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 :)

One City, Two Different Views

"It's never the differences between people that surprise us. It's the things that, against all odds, we have in common."

~Jodi Picoult, House Rules

The picture above is of one of the prettiest areas of San Francisco... Ocean Beach. I love taking lunch down to the beach sometimes, and just watching the surfers or the families playing on the beach. It's also kind of fun to watch ships coming into the bay, through the Golden Gate, which is right around the corner. You can't see the bridge from here, but it's okay, this area is right off Golden Gate park, and it's got it's own charms! If you look very closely at the far right of the photo you will see a white building with a white line, which is actually a suspension bridge that leads to the Point Bonita Lighthouse, which sits on the cliff in Marin County. I have been to Ocean Beach a million or so times over the years, and believe it or not, this is the first time I realized you can see that lighthouse from there! I didn't even notice it the day I took the photo, I noticed it when I was editing! So much for my powers of observation! LOL. Now that I know where to look, I am going to do some additional photography in Ocean Beach, just to see what else I have missed all these years!

 
Point Bonita Lighthouse
Marin County
November 1st, 2012

:)

 

Now, way over on the other side of San Francisco someone saw a need a filled it! I ask you, why didn't someone think of a Donut shop and Bar before? How cool is that? Yes, I know there is also a restaurant attached, that apparently never closes, but it's the thought of getting a Gin & Cruller at 4:00 A.M. that really appeals to me! That's brilliant! As long as I wasn't driving of course! And can you imagine a Maple Bar Martini? Oooh... how about a Fuzzy Navel Scone? A Scotch and Jelly? The mind reels with the possibilities! It's brilliant I tells ya!

 
Silver Crest Donut Shop, Restaurant And Bar
San Francisco, California
August 2nd 2013

:)

"It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those difference."

"Andre Lorde

San Francisco... You gotta love this city!

"Our similarities bring us to a common ground; Our differences allow us to be fascinated by each other."

~Tom Robbins

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

I Like You Back :)

"No friendship is an accident."

~O. Henry, Heart Of The West

Sometimes I think that I don't simply just like San Francisco, I think it is one of my best friends ever! If it is even possible to be friends with a whole city! I love the different neighborhoods, the quirkiness. The taste. The beauty is jaw dropping at times! Even the ugly can be so striking, and so full of emotion, it's difficult to leave behind.

The other day San Francisco made me smile one more time, as it has many, many times in past visits. Alan and I had just finished eating lunch in Golden Gate Park, and were on our way home, when we stopped at a traffic light at the corner of Fulton and Arguello. As we were talking, I glanced out the window and noticed a message, scrawled into a cement slab, a message I had never noticed before, even though I had stopped many times at this particular corner in the past. The message simply said, "I Like You."

And I thought to myself, "Yeah... I Like You Back."

:)

It was just one of those wonderful San Francisco moments, that came along, just when I needed it most. Like a really good friend!

 

Mood: Inspired

~Me :)

I haven't linked to my friend JR in way too long! I just visited his photoblog, and he has posted some truly fantastic new images! He never stops inspiring me. Go have a look see...

JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/

Skyward

"The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be? It is the same the angels breathe."

~Mark Twain, Roughing It

I spotted these pretty clouds over Ocean Beach, in San Francisco, yesterday. Oh my, as cold as it was at the beach, I could have stayed there all day, just admiring the clouds, but, alas, there was more public art to be photographed, and the drive home was going to be a long one!

Oh, if only I could though... what a day it would have been!

:)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Sticking A Foot In Your Mouth Thats Not Yours

"I moan with pleasure.
"Did you just have a foodgasm?" he asks, wiping ricotta from his lips.
"Where have you been all my life?" I ask the beautiful panini."

~Stephanie Perkins, Anna And The French Kiss

Choices...



You have all those choices! So why would you choose to buy...



Pickled Pigs Feet!

Why?

Why?

Just sayin'

"Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti."

