I still don't feel so well. I'll write more about food when I'm feeling a bit better.
posted by Arlene (Beth)5:27 PM
One bad thing about the end of the year is the media's joy at attempting to summarize the "year in review." Just the same, I love the SF Chronicle's Year In Photos, which is a collection of photos that, well, photographers like. Forest fires! Jellyfish! Animal rescues! It's not necessarily all newsy, but it is a look at our so-called modern world from a colorful point of view.
posted by Arlene (Beth)4:42 PM
Sunday, December 29, 2002
I had two food-related dreams last night. In the first, I was assigned to be a member of a national committee on... stuffing. National standards were going to be set, and I was going to represent the vegetarian point of view on the committee.
In the next dream, I biked with my pals to Mitchell's Ice Cream (which was not correctly located on San Jose Avenue at 29th, as it should have been). It was set up in a grass hut north of Caesar Chavez/Army Street, and the serving sizes were huge - you'd receive your ice cream in a massive serving bowl that looked like it was made out of tropical leaves. The only problem was, the ice cream abruptly didn't taste like anything. I couldn't tell the difference between the caramel marble vanilla and the cantelope. (In that respect, this dream was even less realistic than the first, because Mitchell's ice cream ALWAYS tastes FABULOUS.)
posted by Arlene (Beth)11:06 AM
Saturday, December 28, 2002
Oooh, my cousin has updated his website! I especially like his photos of Venice from his most recent trip to Italy. (Hopefully he'll also add more to his blog soon.)
Other friends' sites and blogs: Rosemary's blog (about successful union organizing at UIUC, among other things) and Larry's web page.
*
I can't believe I've never linked to this photo before: this is a photograph of France's "Red Baron" breaking 107 mph (among other things) while bicycling down a volcano. When I saw this on my usual news page (earlier this year), it mentioned which bones he broke in the spectacular wipeout. Yes, that is his helmet in the foreground. (I do NOT recommend any of web pages associated with this one: it's just the sole remaining source of this archived photo that I could find.)
*
Here's another lovely photo: priestesses in snow in Tokyo.
Reuters has a slideshow Beijing blanketed in snow which is almost as nice.
*
Here are a few quick anti-war links:
- International ANSWER, sponsors of the very successful 10/26 marches in D.C. and SF
- SF's local International ANSWER branch
- the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, an organization a friend belongs to.
posted by Arlene (Beth)12:16 PM
Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday to Me! Happy Birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to me!
It would be happier if I weren't fighting off a cold, but other than that I'm quite content to have the day off and be ensconced in my cozy home.
*
Friends from out of town provided an excuse to eat out twice yesterday. We had lunch at the ever yummy Massawa (named after the town of Massawa, of which there are many amateur photographs available) on Haight Street, for fabulous Eritrean cuisine. During our walk to get our overfilled bellies to settle, S came across a clean and frightened baby pet rat walking down the middle of the sidewalk, who didn't stand a chance on her own, and which I encouraged him to adopt. (She's already very happy here.)
After a dessert of apple and/or pumpkin pie and green tea in front of a fire, I'd planned on taking my guests to Joubert's, which used to be subtitled "A vegetarian taste of South Africa," but which now serves just 3 veggie entrees and numerous meat entrees. I don't know why they switched, but the three veg entrees aren't the ones I loved best, so instead we went to the fabulous vegan restaurant Herbivore instead. I had the lemongrass noodles, which were absolutely heavenly.
*
The rainstorms have made the air sparklingly clear. The views of the bay are just gorgeous... If I were feeling a bit better, I'd be out every night making night photographs. More green tea for me, and hopefully I'll be there soon...
posted by Arlene (Beth)11:29 AM
Unlikely though this sounds, I've been too busy eating to blog. I'll resume shortly.
posted by Arlene (Beth)1:04 AM
Wednesday, December 25, 2002
Merry pagan tree-idolizing, sun-worshipping, solstice-related holidays to you all!!
Here's wishing for peace on earth, as unlikely as we make it.
*
The other night, S and I were very tired.
S asked me a question. I had a finger puppet on a candy cane in my hand, so I started answering him in a squeaky voice while moving the candy cane/puppet around. He kept looking at me. I kept talking in a squeaky voice and moving the puppet around.
Abruptly, I moved the puppet closer to him and asked (in the squeaky voice): "Why are you watching her lips!?!?"
