California Fever

Farm magic.

Andrea issued a photography prompt yesterday (and hinted that she might put up photo prompts on Mondays).  The first was to photograph someone through a glass of water.  I read her post yesterday, but when I went to take a picture this morning, I forgot the part about the water. Oh, well.  This isn't a very good photo since I only captured part of the side of my face--I just like the repeating basil plant.  And besides, 'rules' are just there to be broken, right?  ;)

Another 'rule' I broke yesterday was when I suddenly on a whim felt like doing one of the assignments at Miranda July's Learning to Love You More site.  The first one that caught my eye was #63 - Make an Encouraging Banner.  Here's mine.  And, no, it's not a noun--rather a creative cultivation prompt to remind me to get out of my head.  I think I was supposed to keep the construction paper in big blocks...but I didn't feel like it.  Maybe it sounds lofty to think I can possibly "farm magic."  One of the definitions of magic in my dictionary is "a mysterious and enchanting quality."  That's all I'm seeking in life--all I ever have:  simply the desire to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary (define it as you will).

I was sorry to hear of the passing of two iconic men.  Bill Walsh, who for a decade was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, died yesterday.  Whether or not you follow football (and I don't anymore), it's hard to overstate how those of us who are native Northern Californians and were 49er fans of a certain era feel about Bill Walsh.  A good friend of my brother's owns 4 Super Bowl rings thanks to Bill Walsh.  Walsh was a football genius and seemed like a classy guy.

Tom Snyder was a touchstone of my high school years.  When his "Tomorrow" show began airing in '73 (when I was a senior), I quickly became hooked.  I'd take a shower during the "Tonight Show" and then sit in front of the wall heater in our living room, drying my very long hair, while watching "Tomorrow" (long after my Dad and little brother had gone to bed.  No wonder I had such a hard time waking up for school.)  Johnny Carson was for your parents; Snyder was hip.  It would probably be surprising to long-time readers here (since some of you leave comments about how I seem to you to be some sort of do-gooder crusader, and I mean that in a nice way) that there are few things in life that matter more to me than biting wit.  (I know what you're thinking:  Then why don't I exhibit some of mine here?  I think I've had a few too many experiences where I felt like my wit was misconstrued when I tried to convey it in writing.)  Snyder was sarcastic and acerbic and I adored him.  It wasn't until decades later that it suddenly hit me that he looks a lot like my Dad (who was also damn sarcastically funny in his time).  Snyder had a very recognizable laugh and he did his show without a studio audience.  He'd often utter funny asides to crew members and you could often hear them laughing off-camera.  He was cutting edge for his time and in my opinion, never got the respect he deserved for it.  He was only 71.

Jeffrey was eating a mango at lunch yesterday and when he was finished, he looked at the pit and asked, "I wonder if you can grow a plant from one of these..."  So I found this.  It says you can, by planting the seed that's inside the pit.

I'm off to the laundromat this morning, and then we're going to have some fun this afternoon.  Tomorrow morning I return to job-land.  Because my work year is based on a school calendar, there are certain times of the year that are busier for me.  August is super-busy for me and I'm craving something that will keep me sane during the busy-ness.  I'm thinking posting a poem a day in August might do the trick--I think that might be a good practice for me.  If I do, they'll be over on Moojo Cafe.

the weekend

I had a lovely and busy weekend.  Friday night my brother, sister-in-law and I drove up to Oroville to catch a casino show by Curtis.  He sounded good, the band sounded good and it was the first time I'd seen him since his miraculous liver transplant last September.  (Long-time readers will recall that he was diagnosed with liver cancer in the Spring of '06 and not given long to live.  Thank you again to all of you who sent prayers and positive thoughts in his direction.)  We had a good time and danced several times.  Dancing (something I love) has become a rare occurrence for me.  At one point during the show I made my way to the ladies room and an older gentleman sitting by the entrance smiled and clapped when I walked by, "I like the way you dance."  Guess I have enough little moves left to impress the Early Bird Special crowd...  We visited with Curtis after the show and then spent a little time in the casino.  My brother went off to play Texas Hold 'Em, giving Chelle and I each a $100 bill to play slot machines.  I wish I could say I parlayed that into some hefty winnings, but alas, I walked out with about $82, but we had a good time.  Chelle and I hit the bathroom once more before hitting the road and when we met Marty by the entrance, he was standing next to a lone slot machine with an attractive blonde woman who was maybe in her late 30's.  Her machine was open and an employee was standing there with a calculator in hand.  She'd won a good-sized jackpot and he was calculating her winnings.  Marty told her he thought she'd won some real money.  "Really?  I was playing $5 at a time...do you think maybe I won, like, $700 or something?"  "Noooo...I think you won a LOT more than that.  I think you might have won $10,000 or $11,000."  "WHAT?!"  Sure enough, the employee punched a few numbers in the calculator and her winnings were a little over $11,000.  She put a $20 bill into a slot machine, played it for 5 minutes...and won 11 grand.  She was there alone and was obviously overjoyed:  "I'm gonna pay off all my bills!"  We all high-fived her and walked out into the night wearing big smiles on her behalf. 

