Caturday..

It's a nice quiet afternoon here at home in Berkeley.. good for reading, reflecting & enjoying our cats..

but don't get up.. you'll lose your place on the couch..

Sunny Summer In Berkeley

On my walk back from a meeting early afternoon in North Berkeley.. I spotted this lovely sight:


Vine Street, West towards the Bay.. Beautiful Berkeley.

Love is Love

Today is such a good day!


love is love!

currently reading..

TBR, read or reading..

Dead Wake is done.. & reading Earthquake Exodus & Saving San Francisco simultaneously because.. you know, subject matter.. and hey, one has a LOT of images in it.. It can be done! Taking another hiatus from Bad Indians 'til I get my energy back from that..(It's funny in pieces and heavy in others.. and a whole hodgepodge of interesting.)

Peet's Renovation

Taken on Tuesday the 16th, the inside of the Peet's on Shattuck & Kittredge is totally demo'd.. I didn't find out in time before the end of last week what the new plan is, but they'll be closed through the week while they do whatever it is they need to do..

Summer Reading

Managing to just squeek through another semester of school has me frustrated, but determined to not let the summer holiday go without getting some reading & study done. Yes, there are many things to look forward to, but time formerly used for school can be used for study:

I. Maths! to read through my old math notes, work through some of my old homework (like flossing, I suppose I will do it but not as often as I profess to.. but will give it an honest go!) I also want to find a book or two on math theory if there's such a thing.. something to help me to understand the history, creation & usage of math formulas.

II. pleasure reading! a few of the random things I want to read or (re-read/finish**)this summer!

01. "Dead Wake" (Erik Larson)
02. "Lathe of Heaven" (Ursula LeGuin) a book long on my 'to read' list...finally! summer!
03. All the Wrong Questions series (Lemony Snicket)
04. "Gold Mountain" (Lisa See)**
05. "Bad Indians" (Deborah Mirandah)**
06. "The Country in the City" (Richard Walker)** [..now that I have my own copy, no excuses!]
07. "Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration" (Theodora Kroeber)
08. "The Bohemians" (Ben Tarnoff)
09. "Wherever There's a Fight" (Elaine Elinson,)
10.



III. Linguistics! Gratefully, I've gotten a list of some intro linguistics books/ authors to run down and read.. while it's for my own pleasure, it's also edification..


Along with some fun events, festivals, and panels, (not to mention D23 Expo in August!) I'm looking forward to the time being restful too. This last semester really wore me out.. and rather than dwell on why it may have done so (I cut out a considerable amount of volunteering and other pleasurable things and still felt I was a day late and a month behind most of the time..) I plan to move on with refreshed vigor.. ie: a new semester means new opportunity!

Free Summer means renewed energy for projects and other things I enjoy.. but especially reading... maybe some walks, parks & better sleep. We'll see!

Mayor of Dirt Hill

On this morning's walk up Shattuck.. at Dwight Way (near our original old 'hood!) Someone has excellent parking skills. ;)

Any Mountain

Any Mountain.. with window paint..

Closed after the 24th of April (having lost their lease) they were in the middle of painting a goodbye on their big picture windows.. We often bought our shoes there.

Firkin Fest

Saturday April 25th at Triple Rock was the annual Firkin Fest.. Me, I like the barrel aged stuff, and it comes in small glasses which makes drinking (for me) more tolerable.. While I ended up having some Two Rivers Cider, the spousal unit opted to try his luck at the various beers..

The tables were all removed to make room for all the attendees.. You could still order food, though! Here he is sporting his ticket number..


"Your table is your head..that way they find you.."


The "Triple Rocks"..balls of mac n cheese hot & tasty.. ties with their mac n cheese as my favorite thing to order there.. (2nd is the pear salad in case you were curious.)

It was $30 and you got the small glass for sampling and 7 tickets to try different beers.. you could do a half ticket for half sample if you wanted. This year the proceeds benefited the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation..

I left the spouse to finish off his tickets after I finished my pint.. I headed to a nearby cafe as I had a paper to write and I'm a light-weight when it comes to drinking. I usually quit after a pint.. as I become chatty but still coherent.. ;)

DeYoung Redux

Saturday morning I was off to the city to find a couple paintings to write about for my 2nd Art History paper.. It's a long journey to the other side of this tunnel. BART from Berkeley to Powell, then take the #5 to 10th & Fulton (or 8th & Fulton)

I had some paintings to look at so I didn't take much time in the park.. but if there's time to be had it's worth it.


coming out of the 2nd tunnel into a lovely sunny, green music filled day..