He looked completely stunned and said "Sorry!" to the puppet.
A few minutes later, after we'd finished laughing, he insisted that I'd been reading too much Bizarro. As if there could be such a thing.
posted by Arlene (Beth)9:00 AM
Monday, December 23, 2002
Today S and I had lunch at the ever-fabulous Delancy Street Restaurant (on the Embarcadero at Brannan). I had the best roasted eggplant sandwich I've had in years: moist, tender, with just the right amount of roasted red peppers and zucchini, served on a fresh, soft focaccia with a tossed salad of tender lettuces in a balsamic vinegarette. S ordered his sandwich with spicy fries, which were hot and perfect: crisp on the outside, steaming and soft on the inside, and not the least bit oily.
I didn't save room for dessert, but just the same had "Sonny's Mom's sweet potato pie." It was the single best sweet potato pie I've ever had. It had some of the freshest tasting nutmeg ever, and was just perfect in every possible way. S had a wonderful chocolate mousse, but nothing could beat that pie.
Mmmmmmmm. I'd forgotten how good that place is, and how wonderful the atmosphere is: top notch waitstaff, just the right lighting, great bay views...
Now I'll have to think up excuses to eat there again.
posted by Arlene (Beth)9:45 PM
Recipe for a breakfast potato dish of my invention, lightly curried potato: slice up a small microwave-safe bowl full of well scrubbed potatoes, peels on, into slices about as thick as your pinky finger. Thinly slice 1/4 of an onion into rings, and break the rings up before adding them to the potatoes. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2 to one teaspoon of your favorite curry powder, and a dash or two of salt and pepper. Mix well.
Cover the bowl with a microwave safe plate that fits well enough to make a lid, or with plastic wrap. Microwave for five minutes. Let the dish sit for a moment, as the steaming potatoes absorb the flavor of the curry powder. When you remove the lid, the potatoes and onion will be pleasantly tender and flavorful.
posted by Arlene (Beth)9:34 PM
Saturday, December 21, 2002
Recipe for miso soup:
-one small onion, sliced thin
-three small cloves of garlic, minced
-one tablespoon of fresh ginger root, minced
-two stalks of celery, diced
-5 cups of water
-3-4 tablespoons of white miso paste (preferably organic and non-GMO)
Sautee the first four ingredients in a little vegetable oil until the celery is tender but not mushy. Add the water, bring to a boil. After the soup has boiled for a minute or two, remove it from heat, and mix in miso paste, stirring until it dissolves completely, leaving the soup cloudy. Stir well as you serve.
Serves 3 or 4 as a breakfast, more as a side dish.
*
Today the sun is shining brilliantly. Finally, my chance to photograph the houses on my block! I made breakfast, sat with S (who has a bad cold), and then pulled on a sweater and grabbed my camera.
Huge clouds are passing over us even now, casting all in shadow.
Grrrrr.
posted by Arlene (Beth)11:46 AM
Friday, December 20, 2002
Have I mentioned that Thai Time restaurant is the absolute best Thai restaurant I've ever eaten at? Well, now I have.
*
Today I am suffering from WIMI: work induced mental illness. It's terrible. I am just so wound up over such trivial nonsense, it boggles the mind. Which is the problem. I hope I can recover over the holidays.
*
We have mice in our house. One was making noise (among other products) in S' underwear drawer, and when we opened the drawer, a little fur ball about the size of a cotton ball dropped out of the bottom of the drawer, sped into the kitchen, fishtailed through a turn, and threw itself into a little gap under the dishwasher.
It was so little, it didn't appear to have different body parts, or even a tail. We just assume it had feet, because of the fishtailing, but it may have had some little half-track device.
Anyway, the mice sometimes make noise. I now blame lots of noises on the mice, even noises that would require the mass of about 50 or more of the mice to make. When S doubts the likelihood of the mice being able to make such noises, I simply say that it's the components of the giant robot they are trying to build, so they can finally REACH things in our house. This often ends the conversation, along with some giggling.
S has suggested I write a story about the mice and their giant robot. It's sort of obvious to me what I would do if I was a mouse with a giant robot, but apparently not everyone has been projecting themselves into this situation. So perhaps he's right.
*
Once upon a time, about 50 little house mice got together to build a giant robot. It took a very long time to build the robot, because the mice were too small to lift large objects, and so the entire robot had to be made out of VERY SMALL parts. It also took a long time, because none of the mice had studied robotics. In fact, it took the lifetimes of many mice, but ultimately about 50 of them contributed to its construction.
