medau, Madame, Sunblock, Neighbors, Movie Update
Medau, MadameMuch like someone who says "I love this song!" or "I love this movie," or "That is my favorite restaurant," when everyone within hearing knows that they love
every song/movie/restaurant, that is how I feel about Medau. It's my favorite street! Next to Pacific, Hyde, John, the list goes on. How cute, how small, how tree-lined, how architecturally pure, how well-loved by tenants, etc. And how I would love to answer, "where do you live," with "Medau, madame."
SunblockAfter touring two playgrounds the other day slathered in sunblock I forgot about my least favorite aspect of good weather: slathering yourself with sunblock. Also, the weird sun-headache I get that desires hours of lying on the couch watching movies where someone says "Shall we go to Bath?"
Neighbors - overheardI've been going to a lot of meetings lately in association with my 'hood. There, I overhear funny things:
(man married-to-someone-else to woman, both in fifties) "My god you are so fucking hot."
Said in speech on crime to the tel-hi neighborhood, the Cap't of the Central district admitted, via Peskin, that his laptop was stolen while he was getting coffee from an AssBucks, whoops, I mean FourBucks, oh no it's Starbucks. Needless to say many boos followed. And Caffe Roma owner brandished his Caffe Roma to-go cup and pointed. When Peskin alluded to the fact that he hoped the Cap't was discounted @ Roma, Cap't said: "more like, I have to pay extra." I'm assuming this is a joke. Have I plugged Caffe Roma enough?
Caffe Roma, at: Columbus between Union and Green, right before Rose Pistola.
Movie UpdateWorked on the script today and got quite a bit done. Filling in more information earlier, adding another assasination by the Chinese spy, mostly formatting but it's all good. Getting an idea more on the format, and recruited a very talented post-production person. I think the June date will probably slip, but I'm still trying to get the screenplay out early.
What I do is Order
What I do is OrderNew acquaintance, at dinner last night, looked at me oddly inspired, as I ordered, and said, "You should get a job, doing that." What did we order?
shrimp curry (panang)
spring rolls
papaya salad
chicken something (I did not order it).
Not that sophisticated of me, but I guess it was the speed and concensus.
Where it's still the Civil War
Where it's still the Civil WarI love the Warming Hut (above) in its spare, 1800s looks. I watched a film made by KQED of the
Barbary Coast Trail last night, and appreciated the pre-1906 construction. Not sure when the Warming Hut went up, but I'm sure it's around when Fort Point, and/or the other military buildings in the Presidio. Did I mention that I love this part of San Francisco and go out there as much as I can? I'm contributing to
sf.metblogs.com now, and in contrast to their photos, mine are dark, moody and romantic. Like me! haha. But really, this little section of SF brings out the apocalyptic mood swings in one. I get an inspiration, I guess, and a kind of calmness from impressive natural beauty (the ocean, the sunsets) and large engineering works (insanely good view of the GGBridge).
It was recently noted that while I talk about this place
all the time some readers have no idea what I'm talking about! Basically Warming Hut is the building right before Fort Point, the old Civil War fortress under the Golden Gate Bridge. On Route 101 heading to the Golden Gate, take the last exit before the bridge, and go down to the Bay. Or, go along Beach Street against the water and then do not go onto the Bridge but continue alongside a row of white buildings on your left, going alongside the Easternmost part of the Presidio. Recently rehabilitated to native plants, Chrissy Field has restored a bunch of buildings, and this one cafe that serves really yummy treats: scones, soy lattes, and very good grilled sandwiches.
Murder on Amtrak
This has nothing to do with my blog, but I have to write it down to remind myself how incredibly odd it is. At work, I got this in my inbox.
My dad's train ended up getting in last night at 2 AM... For those of you who remember his arrival last time, you are never going to believe this, but the delay was caused by another murder!
She just wrote back with an official
news writeup. I guess the guy was shot prior to parking on the tracks. Now that's such a Western movie plot.
Sunny Days So Long Ago. Los Gatos Trail. Not Writing
This photo reminds me that there are sunny days, or were, in January
Sunny Days, So Long AgoThe rain: all the radio stations talk about it, and everyone you talk to talks about it. Not so long ago, the days were sunny, and we had tons of droughts no less. Just putting things into perspective.
