Something Tangible After a Bit of a Break

I've been thinking . . .

Yes, this little blog has been moribund for nearly two years; but I have something nostalgic to share and not all of my friends of the last 10 or 30 or 50 years are on the proper social media websites. Hence a mild resurrection of my blog for this bit of personal remembrance.

It seems I have a quilt.

 this is the 1997 side

and this the 2018 side

Of course there is a story (or three).

Back in about 1997, a good friend [Janet] offered to make a quilt for me. She wanted it to be personalized, so I dipped into my t-shirt drawer and came up with half a dozen or so culturally significant cotton visuals.

For instance: 

this is the oldest image on the quilt, from my 1980 excursion to Antarctica

This whimsical logo sets the quilt images into a particular segment of my life. I was departing L.A. in 1991 and heading down a new path in San Francisco. Leaving my partnership in a mortgage firm and a somewhat typical Southern California lifestyle for a Ph.D. program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in Haight-Ashbury. With this shirt, two of my dear friends, Bruce & Faith, summed up the South vs. North feelings among my friends about my pending transition.

I knew not a soul in San Francisco, but uprooting was and continues to be a signature move in my wanderings. Still, leaving Hermosa Beach wasn't without deep rumblings of emotion and loss. My best friend and business partner, dear Tom, had disappeared far too soon from all of our lives. We had both developed plans for what was to be next for us, mine was to be a doctoral program, Tom's future was cut tragically short.

In the summer of '89, Tom & I plotted a month-long roadtrip and invited family and friends to join us for bits & pieces of the chautauqua. A gang of Carl, Deanna, Gary and his parents joined us for Yellowstone and some local color around the Schorzman homegrounds in Idaho.

Leap ahead several years, this naughty (look close) knot artwork comes from my friend [Tina], life in San Francisco had become transformational.
That was the plan afterall.

One of the highlights of my time at CIIS was a 1997 excursion to Indonesia, specifically Bali. My friend and professor, Daniel and his partner Fariba led a group of spirtual adventurers into three weeks of Balinese immersion. Note the masques.

Friends from the L.A. days, if the colors of the quilting thus far seems evocative, tis perhaps because the pinks and greens are made from leftover pieces of the cloths we used in Tom's AIDS quilt panel.

lower left

Now on the to 2018 flip side. I gave Mo, another new friend, a whole mess of chopped up t-shirts and left it to her artistic sense to cast the imagery for side two of the quilt.

I found her edging (non-quilter terminology) to be fascinating; all of the bits and snips woven around the splashes of t-shirt memories.

Interesting, the Indonesia masque t-shirt on the '90s side and this one many years later. You see this painting of me was done by a street artist in Ubud, Bali on that same trip. A much longer story about the masque and dance that went with it, but the shirt was with me for twenty years before it too found its way onto the other side quilt.

Another enduring feature of my time in grad school at CIIS ('91-'99) was the annual conference of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness. Life long friends were met and remet at these yearly gatherings, t-shirts often reflected the ongoing happenings at those meetings. Strange though they may have been.

The artist of many of these images was and is the previously mentioned Tina, now a successful professor and still a wonderful artist.

this one should wrinkle a few in time

My friend Scott gave an amazing presentation at this meeting. Seems like a lot of mushrooms . . .

 and then there are the deep flashbacks, the shirt was obtained at one of the many reunions we have attended but the years actually at K College were 1965-69.

Weed, California: I have been visiting long, long, long time dear friends Gary & Cyndi there for three decades. They and their blissful place with a full compliment of critters both wild and semi-tame.

The 2018 side of the quilt was commissioned while I was residing in a solitary aerie in Berkeley (2010-2015), the room with the magnificent view of the San Francisco Bay and the beyond belief landlady.

What more can I say.
You know what that's like, right?

p.s. it's a big quilt, room enough for two

Golden Nostalgia

I took this photograph of the setting sun behind the Golden Gate Bridge two years ago this week.

The sun is progressing on its northward path, setting behind the bridge for several days this week.

Fortunately for our drought conditions this week has been overcast and wet. However, no opportunities for a Bridge + Sunset snapshot, the evening overcast blotted out the bridge view.

My time here at the Berkeley Townhouse, with the beautiful panorama, is coming to an end after five years. Time to move on. Regrets I'll have a few, including not being able to lift my head from this screen and see San Francisco Bay in a kaleidoscope of weather, light and color.

Here are a few more shots from my window on the Bay.

Dreamy Slide Show

Click on this link or any of the other links to my Flickr account and then double click on the photograph that comes up. You will get a surreal slide show of the view I have shared from my window. Trust me - a three minute journey worth taking.

Moody Shadows & Fog

Evening has come to pass The time of day doesn't last Evening has earned its place today

Cold hearted orb that rules the night Removes the colours from our sight Red is gray and yellow white but we decide which is right And which is an illusion

Pinprick holes in a colorless sky Let insipid figures of light pass by The might light of ten thousand suns Challenges infinity and is soon gone Night time, to some a brief interlude To others the fear of solitude



-lyrics Moody Blues

Sutro Tower

click either picture for a wider view

Alcatraz - A Foggy View

Most of the commercial shots you see of Alcatraz are from the San Francisco side of the Bay where you view the infamous prison island out in the middle of the Bay. From my perspective Alcatraz looks to be close to the Golden Gate Bridge, in fact, there are a couple of miles of open water between the island and the bridge.

History books often talk about the 'torture' of seeing and even hearing the sights and sounds of San Francisco from the prison.

Imagine further, the prison completely buried in the fog.

closer views

Golden Gate in Fog

The Golden Gate Bridge is nearly ten miles from my window. The zoom lens brings it closer and the fog takes it mysteriously away.

Bigger, clearer, closer views - click here

High Sky

larger view

Many years ago my neighbor was a astronomy buff. He would be out in his backyard whenever some significant event was happening in the heavens. And since his knowledge was far beyond mine, the significant events were often very cool and I got to see many of them through his telescope. Early one evening he was out watching a colorful sunset. Over the back fence he told me about the phenomenon he called "High Sky." Quite simply you have clouds and a setting sun that is blocked from a direct view by more low clouds on the horizon. This allows the sun to indirectly illuminate the other parts of the cloud cover and gives up long, colorful displays. We had one of those recently.

You can see all of these photos larger by clicking the link above and scrolling with the left arrow.

Fog City

I regret that I am not adept enough to fully capture what I see with my eyes. One particularly fascinating phenomenon I get to witness is the fog rolling in from the Pacific. Whether it creeps through the Golden Gate or oozes over the hills of Marin or slowly swallows the city of San Francisco, I find the fog and marine layers provide some of the most compelling views out my window. With our late winter season just now arriving, this is my first attempt to deliver the Fog City views for you. Hopefully our drought conditions will moderate and I will have more chances to film the fog.

link to enlarged photos use scroll to review all