Grad Speech

Ty delivered a very funny and moving graduation speech. Here are the opening lines:

Today, I could tell you about Live Oak, the small, sensitive community that lives behind this gate. The school where 5 teachers have gotten pregnant during my time here. The school with a Spanish teacher that can bench press 420 pounds. But...

Mr. Serenity

Ty was running late, so I didn't get a posed photo as he left for middle school graduation on Wednesday morning, but he does look dashing in his new tie and fedora.

A Giant Parade

We let Ty skip school to attend the Giants parade yesterday. When I saw (on TV) the crush of people gathered in the Civic Center, I was afraid we had made a big mistake. Thank goodness for the savvy Mom of his friend J, who led the way to a primo spot along the parade route and steered them back to the bus stop in time to beat the rush. Here is her report of the historic event:

By arriving in the financial district at 9:30am we got a great view of the parade right in front at the barricades of Montgomery & California streets. The funniest sight was seeing bankers in droves hastening down California street from the Bank of America, just before 11am, conspicuous in their white shirts and ties. It was totally exciting with the cable cars clanging their bells, orange confetti streaming from the skyscrapers, and the streets filled with fans, tourists, spectators, and tons of kids out of school for the day. We saw it all: Willie Mays, the players, the trophy. We were in the thick of it and it was glorious!

Close Range

Deborah came across an entry about author Annie Proulx on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac website and kindly passed it along to her book loving friends. Many quotes and comments jumped out. For example, she credits her mother with teaching her to observe "everything - from the wale of the corduroy to the loose thread to the disheveled mustache to the clouded eye."

I need to cultivate better powers of observation, because I have had two close encounters with coyotes in the past week near the Legion of Honor in San Francisco (a museum that is surrounded by a golf course with plentiful rough for burrowing) and the only thing I noticed is that they were very close by (10 -15 yards away) and didn't seem afraid or threatening. If anything they seemed to be waiting patiently for me to leave so they could proceed with crossing the road toward the big fountain in the parking lot. I say "they" because the first coyote I saw looked scruffy and walked with his head hung down. The second coyote looked young, well groomed and perky (like this photo - not taken by me).

After the first sighting, I noticed that they (the park dept) had put up a COYOTE ALERT sign to remind people not to feed or approach them. They endorsed throwing small stones to chase them away if clapping didn't work. (My technique was to keep walking -- but backwards so I could make sure we were moving in different directions.)

After the first coyote sighting, I happened to be at a garage sale and discovered a beautiful (to me) coyote sculpture made of barbed wire. It was a large outline of a sitting coyote in full howl, and it seemed to be calling to me. (Maybe this is the dog I told the kids we'd get as soon as I got laid off.)

Both sightings happened a few minutes before 7, so Ty is planning to go with me at that time tomorrow to see if we can conjure up another sighting (and get our own photo).

Year of Wonders

Who needs Shelfari to discover new authors when you have Deborah? And where has Pulitzer Prize winning, international bestseller Geraldine Brooks been hiding all these years? Maybe I saw descriptions of her books and was put off by the subject matter - a village nearly wiped out by the Black Plague... a novel that imagines the war years of the father in Little Women. Sounds grim, and the settings are, but watching the characters cope and sometimes rise above their circumstances is a beautiful thing to experience as the plot unfolds in surprising ways.

Chloe asked how I could enjoy a book about the plague when I like happy endings. All I could say is that I have a broad definition of happy. Year of Wonders (the plague book) is one of my all time favorite books. Thanks Deborah! I will never doubt your grim recommendations again.

The Barter Economy

If we weren't in a belt-tightening phase right now, I might never have discovered the fun side of the barter economy. In this case, getting free admission to Monday night's opening of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Boxcar Theatre. Adrienne responded to a call for an usher & concession person and we were the only takers.

I discovered that it was more fun to be part of the crew than to be part of the audience. Before the show I stuffed programs, swept the street outside the theatre (in a grungy area South of Market, but this time grungy and dusty because of heavy construction right outside the door), rolled out the red carpet (more like mats, but they were red) and made conversation with patrons while they waited for the doors to open.

It is a tiny theatre (seating for 50, arranged on four sides of the stage, with seat numbers coded by compass direction). For example, N-A-1 indicated North, first row, first seat on one end or the other. I tried to explain the compass-based seating system as people trooped through the door, but it was a casual crowd, and they seemed confident they could find their seats.

Adrienne's job was to dispense food and drink, which on this night included Hard Lemonade, shots of whiskey, and Stellaaaaaaa Artois in honor of the heavy drinking that seems to feature in all the Tennessee Williams plays. Boxcar is doing a three-play TN series. We will also be working/seeing A Streetcar Named Desire next month.

But enough about our performance. The actors also did a great job. The show was 90 minutes without intermission, so the director must have done some artful cutting. This was opening night, so there were many critics in the audience. Adrienne noticed that one of the critics (sitting in the front row) slept through some of the explosive scenes, but you can't fault the actors or director for that. Could have been the generous drinks Adrienne was pouring at the concession stand!

Unfolding SF

Ty became interested in exploring the neighborhoods of SF (by car) as a way to pass the time while he was recovering from a stress fracture. As one of his drivers, I have shared in many of his discoveries. For example, every drive seems to involve at least one impossibly narrow street and comical street name - like Belcher.

Someday he may become one of the people who walks every street in SF -- a feat written up in Sunday's Chronicle. In the meantime, we're aiming to see the 2612 streets by car. Here are some fun facts that appeared in the article:

Longest Street: Mission (7.29 miles)
Shortest Street: Richter (14 feet)
Widest Street: Sloat (135 feet)
Narrowest Street: DeForest (4 1/2 feet)