When the giant robot was complete, it was about the height of 30 mice standing on one another's backs. It took a long time to prove this, however, because it's very difficult to find 30 gullible mice willing to demonstrate such a dangerous stunt just to measure a robot. (At about 20 mice, the mouse measuring stick collapsed, so 30 mice is just an educated estimate.)
[To be continued]
posted by Arlene (Beth)9:49 PM
The new Lord of the Rings movie is pretty good. For a movie about a bunch of white boys who spend all their time fighting in a world with only 3 or 4 women.
*
Ooooh: lit up ice carving.
While I don't want to ferry around anyone's sacred remains, it would be fun to trick my bike out to look more like, say, this.
posted by Arlene (Beth)9:38 PM
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
I now plan to join the San Francisco Jail Garden Project's community supported agriculture group which pays its workers $11 and hour, plus benefits, and gets people who have been jailed and lack life skills oriented to join society as productive members. My support will gain me boxes of fresh, locally organic produce. This rocks!
There's a charming article about this group in the Chron. I especially like this quote from the group's visionary founder:In turn, Sneed credits the plants: "You can see the excitement on the apprentices' faces when they watch garlic they planted two months ago start to grow. They begin to realize similarities between themselves and plants: Plants need care to grow; people need care to grow." And, Sneed adds, the people begin to learn to care for themselves.
*
Great bumper stickers and t-shirts with slogans like "Bike: It's patriotic" and "The Real Axis of Evil: Cheney, Bush, Ashcroft" can be found at democracymeansyou.com.
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I received a recipe copied from Sunset today suggesting that acorn squash be stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese and Boursin (garlic and herb cream cheese). Mmmm. Another option to consider.
posted by Arlene (Beth)5:50 PM
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
Amazing thing of the day: the transcript of Trent Lott's interview on Black Entertainment Televion. What was he thinking?!? He comes off like a complete moron.
posted by Arlene (Beth)8:35 PM
I really need to get out of the office on these short lunch breaks. But no.
*
We tried the Unturkey with gravy for dinner last night. It was pretty good: it was sufficiently non-birdlike to eat, with a crispy non-skin skin, slightly chewy and dense main part, and yummy bread stuffing. The gravy was also very good. But it wasn't as impressive as I had hoped.
S put it in a way I liked very much: he said that I make so many fabulous things from scratch, and this isn't as fabulous as the things I routinely make. So diplomatic!
*
So now I'm trying to choose stuffed squash recipes during my lunch break. It seems that most involve apples and brown sugar, seeing squash as a dessert rather than an entree. One actually involved maple sugar/syrup and SPAM!!!!! Another, which turned my stomach, included crushed pineapple.
But I found this promising stuffed squash recipe, and this appealing southwestern style recipe. I'm staying away from rice-fillings: the last time I made one, it seemed too dry, though that could have had to do with my roommates' multi-hour delay in getting to the table. Hmmm.
There are also mushroom and cheese options, and lots of creamed spinach versions. And versions with leeks. Mmm. Leeks. That has potential.
posted by Arlene (Beth)1:33 PM
Sunday, December 15, 2002
I just finished Randall Robinson's excellent book, the Debt, a compelling argument for reparations for slavery in the US. It points out what many choose to deny: that slavery didn't really end in 1865, but merely shifted into new guises such as Black Laws which kept innocent African Americans incarcerated and hired out to landowners, or peonage which was only a small step away from slavery, or Jim Crow discrimination and segregation. Some forms of this discrimination are costing the current generation $82 BILLION a year in lost investment equity, demonstrating that a level playing field has not been achieved, and that society still has corrective action to take.
It also discusses a subject of recurring interest to me: the elimination of Africa's contributions to the world in history texts, scholarship and museums as part of a political agenda.
In every competitive society, instruction in history and the humanities is a valuable instrument with which the dominant group, consciously or unconsciously, attempts to sustain its primacy, ill-gotten or not.
I find it interesting that it was so difficult to find photographs of the high rises of Nairobi, when there are plenty of images available of semi-naked Africans wearing grass skirts. No photos of the traffic jams in African capitals, or the goods manufactured there: just images of people living in primative conditions, who are not in the majority. It's the equivalent of representing all Americans as living in mobile homes without power in the desert: it gives an impression of lack where, in reality, there's a lot more going on.
