Diane Keaton's Beautiful Voice

Most of my friends know I love Diane. My ex-husband always said she'd play me in a movie. Music to my ears.

Diane also sings. If you've ever seen Annie Hall – and please say you have – you know that she is something crazy-great.

So when new-ish old friends came visiting from the East Coast, I thought of one thing while we all made breakfast last Saturday morning.
"Seems like...old times."
"Staying up all hours, making dreams come true, doing things we used to do."

Dogs of Hallow's Eve

Dress your mini dog up as a massive beast!
HILARIOUS!

Why didn't anyone think of this before?!

My Death Scene

The mystery's been solved.

Now I know what will kill me.

The disappearance of Sonic Noise from the Youth should do it, but good.


"Maybe they just fell out of love, maybe by inches, the way uneven proportions of sand and water can become concrete."

...that my dead body is hidden in.

My HER-O

Today is actually a day that I say
POWER TO THE PEOPLE.
Or women, to be more accurate.

Because as it turns out, there is justice sometimes.

Women out there in the world need to know about my friend who put away a very very bad person today. She went through hell when he committed crimes upon her, and she went through hell telling a jury about every detail. Twice. But she DID IT.

She DID IT. And that makes her a HER-O to all women.

And so today, that cartoonish phrase is in my head...

GIRL POWER!!

...and then I want to say "Activate!" But I know that's the wrong cartoon.

Power Saw to the People

What I'm really thinking.

What I learned at work today part one

(click photo to enlarge)

Research is at least 50% of my writing job. I'm not sure how many TV shows my company sells memorabilia for, but there's no way I could ever write for all of them without research. And this learns me some interesting/weird/silly stuff.

For example: What's a TARDIS? It's a time machine Dr. Who uses. Know what else it is? Someone, above, has some pretty good ideas.

Boot Fry

Frye makes the best boots. Just save up a bit and plunk it all down on one pair because those shoes will last longer than most friendships.

In 1995 I bought a pair of boots from Frye, very similar to these. It's been 16 years and I've had new heels put on twice. The most recent facelift took them from looking exactly like these to something brand new.

Funny that I fixed them and they were actually already the look du jour. But authentic.

In 1995 they cost $150. Today, $268.

Huh.

Not Hot

But interesting.

I want to dye it yellow and make it a yellow brick road.

"Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road.
Follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

We're off to see the Wizard, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!!"

Baby Leg Warmers

Made from knee socks!

An Ambiguously Gay Halloween

My choice if I still did Halloween.

Living in the Castro for a decade and hosting halloween parties most years was good enough for an adult lifetime.

Now halloween is on hold until my daughter is old enough to care.

Maybe I should get this costume for guy and me for the future...I can't wait to tell my daughter what it means to be ambiguously gay and why it's funny.

Ok, so, Little Lou, this is what it's all about...

Scenes from a Commute

 In an ongoing series, I'll be posting photos taken from my morning commute from Marin County to downtown San Francisco. The scene that calls to me most often is right after I turn off Broadway onto Columbus, and am face to face with the Transamerica Building. To my right is the "Susie Hotel" – a name of personal interest to me – then, further down is the Zoetrope Building and all the memories that brings to mind (1. ex-husband snorting coke on Francis' desk after a meeting (without Francis, let's make that clear) 2. Sofia Coppola and her filmmaking skills vs. how she was in high school, that Elizabeth Peyton painting of her that Marc Jacobs commissioned etc.).

Then, fantastically straight up to the sun from there is the Transamerica. The base of it reminds me of the base of the World Trade Center. Something about the zigzag pattern of the lobby exterior. Sometimes I imagine tragedy and heartbreak, other times just the feeling of being near something so huge is fun. Really. Fun. Being dwarfed. It's a cool feeling.

Steve Jobs SOS

Found looking up from Montgomery Street at California today.

Sad. It's like an SOS.

(tap photo to enlarge)

"Oh. Steve Jobs died."

My heart hurt just a little bit when I heard that Steve Jobs had died. It was 2pm in the afternoon, the day of, October 5. He couldn't have even been that dead by the time the news reached us in downtown San Francisco. My co-worker, a guy, made a soft sound like, "Oh." The sound was soft and quick and got my attention. I held my breath..."Steve Jobs just died." My response was immediate. Eyebrows up, surprised. Heart hurt in a tiny corner spot, pain.

I didn't cry like I did when the world lost Jim Carroll or Jerry Garcia. But there was pain in my heart like there is when someone who makes the world a better place just...disappears.

I loved Steve's emphasis on presentation and design. I love that he put form right next to function, if not just a little on top. This is the idea of an artist, and artists do not usually hold the kind of power necessary to put form a little bit on top of function. But he did it. And now he's gone...

When Andy Warhol died, his magazine, Interview, was immediately changed for the worst. Gone were the beautiful oil pastel portraits of the cover subject by Richard Bernstein. Gone was the oversized tabloid format. In came "regular format" and photography on the cover. So far from the vision of the artist, another one who had great power, another one who made what looks good more important than what works right.

It's so admirable.

I hope something similar doesn't happen in this situation.

Bye, Steve Jobs. It just seemed too early for you to move on...