IN THE BLOG #5 by Sar Gasso
...local grocery market just passed, has the same stuff, pretty much as all the other ones. Don’t know how some of these places stay in business, being so much the same.
Checked by cell phone what was left on my credit card – more than I thought – like, twelve dollars. Before the call ended I used a usual joke about if the bank phone operator could move the decimal point over a few places in my account, and that got a laugh. Leave ‘em laughing…
Newspaper item, about how Berkeley may begin allowing cremated remains within city limits. Was there for a few years a few years ago, maybe should go over there this year with a few bucks, spend a few hours…feel the same about Los Angeles - would like to stay there, tho’, maybe a month. Or maybe move back there? Been in San Francisco nearly the last twelve years, could be time for a change.
Cowboy shirt with North or South Dakota label – that’s pretty unusual, right? – got on the street for a dollar – seller wanted only 50 cents, but I gave her double that – thought she’d ask for, like, two. Knew her, anyway, from a place I’d lived, sort of a friend. Initially when I bought it felt the shoulders were too big – it’s an XL – but tried it on after it was hanging in my closet for a while, liking the way it looks now, and have had it on for days. Good thing is that it’s very light. For me, look and comfort are about 50-50 in clothing. And maybe other things also.
Ran into a guy I’ve known for a few years, met him in the Tenderloin. Owed me a few bucks, and he got that to me. Loaned him that, oh, two or three years ago, and finally got it paid off. Honorable guy, but it’s just difficult to get a hold of him, especially when he has money. Had a hundred buck bill that morning.
This guy into marijuana in a big way – told me there’s a place out on Ocean, in the southern area of the city, where he can get the “compassion” kind for free. I’d wondered why he’d go so far to get that, and that’s why. Also, this day he said once someone at a pot club told him to hold out his cupped palms, and thereupon gave him a whole lot of primo reefer. That made his day for sure, ha…
Guy sitting in the lobby of where I live – no one’s supposed to be inside without accompaniment. Didn’t ask him anything, just glad he didn’t follow me for some reason. Didn’t want to bother him – didn’t look happy. Might have another time asked if he wanted a door knocked on, or the use of my cell phone, but just then it seemed like I should just let him alone.
The LaVey name appeared recently – for Karla - on a flyer for some satanic Valentine’s Day event. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_LaVey. Daughter of Carole and ol’ Anton…not into any of that stuff at all – or maybe I am, but not using the metaphors and symbols they use, and not as intensely. The LaVey name, a long-standing part of the city’s counterculture, underground counterculture. Event at the El Rincon, 16th at Harrison – some Theremin guy to be there also, and a band called the Cloven Hoofers, among many others. (Theremin link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin. Jimmy Page used one, I think - yeah, this says so: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Page - I don’t believe Wikipedia can be trusted a hundred percent, but for some simple facts, such as this one, I believe.)
Been at the Phil Burton Fed building recently due to needing to file tax info – haven’t had to for about 5 years – but this past year earned about a thousand dollars by working for Brother Pete of the Odd Fellows, got a 1099 form…wanted to mention the unusual flora in front of it, on Golden Gate. Sea grass, I think it is.
Want to recommend the Celtic Coffee Company as a place to get a cup o’ joe and a seat, if you need to while away a bit of time, as I did the other day. See
http://www.yelp.com/biz/celtic-coffee-company-san-francisco. Two big, black comfy sofas I like. Plus house coffee at a buck-40 – a buck-65 at my usual place on Polk – this one’s on McAllister near Larkin. The Hastings law school nearby…liked it that The Book of Salt, a novel, was sitting there…I make it my business to bring books to the place I usually go to. (This Salt written by a Vietnamese lady, Gertie Stein, Alice B. Toklas as characters, set in ‘30s France.)