I didn't actually check out the new installation.. but instead wandered a wing I hadn't visited yet and found a few things I liked. I had a quick treat and then was on my way..


but not before checking out the Keith Haring sculpture I spotted from the cafe..









I wasn't keen to have to go back out there. I really like the Oakland Museum of California better.. but I had fun this time and took my time taking in more of the pieces there. I hate the commute out there, but found I liked the museum much more the second time around.. although I'm not sure how soon I'll be back. It was a long commute! ;)

nothing

I have nothing to blog about lately.. I don't go anywhere, and when I do, it's not that amazing or interesting.. or not anything that I can post pix of.. hmmm. That makes it sound much more fascinating than it is. *evil grin* Ah,well..

If I ever get around to getting out there on my bike I may find something postable but I'm up to my knees in Math homework and history.. and I got a horrible headache from hitting my head on the windowsill in the house yesterday.. I'm keeping track, as if I suddenly black out we'll know why, right? The point is, I feel awful & not in the mood.

I've been volunteering when I can.. I purposely have been trying to cut back because I'm torn between being a pest, a permanent fixture, or running out of happiness credit. No, I don't know what that means either. But I do know I don't want people to be sick of seeing my ugly mug every morning. I keep thinking I'll do a post about the stuff I come across in my project(s) but then I think.. I don't work there, so it wouldn't be anything legitimate. Best to leave it alone for now. ;)

I find lately I miss my long walks more and more.. I miss the annual "Great LA Walk" our friend Mike puts on every year. I was thinking when the Spring session is over I'll have more time to go 'hiking' and maybe head up into the hills, or bus to Tilden Park or west to the Berkeley Marina and walk back.

The weather has gotten so lovely, the bike is desperate to be utilized. One of the things Berkeley is fortunate to have is the Bike Station- sort of a bike valet.. I was advised by a clerk there that BART pays for the space, probably to encourage commuting.. Since my U-Lock got busted last Fall I haven't bothered replacing it. If you leave your bike parked in the Bike Station, you don't need your U-Lock. Pretty neat huh?

I find I also miss the LA bike meander.. A friend of mine would have downtown LA neighbor/friends gather outside his loft in the Arts District on Sundays and the half dozen or so of us (whoever showed up) would ride around, meandering through the streets of LA/Boyle Heights and beyond. I was always at the back of the pack but I always had fun. It was definitely not one of those intense rides you see around the city. Just mellow.. If you can't pay attention to traffic & chat at the same time, you're going too fast.. "It's not a race.. it's a meander.." I'm so freaking out of shape at this point I don't know if I could handle a meander.. but it'd be worth it to find out. =)

Berkeley doesn't have an art walk.. Oakland has something called "First Fridays" but I've not gone. I remember when we first moved back to the Bay Area there were some issues with it, and I stayed away. I'm honestly not crazy about crowds anymore.

If I can get my act together (caught up with life) I'd like to start attending the Poetry Unbound events at Art House again. It's the first Sunday of the month I want to say.. The first 15 minutes is like an open mic and then they have some scheduled poets reading their works. It's pretty laid-back, comfortable and there's a good mix of funny, moving, romantic, emotional stuff being read. I never read my own bad poetry.. (because it's BAD poetry!) ;)

Then there's the whole history thing. I'm taking an online class right now, which makes me think it'll be the last online class I take for a while. As cranky as other people's bad habits make me (showing up late, eating, wandering in & out to use the bathroom) I miss the lecture aspect.

So here was a post about nothing. I guess it doesn't matter as I have no idea how many people actually show up & read this stuff anymore; probably not anyone I know these days! ;). (I realize I'm not writing about the Historic Core of LA. Oh, do I knew that!) I wish I had something to say, to share.. to enlighten, but I don't.. It's not a good time for me right now.. Maybe I should call this "Overwhelmed Pt 2" ..things aren't hard or difficult, just busy: I don't get out much and I miss friendly, familiar faces. Oh, and my head hurts.