Towse: views from the hill

“Yahoo actually does acquire Flickr,” as the Flickr blog so clearly puts it.

Long Tall Sassy 

There. Does that one capture the colors better? I would’ve just moved this JPG link into the original blog entry, but someone had already commented before Blogger gave me clearance to edit the post … Far be it from me …

Colors still not right. Use your imagination or check out this.

Even that one still doesn’t quite get it …

Spent the long weekend in Winston-Salem, NC.

Early February Kathy Vincent sent an e-mail that she was going to have her first ever show of her watercolors — hers alone, not just as a watercolor or three up in a group show.

I’ve known Kathy for a long, long while. We met ten? eleven years? past in the misc.writing Usenet newsgroup. I knew her when she was winning short story awards. I knew her before she seriously took up her painting. I’ve known her a long time.

I’m still bouncing around in misc.writing off and on after all these years. KV’s last post to misc.writing was way back when.

But we’d kept in touch in e-mail. When she started putting her watercolors online, I bought a few I really liked.

When I heard her show was opening, I invited myself to Winston-Salem, if she had no objections. His nibs had qualified for a free ticket anywhere United or Lufthansa flew — a free ticket that wouldn’t use up any of his bonus miles cache. The ticket had to be used (there and back) by April 1st.

He and I’d been wondering where I could go and where I would want to go all by my lonesome. I’d need a hotel room. A car. I’d need to find food. Maybe an English-speaking country would be the best bet. How long did I want to stay? The possibilities were mind-boggling. Maybe his nibs should visit the daughter and grandchildren instead. Deliver some goodies that are too fragile to ship. Maybe. Maybe.

But his nibs was up to here at work and told me if I didn’t use the ticket it would go to waste, just like the ticket years past that I couldn’t use because I got stuck on a five-week-plus long trial jury while the clock when tick-tick and the freebie ticket expired.

Then out of the blue, Kathy’s news. So, um. Kathy. Would you mind having company? Would it stress you out to have the added stranger-from-the-interwebbie-thingy come visit while you’re gearing up for the show?

KV (after a suitable period of thought) said, “No. Come on by!”

So, off I went.

We had a good time. Folks at the gallery opening were fascinated that someone would fly from California. Folks at the gallery opening were fascinated that I chose Winston-Salem when I could’ve gone to Geneva. Folks at the gallery opening were fascinated that KV and I had known each other for eleven or so years and had never met up. They were fascinated that an interwebbie pal would be pal-enough to come to her gallery opening … and that she had no fears. No fears, I said. I’d promised to leave my interwebbie murdering axe at home.

We had a good time. I arrived late Thursday. We hung out on Friday with her sister who drove in from across the state. Saturday was the grand opening. Her parents showed up unexpectedly — they hadn’t wanted her to worry about them driving as far as they did. Sunday early her sister left on a business trip and the folks headed off to visit relatives. We hung out Sunday and Monday I flew home after lunch.

I came back with a cold — chest, sniffles, bleeeeaaah — perhaps from someone who sneezed on me at the gallery, helped along, no doubt, by my lack of sleep in a strange hotel bed and the plane rides.

I came back with a receipt for this: to be sent as soon as the show closes in early April.

Long Tall Sassy 

Links to photos of the opening gala.

Guitar playing by friend Tom was the perfect touch for a full crowd, noshies and wine.

Links to the paintings on exhibit.

KV sold four pictures at the opening reception. X’d fingers the rest of the month goes as well.

(this is the obligatory subliminal message …)
Go! Buy! One! And Buy One For Your Mom Too!

We walked down to the Embarcadero Saturday about 12:30 p.m. to catch a look as two 1500-ton 241′ Panamax cranes bound for the Port of Oakland carefully made their way into the Bay.

The cranes’ arrival was delayed a couple days because of rocky weather. Just as well. Thursday his nibs couldn’t get away from work. The weather Friday was rainy and drear. By Saturday the sun was shining and the sky was blue — a perfect day for throwing a Frisbee or for watching some very careful people bring some very tall cranes into port.

The ship had arrived outside the Gate on Wednesday but had to wait because the weather was not calm enough for the crew to lower the booms as low as they could go. Calm waters were also needed before the ship could come in under the Golden Gate Bridge (estimated clearance after the cranes had been folded down something like 22′) and then — more carefully — under the Bay Bridge (estimated clearance 5′).

We’d been planning to watch from a point somewhere south of the Ferry Building, but decided on a whim to see if we could see the ship coming in from the end of the public pier just north of the Ferry Building. We got to the end of the pier to find the ship had just swung around the point near Pier 39. A fairly small crowd (my type of crowd) watched the cranes approach. The fishermen fishing off the pier kept a close eye on their rods as the rubberneckers lined up at the railing. I couldn’t imagine how our view could be any better further south. We decided to stay.

In the twenty minutes or so that it took the ship to come past us and then under the Bay Bridge, I took over sixty pictures. Ah, the joys of digital and a memory card.

Herewith some of them.

the scent of green bananas has consistently hunger-pang inducing descriptions (with recipes!) of food like Goldenrod eggs and crepes with passion fruit curd.

Now if someone could please tell me where I can find a store that sells passion fruit.

the scent of green bananas also leads me to other foodie blogs like Blue and Yellow Kitchen.

tsogb’s list of Asian women’s food blogs includes two I read regularly: On My Plate and Chez Pim. I’ll keep the list handy to wander through when I have time.

As I mentioned, we went down to the Mission District last Sunday (27 Feb) to check out a 10K sq ft revamped warehouse that is up for sale.

The space was tremendous. The possibilities amazing. The neighborhood has that something-is-happening feel with the drunks on the corner and the marvelous bookstore down the street. Loads of good eats of the Mexican, Vietnamese, fusion persuasion. Loads of thrift stores to poke around in. Public transit at your doorstep. I could probably be a pretty happy camper.

The place will probably get sold to someone else before I win the Lotto and get my chance. The multiple listing entry with its twenty-five interior/exterior shots will go bye-bye when escrow closes. When those shots go bye-bye, as they’re bound to do, I wanted to make sure that I remembered what the place looked like. Herewith, some camera phone photos taken Sunday.

You’ve just entered. You’re on the first floor, with your back to the door in from 14th St. Glass doors in front of you lead to an office with access to the 2d floor. Door to your right leads to a room which is *really* the two-car garage with rollup door onto 14th Street, but while the warehouse was being used as a club, the space was used as an extra room with couches and chairs, &c.  

First floor. You’ve walked in and turned to your right, past another room, then turned left and then turned around to face toward 14th St. Got that? The door you came in is to your right and half the length of the warehouse forward.

Behind the concrete wall there is another funky bar area/kitchen, the large room where a garage with rollup doors would be if the room weren’t, two bathrooms, … and more. Behind you are something like three bedrooms more or less. You lose count. Check out the banks of pipes carrying the cabling throughout the building.  

270 14th Street – You’ve headed upstairs. Dual turntables and ‘lectronics in DJ area come with the purchase price 

rack of amps &c for the DJ setup. Master bedroom/office are through a door off to the left of this picture. 

2d floor bar area, looking toward 14th St. You’re standing in front of the DJ area. The amazing T1 setup with 60 Internet connections is stashed in one of the closets in front of you. Spaghetti! 

2nd floor lounge with windows facing 14th.

Chandelier made with branches and a naked bulb is something I would love. Say. … I’ve got branches! I’ve got a naked bulb! But where would I put it?  

Standing in 2d floor lounge with back to 14th St. Kitchen to left at back and bar to right. Behind the wall in front of you is the master bedroom and office with staircase to the roof, There are at least three rooms — two on one side, one on the other — between the lounge and the kitchen/bar. You can just barely make out a door or two.  

2d floor kitchen.  

2d floor. Taken from the master bed. HUGE bathroom to your right. Office is down some stairs in front. Door to the main area, opening on the DJ setup is to your right off the other side of the office, next to the white board.

Stairs to the roof off to the left. 

Ah, if only. Room for all the books. I could have every piece of print, art, painting I own up on the walls and still have room for more. The kitchen is larger than any I’ve every had.

If only …

Theme Thursday. CURRENT Theme is “ROAD” (Highway, Street, Path, Trail, Railway, Alley, Dragway, Roadworthy, Roadblock,… )

Photogenic Bixby Creek Bridge on Highway One as seen from the beach below.

We trundled over to the Mission on Sunday to take a look at the 10K sq ft converted warehouse on 14th Street that I was enamored with. (Pictures to follow. Having seen the place, I am now even more enamored. I want to win the Lotto. …)

From there we headed over to Borderlands Books on Valencia to pick up a book they were holding for me. While I was there, I also picked up Chariot To The Stars, a collection of Steve Miller’s short stories. Borderlands has it all if you are into F, SF or H.

On the way back to the car, we peeked in at 826 Valencia to see what was happening and then stopped by Paxton Gate.

Paxton Gate seems like a cross between Nature Company and Smith & Hawken when you first stop in. As you wander around, though, you start to find some out of ordinary stuff for sale. In the back room a group of adults is learning taxidermy. Drawers full of penis bones are sorted by the type of beast. Among the strange of the strange, though, I found these. Wouldn’t they look great as Christmas tree ornaments? Taxidermy taken to Dali-esque heights.

  (Photo taken with a camera phone. Not bad, eh?)

Checking through the Paxton Gate Web site, I find that they’re offering another taxidermy class later this month.

I could taxiderm my own mouse!

Yes, yes, yes. I know. Stuffing beasties for fun seems seriously weird, but then so does collecting penis bones.

Norma said she was getting cut off at the leftmost margin of the center column.

I decided, while I tweaked pixels, to rearrange the layout. The photos at the top aren’t needed for color since the Towse Flickr badge was added. Moved the Flickr badge from right to left, moved a bunch of the housekeeping tools to the left, moved the search tool to the right, and generally fussed around.

Oh, and I shifted the leftmost margin of the center column over a couple pixels.

I hope that’s sufficient for Norma.