At some point, roughly between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, the geophysical higher-ups decided to cancel summer in San Francisco. Of course, there is no record of official announcements or subsequent complaints. The Ohlone people were just getting established themselves. The existing sabertooths, woolly mammoths and giant sloths were, of course, inarticulate. That’s the problem with a voiceless mammal population. Policy gets made without public input. Anyway, this climactic situation continues. Read more [...]

Point Reyes. I don’t know how it got its name, so a Google search is worth it. The three kings. That’s the answer. The first Spaniard to see the cliffs somehow thought of the three wisemen of the Christmas story.  Since then, 1603, no one has thought much about explorer Sebastian Vizcaino. I guess his voyage was a sort of start-up. Or in contemporary retail language, a pop-up. Who knows who financed him or why? Did he have any encounters with the Miwok? The really interesting thing is Read more [...]

“Into the Woods,” the Sondheim masterpiece, happens to be in San Francisco for a brief run. And the gods being on my side, our side, we just happened to get two seats. The thing sold out almost instantly. But three months ago, I stared at the website, spotted a vacancy in the wheelchair row of the Curran Theater, and the rest is personal history. Hard to say what’s so exciting about really good live theater. I think it’s the inventiveness. The sense of human imagination flung free and Read more [...]

Being on something of a blog roll concerning urban life and times, well why not keep rolling? A lot of wonderful things can happen at the oneg that follows Shabbat services. Eating figures prominently. But today I tried to downplay that in favor of just a little bite or two, maximum conversation and, because someone offered, yes a little drink of what I thought was probably actual wine, not grape juice. First, let me be clear. I am not much of a drinker. And that I am so little of a drinker that Read more [...]

With the imprimatur of Banning, California, always upon me, the quest for urban life is always upon me too. So it was with great delight that things fell into place for Jane and me to convene at Dumpling House, a date we had been meaning to have since my birthday, which was last December. But so what? The days are long. Life is short. And so it came to pass. Jane was driving back from an appointment with Messrs Kaiser, healthcare providers extraordinaire, and I was rolling aboard the #35 Muni Read more [...]

Having read press reports about San Francisco’s center being overrun by criminals, it was with a note of defiance that I set off for the Civic Center Farmers Market. Defying press reports mostly. Civic Center being, you guessed it, in the center of town, is hard to avoid. Particularly if you want to do anything vis-à-vis the symphony, the opera, and so on.  But when the elevator opened its doors on United Nations Plaza, I was more than surprised. Delighted would be a better word. The Read more [...]