While there, read an installment of the current Joel Selvin series about music history in the city – this one mentioned the place where Neal and Carolyn Cassady lived on Russian Hill – also, the Mark Twain Hotel, in the Tenderloin, where Billie Holliday was busted for, I think, heroin…
IN THE BLOG #2 by Sar Gasso
…the man who founded Habitat for Humanity just passed away…name of Millard Fillmore…was a millionaire before he was thirty – and that’s a million in terms of decades ago – and then devoted himself to helping house his fellow humans. Will be buried in a simple pine box, said the radio…Jimmy Carter was a famous volunteer for the organization…
In the middle of the Gone with the Wind audio book…just now, Scarlett’s picking up her life after the Yankees overran her area…”Fiddle-dee-dee!” is something she says…Rhett Butler is described as a pirate – owns a ship, buys and sells via the ocean – didn’t pick up on this from what I know of the movie, which isn’t much, never saw it…something about him having a million dollars – and that’s in terms of money from long, long before even Millard Fillmore made his mil…Scarlett’s got a healthy appetite – in one scene she’s said to pour a large amount of syrup onto breakfast waffles. Like women with healthy appetites – so long as they don’t get so fat…
Line from the recently-departed John Updike: “Fiction is inching towards the condition of poetry…” Not sure what the means, but it sounds good. Does this mean that poetry is inching towards fiction’s condition? (Would that, in logic, be the “obverse”? Took a logic class once, didn’t do well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obversion.)
Mohammar Qadafi mentioned in the news…used to be much more of a newsmaker than now…I used to listen to political commentator, lefty, Michael Parenti a lot, down in L.A., and he spoke about Qadafi, how he was presented to the public as such a danger, so wrongly hyped in that context, or at least over-hyped...radio used this phrase about Qadafi: “rather eccentrically-mannered”…
10pm a recent night, out to get animal protein – corner market on Polk, two hardboiled eggs, a can of sardines…in the window of Fields Books, one called Hitler’s Priestess: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler's_Priestess. The man into the occult…
…and also in the Fields window, John Coleman’s The Illuminati in America. Had his The Committee of 300 in L.A. a few years back, bought at the Bodhi Tree. Also at Fields, Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction, by Ian Shaw – that a bit like S. Hawking’s A Brief History of Time…
Strolled down Polk, picked up a couple of Christian Science Monitor magazines for a friend…could be leaving town for a few days in a few days, to stay at her house, and I like bringing her little gifts…
Into a video store, looked briefly at the cult films section – features things like The Big Bird Cage, a Roger Corman movie, with Pam Grier:
www.prisonflicks.com/reviews.php?filmID=25. (Just joined this place, took out The Magnificent Seven – the classic 1960 Western, not the Nineties TV series, which you couldn’t pay me to watch…well, maybe you could, but I wouldn't enjoy it much...)
Was at Gino & Carlo in North Beach not long ago – spent seven bucks for twenty-one songs – a good deal, three for a dollar…liked hearing a live version of Neil Diamond’s “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”…since it was so early in the morning, avoided any really raucous rock and roll that I would have otherwise played, 6am or not…sat by myself, near the jukebox, with a crowd of regulars, looked like, at the other end, chatting. I think the music added a lot to the ambiance…
I DID look at one installment of the Chronicle Selvin local rock series – 2200 Bridgeway in Sausalito noted – site of The Plant recording studio…also, Dana Morgan Music in Palo Alto mentioned – where Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir met, before starting the Grateful Dead…on New Year’s Eve, in 1963…
Spiritual dating site: www.soulmates.gaia.com... And…liked, at the coffeehouse I go to, a cover of the Band’s “The Weight” – used most famously in Easy Rider…not the Aretha Franklin version…but sounded like a black lady…tho’ some of them white singers sound black, and fool experts – Pink, Madonna come to mind. Katy Perry not in this category…
#1384 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com[IN THE BLOG #1 by Hamm Hock]
…had time before I could go online, headed to the Borders Union Square - nice second floor café - can sit in there free, basically - they don’t seem so precise about monitoring if you bought something. A selection of comfy armchairs…like it that the front of it was bathed in the morning sunlight…an opportunity for solar panel installation…
Valentine’s Day coming up - How to Talk to Girls, by one Alec Greven, advertised in the window of Borders: - oh, didn’t know the author’s just nine years old! Sure to have a fresh perspective, gotta take a look at it…began as a handwritten, three dollar pamphlet at a school book fair in Colorado…says to be wary of “pretty girls” - “regular girls” are better…wants to be a full-time writer when he grows up, and work weekends in archaeology or paleontology…
Had a few minutes til the 8am Borders opening - so to the corner Walgreens. Nothing particular in mind to buy. A twenty buck pair of mirrored Foster Grants, a possible future purchase…also, this one’s open 24/7, so that’s something to consider.