Gerda Lerner's Excellent Why History Matters offers another examination of this kind of historical manipulation.
*
I made a wonderful vegetable noodle soup today, again from the 125 Best Meatless Pasta Dishes book. Wonderful, filling, hot, satisfying... I can't believe I've never tried this recipe before. Though living alone meant that many recipes that serve 12 didn't make a lot of sense unless I wanted to eat the same food day after day...
*
Today I bought an Unturkey at fabulous, wonderful, marvelous Rainbow Grocery. I'd hoped to try it for dinner tonight, but it needs a full day to defrost. Dag nabbit.
Instead we had raddiotore with rosemary pesto sauce, which was lovely, but still.
posted by Arlene (Beth)9:54 PM
Shangri-La Vegetarian Restaurant, at Irving near 21st, isn't bad at all.
*
Last night I saw the movie Solaris, a Clooney/Soderberg/Cameron effort. It's the story of a system in space that manufactures your loved ones for you, to a variety of complications. It raises many questions, including one I was fond of when I was younger: is it possible when you die for your soul to just go to another planet, where you live your next life? The film was rather well done.
Being a foodie more immediately than a student of metaphysics, I began rewriting the script with myself as a character. "Day one: they lied to me - there are no good tomatoes in space. Send me home! Day two: there is no Peet's Coffee within a light year. In a few months, this will really irk me. Day three: I have news about the conspicuous lack of chocolate on board..."
*
I want to go outside and take well-lit photographs of plants, but the persistent rain is interfering with that plan. It's a shame: photography is very relaxing to me, and the many rush projects at work have left me in a state of unrest that a short weekend will not shake. If only I could leave that stress at work, like a hat or a neglected umbrella, and only take it up again upon my arrival Monday morning. (Or not!)
I'm hoping for a vacation after this week...
posted by Arlene (Beth)11:59 AM
Saturday, December 14, 2002
I'm not sure I'll have power long enough to finish this entry. The storm is here.
The wind picked up last night, and blew everything not nailed down around all morning, when I was running my errands. (An older woman and I both grinned at each other as we struggled not to be blown into a pedestrian collision in the street. Storms are dramatic and fun!) The first hint of rain came as I carried my groceries up the hill, just two blocks from home. It started in earnest as I climbed the steps to my front door, and became worthy of a special effects credit in a disaster film within minutes.
You should see the giant tree in our neighbor's yard, the one we call Totoro's Tree, whipping in the wind. It's larger than our house, and it's writhing.
The sound and patterns the rain makes as it taps on the glass are quite soothing.
*
I'm indoors, wearing my soft new SFBC long-sleeved shirt, eating minestrone soup with rosemary pesto (which is every bit as good as it sounds), listening to the wind singing through the chimney cover, and thinking about Christmas. The glorious pagan holiday that somehow became Christmas has a feast, and I am in charge of that feast for about 20 people. Most of those are S' relatives, and their holiday tradition is ham, which I will ask them to arrange for, since that's a million miles from MY tradition. But I'm having difficulty deciding on the menu.
Beforehand:
Olives, celery sticks, pickles, cheese & crackers - surely.
For the main feast:
Roasted butternut and tomato soup with croutons - yes.
A tossed green salad to go with the soup - yes.
Corn bread stuffing from scratch - oh, yes.
Olive oil & garlic mashed potatoes - very likely.
Creamed corn, steamed green beans, marinated peppers - yes.
An Unturkey and/or stuffed acorn squashes and/or mushroom & cheese eggless quiche?? Probably. But I really have to decide soon.
For dessert:
Home made apple and pumpkin pies - yes.
Ice cream - certainly.
Hmmmm. I should go curl up in a blanket, and consider this more over a honey tangerine...
posted by Arlene (Beth)1:18 PM
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
Here's more evidence that bicycle fanatics are both fun and industrious: a piano move by bike!.
posted by Arlene (Beth)10:02 PM
I love Stephanie Mencimer's Washington Post Book Review for High and Mighty: SUVs. It finally provides the answers to the myths my friends believe about SUVs: namely, how much safer they are for drivers. Read this:Thee occupant death rate in SUVs is 6 percent higher than it is for cars--8 percent higher in the largest SUVs. The main reason is that SUVs carry a high risk of rollover; 62 percent of SUV deaths in 2000 occurred in rollover accidents. SUVs don't handle well, so drivers can't respond quickly when the car hits a stretch of uneven pavement or "trips" by scraping a guardrail. Even a small bump in the road is enough to flip an SUV traveling at high speed. On top of that, SUV roofs are not reinforced to protect the occupants against rollover; nor does the government require them to be....