~Sophia Loren

Mood: Silly

~Me :)

Taking A Lamp For A Walk

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do you ever feel like you are walking around, carrying a lamp? I do. Especially in the last week or so. Let me explain...

#1. BART FART

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."

~Dr. Seuss

Lately, there have been little bursts of stress coming at Alan and I. Some of it has to do with the on again, off again, sometimes looming, BART strike. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) literally makes the Bay Area go round. So, the freeways, while congested enough, faces the very real threat of becoming significantly worse. There is nothing that can be done. The situation is in the hands of the union, and BART management, who I have NEVER been impressed by. For now, the strike is on hold through this coming work week, as Governor Brown has ordered an investigation into the last 7 days of negotiations. On the one hand... good news... on the other hand... a dark cloud looms, and with it, quick and sudden changes to Alan's schedule.

#2. THE PARENT TRAP

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win."

~Stephen King

Sigh. Several years ago, I had to gently help my mother come to the understanding that she wasn't physically, mentally or intellectually able to drive a car any longer. I wrote about the situation on my original AOL Ellipsis blog, in a post titled, "Loving Them Through It." I need to do an Ellipsis Flashback post sometime soon, featuring that post, as I think it might have been one of my very best in the entire 10 years I have been blogging.

Anyway, both my parents are gone now, and there is no need to fret and worry about them. But Alan's parents are both still alive, thank God, because I love them both very much, but like my mother, they are facing the time of life when it's time to begin worrying about their health and well being. But the sticky part of the situation is... they don't want us to worry... so they don't tell us when something goes wrong.

I found out over this past weekend that my parent-in-laws lost a significant... A TRULY SIGNIFICANT sum of money, pretty much their life savings, an amount of money some folks make in a year, when someone that was hired to care for their interests stole it. My Mother-In-Law reported it to the police, a report was taken, but the circumstances are such that it's difficult to prove. I can't say much more than that. But keep in mind, this didn't happen recently, it was almost a year ago, and we just found out this weekend. We found out through a distant relative, that found out a short time ago, and wanted to know if we knew, and see what we could do to help them get it back.

When we found out what happened, Alan and I immediately began Googling agencies and resources, and trying to think of all the possible avenues we could investigate to try and seek both justice, and recoup at least some of the money, but his parents are afraid of retaliation, and therefore will not help in anyway with our efforts. Stress. Age. Frail Health. Need I go on? Mom-In-Law just had surgery for a pacemaker replacement, and will be off her feet for six weeks. Did I mention they live in upstate New York and we live in California? Mom-In-Law called today, crying, and demanding we cease anything we might be doing or try to do to help find the... ahem... asshole skank thief ... who stole their money... as the distant relative calls her.

I have never felt so helpless in my whole life.

Do I honor Mom and Dad or do I go behind their backs and seek justice through the legal system?

I have never felt so helpless in my whole life.

#3. The Traveling Dress

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."

~Mark Twain

About 3 weeks ago, I found 2 dresses on an online outlet site. I paid a whopping $14.94 for both dresses, including tax and shipping! One of the dresses is a silver animal print tunic dress, the other is a copper sequined dress, with a silk overlay. If I would have paid full price, the two would have cost well over $300! It was an amazing bargain, and no one loves a bargain more than I do, but there is a downside to ordering bargains, like it taking 3 weeks for the dresses to arrive! The waiting is hard, but watching the dresses as they have gallivanted about the country has been very entertaining. I won't go into details of their itinerary now, I am planing to do a follow up on them later this week, but let's just say, I wish the dresses had the ability to take photos of the cities they visited. LOL.

#4. Excuse Me, Have You Met My Penis?

"Reality continues to ruin my life."

~Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

If you have known me for any length of time, you know I am a Progressive/Liberal/Democrat/Bleeding Heart/ did I say liberal? LOL. Several years ago, I became impressed with a certain congressman from New York. Let's call him... Wanthony Aeiner. Just try and crack that code. LOL. Anyway,  that very same congressman decided one day that it was a nifty idea to send an... ahem... personal message to a woman he met on Twitter, and not just any old message, he decided to message her is DICK. Well a picture of it anyway. But instead of it being a private message, it turns out the genius posted the picture on his Twitter feed for all to see.