25 dollar CD player’s something I could use from Walgreens…tight budget, maybe I can find something at a thrift store. Or just get better speakers - have a fine Walkman portable, but the speakers cost four bucks new, from China, and don’t crank up the volume. Have a reading of Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer I’d like to get to, on disc.
36 dollar digital voice recorder - should have a back-up - my Radio Shack unit’s still serving me very, very well, tho’…28 hours possible to store on the new thing - current one has 39 minutes, but that works just fine…
Checked out the Walgreens magazines - Scarlett Johansson on some cover…respect her work, but don’t really find her so…alluring, I guess would be a word - not like, oh, Katy Perry. Maybe “interesting” would be a better adjective…she’s in the new He’s Just Not That Into You, with an ensemble star or near-star cast - here’s the trailer, 1:57:
www.my.spill.com/video/947994:Video:290470.
Liked an eight buck alternative cures paperback - recommends that one “follow the rainbow” when eating - that is, eat foods of different colors - also recommends music therapy. And something suggested for “inhibited sexual desire”. Would be worth the cost - probably a lot of information in there I’d like to pick up on…
Adjectives to remember: Bohemian, Taoist, yogic, witchy…not necessarily in that order…did a search on those four terms and got: www.magusbooks.com/site_map/Tarot-Decks - a long, long list of different Tarot decks…and also this, for a “meetup group” in Portland:
www.metaphysics.meetup.com/es/cities/us/or/portland/.
At the Borders…took a lot of notes from issues of Black Belt and Inside Kung-Fu…then on Market, heading west…guy in a pimp-ish suit. Was trying to determine the color name - maybe “Off Mustard”…yellow-ish red…making a real sartorial statement…then a young guy with a major ‘fro - not a style I see a lot - Afro Samurai is a new video game featuring a main character with a big Afro…then a guy with a long walking stick, at least four feet, and a hat with feathers…and woulda done a crossing on a red, but a black and white prevented me from that violation of pedestrian rules…
To the Odd Fellows Hall, gave the elevator guy a postcard for Brother Pete, a little gift - pictured a modest house with the words, something like, “San Francisco Fixer-Upper: $1,999,950”. He and his wife do some househunting, but the city market’s a bit prohibitive…they were looking at a place up in Point Arena, way up north, in Mendocino, I think, but decided against…
Punning possible with “karma/dharma/shawarma”…that last being the Middle Eastern meat, therefore the humor, relating them to the non-carnal Eastern religious ideas. I’ve got a former Hare Krishna guy - two of them, come to think of it - on my e-mail contact list, and they for sure would appreciate the humor of that…to the library, bought a used copy of Armistead Maupin’s More Tales of the City sequel for a dollar. Then into the Tenderloin, to pay back a corner market guy 42 bucks he’d given me credit for in January...and out from the library, the audio book of Gone with the Wind…never seen the entire movie, never read the book…about fifty hours worth of this…still no woman in my life, or else it’s likely I wouldn’t want or need such an extensive listening experience. Am wanting to be all ears for a good (or bad) lady. (GWTW comparable in length to The Lord of the Rings, in terms of cassettes it takes to get it all on tape…)