Ironically, SUVs are particularly dangerous for children, whose safety is often the rationale for buying them in the first place. Because these beasts are so big and hard to see around (and often equipped with dark-tinted glass that's illegal in cars), SUV drivers have a troubling tendency to run over their own kids. Just recently, in October, a wealthy Long Island doctor made headlines after he ran over and killed his two-year-old in the driveway with his BMW X5. He told police he thought he'd hit the curb.
But of course, this part of the article is more fun:According to market research conducted by the country's leading automakers, Bradsher reports, SUV buyers tend to be "insecure and vain. They are frequently nervous about their marriages and uncomfortable about parenthood. They often lack confidence in their driving skills. Above all, they are apt to be self-centered and self-absorbed, with little interest in their neighbors and communities. They are more restless, more sybaritic, and less social than most Americans are. They tend to like fine restaurants a lot more than off-road driving, seldom go to church and have limited interest in doing volunteer work to help others."
posted by Arlene (Beth)7:53 AM
Monday, December 09, 2002
A new quesadilla recipe, tested yesterday: roasted red and yellow peppers sprinkled liberally with feta, lightly with cilantro, between two flour tortillas smothered in hot salsa verde, microwaved for 2 minutes.
*
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's WinterFest last night was fabulous: free food, free soft drinks and beer, bike art display, huge silent auction for fabulous bike gear heavily discounted, live auction for gorgeous bikes... Okay, and there were these retro female striptease dancers making a fuss over the live auction items, and a male pogo stick stripper just because, but I can't really explain that part, though I laughed so hard I almost cried.
The event was well attended (you should have seen the line for valet bike parking!). And the sandwiches were really good. I never would have thought of this: tender butternut squash with portobello mushrooms on focaccia with some sort of herbed aoili. It was GREAT. I ate several.
I hadn't considered winter squash in sandwiches, but apparently they can be great.
posted by Arlene (Beth)7:32 AM
Sunday, December 08, 2002
I love it! A human-powered house moving party IN THE SNOW!! Bike people rock! And are insane, but in a good way.
*
Light dinner: kalamanta olives, sliced cucumber, moist imported Greek feta, rasberry balsamic vinegar, a few grinds of black pepper. Plus a glass of 1996 Chauteu Duhart-Milon Pauillac, a lovely lovely red. In front of the fireplace, while S decorated the tree with gold lights. Aaah.
*
Why everyone should rush out and buy the Kopan Cookbook: mashed potato soup with ginger, garlic, onions, spinach, masala, turmeric, tofu, chili powder, and a little vinegar and soy sauce. Garnished with green onions and cilantro. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
*
Speaking of book recommendations, Carfree Cities by J.H. Crawford is EXCELLENT. It is well thought out, and his ideas are well-explained. The observations in the earlier half of the book are especially clear in demonstrating how the current car-dominated system does not serve us well (and does not serve some of us at all).
Mr. Crawford is also far more diplomatic than I am in explaining that 100 years ago, before the invention of the car, people were able to get around very well, and lived in places that were sensibly set up so that the services they need were near them. And then people were tricked into moving to suburbs with NO services, and now many of the people are virtually incompetent in getting themselves around, needing a car to do so much as get a small latte at the edge of their own neighborhood. It's unbearably lame!
The book also does a good job of dispelling some misconceptions that have always annoyed me. One that my friend P suffered from was the idea that driving his car is "free," while taking public transit COSTS MONEY. He completely divorced his gas costs, maintenance costs, insurance costs, and the cost of his actual car from reality. AAA, the often evil, anti-bike-when-it-suits-them insurance company and car advocate, once noted that it costs 74 cents per mile to run a car, if you include all the actual costs. Which means that P is paying more than double for his commute than he would by paying public transit costs. (He does have some legitimate concerns with the schedule for transit in his work area. This is why his employer should have a shuttle to collect people at the train, like many other companies do. Duh.) And this book notes that it costs more than four thousand dollars a year to maintain a car. So it's a nice reality check.