His political life exploded. His private life exploded.

I have never believed that sex scandals should ruin any career, let alone political careers. Let's face it, politicians and sex scandals are as old as politics. So, I figured the politician would get out of the spotlight, take some time off to repair his personal life, learn his lesson, and reemerge, ready to get back to work, and that is exactly what happened. And everything was really going well, and he was even the front runner for the Mayor-ship of Metropolis, and then it happened again, and if possible, his latest escapade is worse then the original DICK pic parade. THE DICK.

So now, a promising career, of a truly talented politician, who I still believe is genuinely committed to helping his constituents, is over because he can't stop being stupid! He is like some kind of Idiot/Savant. But clearly the IDIOT is in charge, while the SAVANT is in a self induced shit storm coma. And here is the thing, in the original scandal, he had a lot of women he flirted with, and or had keyboard sex with. Most of which he met on Twitter. I am on Twitter. I was one of his followers. Yet he never engaged with me once, either before or after the original incident!

Should I be insulted? I mean, I am not 20 anymore, but I am not 90 either. Hmmm. But really, all kidding aside, if he had hit on me I would have been flattered, but bottom lining things, I love Alan, and would never jeopardize us, over the likes of a horny politician. The SCHMUCK. And I would have said so had he asked. Who knows why he never hit one me, maybe it was because I was married, and he has a moral code when it comes to marriage. Yeah... that was probably it! All better now!

Schmuck.

#5. Taking The Lamp For A Walk

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and to high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The other day, while in San Francisco, I saw a lady walking down the street, carrying a lamp. It didn't look like a special lamp, but she seemed to like it. She was probably on her way to have it repaired or something, but who knows? Maybe she simply went for a walk with her lamp. After all, would you try to rob a woman with a large brass object in her hands? LOL. I thought about all the possibilities. Was it a weapon for self protection? Was it a gift from someone she loved? Was it her favorite lamp to read by? Had that lamp been her favorite source of light, when things in her life seemed dim? This week, more than ever, I get the need for repairing things that are broken, rather than throwing them away.

I have met some lamps I have refused to give up on.

Relationships are difficult.

The key is to not give up.

Sometimes all you can do is take the lamp for a walk, and hope everything can be fixed.

Sigh.

Mood: Reflective

~Me

Natural vs. Man-Made

"When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or a flower. If it clashes, it is not art."

~Paul Cezanne

I love Cezanne's work. Don't you?

:)

I have such a passion for photography, I don't know if I can choose between nature, or human created  artistic subjects. I have seen some sunsets that I couldn't look away from because of their intense colors. Sunsets that look like they had to have been painted by the hand of God, but then I have photographed certain architectural works of art that have captivated me just as much! The pyramid building in San Francisco is amazing, it always catches my eye. I look forward to seeing it when I am in the city. But then there are the faces I encounter at random, like the brides that are sometimes posing for pictures in Golden Gate Park. They never fail to make me feel good inside. I have yet to see a bride, that doesn't have the purest look of love on her face, as she poses with her one and only. I have never seen a bride that cares more about herself in the photos, then her husband. That's love! :) No! It's impossible! I can't decided between the natural world, and man-made. But when you think about it, we come by our imaginative, artistic nature... well... naturally.  So, isn't man-made and nature one in the same?

Thoughts?


"Melting Snow On Mt. Hamilton" February 20th, 2013
Inspired By Cezanne's "Melting Snow At Fountainbleau."