…guy on Lower Polk - the Tenderloin part of it - smoking a pipe, outside a knife shop - maybe it also deals in smoking goods. Kind of an affectation, seemed like: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affectation. Then, seeming more genuine, a Middle Eastern sort of guy - couldn’t place his country of origin - in a dress-like native outfit…heard a guy on the radio, or maybe it was in a newspaper, talking about how men throughout history have worn skirt-like garments - kilts, for example. But it’s the realm of the trannies these days, in Frisco, in general. Would not wear one myself…
Dog taking a leak, lifting a leg, no muss or fuss about it, public urination. And there are his testicles - not something I really needed to see. Someone should invent little pants for dogs…call 'em Rover Trousers…
Guy bending down into a reflecting surface, an outdoor bit of chrome on a building, to check something on his face - have seen some street people bending to see themselves in exterior car mirrors…passed guy on streeting parting from someone, shaking hands, saying “…always a pleasure…” Nice phrase, maybe use that myself. Then a Chinese lady standing outside a residence, leaning on a cane, I said hello in passing, she smiled slightly, nodded…
Name thought of recently: Joseph Chilton Pearce. Heard a talk by him on the radio a while back…see: www.ratical.org/many_worlds/JCP98.html - into child development in a Sixties sort of way - Magical Child, and Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg are two of his books.
Out walking to a library the other day, late afternoon - switched to the other side of California Street to get some sun at my back…dog pissing on a Christmas tree, just a bit of that canine urine, a small spurt, enough to mark the territory…nice, quick hike up to Jones, on California, where Nob Hill crests…Masonic Auditorium, Grace Cathedral both right there…was in that religious structure a few years ago - an inside labyrinth, and an outside one as well…Masonic logo outside the auditorium - compass, a “G”, standing for…what? (Here’s something about that: www.watch.pair.com/symbol.html - says that G somehow stands for the male’s “generative principle”…said to be the same as the “Yod” in Hebrew…and…there’s a visitors’ center beside the auditorium that may be worth going to…was there a while back - I think Douglas MacArthur’s desk is in there…)
Eleven buck snails, just as a starter for a meal, at the Rue Lepic French place, just down from the very top of Nob…
For some reason remembered a line from Iggy Pop’s “Living on the Edge of the Night”, about how you’ve got to “deal with the real” - here’s an ’89 version: www.youtube.com/watch?v=43RePKdsfBE.
Another discarded Christmas tree, forlorn, on its side on the cold sidewalk - once so worshipped, not many weeks ago…night starting to fall on the city, the neon really beginning to pop…Stockton and Bush, parking structure, big tree on top, and much foliage along the south-facing front…down Stockton Tunnel stairs - area used in The Game, the Penn/Michael Douglas flick: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_(film) - David Fincher direction…watchable, kept my interest, as I recall…also did Fight Club, Panic Room, Se7en, did Fincher…all movies I enjoy…also did a few Madonna videos, too, some of her best work. (Penn, Milk…someone must already have done something with Dan White wearing a “Got Milk?” shirt - would tie-in with the Twinkies - dip ‘em in milk, y’know…)
Title for something: Organic Love…a novel, or a short story, erotic one. ("Organic" - what's the definition? Here's something from the Online Etymology Dictionary: www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=organic…)
Above the store sign at a Starbucks near Union Square, a big sign for Ching Lee, an insurance salesman…Starbucks, I've heard, not doing so well, so they're renting out space above their signs?