Los Gatos Creek TrailI really wished I had bought a cell phone with a camera, or at least carried my camera with me more. Biking along the really nice trail along Los Gatos Creek, the creek had risen into a complete Gully Washer, and was overwhelming everything in its path: the bridges, the trees, bits of trail, even water control structures. Most impressive was the dam and slough, making a mini Niagara Falls. Where is camera???
Not WritingYes. I have not written a lick on my screenplay since Sunday and feeling the guilt. The blogs call with their sultry siren songs, but the screenplay remainds on my laptop crying a soft whimper. Tomorrow, while I'm babysitting, that's right. Or I'll have the kids act out the screenplay so far. Sure. It is spring break, or passover, or whatever, Easter weekend. I will find some holiday around the world to justify my slacking!
Questions of Racial non-Identity, Feminism, and Kittens
here's a little temple of heaven on a wet and wicked Tuesday.
Insomnia, or, Questions of Racial Non-IdentityCouldn't sleep last night, and in the throes of daydreaming and anxiety thoughts, had an overwhelming concern that people would think my movie is racist. It's good to question these things, it's true, and I think when you talk about stuff, you get very close to the "line" whatever that may be. Setting a movie in occupied San Francisco, when the nation is a nation that I'm a fan of-- and in all reality can't imagine them invading (though they have) other nations-- it's all very complex. When you're writing sci-fi, you use allegories to make points, yet this isn't really sci-fi because I am within the realms of natural scientific law in almost everything, it's just bumped up in the future a tad. So a tad sci-fi? Hmm. And yes, the occupation is similar to the Nazis and Paris, but the occupation isn't about religion or racial identity. I have had some amazing plot insights that will really layer the screenplay, so my night of insomnia was very useful.
FeminismA friend of a friend recently introduced an opinion with, "I'm not a feminist, but..." I couldn't hear anything after that. Why are people apologizing for feminism? What did we do that was so wrong? Is it like saying, "I'm not a liberal, but..." or "I'm not into a classless society, but...", or "I'm not anti-discriminatory on a racial basis but,... " I blame Rush Limbaugh. Oh, so her defense (this friend of a friend) was:
1) I am not a feminist because I'm not a man-hater.
2) I am not a feminist because I'm not a FemiNazi.
Now I'm looking around this set of friends going, are there other sneaky feminist apologists here? Have I been blind?
KittensThese are related.
Don't you love Turing Tests? Don't you love Kittens? Now they're
mashed up!
4-27, world is flat- duh!
4-27Once in a while a date sticks out as the "overbooked" day. 4/27 is one, and this upcoming Wednesday is another. Why, oh Gods of Scheduling, does this happen? What is so special about that Thursday, and this Wednesday? Hmmm.
world is flat- duh!Office mate's friend has quit software engineering in Hydrabad, India (my spelling sorry if bad) to work on a novel. His sounds better than mine. This Saturday at my book club, I plan on bringing up this friend as a (somewhat pointless) example to the boring, anectdotal, and out-of-date book, Friedman's
The World is Flat. I am being induced by my book club to read it. I wanted to read
Work as Theater, but no, they wanted some journalists version of technology and economy. My objections? Well, so far it has not told me anything I don't know already (and I don't know much), and, it has positions that are from interviews with one person, which you may disagree with but can't refute, as it's just an interview, and not a set of evidence, historical or otherwise, to really back up his sweeping statements.
For example: somewhat ironically, on the chapter on collaborative, open-source systems, he mentions a period and a group of people I'm passingly familiar with, but he interviews only one guy, and not anyone else. That's not very collaborative! Also, he defines things by "looking them up on the web" without mentioning the credentials of the site as related to what he's looking up. Kind of naive, and a lot of his comments are kind of naive too. Can poeple really write stuff like this and get it published? Amazing. His international "flat" insights seem more like an IBM ad about being worldwide than anything resoundingly deeper. Going back to my friend whose friend is also writing a novel, half a world away, on similar topics to mine- that was occuring before, it's just that now, I know about it. And I can email him. And we can be writing buddies. But what does that mean, beyond that? He doesn't go there.
Maybe later on in the book I'll come to something relevant. I feel like a h.s. sophomore with the green fields calling and a frisbee sailing by, but no, he has to study trigonometry.