By the time I dropped them and drove home, it was 2 am.  But I was up early and when I walked outside to water the lawn, I discovered that sometime in the wee hours of the morning, someone had ditched a stolen bike on our curb.  I reported it to the Police Department and the dispatcher said she'd report it Vehicle Abatement, but that that enforcement officer only works part-time.  She said if it was still there by Monday morning, he'd pick it up.  It was gone by yesterday morning, so someone else grabbed it.  It had been ditched with the seat missing, which is why I figured it was stolen. 

I watered the lawn and then drove to Dixon to watch Ciara's swim meet.  She swam well, but the club they were competing against was really tough.  But we had a nice time just hanging out.  A new shop in downtown Dixon that's a combo ice cream shop and deli set up right next to us to take lunch orders, so we had a nice deli lunch delivered right to us which was a treat.

I took a drive through the country on the way home.  It was a gorgeous, very warm day and I zoomed through fields with the windows down and blues blasting on the radio.  I stopped at the thrift store when I got back to town and picked up a few things.  The thrift store has become like yard sales used to be for me in Portland.  I love stopping in there to see what new stuff they have.  It's a small, but good one and it benefits the SPCA.  I've scored several great finds the past few weeks.  When I got home, I putzed around a bit and then laid down on the couch to watch the end of Glory and dozed for a bit until J called.  They were in New Mexico on their way home; he was hoping to be home by 2:00 Sunday afternoon.  I couldn't remember the last time I'd had junk food, so Saturday evening I splurged and drove through In-and-Out and ate it while watching Stranger Than Fiction (which I loved and knew J would like, too).

Yesterday I was up early, excited at the prospect of Jeffrey's return.  He called me about 7.  They'd dropped the road manager in L.A. and were heading up I-5.  They'd been driving non-stop since they'd left Colorado on Saturday morning.  He would be back earlier than expected, but there'd been a change in the route back and I'd need to drive down to Fairfield to meet him.  He suggested since I'd already have driven down I-80 a bit that we just keep going and head into the City to do something fun.  I said, "Well, gee, we should just go to the game."  He didn't know which game I was referring to.  It was the Bay Series--the cross-bay baseball rivalry between the S.F. Giants and the Oakland A's.  It was the final game of the series and Oakland was looking to sweep.  They were playing in S.F.  He loved that idea, but I warned him that the game was probably sold out.  But, miraculously, within minutes I had purchased tickets online.  So that's what we did.  I met them at a gas station in Fairfield...he switched all of his gear and luggage from the van to our car...and we drove to the City.  But, good lord, the traffic!  We got hung up in horrible traffic on the approach to the Bay Bridge and again trying to park at the stadium.  But it was our first time at AT&T Park and we were just happy to be there...and mostly just really happy to see each other.  We hit the snack bar before grabbing our seats, so after the horrible traffic ordeal and walking to the stadium and grabbing food, it was the beginning of the 3rd inning by the time we sat down.  The Bay Series is fun because whether they play in S.F. or Oakland, the visiting team always has nearly as many fans in attendance as the home team.  It's all in good fun.  Our section was an equal mix of Giants and A's fans.  The game was scoreless until the 8th inning when Marco Scutaro hit a one-run homer for the A's.  They scored another run in the top of the 9th, and in storybook fashion, Barry Bonds came up to the plate in the bottom of the 9th with a runner on 1st, looking to tie the game with a homer.  Everyone stood up for that, but he flied out and the next hitter was quickly out and the game was over.  AT&T is a beautiful park in a beautiful setting.  But jeez louise!  How can people afford to go to ballgames?!  J wanted to do something fun to celebrate his return home, so the ballgame was a big splurge for us.  But look what it cost us:  2 tickets purchased online (Bay Series games are considered 'premium' games so the tickets were an extra $14/each plus all of the assorted processing fees) - $119...parking - $30 (THIRTY DOLLARS!)...2 hot dogs, 1 large nachos (to share) and two sodas - $26.50.  Add $10 for gas and $8.00 for bridge tolls (down and back) and our grand total to enjoy 7 innings of that ballgame was $193.50.  But you know what?  It was worth every penny, 'cause it was fun and we were just really, really happy to be together and doing something fun.  ;)

