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:
Terry Acebo Davis, Mark Weiss; Davis; Bronco’s fans at 49ers; Marcell Harris; EPL soccer on TV dogpile; former AAA football star, Weiss; Davis, Minerva Amistoso, the filmmaker and photographer; Tuck and Patti; portrait of Duffy on Dog Wall of cafe; Tom Morello; my cousin Lisa Pritzker; Mark McGwire rookie card; shoes by Tom Varvatos; lights by Bruce Munro; Norzin Lama shot by Shaquille O’Neal — up to 800K views on instagram; Terry and Duffy; mystery of the aleph; Weiss with Nordstrom menswear guru; Ari Smolar; Nina Kashadourian; Mo Salah; Bill Mitchell the former Gunn Titans basketball star, Mark Weiss was also on the team; detail, bound copy of the 1985-1986 The Dartmouth, photo of Bob Blackman and Murry Bowden — I had interviewed Bowden and Willie Bogan for the 15th anniversary of the 1970 Lambert Trophy team, yet future U.S. Army language specialist Rich Outzen ’89 of San Mateo’s Aragon High — not pictured — completed the story; Joey Fabien at Pascal Bokar’s San Carlos club in a band that also featured Baxter Robertson on keys; Lin Manuel Miranda, Emily Blunt and James Corden doing a number from “Hairspray”; Steven Colbert wearing Barton Perreira glasses; Mark Weiss wearing Barton Perreira glasses, with fancy eyewear rep Rod Carper (presumably wearing Kawasaki); Weiss, Jim Keene eyewear unknown; 1995 poster for The Palo Alto Soundcheck that I was showing just two weeks ago to Brad Johnson of Virginia Dare, at Parker Gibbs’ Makeout Room, by Pierre Paul Pariseau of Montreal; Doug Hilsinger and Caroleen Beatty of Waycross; still life with Chanukah bush; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline; Weiss and donated books of Anderson, Stone, Twain, McPhee, Golding, Cline and Cohen; Chris Bryant; The Progress Collection dishes and bowls; Blind Boys of Alabama at SFJazz featuring Jimmy Carter, age 89, seated; double portrait of artist Chris Knipp of El Cerrito; “Hank Morgan as The Boss”; Weiss and Raiders fans; Raiders fans, with Weiss classmate Chris Strausser offensive line coach of Broncos in background, too small to distinguish; Knipp and former Flower Films Vernon at Down Home Music El Cerrito; Davis. my camera rolls comprises 14, 238 such.
Gives new meaning to below: baby’s on fire, better put him in the water.
And that’s about it for me. I’m off to help Terry my wife make lasagna, then up to San Francisco for the blind boys of Alabama and did I mention I’m taking a course on memoir with Lynn Stagner coming soon is this memoir
And that 2 million others got here first:
Batted third
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 