"Orchids" July 31st, 2013
Conservatory Of Flowers
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco



TransAmerica Pyramid
July 31st, 2013
San Francisco, California



Mood: Quiet

~Me :)

Art About Town: South San Francisco

"Eternal Flame" (Veteran's Eternal Flame)
By Chuck Thompson, Orange Memorial Park, South San Francisco
                                        
                                                                   Dedicated To Veterans By The City Of South San Francisco

A Nation Reveals Itself Not Only By The Men It Produces
But Also By The Men It Honors, The Men It Remembers

~John F. Kennedy

My photo jaunt to South San Francisco was a lot of fun! I only photographed three sculptures that day, but I enjoyed getting to know the city as we moved from sculpture to sculpture. There are plenty more pieces to photograph and admire and I am pretty sure where I will go next on my quest for public art, so stay tuned, there is definitely more to come!

"Evohelix"
By Roger White Stoller
South San Francisco, July 31st 2013
 

"Torque"
By Robert W Ellison
South San Francisco, July 31st 2013


"The real truthfulness of all works of imagination, sculpture, painting, and written fiction, is so purely in the imagination, that the artist never seeks to represent positive truth, but the idealized image of a truth."

~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Cruel Summer

"One day can change your life. One day can ruin your life. All life is is three or four big days that change everything."

~Beverly Donofrio

Maybe you are into pop culture, perhaps not. But you would have to have been living under a rock to have not heard about the indictment and arrest of Joe and Teresa Giudice, of the Real Housewives Of New Jersey. The indictment was handed down on Monday, and on Tuesday the reality star couple faced a judge and heard the 39 counts, mostly for fraud, that's been leveled against them.I am not sure why my jaw dropped when I heard the news, there has been a lot of sketchy behavior from the two, but I have to admit, to this extent, and that they could each be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison if convicted of their crimes, well... yes... it's shocking... I find it shocking for so many reasons. Not the least of which is that they four daughters, the oldest turned 13 earlier this year!

You may have read a post I wrote, almost a year ago, about how the cast of the Real Housewives Of New Jersey visited Half Moon Bay, and Napa on a working vacation and spent time outside in the natural beauty of the California coastline, but somehow failed to see anything of around them. Not the gentle, blue Pacific Ocean, not the crisp morning air, not the amazing sunsets, not the sight of grapes of every color,  maturing on the vine at the rolling vineyards throughout Napa and the surrounding towns  in Napa County. Instead they continued with what keeps that particular chapter of the Real Housewives franchise going... friendship betrayal, ignorance, gossip, lying, and a host of other devastating behaviors that feeds the ratings, while damning the future of not just the "adults" but the children who are clearly caught in the middle.

To make the latest situation all the more difficult for the Giudices, Teresa in particular, it was disclosed that Joe is not even a U.S. citizen, which means that if he is convicted, and serves time, he will almost certainly be deported back to Italy upon his release... oh but wait... I am not talking about convicted of these 39 counts of fraud... I am talking about the fraud case he was indicted on in a different New Jersey county a couple years ago. His trial for fraudulently obtaining a driver's license in his brother's name, begins in late October of this year. If convicted, he could serve 10 years for that particular case of fraud alone.

It's a mess, but is it a tragedy? Yes. It most certainly is! It's tragic when one day life is going along fine, maybe not perfect, but okay, and a decision is made that changes the course of one's life so profoundly that it can't be fixed. I think about what their wedding day must have been like. They woke up that day, two single people, and finished the day as a married couple, with the whole future ahead of them. Marriage vows include the good times and the bad, rich and lean, and every couple, on their wedding day, believes in forever. Don't they? And every couple looks at each other on that day as if they are the only people in the room. Don't they?

So, if that's true, how could this have happened? When did the day come that brought with it the idea to put it all at risk? When the first daughter was born, didn't both Joe and Teresa look at her and see forever? How about when the second, third or fourth came along? Why did material things become more important than their daughters financial and emotional future? That is the tragedy! It's tragic that those girls may lose their parents to prison. No mom to pick out their own wedding gowns with one day. No dad to be there to walk them down the aisle. No grandparents for their children. None of the special moments, moments and rights of passages spent with the people who gave them life.

