Happy Birthday, Elsa!

Elsa is Barbara's cat. Barbara's from Holland, and she insists that today is also the queen of Holland's birthday. I hope Elsa gets a special treat.

(Do you celebrate your pet's birthday?)

The Way to a Woman's Heart ...

Tom, me, and John photographed by Emmy

Tom's Unbelievable Guacamole:

1 big fat avocado, squashed up

3 tbsp. Casa Sanchez Roasted Green Salsa

3 tbsp. Sukhi's Cilantro Chutney, also known as Cilantro Salsa

1/2 lime (juice from)

Mix it up. The salsa and chutney have plenty of salt, so that you don't have to add more.

John's Potato Salad:

Twitter

You can follow me. Can I follow you too?

Driving Down Geary

Driving to class this evening, I happened to look up. I grabbed my bag and fumbled madly for my camera. In San Francisco it's the law: no more driving while talking on your cell phone. If you're caught, you pay. But as far as I know there's no law against driving while taking photos.

Cloud

Cat

Next Door

Emmy and her husband John invited us across the fence this evening for wine in their backyard. Suddenly it turned into grilled salmon and asparagus, roasted potatoes, more wine and garlic bread. Trips were made through the gate for chips, salsa, and chocolate covered toffee to curb our appetites while we sat by the grill. Heavenly.

p.s. This is the sixty-something-year-old woman who beat me in the 5-k.

Thank You, Pal.

Sally Govan

My Pal Sal–who you may know as Stray–gave me the greatest present. When she put out her call for entries in preparation for her show in December, Journey sent her a photo of her dog Petey.

Sally drew Petey (above). This morning I had an e-mail from Stray:

I told Journey she can have the drawing as a gift for visiting your mom sometime ...

We've had to cut back on visits from Mom's "pals," and it hasn't been an easy thing for any of us. Journey is terrific with Mom and very fun loving, so I'm hoping she'll say YES to Sally's offer.

p.s. It's not too late for people to send you photos, is it, Pal?

Tai Chi

Look At Those Long Fingers.

"Perfect for playing the piano. If only she would practice.

She'll be so sorry when she grows up that she didn't learn how to play the piano when she had the chance."

(Guess whose wistful voice is echoing in my mind. Then ask me if I'm sorry.)

Bug

Beauty Treatments Can Be Exhausting

Every time I get a haircut and color, I sit down in front of my computer and take a Photo Booth photo. This evening when I got back the photo didn't look so good. But the haircut itself is great; it really is.

Bonus!! Instead of dying a tiny strand of my own hair white and then coloring it blue, this time Kimberly micro-clamped two thin blue strands of human hair that she dyed blue on the side under the top layer.

When our hair turns white of its own accord, think how easy it will be to dye small pieces of it green and blue. I'm talking subtle–nothing garish of course.

Andie, Choose Your Creature Comfort!

I was up all night going over and over each of the 68 titles that were entered, carefully weighing the pros and cons of each. I'd like to thank you, Andie, for coming up with the winning title for my poster:

Creature Comfort

To think it was right under my nose the whole time!

And now Andie–the moment we've all been waiting for: Which creature comfort would you like?

1. Duck Massager
2. Hot Chocolate
3. Champagne in a Can
4. Mac and Cheese Mix

Please e-mail your name and address to me (linda at lindadavick.com), and you will receive the creature comfort of your choice in the mail this week!

Don't Forget

1. Please enter my peaceful creature title contest. Deadline is midnight tonight (Monday). Winner will receive a delightful creature comfort in the mail.

2. And don't forget to e-mail Sally your pet photos!

Easter Treat

This afternoon we saw the Wayne Thiebaud show at the Paul Thiebaud Gallery. Wayne Thiebaud is my favorite painter and one of my favorite people.

Enchanting! Not only the paintings, but the gallery and the people who work there. When I asked if I could take pictures for my blog, the woman in the back said, "No. Not for a blog ... unless it's an art blog."

"It's an art blog," I said, and handed her my card. A few minutes later she walked back out and said it would be all right if I took photos.

As I was shooting pictures, four guys were in there buying paintings! Dizzying to witness. By the time we left I felt like I was walking on chiffon.

Win A Creature Comfort

Please help me think of a title for my creatures poster! The purpose of the poster is to promote world peace and humor. (And me.)

If you come up with the best title–judges listed below–you will receive a delightful creature comfort in the mail. The deadline is midnight Monday, April 13. Don't hesitate to enter as many titles as you like. Thank you for helping me.

