Work in Progress

Sunday Evening

7:29 p.m.

TIAPOS

 Happy Birthday, Suzy!

some of us: me, Suzy, Eric    photos stolen from msmasmushly

An Outing

Dear Dale,

Today I went on an outing. I was treating Gina to a birthday lunch, even though her birthday was March 7. We ended up at Pacific Catch. It was pouring down rain and they have a parking lot! Also, it's near the de Young, and we were considering going to see the Georgia O'Keefe show.

We sat by the window. First she said, "We're going Dutch," because she always says that and then she tries to pay for everything. Every single time. Not that Gina could ever make you feel bad at all, but when people say something like that when you're taking them out, it's funny. She probably says it because she can't forget the time when biz was so bad for Tom and me that we were looking at trailer courts.

Anyway, once we got that issue cleared up, she ordered a mojito. I ordered a vodka with pomegranate juice. It was too sweet, but I gulped it right down. We each had a giant rice bowl: Thai curry with grilled salmon. Delicious and you suspect it's bursting with of all kinds of fatty stuff even though the description only lists salmon, eggplant, red bell peppers, green beans, cucumber, toasted  coconut, shallots, and green curry sauce. And you can tell the brown rice is just full of sugar and saturated fat, too. But I found it delicious and vacuumed it down.

We talked for a long time. We skipped Georgia O'Keefe. We decided to come back to my house for coffee because Gina had baked some gluten-free brownies for Tom. We stopped at the windmill on the way because she wanted to see if the tulips were in bloom. (That's the kind of person she is.) Nobody was around. I repeat, it was pouring down rain!! But once Gina parked the car––yes, she drove all the way up here from San Mateo––it stopped raining for a little while, so we slogged out by the windmill and took photos.

Then we came to my house. She helped me with my work. (She always does. She's super smart.) She also brought me stacks of recent New Yorkers and a few Sunsets and Fast Companies. She also gave me this glass Evil Eye that she brought back from Turkey to ward off bad luck and evil spirits.

I know what you're thinking. It sounds like this was my birthday celebration and not hers. But that's how you always feel when you're with Gina.

Good night,
Linda D.

March 24, 2014

7:25 p.m.

Arnold Lobel at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

The Crocodile in the Bedroom from Fables, 1980

I squeaked into the Contemporary Jewish Museum today moments before the Arnold Lobel show left town. Wasn't it fantastic? My favorite thing was seeing the spiral ring notebooks he wrote in every day. I loved seeing the first drafts of his work written in pen with words and phrases crossed out and re-worked, along with his tiny sketches.

But my favorite thing about seeing his notebooks were his everyday lists. People's names, phone numbers––and then when he actually took care of something his list, he'd put a line through it. 

March 19, 2014

7:22 p.m.    Hi Anne!

A Toast to Lucille at her 90th Birthday Party

This is going to sound like the beginning of one of those cheesy romance novels––but five years ago one of Tom's clients had a party. It was the evening of President Obama's first inauguration, and the party was a celebration.

The moment I walked into the door of the party I saw a woman sitting across the room. She was wearing the best clothes and she had the best haircut––and she was wearing running shoes! She radiated LIFE, and in that one instant I was sure I had to get to know her.

But I couldn't get anywhere near her the whole evening. She was surrounded by other people who wanted to talk to her too––people who were pushier than I am.

As Tom and I were leaving the party I knew it was now or never. She was still talking to a small group of people. I didn't want to be rude. And I didn't want to burst in and say, "Gah! You seem like someone I'd love to be friends with. Can I have your email address?" (What if she thought I was crazy?)

But I managed to get her attention long enough to exchange email addresses with her under the pretext of getting the name and phone number of her hair stylist. So with the name of her hair stylist in hand, I went home and made an appointment with Gohar. I got a haircut. Then I emailed Lucille and asked her if we could meet for lunch––I would show her my haircut!

We met at Bursa on West Portal and it was then and there that Lucille became my life coach. In case you don't know what her philosophy is, it's FUN AND LOTS OF IT.

Here's what I'm learning from her:

-Get to know people; you don't need an excuse.
-Read more books and watch more movies.
-Walk at least 4 or 5 miles a day.

-And most importantly: ALWAYS wear the right socks.

Thank you, Lucille. Happy Birthday and I love you.

Showing off our socks. Lucille's are covered in shamrocks.

A small sampling of Lucille's socks

Lauren, Lucille's daughter, and Lucille

Sasha, Lucille's son-in-law

The party is at Delancey Street Restaurant. The cake is Lucille's own recipe.

Kendra, Lucille, Andrew

Lucille Skypes with her granddaughter, Harriet

Saturday

For the Round Robin, we're given daily prompts. We write 10 minutes to the prompts. Today's prompt is: I don't want ... My partner for the week is Jane, and I've been writing 10-minute letters to her every night.

Dear Jane,

Tonight Tom and I went over to Rudy's for dinner. I made a big flat flour-less brownie with tons of icing and pecans. We had not seen his new house. It was in the most amazing place. On a street called Edgehill, near West Portal? Strange and dreamy. Especially the back yard that was essentially a big hill with all kinds of narrow pathways that wound among trees, and stairways that led from one little grassy landing to the next.

Well, we were late. We'd been working in the yard. Then I took a shower and ironed my hair. It was time to go, but when I put on my clothes, they were too small! Just to be sure, I carried the mirror out into the living room where there was some light. Then I said, "Tom, are these clothes too small?" He said, "A little bit."

I found something else to wear, but ... being as I only have one thing to wear, it took some time to come up with a second thing.

Another couple was there. The woman had been best friends with Rudy's wife. So it was nice to be with her. Whenever wine was poured, I never once said, "I don't want any more, thank you."

 Now I'm back home, and I don't want to say good night, but I will.

Tennessee Grill and Bouquets to Art

After a breakfast at the Tennessee Grill to celebrate my silver sticker, Anne and Peter requested that we walk them to their car. When they opened the door, bushels of flowers fell out and they provided us with our very own Bouquets to Art. Gulp.

Plottie got a brand new pan

A cast iron pizza pan! And he tried it out on us at TIAPOS. We were a small but lucky group.

Found in the Sand

Photo Illo

for TOP THREE FOODS TO EAT BEFORE YOU HIT THE GYM.

Happy Birthday, Gina!

Some Enchanted Evening at the Monkey House

me, Eric, Suzy

Here we are monkeying around outside the Monkey House in Berkeley. Tonight was storytelling night, and the man in the middle tells a mean tale. It's Eric from TIAPOS*! He doesn't read the story, he looks you in the eye and tells it. The audience cracks up.

*Our writing group is called TIAPOS, which stands for This Is A Piece Of Shit.

Fate?

Nope, these aren't my photos. My publisher sent them to me. She's visiting her dad, who lives on top of the ocean. She found the glass in the first photo Monday and the glass in the second photo Tuesday. Isn't it amazing we've ended up working together, two people who have the same sickness for sea glass?

Tuesday

5:49 p.m.

Sunday Evening

found in the sand

6:10 p.m.

Before We Got Soaking Wet

5:53 p.m.    Soon afterwards, the clouds burst and we still had a mile and a half to go. Fun!!