"We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within."

~Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure Of Man

Call me a schmuck, but I can't help but feel devastated for these people, and the problems they have created for themselves. I find their continued denial of guilt, not just tragic, but indeed infuriating. If they could just face REALITY, perhaps they could find the peace they yearn for. But, unfortunately, it might already be too late, but who knows? I don't want to just throw away the key, but I do wish I could understand what set all this fraud in motion, not to mention asking why she has actively worked at destroying her relationship with her brother Joe, who is probably the one family member she was closest to in the whole world.

Reality TV can be blamed for a lot of things. To some extent I believe it was the pressures of Reality TV that contributed to the suicide of Russell Armstrong, husband of Taylor Armstrong, of the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills. But like the Giudices, the Armstrong's troubles began years before they became a part of the show, in fact, the show only highlighted their clawing their way up the social latter and their incessant need to keep up with the mansion dwellers next to them. Taylor, in the opening for last season quips... "I have worked too hard for this zip code to go home now." She can say that after the suicide of Russell?

Tragic?

Yes.

Now, here are a few of my own photos of the California Coastline, and a few from Napa, to show you what the cast of The Real Housewives Of New Jersey missed on their trek up the coast.

Half Moon Bay...



Point Montara, California



Ocean Beach, San Francisco California



Glen Ellen California



I am not sure why, but July was a month of tragedies. From Anthony Weiner, an otherwise talented political figure, who worked diligently for his constituents, but couldn't control his personal life, to the crash of Asiana Flight 214, to the death of Glee actor, Cory Monteith and the revelations of his personal demons. And then there was verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman. There are different schools of thoughts about the jury in that case, and the conclusion they came to, but in my own mind the law has acted as a fool, and Florida needs to reconsider the "Stand Your Ground Law" and the conditions for finding someone guilty under that law.

So, sigh, it's been a rather cruel summer, and we are only half way through. I don't remember this much bad news happening in a single month before, but I am sure there is one if you look hard enough. It's all so sad. And most of it so unnecessary. And that's the worst part. :(

 

 "Actions are the first tragedy in life, words are the second. Words are perhaps the worst. Words are merciless... ."

~Oscar Wilde

Mood: Sad

~Me

Who Knows? :)

"Humor is a spontaneous, wonderful but of an outburst that just comes. It's unbridled, its unplanned, it's full of surprises."

~Erma Bombeck

Yesterday, Alan and I took a drive to the city of South San Francisco, yes, it's it's own city, to photograph some public art. South San Francisco has a lot of public art, and as far as sculptures go, some of the most eye pleasing around! I haven't spent much time in that city, so it was a rather fun adventure to check the city out, and see some new terrain. After we were finished, we decided to head into San Francisco, to do a little more photography I had been planning to do forever, but just never got around to doing. We could have taken to coast into the city, or 101, which would have put us downtown. Which way to go? After some debate, we went with Alan's preference... 101 it was!

101, in the late afternoon, can get quite busy. It's not too bad, but it can be a bit daunting sometimes. Yesterday it wasn't so bad, in fact it was better than I have seen it in a long time. So, we were making fair time, but we weren't moving so fast as to miss either the natural beauty, or the little surprises that one inevitably encounters along the way! It's San Francisco after all! And yesterday, the surprise we encountered was in the form of Heart Guy!

I have no idea what his story is. I did an Internet search when I got home, but couldn't find any information on him. All I know is he had a red heart, and a big smile, and he danced and danced on the overpass, making some folks smile, I know I did! Who knows? Maybe he was just that happy, or just that in love. Maybe he was high on something, or maybe he just wanted to make people smile. Who knows? All I know is I had fun watching him dance, and today, wherever he is, I hope he is well!

Sometimes, it's just as simple as that!

In case the GIF makes you dizzy, here are the stills. Enjoy!



"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching
Love like you'll never be hurt
Sing like there's nobody listening
And live like it's heaven on earth."

~William W. Purkey

:)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)