That's Bonds swinging below, but he grounded out on that one.  Barry didn't have a good day--he let two balls drop into center field, but he did redeem himself with one good catch at the wall.  Those old 42-year-old legs aren't moving too fast these days.

rooted

for just a few hours
we rooted and cheered our team
all worries misplaced

The Sunday Scribblings prompt today is "rooted" and today's NaPoWriMo prompt at Poetry Thursday is "misplaced."  I'm afraid all I can come up with at this point is this little haiku.  With my folks' unexpected arrival this weekend, I've been out and about most of the weekend.  Jeffrey had to do two back-to-back gigs in Sacramento today--at a church and then a jazz gig at the central branch of the Sacramento Public Library.  So he was gone most of the day.  My folks came over from (their hotel in) Dixon to pick me up this morning and we joined my brother, Marty, Ciara and Zak for breakfast in downtown Dixon.  (Chelle's in Cozumel at the moment.)  Then my brother took all of us to the Sacramento Rivercats game; they're a AAA team in the Oakland A's system.  They were playing the Las Vegas 51's (and ya gotta love a AAA team named after an alien land); they're a farm team of the L.A. Dodgers...which means we have to automatically hate them.  ;)  The Rivercats won 6-4.  They play at Raley Field in West Sacramento which is only about 15 minutes east of our house and just west of the I Street Bridge leading into downtown Sacramento.  This is Kayla's week at her Mom's in Vacaville, but she joined us at the game, along with her best friend, Amanda.  Zak brought along his best friend, Casey.  A good time was had by all.  Ciara even caught a foul ball, with a little help from her big brother.  ;)  Afterwards we went to Applebee's in Davis where Jeffrey joined us for an early dinner.  And Ciara was able to get her all-time favorite dessert, Triple Chocolate Meltdown...which she reluctantly shared with her sister.  (If you're wondering why C. is resembling Mike Tyson in these photos, it's because her Dad took her to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz on Saturday where she got her face painted...in a color that matched her fingernail polish.)

If you'd like a 'proper' poem for this SS prompt, I just wrote one on Thursday in response to the NaPoWriMo prompt "root."  It's here.

Stage 2 in Davis

As of this writing, the videos for yesterday's Stage 2 of the Tour of California aren't up yet.  But I did find some Flickr photos of the cyclists zipping through downtown Davis.  I can't believe these guys were no more than 2 blocks from our house in three different directions and Jeffrey didn't even go outside to watch.  Sheesh.  (I couldn't get away to watch at lunchtime yesterday--I was swamped.)  Here they are in Davis heading south on B...here's the turn from B onto 2nd...and from there they headed north on F.  I'm looking forward to seeing the videos from yesterday's stage--not just to see Davis but because it took them through the Napa Valley.  Today's stage 3 takes the riders from Stockton over some steep climbs into San Jose.

NOTE:  If you haven't already seen it, an update on Taylor appears at the bottom of the next post.

Tour of California

The Amgen Tour of California comes through Davis around mid-day today.  This is the largest cycling event in the country, and the cyclists are going to zip through our downtown streets 2 blocks to the west of us, 1-1/2 blocks to the south and 2 blocks to the east. (I'll be at work, but I'm hoping Jeffrey will capture some photos.) They're coming into Davis on Russell Boulevard which borders the UC Davis campus on the north.  It's a street that's within maybe 4 blocks of my school.  I'm going to ride my bike to school this morning (for the first time in MONTHS), and if I can possibly get away at lunchtime, I'm going to zip over to Russell to see if I can witness the race for a few minutes.  The paper said it will only take about 15-20 minutes for the cyclists to make their way through town, and that the speeds will be amazing.  It's like having the Tour de France zipping through your town.

Here's the info on Stage 2 today, which takes them from Santa Rosa through the Napa Valley to Sacramento.  And here are videos from yesterday's Stage 1 event--Sausalito to Santa Rosa.  Scroll down to the one labeled "Peleton Pile Up."  Eeeek.  We saw that on the local news last night.

Today's stage begins at 10 am PST.  If you get Versus channel, you can watch each day's footage from 7-8 pm PST (10-11 EST).

There are some great shots up at Flickr.