Lovely Day, For Sale, Movie Update: The Bad Plus
Lovely DayIt is absolutely friggin gorgeous out today. Saw a small regatta out there in front of the Marina doing their thing. Not sure if it's a race, or a class. Swimmers were taking advantage of the nice weather, at Aquatic Park. The tourists are just swarming around every possible corner too. Finally they can get out of museums and see some stereotypically California weather, I imagine.
For sale: what business?Liquor store guy and I had a brainstorming session about what should go in next door to him- it's vacant, and the previous tenant was a really unsuccessful artsy furniture store. I think a video store would be good. We can't do food, because there's no hood, and the apartmnet building upstairs won't allow that kind of commercial license. One huge issue is that the rent is 5-f***ng-thousand-dollars a month! Insane. Cheap indian would be my personal favorite, but I'll go with a video store. Problem is tourists won't be interested in a video store. Another yoga store? That would make 2 in one block. Oh well, the mind wanders.
Movie UpdateDid a read through last night with a very talented actor-man and my writing buddy. I need to do a lot of work on the script. My writer friend had read the original novel (uncompleted) as well as the screenplay, and she's the first one to give me feedback ont he adaptation. She was so mad there wasn't any French people! ah. All of those opportunities to make fun of the French. The big reason they didn't make the cut is that I can't afford to film in France! Art is compromised because of cost, it's true.
Just shot an email out to
The Bad Plus to do soundtrack. Brief digression: by "doing the soundtrack" this is what I mean. Last i-movie project, I got the
Broun Fellinis to not sue me, and I took their music and re-mixed it (chopped it up, raised the sound levels, did loops, some distortion) along with the video and still footage. C'est tout!
I love them so much. I haven't felt this degree of fan worshipdom since, I don't know, Aaliyah perhaps, or maybe Sting. The Bad Plus is jazz, out of Minneapolis, and they just especially rock. "These are the Vistas" is my favorite album, well, the only one I've heard as of yet, and my favorite song is "Everywhere You Turn." I missed their California tour. Should I meet up with them in Warsaw? Hm.... Please, rock and roll gods, be kind to me and let them say I can use their music!!!
Politics: I love harry taylor
photo from crooks & liars
from
whitehouse.govread originally on
crooks & liarsThe comments
here are funny.
"
Q I've got the mike.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, yes, very good. (Laughter and applause.) Good move.
Q You never stop talking about freedom, and I appreciate that. But while I listen to you talk about freedom, I see you assert your right to tap my telephone, to arrest me and hold me without charges, to try to preclude me from breathing clean air and drinking clean water and eating safe food. If I were a woman, you'd like to restrict my opportunity to make a choice and decision about whether I can abort a pregnancy on my own behalf. You are --
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not your favorite guy. Go ahead. (Laughter and applause.) Go on, what's your question?
Q Okay, I don't have a question. What I wanted to say to you is that I -- in my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of, nor more frightened by my leadership in Washington, including the presidency, by the Senate, and --
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: No, wait a sec -- let him speak.
Q And I would hope -- I feel like despite your rhetoric, that compassion and common sense have been left far behind during your administration, and I would hope from time to time that you have the humility and the grace to be ashamed of yourself inside yourself. And I also want to say I really appreciate the courtesy of allowing me to speak what I'm saying to you right now. That is part of what this country is about.
THE PRESIDENT: It is, yes. (Applause.) "
Location, location, location
Hidden and Weird Locations in SFFriend pointed me to this Flickr stream that ended up inspiring this group to use it as a location for Rent,
an old Amtrak Station. And with that great sibling rivalry (We
are better than Oakland!) I will go on a foray to find cool secret, hidden locations.
- there are closed down subway stops, where they had raves in Y2K. Really. OK I haven't been there but I do believe they exist. Once my friend Sally's N-train broke down and she had to walk through the tunnel and she went by a broken-down station.
really- the labyrinths of Chinatown: I wrote a term paper in college on this, and no, they don't exist. It's some kind of orientalism fetish about the mysteries of the East.
- mahjongg gambling halls in little alleys in Chinatown. These do exist! And you'll hear the "clattering of sparrows" the sound of mahjongg tiles being shuffled, very loudly as you walk down the alley, that's how you know they're there. Check Waverley Street.
