March 25, 2013 True Friends

Today's fortune cookie says, "You will always be surrounded by true friends."

March 21, 2013 Ocean Beach

It's a sunny, brisk day, with a rather choppy sea off Ocean Beach. There are several parasailers off the Beach, a few of them rather farther from shore than I think they ought to be.

March 20, 2013 A Sign of the Times

A Sign of the Times, at the entrance to a parking lot on 9th Avenue near Irving: You can do amazing things. So do them.

March 16, 2013 A Sgn of the Times

Another Sign of the Times, outside a pub near Mission and 18th:
In wine there is wisdom.
In beer there is freedom.
In water there is life.

March 13, 2013 Pope Francis

It is significant that no other pope since St Francis's time ever (apparently) considered taking his name. This papacy is going to be interesting.

What Pope Francis did not wear on the balcony is also significant. He did not wear the red mozetta (shoulder cape) and with it the embroidered papal stole, that new popes usually wear at their first appearance. He put on the stole only when he gave his blessing, and took it off again immediately after. Strong signals of a new, simple style. We're not likely to see Pope Francis in the triple tiara.

I was leaning in the direction of the Archbishop of Milan, which is the direction that most speculation I was reading went. And now it transpires that Pope Francis had been runner-up to Benedict in 2005.

It is also interesting that he referred to himself as "Bishop of Rome"....I don't think he'll be wearing the very costly red shoes either.

 

 

 

March 2, 2013 Exotic Birds

Yesterday, I saw on Church Street a young man carrying two large exotic birds, cockatoos I think, one on his right shoulder, the other on his left arm. The birds were brilliantly colored, with red, green, blue, yellow and orange feathers. The bird on his shoulder nuzzled and nibbled at the young man's ear.

February 20, 2013. Sodom-by-the-Sea.

This just in from Sodom-by-the-Sea, Family Values Department, in today's Chronicle:
Blessed city: San Francisco's long-standing reputation as a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah has taken a serious hit.
The conservative Family Research Council's Marriage and Religion Research Institute has just issued a report ranking San Francisco third among the 45 largest cities when it comes to "the health of the U.S. family." Fifty-three percent of San Francisco's 15- to 17-year-olds are in households with their biological married parents, according to the Family Research Council. At the bottom, by the way, was Cleveland - where just 15 percent of teens are being raised by their biological, married parents.

February 18, 2013. Haight Street.

On the side of a building on Haight Street, near Stanyan, appears a sign which reads, "Listen to this wall!"

February 7, 2013. Bridge Cinema.

A Sign of the Times, on the marquee of the shuttered and much-lamented Bridge Cinema: So long, and thanks for all the popcorn.

February 7, 2013. Retirement

A year and a half ago, just after I had retired, I was talking with a friend about my new situation. I expressed various anxieties. "This is the end game, isn't it?" asked my friend. "Act 5, Scene 1," I replied.

February 7, 2013. Berets

Wednesday, at Kaplan's on Market, I bought two new wool berets, of the type I usually wear, to replace my worn and faded beret, which I bought at the same shop at least 10 years ago. The new caps should last as long as I do, probably longer.

February 6, 2013. Streetcar

A man boarded the F Market streetcar at Van Ness, and asked the motorman, "Does this car go to the airport?" "No!" was the reply. "Good," said the man; "I don't want to go to the airport!"

February 3, 2013. Harry S Truman

Emblazoned on the gable of a house on 46th Avenue, are the words of Harry S Truman: The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know.

February 2, 2013. Classy mustache.

Tonight, on the 5 Fulton bus, a teen boy gave up his seat for me. His buddy, sitting beside me, remarked on my "classy mustache." He went on to say that I "look pretty good for a 60-something!"

February 2, 2013. Wavy Gravy

On the radio, someone said, "You are what you eat!" Wavy Gravy replied, "You are what you don't p--p!"

January 30,2013. Bulletproof.

On Caltrain yesterday morning, I heard the not-quite-reassuring announcement that "each window weighs about thirty pounds and is made of bulletproof lexan!"

January 25, 2013. Stories.

A shop on Balboa Street is offering 'Long-winded stories.'

January 21, 2013. Ocean Beach.

At the moment, on this sunny, clear, rather chilly and windy afternoon, three helicopters are flying over Ocean Beach, one or two hovering here and there, another patrolling close to the water, up and down the Beach. The surf is high, and, presumably, the rip currents are strong. The water is no place for a surfer, or a swimmer, or anyone in a small boat.

January 20, 2013. Dude.

This evening, on the 5 Fulton bus, a young man gestured toward my faded black beret and said, "Dude, I like your hat!" Thanks!" I replied. He took off his baseball cap, held it out to me, and said, "Wanna trade?" "No thanks," I said. "My hat keeps my head warm." "You have a nice head," he replied, as he left the bus.

January 12, 2013. Waltz time.

This afternoon, outside an entrance to Lake Merritt BART station, a middle-aged couple were dancing a slow waltz, in elegant, slow, formal, ballroom style, to music audible only in their imaginations. They stepped and swirled and flowed around the space, unworried and unhindered by others passing by.