I've got a busy day and week ahead of me.  It was nice having a 3-day weekend, but I didn't get as much accomplished as I would have liked.  I'd forgotten that we'd be gone on Sunday, even though it was nice to get out of town and take a nice drive.  I can't even remember now what we did on Saturday, although I do know we went grocery shopping.  Friday was one of those 'a day from hell' kind of days, so I think I was sort of rebounding from it on Saturday.  Oh, I remember now--Jeffrey went to hang out with one of his musician friends in Sacramento for awhile and I took my bike out for a spin.  It was a lovely sunny day and I rode to the library.  I did get through some stuff yesterday, but every time I'd sit down to get caught up online, J would need the computer again for work stuff.  It's hard sharing a computer when one of you is using it for your liveliehood.  So if I haven't been by for awhile, know that I'll get there eventually.  Yesterday I finally started making a list of all that I need to do (instead of trying to keep it all stored in my head).  And I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed as a result.  ;)

UPDATE ON TAYLOR
I know I haven't given you an update on Taylor in awhile.  Last week Carolyn reported that Taylor was beginning to have some sensation in her fingers.  The family was thrilled, even though the doctors appeared to act like it was no big deal.  You can read about it on her blog.  But (as of this moment) what's not on her blog is that on Saturday, SHE MOVED HER BIG TOE!   YES!!!  Carolyn asked me to share that with all of you, because we both believe that the power of your collective good thoughts have made a difference in her recovery.  Please continue to send healing thoughts her way.  We're not giving up hope!  Thank you.

bikes

What do YOU love about bikes?  That's what Daryl Hannah asks in her new vlog.   (And she uses one of my all-time favorite acid jazz tracks, too...which made me wonder, "Hey, I used to own that CD...where is it?") 

I live in one of the most bike-crazy towns in the U.S.  Our city's logo is a bike.  How lucky am I that I get to commute to and from work on a Vintage one-speed Schwinn?  Pretty damn lucky, I'd say. 

Do you own a bike?  If so, I'd love to hear what role it plays in your day-to-day life.  Tell me a bike tale today.  It doesn't even have to be real...it could be something you've always fantasized about doing.  I'm crazy busy at work these days, but at least I get to pedal to and from work at a leisurely pace.  So much better than sitting stalled in rush-hour freeway traffic, dontcha think?  :)

49ers

Just a quick post to recap the last few days...

Saturday night, despite my cold (which is nearly gone, thank god) I accompanied Jeffrey to his gig at the Starlight Room atop the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in downtown San Francisco.  This is the view from the dance floor--that's Union Square.

Because he has to wear a tuxedo on that gig, I was picturing a room full of uptight, stuffy 60-somethings in cocktail dresses.  Not at all.  The dance floor was JAMMED and ages ranged from barely drinking age to seniors.  Attire ran the gamut, from floor-length dresses to jeans.  It was fun.

Sunday I never got out of my robe.

Sunday afternoon Jeffrey, via his diligent Craigslist surfing, found a couch for $75 in Rocklin (a Sacramento suburb).  We picked it up last night.  SCORE!  The owners had two identical couches and a love seat and let us take our pick.  The woman kept apologizing for a PINHOLE of a fabric hole on this one...I assured her it was quite alright.  The couch is only a year old, purchased at Costco.  It's FABULOUS!  So comfortable. It's exactly the kind of couch we would have picked out if we'd had the dough to buy a couch when we moved in.  Merry Christmas to US!  :)

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Buckhorn in Dixon to help my brother set up for an event he had last night as a fundraiser for the basketball program at Dixon High School.  (Zak is on the Freshman team.) We split for a few hours to retrieve the couch and take it home.  When we returned, things were in full swing.  My brother Marty's good friend Eric Wright and his pal Jesse Sapolu were there to lend support.  They were supposed to be the 49er "celebrity" bartenders, but they seemed to be having too good a time to do much bartending, so they left that to the regular bartenders.

This is Jesse, Jeffrey, me and Eric.

Chelle, gorgeous and sparkly as always, and her lunatic husband...also known as my brother...

Family friend Tommy served up a fabulous meal of barbecued ribs and chicken, and everyone danced to the deejay (who did a great job) all night long.  Things finally wound down about 11:30...

Here's Mandy servin' 'em up.  She's a kick in the pants...

There was a lot of sports memorabilia in the silent auction and raffle.  It's not a suprise (given what a golf nut Jeffrey is) that we ended up with a large photo of Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus teeing off at the Masters.  I told him that's his birthday present.  :)

I had to include this photo just so you could see the size of one of Jesse's four Super Bowl rings.  (Eric also has four.)