- old disused batteries, from WW2: hike under the Golden Gate Bridge, like you're a bike about to get on the bridge, but veer off on the "Bautista Bay Trail" footpath. Not only is it a gorgeous view of the Pacific from a high elevation, but if you take one of the first lefts out onto a grassy meadow, you'll be on the top of a disused battery (and in back of the toll office). It's neat.
- ruins of the Sutro baths: They were big, they were fun, and they're gone. But the foundation is still there and it's kind of cool and spooky.
- the NASA missile site, on Angel Island- so cold war freaky
- Chinese poetry graffiti carved on the walls in the "ellis island of the west"- Angel Island, so sad, wish I could translate them better!
- the anti-subterranean craft frequency wavelength neutralizer (I made that up). It's a little utility station on Marina Green, and it corrects a sonar detection of mines, so that enemies don't know there's mines, or that's my lay-woman interpretation, at least. Kind of fascinating in a physics/ham-radio geekie way.
- earthquake shacks. they exist! Once in a while they're on the market and you can tour them and realize how dinky and small they are. It's also a common term for "wow this is a piece of shit small real estate in a bubble market" haha. So not that they *really* go up for sale, but that's what we endearingly call very small properties. One of our museums had them installed and you could walk through them, outfitted with the furniture of the time. Kind of scary and small. I think there actually are some remaining in Bernal Heights and Noe Valley.
Sinophile post - those tourists!
I'm walking out of my favorite lunch spot - Columbus Cafe - where I devoured a really yummy schwerma, and saw this phenomenon that occurs about every week here. A huge tour bus of mainland Chinese swarm around me. The tour guide was pointing them up Lombard (from kind of an odd angle, from the North Beach side) expecting them, I guess, to walk up it. It is hard or near impossible, really, to drive down Lombard in these huge tour busses. What is also odd about this is that there's a Chinese-merchandise store that caters only to Mandarin speakers. My mom and I went in there the other day, and because she has no shame and is an older senior citizen who readily speaks her mind, asked, "What kind of store is this?" to which they didn't reply. They really almost exclusively speak Mandarin. They sell: expensive watches, expensive perfume, jade knickknacks, expensive lotions, and medicine. Note: I have never seen women on this tour.
So the tour-bus-main-store is on Columbus between Lombard & Chestnut if you want to check it out - and there will be tons of Chinese tourists hang out there. How can you tell a Chinese tourist from other kinds? Well they're wearing drab colors, they're holding cameras that are quite nice, smoking constantly, not very good teeth but excellent hair cuts, hmmm. Yes, and speaking Mandarin, which is pretty obviously not Cantonese.
I noticed this thing in China too, and it really annoyed me, when I went on a tour, we kept stopping at big stores devoted almost singly to the tour. We spent close to an hour at each store, too. It's a racket. These guys, though, seem happy to stand outside smoking and chatting, waiting for their next big beautiful spot, which I bet you is Palace of Fine Arts. Maybe one day I'll jump in the bus and see what's up. Oh I remember I actually did that once just to tease them. They laughed quite a bit (or laughed at me? So hard to tell.)
Rain, Fire, and Movie URL
my old apt, burned (credit to igmom)
Rain and FireRealizing while driving to work today through really sodden streets downtown, that it's not El Nino, no, it's Global Warming! The rain is getting me down. At least I'm not experiencing the high winds and buckets of rain on the Bay Bridge like I was, back in March. The constant drizzle is another form of torture, though.
On the theme of acts from god, I harken back to this photo of my old apartment in the Mission. Four months after moving from the Mish to North Beach, it goes up in an inferno. I don't know the cause yet, but I'm pretty sure it was a combination of these lovely facets of urban living:
- an upstairs neighbor who had candles burning constantly
- the persistent smell of gas in the walls
- a pilot light that was never lit, but always emitting the necessary gas for a pilot light
- a slum landlord
Yee-ha! I can't believe I lived there for five years. What was I thinking? It had a hole in the floor, windows that wouldn't close, and heroin/crack neighbors (and they were also those junk-people, who can never throw anything away). There were good things too, being 1 block from Church and Market, one of the best restaurant districts for inexpensive but yummy dining (Red Jade, Warakabune, Chow) and also expensive dining (2223, Mecca). Close to fun clubs where my friends worked, so I could dance and get trashed and stumble home.
Movie UpdateCheck out the site in progress, before we dedicate a real URL to it:
Anna's Chinese Movie.