New author/journalist I like, Dani Katz - read a piece - no pun intended - by her in Common Ground about celibacy - here's a list of articles from the LA Weekly:
www.laweekly.com/content/result/author:27786. (Also, this site has a good slideshow of 26 photos from the Katy Perry January 31st show at the Wiltern in L.A. In one, she's jumping in the air, her feet out to the sides…gigantic cat head above the stage - she's a cat person, a thing I really like about her, or anyone…all those idiot pissing dogs on the streets, geez…I like the excretory discretion of the feline…)
Then heading back to my crib after online time…passed a café across from an Academy of Art University campus - back when it was still a college…had a brownie there, I remember, when I was less particular about my diet than I am now…
#1378 www.starplane.blogspot.com sweetdango@hotmail.com
…part of Mason, towards the top of Nob Hill - wondering about the angle of the street, its…inclination? Thirty-three degrees? Ha, that would go along with the Mason thing, Masonic degrees…but…probably more like twenty-five degrees, or less…
Video Zone store - two dollar VHS tapes - these could make gifts for a friend or three who still use that format, I think - Bowie's "Modern Love" on the sound system…
Hand reading sign at some psychic/Tarot reader place - the thumb equals the will, logic…and the Café Mozart nearby - features, appropriately, Filet Mignon Salieri…French/Californian cuisine - half in competion with Rue Lepic, a bit higher on the hill, which does French exclusively, I believe. The chef’s a Japanese woman, if I read the outside text right, married a French guy…
Passed an Academy of Art University campus - many times picked up a friend there after she was done with work…
Union Square, counterclockwise stroll around it - also called "widdershins", a widdershins stroll. See: www.widdershins.org/ for an online "inclusive pagan community newspaper"…
Wheatgrass juice available at a Financial District Jamba Juice.
Children's clothing store used to be a B. Dalton's bookstore.
San Francisco Historical Landmark #141 - site of the first telephone exchange…built in 1908…333 Grant…and…found this online, a list of "Historic Sites in San Francisco": www.noehill.com/sf/landmarks/default.aspx. The SF Follies show is opening on February 6th: www.sffollies.com/. At the Actors Theatre, 855 Bush at Taylor. I never go to live theatre myself, except whatever’s always around me on the streets, but I like the idea of this show’s local references, and the satire. Singing, dancing…I guess like Beach Blanket Babylon, for 2K9.
Lunar sliver above the city that night, a Cheshire cat moon. Paused in front of the Zeke's bar briefly, didn't hear music - have gone in there once and put money into their digital jukebox, had a Coke.
Tuned in Fresh Air for a little while - actor in cable series Big Love interviewed - series about polygamy - guy has three wives, three suburban houses to keep up. Religious basis of this - believes he needs to bring many kids into the world, in order to incur some benefit in an afterlife.
England said to be about the size of Montana - says John Hillaby in Journey Through Britain.
After midnight recently, loud music from the room below me - imagined going down there and telling whoever to turn it UP, that I couldn't quite hear it well enough. The psychology of sarcasm. Knocked on the floor a few times, hard, with a stick, and that seemed to make my point. But was a bit worried that whoever down there, a violent nut, would come up and be irritated, but that didn't happen. Or thought they'd shoot a bullet through their roof. I've lived in places where that was more of a possibility.
Madonna flashbacking, walking along, "Vogue" playing in my mind, moving to it a bit, tho' not so extravagently. Katy Perry's not the only one who's internalized the Material Girl's work…
…Taylor near Market, “Art Theatres” sign on closed place – formerly a porn palace? Art and sex in the Tenderloin…now nearly everyone can get hardcore porn right on their laptops, don't have to go to a smutty venue in the bad part of town…
A “Monster” brand canned coffee, with energy drink components, from a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair, sparechanging on Powell – eight years there. Cans given out free earlier that day. Doesn’t like going out to Fort Miley, the vet hospital – too far to go, too much hassle to schedule that.
In the drink: taurine, Panax ginseng, and an “energy blend” featuring L-carnitine, guarana, more. Liked the taste more than standard Red Bull type drinks, liked the milky coffeeness.
Sitting at Union Square, talking to friend over my cell about the day’s Examiner. Second floor of Borders visible – nice café there, comfy chairs. Good place to sit with a magazine if one's got time to fill.
