phyncke

Yikes - it has been a while since I posted here. Did not realize that. I have been here and working and all that so not much to report this month. I will do the run down.

On my car - I have gotten the funds together to fix the transmission and will be getting it fixed next week on the 22nd of April. So that is good. I am trying not to drive the car that much and just doing essential things. To the store and home really.

Last week, I took Friday off for a personal day and went to San Francisco with my friend, J***. We got lobster rolls at Luke's Lobster and went to Stella Bakery in North Beach. I got a cannoli there and it was so delicious. I really love cannoli's. Their are the chocolate chip kind and really fresh and so very good. We used to take Uber's around the city but this time we walked the whole way and that was really fun. We got lots of steps in and got to see what was happening there. I have to say I noticed that there were not many people in the city and that there are lots of closed businesses there. The pandemic has not been kind to SF. We ended up at the Ferry Building there on our way back to the ferry home and it was really quiet there and lots of the businesses in the Ferry Building were closed. It is very sad. I had a good time but it is sobering to see the effects of the pandemic on SF. I hope things come back or revitalize soon.

I am reading a really good book right now. I heard a short story by Shirley Jackson on NPR's Selected Shorts recently and that got me interested in her writing so I found her book The Haunting Of Hill House at the used book store and am reading that now. It is beautifully written and really absorbing. So happy to be reading it. I am also still reading David Sedaris - The Best of Me and those stories are very funny - I read those in doses and also still reading Down Girl - The Logic of Misogyny for book group - we do a chapter of that each week for book group. I always have multiple things on my book shelf. Lots of things going on for the literature.

Work is busy - I had an event recently - my awards ceremony for mentoring and it went really well on Zoom - we had 80 people there and that was great. The awardees felt well cared for so that makes me feel good. I have another event coming up for fellowships students and need to do stuff for that and student competitions today. So lots going on.

That is about all for me. Just wanted to put a post up here. I am really upset about the incidents that have happened with the Police recently in the USA. I cannot believe they happen when the trial for Derek Chauvin is happening. Like seriously? When is this going to stop?

Hope you are doing well where you are there. Peace.

So today was another SF day and we hit a few more sites in the city of an education, iconical or cultural nature. It is a brave thing to venture there on a Saturday and we went to two of the bridges and through a whole bunch of California traffic, if you know what I mean. Lordy, I am tired and it is late so this will be short.

First stop was the Golden Gate. No trip to the Bay Area is complete without a trip to this grand icon. Perfectly clear day there and a nice vista. Really nice people all around and we got a parking spot in the lot there! Score! The bridge can be foggy but not today. Snapped pics and off we went toooo...

The Exploratorium over by the Palace of Fine Arts. This is the coolest, sciency thing ever. It is a very interactive place with gadgets, kinetic things and exhibits that show you how the physical universe works. It was founded by Frank Oppenheimer, the brother of Robert J. Oppenheimer and was his legacy to the scientific community after having been exiled for a while in the witch hunts of the 50's. This place is interesting, fun and you could go back and do totally different things as there is SO much. We were booked into the Tactile Dome which is a dome within the museum and totally and enclosed crawl space that you navigate in the dark. You feel your way through it and through tunnels where you feel different things as you go through. I admit that this was not my thing and I turned back at the first part of the course. As they say on the site, "it is not for everyone." I felt a real sense of being too closed in. The rest of the crew went through and found it really cool, though the teenager said it was "pretty creepy"--high praise, indeed. My personal favorite part was the Jukebox Room which was an enclosed music listening room of music exclusive to the Exploratorium. One of the composers was listening to his very own piece while I was in there and I had a terrific conversation with him and his companion. Just great people and his music was innovative and intriguing...sampled words to music. Neato!

After hours exploring the Exploratorium, we walked around the Palace of Fine Arts which is very beautiful. Here is a link about the architecture there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_Fine_Arts

( Some pics before I nod off... )

Again, photos are courtesy of khylea. I did not take many today.

Sadly enough, she heads back to Seattle tomorrow and I am back to work on Monday. I will do one more post on the vacation about the food adventures that we had and that will about wrap it up.

Good night and good news. :)

So we did the city today...it was a real treat. We ended up going to the Golden Gate Bridge and to Chinatown. We skipped the trolley as we got tired and wanted to spend more time shopping in the boutiques and things. I bought some stuff and of course...I got some piccies!

I am sharing them with you.

( First stop--Golden Gate Bridge... )

I got some really interesting shots in Chinatown...

( Like the Joe Jackson song... )

We are hanging out having a mellow time here at the ponderosa. Hope you all are having a good weekend.

*waves to friendslist*