List of judges: Linda Davick

That Extremely Good Stuff

An excerpt from Jaimal Yogis's new book Saltwater Buddha:

On this particular day, the waves were like endless frothy barricades. I'd been paddling for twenty minutes and I still wasn't outside. I pushed and pumped and heaved and whined. The sea punched and kicked and jammed sand down my throat. And in the midst of this abuse, I realized how much I loved surfing.

I loved the actual riding of the wave, of course. But I also loved the challenge of the paddle.

It wasn't always like that. And maybe I was just happy to be back in the water after living in India for months. Or maybe my mind was more accepting after hanging with all the ultra-happy Tibetan monks. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized every surfer has to like paddling, at least a little.

This was because extremely little of each surf session is spent actually standing up on your surfboard on a wave - maybe one percent - so if you're looking to have a good time it's essential to find a way to enjoy paddling, or at least good naturedly bear it. And in that way, I thought surfing is kind of a good metaphor of the rest of life.

The extremely good stuff - chocolate and great sex and weddings and hilarious jokes - fills a minute portion of an adult lifespan.

••••••••••••
Is this true of things you love doing? It is for me, as far as illustration goes. The actual illustration I do seems to take up maybe 10% percent of my "work time." Is it worth it? YES.

p.s. I found out from Louise Rafkin's story in the Chronicle that Jaimal lives in a pink house nearby that I've photographed lots of times because of its color, seahorse shutters, flowers, and the big mural of St. Francis that takes up one whole side.

Dog

Being that we're on the subject of dogs, here's one of the best dog stories I've ever read. It's by Julie Klam. Don't run away! It's only one page long.

Don't Hesitate. Send a Photo of Your Pet!

Now's your chance.




























What have you got to lose? E-mail this girl a photo! She's a drawing maniac and chances are good she'll do a beautiful portrait of your dog or cat. Take a look at some of the work she's done in the past few months.

Sally Govan and I worked together at the publishing company in TN for nine years. We laughed. We cried. We rode on airplanes together and read Carl Jung and Mark Alan Stamaty.

The first time I ever walked on Ocean Beach was when Sally's and my editor sent us to San Francisco for the opening of the Cartoon Museum.



p.s. I like cats better than dogs.

Mouse-ear

Tom took me to an amazing garden that he had noticed a few times from the car. It had a magical feeling, the same feeling you get when you walk down the steps behind Coit Tower. It's at 7th Avenue at Lawton Street–a little slice of heaven surrounded on 4 sides by traffic, houses, and high rise apartment buildings.

They call it Garden for the Environment and it takes up an acre of city block. We saw the plant below there. We thought it might work in our front "yard" because the leaves had a bluish cast, and it didn't seem to grow too high.

I remembered seeing it at Sloat yesterday (a place I don't recommend–I like Home Depot better, the new one in Westlake). But Home Depot didn't have these plants. So we bought 2 flats at Sloat. We filled the Nebulous with tons of compost and so many bags of chicken manure that we could barely close the trunk. Did you know that chickens had manure?

The plant we bought is called Mouse-ear. (Do you believe it?) It's also called Snow-in-Summer. The guy at Sloat said these plants were fierce–that they grew like weeds–so we thought they might work for us.

Green Stuff

The green stuff came yesterday: the Pure Synergy. My writing teacher had mentioned it. I saw her stir some up before our class meeting last Sunday, which lasted 3 and 1/2 hours. She didn't fall asleep during any of our final readings. When I got home, exhausted and never wanting to write a word again, I knew I had to order some. It came yesterday.

The directions said to take one tablespoon per day. But to start with a teaspoon and work your way up to a tablespoon. "How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?" I asked Tom. He wasn't sure. Either two or four, probably.

You weren't supposed to take it an on empty stomach. Since I've never experienced that condition, I decided to try it first thing this morning. When I woke up I put 2 teaspoons in a jar with 8 ounces of water and shook it up. Then I drank it and went back to bed to read my e-mail.

A few minutes later I got up and marched down to the basement. I grabbed the mattock and broke up the dirt in our front garden. I planted the elephant thyme that I've been meaning to plant for 6 months. Then I spent 3 hours weeding. I ate lunch. I drew a picture of a green elephant watering the elephant thyme. I went down to the beach and jogged 3 miles. I ate dinner. I cleaned up the kitchen. Now I'm going to watch Slumdog Millionaire.

Did the green stuff have any effect? You be the judge.

Archiduck

Spaghetti and Meatballs