Aleta Hayes said I’m a “flaneur”.

Happy holidays to Aleta (the dancer and actor and leader, of Stanford).

Today I happen to be in San Francisco for a minute, at the Potrero Hills library, built in 2010.  I returned three items, from the North Beach branch: a book on the Beats; a Deerhoof cd; a comic book drawing POTUS in the style of various comic book characters.

I had to cross the 20th street overpass to get here, from where my car is parked on 3rd. I admit I prayed for lack of earthquake while traverssing said bridge.

An oddity, from a few scenes ago: how does 16th street intersect 4th street? Is that “new math”?

From the large windows of this library, I see at least 38 buildings of the skyline, plus one bridge, or parts of a bridge. I still think it odd — as odd as 16/4 streets — that “the dick building” displaces The Pyramid. I see The Marriot, 505 Mongomery — unless that’s California Street i.e. Gianini Building — the tip of Transamerica Pyramid which is Columbus and Mongomery or so; a couple other newby giants; St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church — here on Potrero Hill, foreground; maybe the famous leaning tower of condos; 280; who knows what else. I should insert the actual distance to Salesforce building here. TK.

The non-fiction shelf here had George Packer “The Unwinding” next to Hunter S. Thompson “The Great Shark Hunt”.

“Top of the world, Ma” –my headline — comes from a Jimmy Cagney movie I saw recently at Stanford Theatre.

b/w earlier today I returned very late “Das Boot” about Germany’s leading cobbler.  In the FOTL section there was for only $2 a copy of “Herbie: The Love Bug” with a The Donnas song, a cover of BTO “Roll on Down the Road” which was BTO’s second biggest hit next to its #1 smash “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”. Peak: 1, Us Billboard 100; 98 year end chart). TKOB was #12/63 in 1973; Let It Ride: 23; RODTH: 14/133;

and: i’m kind of a literary flaneur: Flânerie is the act of strolling, with all of its accompanying associations. A near-synonym is boulevardier. I yanked a Joel Selvin collection of rock journalism and opened it to an article I read in real time about Sugar Pie Desanto losing her home to a fire; I was just at Down Home Music in El Cerrito and thought for a minute to look for a Sugar Pie DeSanto set.

How many days until my memoir class  (with Lynn Stegner)?

It’s from White Heat: