On A Misty Evening In October And Autumn Leaf Of The Day #19

 

"Night, which in Autumn,

 seems to fall from the sky so suddenly, chilled us... ."

 

~Jules Burber D' Auervilly

 The Crimson Curtain

 

Forgive me, but it was a beautiful evening at Woodbridge. Life is very good when I am there. I feel like I can breathe when I am there. But happily, today, if all goes well, I won't be in Woodbridge, I will be in Bodega Bay, and points south along the coast, such as Point Reyes Station and Lighthouse, and if we decide to stay along the coast, we could spend some time in Terra Linda, where the best canolli in the world can be found. Cannoli from Gaspare's Restaurant can fix any bad day, like an old friend who drops by for a visit and a meal. Only I guess I am visiting their house. I have loved that restaurant since Woody Allen filmed a scene from Blue Jasmine there, and we decided to try it out. Delicious. But if we don't end up there, we will soon. It's autumn after all.

 

Gaspares Restaurant

San Francisco

~Me

Dear Woody...

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer.
 To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy.
 Therefore, to be happy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness."

~Woody Allen

Dear Woody

In that you have just launched a brand new venture with Amazon Prime to write and produce a new TV series, and are currently in the development stage, may I respectfully request it be set in San Francisco? I know, I know, I tended to stalk... um... enthusiastically pursue your filming schedule while you were here in the Bay Area in 2012, but I promise, if I do come across you, I will immediately turn and walk the other way. I promise to never again wear black and gray together... what was I thinking that day? I promise to take lots, and lots, and photos, from a fair distance of course, and then promote, promote, promote your new creative project with great enthusiasm! And hey, one very important thing to consider, on a practical note, our brilliant governor, Jerry Brown, just signed a bill that TRIPLES California's tax credit for film and television! New York is lovely, and I would love to see it one day, but it's been done to access in films and on the small screen, but San Francisco... that's a city of true love and sourdough, and the true love of sourdough! You wrote it yourself, in Blue Jasmine, "If you can't fall in love in San Francisco, you can't fall in love anywhere!"

Sincerely

Carly from Berkeley

Tuesday, January 12th 2015

8:35 PM

Woody Allen

Photographed August 25th 2012

Ulloa and Claremont

San Francisco, California

9:19

"It's a match made in heaven... by a retarded angel."

~Woody Allen

Okay, I know, I know..."retarded" is no longer a politically correct term, and as a matter of fact, I don't used that term, but it was socially acceptable at the time Woody Allen used it, and I saw no reason to change it. So if that is all cleared up, let's get to today's blog post.


( Click The Photo To See A Larger Version )

See my car, well my former car, Lilith, well I knew there was a possibility that she had made it into Woody Allen's film Blue Jasmine, and here is the maybe, could-be, possible, confirmation. Look at the picture at the top. See the car silhouette in the window, just to the left of Cate Blanchette? Well, I think that might be Alan and I, inside Lilith, as we drove down Lexington avenue, on the day Woody filmed there. Now of course there is no way to know for sure, but that sure looks like my girl, and the sun seems to be in just the right place, plus the two young boys who played Ginger's sons were there that day, we saw them when the film crew broke for lunch! 

"What if nothing exists and we're all in somebody's dream?"

~Woody Allen

Okay, I am going to admit it, it would be the thrill of a lifetime to have accidentally made it into a Woody Allen movie, so yeah, I kinda really want it to be true. But at the same time, the car does look an awful lot like my car, so I am not completely delusional... maybe just partly so. LOL. At least as delusions and mistaken identities go, its harmless. You know the more I look at that photo, the more I am sure of it. It's Lilith. It was her last great hurrah. Less than a month later she died, and we traded her in for a new car. Our Denim Blue, 2013 Chevy Spark, that we named Carl.

It's strange to think that someone may be driving around in my movie star car. My Lilith, an uncredited extra in Woody Allen's amazing film, Blue Jasmine. And they don't even know it.

 
( Click The Photo To See A Larger Version )


Life is odd.

But seriously, it could be her... right?

"Eighty percent of success in life is showing up."

~Woody Allen

Mood: Hopeful

~Me :)

Happy December 10th Eve!

"Christmas is a time when everybody wants their pasts forgotten and their present remembered. What I don't like about Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day."

Phyllis Diller

Good grief! It's the Eve Of December 10th! What is December 10th? Well, that's our cursed day! Yes, Alan and I have our very own cursed day, and it's tomorrow, December 10th! Why is it cursed? Well, you see, it has been an annual occurrence since the year of our marriage, in 1990, that on December 10th something odd, usually something to do with finances, takes place on or very near the actual day of December 10th! If you are new to my blog, and this is all a new revelation about me, let me give you some examples of December 10th oddness, in random order...

Our storage unit was burglarized.

Someone claiming to be me, rented a car, on December 10th, had an accident, and I didn't find out until the following March when the claims adjuster called to ask additional details. That was the year we thought we had beat the curse! How this person got my name and phone number, I will never know.

One of my favorite December 10th hilariousness, happened when Alan was nearly arrested for stalking a neighbor! What he was actually doing was checking the roof at my mother's house for lost shingles, due to a wind storm the previous night! LOL. Thank GOD mom was home to identify him! I was there, trust me, he was looking at the roof's shingles!

In 2011, I decided to just completely ignore the day altogether, that DID NOT WORK OUT! I got a call at 3:30 in the morning, of December 10th, from the fraud division of my bank. It seems someone in Illonois was trying to purchase $1,000 worth of assorted items from a dollar store, using a copy of my ATM/Debit card! They had been approved for $100.00 worth earlier in the day! Thankfully, I wasn't held responsible!

Last year, on December 10th, someone did the exact same thing to Alan! Exactly one year apart mind you! They made a copy of his ATM/Debit card and tried to purchase first $100.00 worth of merchandise, then $1,000.00 worth, only this time, they were in Georgia!

Another personal favorite was the year Alan tried to order a garden hose, on December 10th, using a gift certificate he won at an office party, on December 10th the previous year! He ordered the hose, which was free, but when it came it wasn't one hose, it was 2 hoses! No problem, right? Yes... PROBLEM! Two weeks later, another 3 came! It was difficult to deal with, but they understood we didn't need 4 garden hoses! They told us to choose the one we wanted, and send the 3 remaining back. Alan hadn't opened them, so NO problem. It was however, when he opened the hose he decided to keep, the following spring, only to find it was damaged! 

And there are other assorted incidents. I won't share all of them. My friend Paul, of the blog, Aurora Walking Vacation, a kind and rational thinker if ever there was one, has challenged me at times to consider that December 10th isn't really cursed, but rather I am noticing a pattern where there isn't one. Like if I suddenly noticed that on October 22nd, leaves tend to fall from trees, or more in the abstract, every year during our vacation, Alan and I will spontaneously encounter a celebrity. It's happened a lot, and I used to think of it as magical, but in truth I live in the Bay Area, and we do get the ocassional celebrity in our midst. No magic, more just the way things work! If you leave the house, and even if you don't, random things happen! And I believed that for many years, but how many police reports does one have to fill out before you come to the realization, The Curse Of December 10th is a thing? But does it deserve the respect I give it?

I wish I knew. But good, bad or otherwise, 24 hours from now Alan and I are going to watch old movies, pop popcorn, make some cinnamon frosted pecans, play with our new kitten Joey, watch as many Woody Allen movies as we can fit into 24 hours, dance to disco music, play scrabble, play, Quiddler, and NOT ANSWER THE DOOR! USE OUR CREDIT CARDS OR DEBIT CARDS! WE WILL ACCEPT NO CODS! AND THERE WILL BE NO CYBER SHOPPING! Or for that mater, engage in any transaction of commercialism what-so-ever! There... I said it! I am not afraid to admit to this probably unfounded fear! In fact, I am a bigger person for it! And Paul, if you are visiting my blog this week, I will say it right now... YOU ARE PROBABLY RIGHT!

But Happy December 10th Day Anyway! Watch your wallet and bank accounts my friend! LOL!

:)

Mood: Uncertain :)

~Me :)

Dear friends, I will update you later this week if anything happens, so stay tuned!

My Culinary Bucket List

"Every restaurant is a theater, and the truly great ones allow us to indulge in the fantasy that we are rich and powerful. When restaurants hold up their end of the bargain, they give us the illusion of being surrounded by servants intent on ensuring our happiness and offering extraordinary food. But even modest restaurants offer the opportunity to become someone else, at least for a little while. When you walk through the door, you are entering neutral territory where you are free to be whoever you choose for the duration of the meal."

~Ruth Reichl



I had planned to write a restaurant review for this post, but alas, it was not to be! Gaspare's Italian Dinners have been on my culinary bucket list since last summer! It was one of the places featured in Woody Allen's film, Blue Jasmine, although you probably wouldn't know it from the scene it was in. There is no shot of the outside of the restaurant, no tell tale signs inside, but prominent are the dark green leather booths, and the fun little mini- jukeboxes that are affixed to the walls, just above each booth table. 3 musical selections for a quarter, according to a Yelp reviewer! The pizzas themselves have mixed reviews, apparently they are considered "old school" Brooklyn or New Jersey style, which might mean that Californians simply don't get it! One thing is for sure, one likes what they like, so I was planning to make up my own mind.

Now, if I can only find a place to park.

The parking on Geary Boulevard leaves a lot to be desired, so as such, Friday was not the time to try and eat there! In fact, every time I have tried to eat there, I have been unlucky about finding a place to park. It's typical of San Francisco, so we always go prepared to have a Plan B. On Friday our Plan B became Plan C! But first things first. Our second choice was to grab a couple slices pizza at North Beach Pizza, on Grant in North Beach. The parking there was worse than Gaspare's. At least Geary Boulevard is a nice wide road, lol, Grant is very narrow, and yes, one wrong turn and you find yourself on the hill from HELL!

On to Plan C!

Our Plan C, is usually our Plan A. Hunan Cafe #2, in the Outer Richmond, is our favorite Chinese restaurant in San Francisco! The food is always delicious, I haven't had a bad meal there yet, and freshly cooked when you order it! No steam tables. It is close to Golden Gate Park, and Ocean Beach, so when we are in the park, it's our go-to place for a reasonably priced meal in a hurry. Lily, the owner, always greets you with a big smile, and her husband cooks the food. I swear, his hands have been touched by God! The food is just that good! And it's just this little spot, in the middle of the neighborhood, that you might miss if you didn't look closely. It is a cute little San Francisco gem to be sure!

We found Hunan Kitchen #2 last year, when we got to the filming at Gaspare's too late to see Woody filming! The "No Parking" sandwich board sign was still there, but there wasn't a Woody Allen in sight! We were disappointed by not seeing him, and hungry, but Gaspare's was closed! So we checked things out on Yelp and came across the delicious Hunan Cafe #2, right in the neighborhood! I am not very brave when it comes to trying new restaurants, but on that day it just seemed like fun. It was cold, we were disappointed, and starving... not a good combination... and I am so glad we gave it a try! It was delicious! Since then, we have tried a couple more places in the neighborhood, Gordo Taqueria, also on Geary, and Sushi Bistro on Balboa. And just last week we found a fantastic little yogurt shop near the corner of Geary and 33rd... Happy Yogurt! The Peanut Butter Cookie yogurt is AMAZING! I have a couple more places I want to try soon, and when I do I will do a proper restaurant review of those places both here, and on Yelp. It's the thing to do, if you want to keep your favorite place in business! Right?

Oh, that and "Tip big boys" as Jasmine would say! :)

Maybe someday I will get to eat at Gaspare's. At this point, its not just a goal, it's a QUEST!

I am going to do a more in-depth review of these restaurants as we move through autumn. Alan is taking his usual 5 weeks off, and we plan to be in San Francisco a lot, so STAY TUNED!


Mood: Hungry

~Me :)

Yelp Reviews...

Gaspares Italian Dinners

North Beach Pizza

GordoTaqueria

Hunan Cafe #2

Sushi Bistro

Happy Yogurt

25 Years + 10 Years + 1 Year = Life

"You know what my philosophy of life is? That it's important to have some laughs, but you got to suffer a little too, because otherwise you miss the whole thing."

~Woody Allen

25 Years: ON Love Beginning With The First Date...

Today is the day, in more ways than one! First things first! 25 years ago today, Alan and I went on our first official date! We had known each other since May of 1977, and at first we really couldn't stand each other, then he went off to collage, and I went off to collage, and we didn't see each other for quite a while, but while the both of us were off in different directions, we both grew up! When we met again in the early 80's, I had grown a little more patience about stuffy conservatives, and he was a little more open to the arguments of bleeding heart liberals such as myself!

LOL.

Ronald Reagan was the president at the time, and so understanding could only go so far!

We agreed to disagree about Ronald Reagan.

By the time the Reagan administration was over, I had converted Alan to a liberal. Thank you very much! LOL. Actually, I think it had less to do with me and my values, and more to do with Ronald Reagan himself. I really didn't have to do much, Alan saw the light all on his own! LOL.Which is kinda nice, because I don't think I would have ever married a conservative. It just wouldn't have worked. I found that out when I dated a minister for about 6 months, also during the Reagan administration! I call those years, my years of enlightenment!

Anyway, here we are 25 years later, and Alan and I are happily married, and we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of our first date, by going to see Woody Allen's newest film, Blue Jasmine. After the movie, we are going into San Francisco, to eat dinner at one of the restaurants featured in the film! It has been our plan, for over a year, to spend the day this way! We have enjoyed his films very much over the years, and it's a good way to spend this anniversary methinks!

Ellipsis: A Decade Of Life On A Blog...

There is another anniversary associated with this day... it's the 10th anniversary of my blog Ellipsis. It was 10 years ago, that I began this blog as my AOL Journal, Ellipsis. We all know that AOL Journals came and went, really too fast, but while I was there I made some really good friends, some of which I am still in contact with today. Karen, Patrick, Duane... I love you all! And there are many others who don't blog anymore, but I still correspond with from time to time.

I love all my pals, but I can't help but think of my friends that were lost to us, especially, Steven, who had begun his AOL Journal, just one day before I did, and was always one of my most supportive friends. He taught me so much about photography, and gave me so much good advice about blogging, I can't help but feel a little sad because I can't drop by his blog today, and say HI, like we always used to do on our blogging anniversaries.

I miss you Steven.

So, this day has a lot of really good, happy memories attached to it, but some bittersweet ones as well. Still, I look forward to August 23rd every year! And while I might just be a bit blue,  I am so thankful for all the wonderful, fun, happy memories that make this day in the universe so special for me. It's a good day. I am a happy girl.

How To Star In A Woody Allen Movie Without Really Trying...

Okay, so I will be posting my review of Blue Jasmine, and my critique of the restaurant we are eating at tomorrow night in my Ellipsis post on Sunday, because tomorrow, Saturday, is the next round of the Round Robin Challenges: Gone. If you can play along, be sure to, because this could just be one of the best subjects yet! Karen has been doing a magnificent job with the challenges, so if you haven't played in a while... or ever... come on and join us! I know Karen would love to have you!

It was just about a year ago this week that Alan and I were in full swing, following Woody Allen around San Francisco. It's an odd feeling seeing him in person, let alone as he works his movie making magic. It can make one feel as if you are in a Woody Allen movie! It's hard to explain, but I will try to convey what it's like when I do my reviews on Sunday, so you will just have to stay tuned!

Yes.

Stay Tuned!

"It's a wonderful thing to be able to create your own world whenever you want to."

~Woody Allen

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Like The Phoenix, The Squat And Gobble Rises (Another Memory, Starring Woody Allen As Himself)

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life for me
And I'm feeling good

~Leslie Bricusse, The Bricusse Songbook



Okay, so I warned you the other day, I am going to be reminiscing about my, I mean our, fun surrounding our stalking, I mean following, of Woody Allen as he made movie magic filming Blue Jasmine last year in San Francisco. LOL. Okay, so what exactly does the current construction on a building have to do with all the misadventures last year? Well, it's a funny story, and at the same time, a tragic story, but in the end the story comes full circle... not unlike a Woody Allen movie! LOL.

It Went Like This...

If you have been reading me for any length of time, you already know about my Woody Allen adventure last year. I won't rehash the whole thing, but I will share that right in the middle of the story came a moment of abstract surrealism. You see, on August 25th of last year, Alan and I tracked Woody Allen's filming schedule, mostly by way of social media, around San Francisco. On the 28th we learned he was filming in the Haight/Ashbury neighborhood, so off we went. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, there was no Woody to be seen. He was done and done.

But fear not, social media came through again, and we found out he was merely a few neighborhoods away in the West Portal. There wasn't an exact address, so it was a bit like looking for a Woody... um... needle... in a haystack. Finally we found out where the technical trucks would be parked. When we got there, we saw plenty of trucks, some marked wardrobe, but there didn't seem to be any film service trucks, or any tell tale signs of filming going on, like sandwich boards marked "No Parking" and there was no police presence. Hmmm.

So, with nothing else to do, we decided to drive around the neighborhood, and see if anything could be found. We checked out about 7 or 8 streets, when finally we hit pay dirt! A young, well dressed man, walking down the hill with a camera in his hand. EUREKA! By Woody, I think we had it! And yes, we did! A short drive up West Portal, and onto Ulloa, and there it was, the camera crew, the catering truck, and of course, Woody Allen's town car, parked on the corner of Claremont and Ulloa.

As you might imagine, there was no place to park on our first pass around the neighborhood, so once around again. And that's when it all happened!

With my cameras responsibly stored in their proper cases, and my cell phone, with the awesome camera, equally responsibly placed at the bottom of my purse, where everything in my purse goes, lol, I had no distractions from not just looking for a place to park, but to also check out the neighborhood stores and restaurants. Excellent. I was calm, and well prepared. Good for me! So, on our second time around the block, as we turned onto Ulloa from West Portal, I noticed a cute restaurant called The Squat And Gobble. What an interesting name! My amusement of which only lasted about 3 seconds, no kidding, because coming out of that restaurant, all by himself, with no entourage was... Woody Allen!

LOL. As you can see from the pictures above, the distance between the restaurant entrance, and the curb is not very far! Woody Allen was literally 5 feet away from me, if that much, and where were my cameras? Why they were responsibly put away of course! OMG. It would have been a really terrific, candid shot of him, and I had make a really rookie mistake of not taking at least one camera out after we located the filming sight. All photographers, professional or amateur, have a memory of at least one "shot that got away," for me, Woody Allen will always be "the one that got away!" LOL.

Anyway, like a good little diabetic, I had packed my lunch for the day before I left the house, so we decided to check out the Squat and Gobble during our upcoming vacation which was scheduled for October. In fact, we reasoned, why not come and have dinner on our wedding anniversary, which would be on October 13th. It would be a fun way to spend the day, laughing about our Woody Allen misadventures, and we could take some time to just check out the neighborhood properly! It was a plan!

Unfortunately, not unlike a plot twist in a Woody Allen movie, the Squat and Gobble burned to the ground on October 12th, that's right, one day before our anniversary! It burned down so completely, that it managed to take a couple other businesses with it! It was a total loss! I felt really bad for the restaurant, and the businesses, but I have to admit, I felt really bad that the memory I hoped to make was gone as well.

But hey, good news came along earlier this year, when it was announced that the Squat and Gobble will rise like the phoenix later this year! And no matter when, Alan and I will be there to support them in their grand reopening. We will be making a new memory. Sure, it won't be the exact restaurant Woody ate in, but it will be close enough, and besides, it's the total ambiance of the area. The street. The people. The time you spend with someone you love, in this case, Alan, and the surreal turn of events that I can't help but feel a tiny bit responsible for on some odd level. LOL. Which of course is completely neurotic of me, but hey, it was a Woody Allen movie that brought me here... right?

Congratulations Squat And Gobble On Your Rise From The Ashes!We Will See You Later This Year!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

20th And Lexington A Year Later... (The Things You Don't Notice, While You're Busy Noticing Other Things)

Sally Hawkins (In The Long Black Coat) And Bobby Cannaval (With The Paper Under His Arm)

"Do stuff. Be clinched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. I makes you eager. Stay eager."

~Susan Sontag

I can't believe it's been a year since the adventure on 20th and Lexington, but it has been! I am reminiscing a bit about the fun Alan and I had last year, tracking down Woody Allen and the places he was filming Blue Jasmine, using only our wits, Google Maps, and social media. Trust me, those are three skills one should never leave home without, when tracking one's comedic idol, whoever it might be!

Last summer, while filming was in full swing, the movie was known around town as W.A.S.P. ... "Woody Allen's Summer Project." There weren't a lot of details about the movie, and everyone was sworn to secrecy. The technical people couldn't have been nicer to speak to, always friendly, no matter how hot it got, or how many questions the onlookers, gawkers if you will, through at them. I didn't of course, but others around me asked the questions, and I took notes. LOL.

You remember the picture I took of Woody Allen descending the red stairs? Well, after he did, he almost immediately left for the afternoon lunch break. No sooner had his car turned the corner, then some of the stars also came out of the building, in particular, the amazing Sally Hawkins! I adore her, and I was thrilled to be able to also capture that moment. She paused for a brief moment, as she turned the corner onto Lexington, and was gone in a flash. I didn't see her again throughout the adventure, so I was super happy to have gotten that photo as well!

Some photographer I am! Right in the same frame was another star of the movie... Bobby Cannavale, and in my Woody Allen Afterglow, and my Hey There's Sally Hawkins How Cool Is That Moment, I missed Bobby Cannavale! Bobby, if you ever read this post, I bow in a gesture of amends, and in an effort to make it right... see above! LOL.

I have an excellent excuse, you see, I hadn't heard you were in the movie yet!

:)

Now, being real here, Bobby Cannavale couldn't care less if he was included in a blog post of a little known blogger from the San Francisco East Bay. I am barely a blip on anyone's radar. I mostly post to my blog for me, but still, I wouldn't have felt right if I hadn't posted the picture of him as well. After all, rumor has it that this might just be Woody's best film to date, and I am just one peep who got the thrill of a lifetime to be able to say, I saw magic happen on 20th and Lexington. So how can I not do the right thing, and show the whole picture of what makes magic... well... magic!

Right?

Alan and I have a date, August 23rd, to go to the movies and see Blue Jasmine. It is a very special day in the universe for us, you see, August 23rd is the anniversary of our first date, 25 years ago, and it also just happens to be the 10th anniversary of my blog Ellipsis. So, stay tuned, there is a lot more to come over the next week or so!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Round Robin Challenge: Listen To This

"Be a good listener. Your ears will never get you into trouble."

~Frank Tyger

RRC: Listen To This

There is so much unwanted noise in any given day. Fire trucks. Loud, thumpy cars blaring thumpy music. Dogs that bark incessantly. But when one is able to choose the noise that brings happiness to the heart, isn't it amazing? Here are my very favorite noisy moments, mostly from this past year, and one surprisingly quiet moment that allowed me to hear my own thoughts... which is a different kind of noise come to find out. LOL.

Listen To The: Waves Splashing Behind A Fairly Fast Moving Eco Boat On San Francisco Bay...



Listen To The Sound Of The: Small, Gentle Waves At The Edge Of A Cliff In Point Montara...



Listen To The Sound Of: Water In A Fast Moving Brook, Oakhurst, California (1993)



Listen To The Sound Of The: Water Fountain, Fillmore Center, San Francisco, July 2013



Listen To The Sound Of: Rustling Autumn Leaves, Cull Canyon, November 21st, 2012



Listen To The Music: Local Artist, Playing His Piano On A Cliff In Half Moon Bay, California, February, 2013

 

Listen To The Sounds Of: Airplanes, Taking Off And Landing Safely, SFO, As Seen From BayFront Park, Brisbane, Ca.

 

Noises Off...
 

On the first day that Alan and I had been able to go to San Francisco, to watch Woody Allen film his current movie, "Blue Jasmine" we found the location, and waited about 2 hours before we finally saw him come down the red stairs. I had imagined all day about what it would be like. At first, during a major panic attack I experienced upon arrival, I had imagined there would be all kinds of noise! People yelling his name, his yelling about the woman across the street (me) who dared to wear black pants with a grey shirt. "What was she thinking?" As if he was going to care or something! LOL.

But when the actual time came, and he walked down the stairs the crowd of about 10 or so people, not including Alan and I, was down from a crowd of 30 earlier in the day, made no noise at all. All sound seemed to completely stop. Could it be that all of us who had been standing there, all that time, felt the same way, all at once. Did we all just want to hear his voice. Just a little bit? It was, and probably always will be, one of the most surreal moments of my life! I could literally think and hear my own thoughts... "My God... it's really him, and he's just how I expected him to be! He's Woody Allen!" :)

Can you imagine listening to the sound of silence?

;)

"The first duty of love is to listen."

~Paul Tullich

Mood: Happy

Okay, that's my collection of LISTENING to noises on, and noises off. No go check out what the other participating Robins had in mind for this outing of the Round Robin Challenges! Just click the link above to be redirected to the official Round Robin blog.

~Me :)

And Now, Blue Jasmine... The Movie Trailer

"Men learn to love the woman they are attracted to. Women learn to become attracted to the man they fall in love with."

~Woody Allen

 

Finally... the trailer for Woody Allen's, Blue Jasmine, is here. The large picture above was taken at one of the filming locations in San Francisco, a few hours after filming wrapped for the day! LOL. On that day I was a few minutes late, and a Woody Allen short. If you look very closely at the trailer you will see this building, slightly altered for the film, but recognizable all the same. Alan and I only made it to two of the many locations used in the film, if I could I would have been at all of them, cameras with me, taking in the fun. Unfortunately, life... work, doctor's appointments... had to come first. That and good old fashioned mistiming. LOL. In the next few days that followed I was able to get the photos I wanted. Last August was the best part of the summer. The best part of any of my summers. :)

Okay... go watch the trailer. I can already tell it's going to be one of his movies that stays with you long after you have seen it. Kind of like Midnight In Paris, Manhattan, or Interiors. I already identify at bit with Jasmine. I have a profound first hand knowledge of what it feels like to have your life pulled out from under you... suddenly, and without your permission. Perspective gets lost in the pain, and yes, Xanax by the fist fulls becomes a bigger part of your life than breathing. That was my life 12 years ago. When they "no longer felt good about giving me Xanax, Anhedonia took over for me. Anyway, we will leave it at that. No need to numb every day, Anhedonia... is now just a distant memory.

And THANK GOODNESS. Because if I still had Anhedonia, I couldn't have taken the awesome photo you see above!

LOL. Go watch the trailer...

Mood: Grateful

~Me :)

Blue Jasmine... The Movie Poster And Cypress Green... The Car

"The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it's as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues."

~Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

 

Finally... the poster has been unveiled! Little by little, inch by inch, we move closer to the premier of Woody Allen's latest film Blue Jasmine. I have been waiting since last summer for this movie, and in just a couple months it will finally be in theaters and the big question I have had since we turned the corner onto 20th street, in San Francisco, that hot August day last year... Is the top of my Cypress green 2007 Saturn Ion visible from the second floor window where Woody was filming a scene? LOL. Did my car become a star that day? You bet! At least in my hopes it did! You see, to me, if you are seen in a Woody Allen movie, even if it is just the top of your head, or hood of one's car in this case, then you have made it into cinematic history. If the top of Lilith, my car, can be seen, I will have a permanent smile the rest of my days! I kid you not. I wouldn't want to have been seen in the film in a million years, I much too shy for that. But to see my car would be like having the best secret ever, a secret that's all mine, because who else would care but me? Does that make sense?

If Lilith is nowhere to be found in the movie, no worries, I enjoyed watching it being filmed so much that I am still smiling over it. Alan and I continue laugh about how completely out there I got just standing across the street from Mr. Allen. There I was, maybe 20 steps from someone I have admired and appreciated my whole life, I had all my cameras with me, I had every opportunity to get the quintessential Woody Allen photo, and what happens? My hands wouldn't stop shaking! I had to work incredibly hard to get the handful of photos I did, but at least I didn't give up! I didn't run away, or rather shy away. I stood there, tried to calm myself down, and got the photographs I came for! I met the challenge! Fear BE DAMNED!

"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must no love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness."

~Woody Allen

If my car, Lilith, did indeed make it into the film, here is how she would appear...
 

I know, at first sight, not much to write home about. But to me... the thrill of a lifetime. I hated having to get rid of my beloved car last year. She and I have a lot of memories together! Oh my... alas... it was time. My Lilith died less than one month later. And I miss her, I really loved that car! So I can't help but hope, a little, that she somehow has done will I will never be able to do, live on immortal. To be seen, if only in a glimpse, world wide, as a splash of color in a Woody Allen film!

How can I not think of her lovingly, after all, if not for her, and Alan of course, I would have never been able to reach my lifetime goal of making inadvertent eye contact with Woody Allen! And I did it not once... but twice! :)

Tee Hee!

 

"80% of success is showing up."

~Woody Allen

Mood: Happy


~Me :)

Seriously, Don't Drink The Water!

"I would not know how I am supposed to feel about many stories if not for the fact that the TV news personalities make sad faces for sad stories and happy faces for happy stories."

~Dave Barry

It's been a strange week for news. The IRS targeting the Tea Party. Yet another sex scandal rocks the Pentagon. The government spying on the Associate Press. And it's only Wednesday! All very interesting mind you, but I think my favorite story so far this week has to be the CIA agent caught in Russia with 2 wigs, a map of Moscow and $130,000 to be used to hire a Russian security officer to act as a spy for the U.S.!

Damn!

2 wigs, a map, and a relatively low amount of money? Hello? 1940 called, they want their spy back!

LOL. Sheesh!

I think this story needs to be made into a movie, with maybe Bradley Cooper in the lead! The whole situation reminds me of the amazingly funny, "Don't Drink The Water" by the great Woody Allen! So it just seems like a natural for him film it. Woody, if you do make the film, all I ask is a minor mention during the end credits. Just something simple like... "As suggested by the weird girl who took my picture on 20th and Lexington, while I filmed Blue Jasmine in San Francisco! I will know who you mean!



;)

Mood: Silly

~Me :)

Life's Challenges And Red Gates

 
 

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional."

~Roger Crawford

 In two weeks I will be hosting the Round Robin Challenges once again! I haven't been a host of the photo challenge in a long time, the last time was actually for the subject of "Express A Feeling" on August 15th, 2010, which seems like forever ago, but was really less than 3 years ago. It seems longer somehow. Time is a strange thing sometimes, because it doesn't seem like my friend, and fellow Round Robin host, Steven, has been gone from the challenges, and our lives, for very long at all. Sometimes I feel like he will be back from vacation at any time to resume hosting again. In one of the last conversations we had, he told me that he would be back in no time at all, because he enjoyed sharing his photography too much to stay away for too long.

Time went by, emails and phone calls went unanswered, and I assumed that he had made the decision to jump off the net due to... well... whatever drives people to disengage from cyber relationships and pursuits. Some get jobs designing websites, and get sick to death of being on the Internet day and night. Some get busy with the day to day drama of being human, and boy can I understand that! Sometimes life is like a sitcom, which is fun, but when it's more like a drama... it can be downright exhausting! The last time I spoke to Steven he was still grieving the loss of his beloved cat, and I could more than understand how that can affect one emotionally, as it had been less than a year earlier that my cat Elvis had passed away. It was an event that I still have not fully recovered from even now. I find myself thinking about Elvis daily, despite my attempts at not doing so.

Karen, who is also a co-host, and original founding member of the challenges, lost her dog Tuffy during the same time frame. There was a lot of loss all interconnected. It was a lot, and it helped me to know that my two friends understood when I needed a bit of time to catch my breath. We all understood for each other... we all had our moments... we all needed the occasional step back from the challenges life was dealing. So sitting here right now, a part of the Round Robin Challenges again, for the specific reason of giving Karen time off to deal with not just the loss of another pet, her dog Pepper, but indeed a full plate of challenges ranging from personal, to employment to commitments made to her church.

Life. It has it's challenges.

"Don't give up! It's not over. The universe is balanced. Every set-back bears with it the seeds of a come-back."
~Steve Maraboli

I wasn't sure why I chose the subject of the current RRC: Gateways, to start things off. I went into my archives, and came up with a list of photos that had been previously posted, but not in the context of a photo challenge. The red gate photo is one of my favorites from 2012. It was taken on August 17th, in San Francisco, and graces the downstairs of the apartment on 20th street that Woody Allen used for his upcoming film, Blue Jasmine. My eyes were drawn to the gate immediately upon arriving at the film sight. It is a brilliant splash of color in an otherwise unremarkable street corner. Unremarkable until you look closer at the street and it's quirky splashes of color and life. A closer look at the street will reveal a lot of stories, from the dog walker I saw two days in a row, at the exact same time, with the exact same number of dogs, who stared down at a book he was reading as he walked along 20th street, never looking up to notice the movie being filmed, to the beautiful, medium sized admiral butterfly that alighted on a white gate, nearly directly across the street from the red gate that I found so fascinating!

 

Now I think I understand. Gateways lead us to the other side of barriers don't they? They let us walk away from pain on one side, into healing on the other. Life is full of gateways or bridges, although I think when a bridge is involved there is a lot more work involved. You know, the gate is a much quicker transition, but the bridge has tolls, and it's generally a longer journey beginning to end. Walking through a gate comes after the trip over the bridge. Of course I am probably over-thinking things again. Sometimes a gate is just a gate... right? But when I consider the whole picture, I can see some parallels. Sure. Anyway, life presents us with challenges, and it's up to us how we face them.

I like to face them with my camera, when at all possible.

That's why I take it everywhere I go.

Everywhere!

LOL.

The doctor's office. The DMV. Film sets. Grocery Stores. IKEA. Parks. Lunch. Bridges.

Anyway, in a couple weeks, on Saturday, March 23rd, I will be once again hosting the Round Robin Challenges, and if you would like to join us, you are most welcome! It's an easy enough challenge, and I would be very pleased to see how you might tackle it! So please consider playing along! If things go well, I might even consider reopening the Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot. I miss it very much sometimes. I think I have finally closed the gate on the things that made me so tired.

Round Robin Challenge: Gates
Saturday, March 23rd 2013

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Movies Photography And Basket Weaving

 

"My films are therapy for my debilitating depression. In institutions people weave baskets. I make films."

~Woody Allen

Mr. Allen has his films. I have my photography. Whatever one has or does to chase away the debilitating sadness is terribly personal to the one experiencing it. I know that a fellow human can't be thing... no. It has to come from deep within, way down deep. It is through the expressions of creativity come the emotion that makes us... us. Fear, sadness, despair, loneliness, there is no difference between those emotions and happiness, joy, contentment, popularity. Having too much of any one of those things can lead one to some dark ledges, in the middle of the night, during a storm... with lightning.

But I digress.

As I stood on the corner of Lexington and 20th, on that late summer day last year, I was filled up with all the motion back and forth, all the sights and sounds, all the life going on during the filming of Woody Allen's latest film, Blue Jasmine. In between the calls of QUIET... ACTION..., there was plenty to see both on the set and off. The public was allowed to come and go at will, and the neighborhood provided plenty of visual art. The young man in the photo above has a story, which is his to tell, but what caught this photographer's eye was the fact that he was dressed in garb that could have into fit almost any of Woody Allen's films! He probably dresses that way every day, and yet on this day he was simply moving about his life for a moment he became a part of the scenery of life like never before, at least as imagined by this observer! It was one of the many spontaneous, surreal moments that made me feel like I wasn't watching Woody Allen make a movie... no... it was more like I was sleeping walking and suddenly I was in a Woody Allen movie being made!

Have you seen it?

It's about a lifelong admirer of a genius, writer, producer, comedian, film-maker who brings the magic of movie making close enough for her to hear his voice across the street.

And she brought her camera along to document what it was like to watch a movie being made. But found instead that the danger of walking a sleepwalker is finding out you aren't in a dream but rather reality.

But hearing his voice across the street made the dream come true, and it was a more like a scene from a movie than reality.

Then suddenly she realized... she's in the movie.

And it was one of those days that remind her, no matter how things felt, or life got lonely, or world events scared or exasperated her, there would always be movies... and photography.

Art. And basket weaving.
 
:)

"The difference between sex and death is, with death you can do it alone and nobody is going to make fun of you."

~Woody Allen

Mood: Tired of coughing (That's a mood... right?)

~Me :)

Lights, Camera, Action!

"We want to thank all of you for watching us congratulate ourselves tonight."

~Warren Beatty

 

Oh yes... Its Oscar time! When it comes to awards shows, I am not really a big fan, although I do tend to watch the Emmy Awards because my dear and brilliant friend Dan is a two time Emmy winning composer for television, and he tends to get nominated from time to time, and I watch the Oscars because, well, I simply put, I love movies and I appreciate what all goes into making that magic come alive. Not just the glitzy stuff, but the technical stuff as well. I was an extra in two movies, so I know what a long day on the set looks like, and feels like. I was merely a spectator last summer when Woody Allen was filming his upcoming movie, Blue Jasmine, and I got a look at what it takes to be a sound and lighting technician on a movie. A lot of hard work goes into the whole process, from the people you see,  and the people you don't see. Of the three movie sets I have been to, not one of them was run the same way. I think that was what I found most striking about the whole thing. One TV and sometimes in movies, you always hear the same general words...

QUIET ON THE SET! THIS IS A TAKE. ROLL 'UM. SPEED. ACTION!

I didn't hear that word combination on any movie set I have personally been to. Last summer, the sound and camera technicians who were standing across the street from where the filming was being done, moved us aside if they had to, and yelled to each other, "Quiet.. Roll!" To us they said, "Okay folks, it will be 5 minutes, quiet please. ROLL." The technicians working that day were polite and cordial and perfect gentlemen! I imagine it isn't always easy to put up with the public, especially when the movie was being filmed on an open set, on an actual street corner in San Francisco. The locals passersby and fan clusters alike were able to come and go as they pleased, which made it all even more impressive to me. I could go on and on about last summer, but you know, I love the magic, and I appreciate what goes into making it all come alive! So yes, I will be watching the Oscars later, and here are my predictions for the ones taking Oscar home...

(Winners In Red)
Best Picture: Argo
Best Director: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis ( Lincoln)
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Best Supporting Actor: Robert De Niro (Silver Lingings Playbook)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field (Lincoln)
Anne Hathaway (Le Miserables)
Best Animated Feature Film: Brave
Best Cinematography: Skyfall
Life Of Pi
Best Costume Design: Les Miserables
Anna Karenina
Best Documentary Feature: 5 Broken Cameras
Searching For Sugarman
Best Documentary Short Subject: Redemption

Inocente
Best Film Editing: Life of Pi
Argo
Best Foreign Language Film: A Royal Affair
Armour
Best Make-up and Hairstyling: Les Miserables
Best Original Score: Lincoln
Life Of Pi
Best Original Score: Everybody Needs A Friend (Ted)
Skyfall
Best Adapted Screenplay: Life of Pi
Argo
Best Original Screenplay: Flight
Django Unchained

Alright... we will see how close I am tonight. Now, let me share with you my outfit for the Oscars...

My Dress: Monica Lhuillier 

 My Shoes By Prada

My Purse: By Valaria

Pearl and Diamond Choker:

Pearl and Diamond Earrings:

There I am all set! LOL. Oh my, if only! But in a perfect world, that's what I would be wearing! Perhaps one day there will be a category at the Oscars for uncredited extras! LOL. Until then I will continue to do as I do each year, get comfy in my Tweedy Bird slippers, put on my best blue robe slave in the kitchen preparing myself a plate of high end hors d'oeuvres... in this case... Bagel Bites...kick back and enjoy the show! :)

~Mood: Happy

~Me :)


Okay, those are my picks as of 3:30 AM 2/24/12 I will come back and edit this post to reflect the actual winners!

Round Robin Challenge: Frozen

"Cold! If the thermometer had been an inch longer we'd have frozen to death."

~Mark Twain

RRC: Frozen

When I first saw what the challenge would be for this round, I wasn't sure I could come up with anything. The weather in the Bay Area has been nothing short of glorious... if you like that thing! LOL. Personally, I like a little more rain in my winters. But one of the hazards of living here is that you rarely see snow, unless you are willing to take a drive to one of the far northern counties of California, or western Nevada. Plumas is lovely with snow this time of year, and I might make it up there before the end of the season, but it's going to take a bit of planning. We'll see. But for now, I have assembled some examples of "Frozen" from both the archives and the 2013 files.

Frozen...

Frozen Lime Cocktail (February 8 2013)


Frozen Water Fountain (A Snow Day In Tilden Park) 2010


Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Scoop (San Francisco Haight Ashbury Summer 2009)


Frozen Hot Cocoa ( A different interpretation of the effects of "Frozen" 1/23/13)


Frozen Rain Drops (Tilden Park 2011)

 


Hey, Why Did The Rain Freeze? (Little Bird's First Look At Snow Tilden 2/18/11)


I liked this challenge. It was fun! Now that you have seen my post, go check out what the other participating Robins have come up with. Just click the link at the top of this post, to be redirected to the official Round Robin blog, where you will find all the information you need to join in, and the list and links to everyone's posts.

"Who bothers to cook TV dinners? I suck them frozen."

~Woody Allen

~Mood: Happy

~Me :)