Artists Guild hosting an art show in the Square that day. Nothing particularly exciting…skulls like Georgia O’Keefe's in one person’s canvases, tho’ not as accomplished, not as deep…seven locations around the city for shows by this Guild, including Huntington Park, Washington Square Park, the de Young…
Bicycle locked up passed – handlebars not long enough. In the market for one, or at least looking. Wouldn't mind being on one again…in the new Common Ground, definition for a "bikesexual" - person very involved with his or her bicycle, to the exclusion of relationships with people…
Irwin Corey – look into his work, meaning to. Transcripts of his material would be fun to look at…I can do something like him, make up phrases that seem to say something, in an academic manner, but really don't…here's a site with something:
www.irwincorey.org/routines.html. Just what I was looking for…
Mechanics’ Institute circular stairs, fun to go up and down. Classic building, glad to be in it all the time.
Laxative effect from nearly two cans of that coffee drink. Near-emergency, but got to a toilet in time.
Candelier, Maiden Lane – maybe get a nice big beeswax candle there.
Chaos magic site, with a sex magic article. Got those filed at my e-mail, studying 'em. Sexual abstinence, and fasting, considered a ‘sacrifice” by the writer.
Roy Walford, caloric restriction and optimal nutrition. Am eating less, and what I do eat lately is pretty optimal in terms of delivering a lot of nutrition. And my body's showing it - lean, as lean as it's ever been, and getting more so. But not unhealthily lean.
Chronicle 144th birthday observance continues, special features, including Joel Selvin work on rock music in San Francisco…
“…didn’t like the curve of her ass, especially…” - line for some guy. I think this about most of the ladies I see out there on the street.
Los Angeles Times cover, top of the fold, in a street box – stimulus bill clears first hurdle…819 billion…also, L.A. wrongway driver, two dead…
Larry, on Market Street, with “love oil” for sale, and incense – said the “Obama” one features “Paris Hilton” and “Sean Paul”, for some reason…doesn’t seem that consecrated…should get to The Sword and Rose, Carl between Clayton and Cole, for some witchy incense…
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-sword-and-rose-san-francisco. Here’s their site – about the simplest I’ve ever seen: http://www.theswordandrose.com/. Style points, anyway, to this Larry for his gangsta gold teeth…
Given a Blondie’s Pizza card – three-50 for a drink and a pepperoni slice – seems really high, doesn't it? Friend from a while back, another Vietnam vet, thought Pizza was a total rip-off, in terms of what you paid for what you got. Same, he thought, with Gatorade.
15 bucks for twenty minutes of massage from an Asian man at the U.N. Plaza artisan market – now THAT sounds like a good deal…got there from another vendor, a little dollop of shea butter, rubbed that in – also…full price for small Eastern wisdom books. Rarely pay full price for books, tho' I like to support the independent stores…
“Cool Hand Luke” last in the Paul Newman tribute series at the library…have at my crib some of his popcorn – been popping that up with butter, pink salt - pink because of high mineral content…
Phrase for someone: “…emblematic of superfluity…”
Guy smoking in front of a California government building, with a lot of weight around his stomach…a living testament to ill-health.
Brenda’s New Orleans soul food place open, but no line outside – unusual. A very popular place in Noma - that is, North of Market.
Public urinator, pretty open about it – at least his back was turned into the bushes he was bestowing his flow upon…
Guess I’ll just plead guilty at the upcoming Odd Fellows hearing related to my behavior at the last meeting. But will add a few comments, not just completely expose my neck to the mercy of the committee.
Overlong steeping of green tea could lead to kidney stones - read that in a Roy Walford book…yerba mate, what I drink, is a form of green tea, from a South American holly…so have been aware of this possibility, been steeping it for shorter times.
Nob Hill, an apartment, many stairs from the sidewalk leading up to the front door – not a residence for the wheelchair-bound.