The book dispells the idea that cars are really necessary in most developed (non-rural) areas. People lived for millennia without them, and then our legs suddenly fell off in an abrupt evolutionary twist, and... oh, wait, that didn't happen. Though you'd think it had, the way some people talk.
*
One idea I hadn't considered was that those big box chain stores on the edge of town are making a fortune in shipping and handling by wasting YOUR time by making you come pick up goods many miles from your home. I'd always considered such stores hellish, but now I understand that they're also profiting from making life inconvenient. Bastards!
posted by Arlene (Beth)12:17 PM
Saturday, December 07, 2002
Oh, I'm beginning to realize I have a problem with burritos. My problem is that I eat them, even when they are too large, so long as they taste good. Today, for example, I had a veggie burrito at 3 Amigos in Half Moon Bay. And it was good. And I ate it all.
And that is a problem, because there's no room for it inside me, and so I am quite uncomfortable. Grrr. Yet, eating it all seemed like a good idea at the time, as it has countless times before this. I really must learn.
*
The air at the Creekside Christmas Tree Farm on Highway 84 is very fresh, fresher than our very polluted air here in the Bay Area. (Though I took issue with _driving_ there, and so contributing to the air problem, I was not sufficiently persuasive.) The different sorts of pine trees, with their different needle colors and patterns, were quite charming.
The smell was even better at the Half Moon Bay Nursery, where we bought a fresh wreath bursting with pine smells from a greenhouse bursting with blooming, giant white hydrangeas, magenta azaleas, and red amyrilli/ses.
posted by Arlene (Beth)6:18 PM
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
The air is filthy today. According to the folks at Spare The Air, today rates a 132 on their scale in SF and along the coast, which falls into the Moderate pollution category. That means "Active children and adults, and people with respiratory disease, such as asthma, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion." Which explains why I've been able to taste the pollution in the air on my bike commute to and from work. Ick.
Different kinds of vehicles produce different flavors of exhaust, by the way. I'm not sure why that is. But I was busy being disgusted by that on the way in when I biked past a Christmas Tree lot. Mmmmm: fresh sprucey, piney scents. It gave the temporary illusion that I was breathing clean air.
*
Yesterday I had a very yummy lunch from Siam Cafe on Kearney. It was a "tofu salad," which was a combination of fresh, firm tofu, glass noodles, lemon sauce, red chili pepper flakes, green onions, and cilantro over rice. It was LOVELY, especially the strong lemony taste which was neither too tart nor too cloying sweet. I'll have to figure out how to make that, along with other Thai favories like Tom Kha J. If anyone has a favorite vegetarian Thai cookbook recommendation, let me know.
posted by Arlene (Beth)10:28 PM
Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Random political link:"In fact, after participating either directly, or indirectly in Iran in 1953, Guatemala in 1954 and Chile in 1973, things worked the other way around. Democratically elected governments were crushed and replaced by despots and killers — albeit pro-American, anti-communist despots and killers."This from an ABC article called 'Dictator Disposal', noting that historically, regime change led by the US has resulted in a loss of democracies. Oops. ABC also provides a regime change scorecard.
posted by Arlene (Beth)5:01 PM
I don't usually quote my pals, but they've sent some entertaining e-mails this week.
From KS:A quote from my college roommate, regarding her nieces, ages 8 and 5:
So the kids were playing Pilgrims and Indians while I was there. Megan (age 8) always plays the mommy, and Becca (age 5) plays the kid. I didn't pay much attention until I heard Becca yell, "Mommy, Mommy, the white people are coming to take our land and with the syphillis!"
Yes, it's a true story.
These children attend a Montessori school, which makes me think that the Montessori method must have far more depth than I previously suspected.
And this from MF:But I was walking down the street and this woman (who was dressed nicely in 50's style clothes, makeup, glasses) came up to me while I was waiting for the light at Sutter and Montgomery.
She said: "Excuse me but can I touch you for one minute".
I started laughing and said "No, I don't think so"
and then as I was walking away I thought maybe I was on camera in one of those insipid t.v. reality shows.
Then on Bart:
A woman on the train asked another woman what train she was on after the doors closed.
The other woman said: Pittsburg.
The first woman gasped.
Then the other woman said "Pittsburg/Bay Point"
Relief came over the first woman's face.
Then the woman tried to be helpful by saying: "Where are you going?"
The first woman said: "Home".
posted by Arlene (Beth)4:58 PM