And that's your BLING for the day!

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It's Tuesday--time once again for the ThirdAge Blog Carnival.  Today's host is the fabulous Jennifer Warwick at The New Charm School.  Check it out--happy reading!

J & M Golf Co.

I just woke from a much-needed nap.  Found Jeffrey in the garage where he's making a set of golf clubs for a customer...

this, that and the other

This was written up in a little blurb in the San Francisco Chronicle.  "...some 400 images by more than 100 designers from four continents are on display as ceramic tiles at the International ExperimentaDesign20005 in Lisbon.  All seek to express an idea or personal opinion in a single design."

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I was flipping through the Davis paper and saw a short article about a reggae concert at a cantina tonight, a cantina that's close to our house.  I thought, "Hmmm...gee there's a reggae band on St. John with that same name..."  Then I read that it IS the band from St. John!  Wow, what are the odds?  And no, I didn't go, and Jeffrey couldn't--he's at his own gig.  I never heard Inner Visions play when we lived in the islands, but they're big in the USVI.  (I like reggae well enough, but it's a tad repetitive for my taste.)  You can listen to them here.  And check it out:  Blue Bitch Music....blue bitch is a stone indigenous to the V.I.?  I've never heard of blue bitch...but I love the name...  Tonight's show is a benefit for the Davis Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.

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I read that Nipsey Russell died last week.  He was 80.  You young'uns won't even know who that is, but I used to see him on "The Ed Sullivan Show" when I was a kid.  He was a comic, but was known for his short, topical poems.  They were deceptively simple, but always had a great message.  Like this one:

The opposite of pro is con;
That fact is clearly seen;
If progress means move forward,
Then what does Congress mean?

Timeless, no?

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And for you jazz fans, the Chronicle also had a story on the new Blue Note album featuring Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall in 1957.  The tape had been mislabeled and misfiled among Voice of America recordings until it was recently found.  I haven't heard it, but evidently the sound quality is amazing.

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I realize there may not be any golf lovers among my readers, but what the hell, I'll mention it anyway.  I watched the end of the American Express WGC Tournament at Harding Park in San Francisco this afternoon.  It was a nail-biter to the end--lots of drama.  It came down to Tiger Woods and John Daly and as I was watching, I was growing increasingly anxious because Jeffrey was missing it.  He finally got home from work when they were on the second playoff hole.  Daly lost the tournament by missing his putt on that second playoff hole.  Very anticlimactic, but a great tourney nonetheless.  Hours later we were having dinner and Jeffrey quietly told me (he always quietly tells me...and usually DAYS later) how there was a moment when he was in Tiger's gallery on Thursday...Tiger waited at the green to watch Daly, in the group behind him, hit his drive.  Daly hit some ridiculously long drive and Jeffrey said he and Tiger happened to make eye contact and they both just started cracking up--because Daly's drives, well, you can only laugh.  Oh yeah, and then he casually mentioned that the Amex folks interviewed him about why he likes Tiger.  I give up.  The man never tells me anything...

Tiger

Just a quick post to say that I feel much better this morning.  I was up at 1;30 yesterday, so by the time I got home from work the day already felt quite long.  I had a hideous head/neck ache.  I tried to get Jeffrey to massage my neck, but that lasted all of about 8 seconds.  So I took two Advil, heated up the rice pack and climbed into bed.  I returned a call to my mother--ever since she decided to move to Vegas, it seems like there are daily update phone calls.  And each day the plan has changed.  Yesterday brought some good news for her.  She spoke to the rental office in Vegas and it turns out the current tenant won't vacate until 10/31, so she won't be moving now until 11/15.  She had hired movers for the 1st, so now she's got an extra two weeks.  It alters my plans as well, since now I'll have to spend my Veteran's Day three-day weekend packing her stuff.  (Trust me, it will come down to the last minute.)  Which means I'll miss C's 8th birthday, which is November 11th.  I'll have to schedule a time to celebrate with her--maybe I'll take her out to dinner, just the two of us.  Maybe we'll have a sleepover...maybe we can even bring Jasmine, her Pug.  I can't imagine Uncle Jeffrey would mind--Jasmine adores him. 

Jeffrey left at 4:20 this morning to head to this golf tournament in San Francisco.  Don't expect any photos of Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh or John Daly to show up on his blog though--no cell phones or cameras allowed.  Harding Park is a beautiful municipal golf course next to Lake Merced.  If anyone wants to check out the action, it's on ESPN today  Then he'll head off to San Mateo for a gig.   And me?  I'm off to ride Schwinnie to work...