My fabulous friend Morgan Stetler is celebrating the opening of his first photography exhibit this Friday, March 25 at Sweeties in North Beach. If you can, check out his photo exhibit ~ I'll be there, playing the role of Morgan's groupie.
I met Morgan a little over 10 years ago, during a pre-Iron-Chef cook-off between him and another friend. Morgan's rooftop setting under a romantic San Francisco sky blew away the competition and captured my heart. When I lived above Dolores Park in the City, Morgan was living with Ian on 20th Street, just two short blocks from my flat. For a while Morgan and I wowed our friends with our own cook-offs and I remember once winning points for serving the cream in a pyrex measuring cup for the dessert course. Those were the good ole days ~ when I was dirt poor but rich in friendships; I couldn't afford a cream-and-sugar set but still I could whip up a big meal for all my friends, even if we did have to sit cross-legged on the floor.
Morgan and Ian lived in a huge pre-Mission-gentrification, rent-control apartment that was the scene of many, many of those infamous "dinner parties" the boys would throw ~ where the guest list consisted of only a bevy of beauties ~ Kristina, Laura, Katie, Maria, lil ole me, and any one of the numerous women who had fallen in love with Ian and/or Morgan that week; there were rarely other men at those dinner parties, but there was always an abundance of salsa music, plantains, and wine ~ and somehow a back rub was always part of the dessert course. ~ ;-)
Yeah, the boys were always there for me. I remember late one night, I was home alone in my little flat on Cumberland Street, sad and pining over some inconsequential boy who had broken my heart. I called Ian and Morgan and sniffed into the phone, "I'm wearing boxers and nibbling on oreos in bed!" Oh I was a sad sight, and I tell ya, the boys were right there ready to cheer me up ~ :) But that was the wonderful nature of our close friendship, and the friendship Ian and Morgan had with all of their girl-friends....they were the only boys lucky enough to get calls from the girls every time we had our hearts broken by yet another cad, another lothario who had treated us with less-than-the-undying-adoration we deserved ~ and so Ian and Morgan adored us all. Damn I love those guys.
I remember when Morgan's photography started taking shape and I fell in love with a batch of his photos from Cuba in 2001. He'd always had a photographer's eye and was already a creative genius, but still I was stunned by his photographs ~ stunned because he took the photos on a digital camera, which he then printed on his fancy printer at home, using fancy photo paper ~ they were museum-quality prints. Somehow, I sweet-talked Morgan into giving me prints of about 10 of his Cuba photos ~ I had each one custom framed and they make my humble apartment look like a hip art Gallery. Really. Morgan would not even let me pay him for the ink or paper or anything. He is one of the most generous souls I know (and hey that was because I was a poor law student at the time, too; for you, you should go to the exhibit and buy a print, ok?). Ai, Morgan makes me want to pick up a camera and convey onto film my visions of the sensory overload filtering through my life these days ~ the ones I haven't been able to blog about lately.
For now, here are two of the photographs he gave me ~ now you have a peek into my apartment as well, and that's more than I have put out all month.
~ :)
This is why I love the San Francisco Bay Area ~ Creativity Explored and its 16th Street gallery in the heart of the Mission District. Creativity Explored is a nonprofit multimedia visual arts center for people with developmental disabilities ~~ it's really a place where art changes lives. The center celebrates its 21st anniversary this year and this weekend they are holding their popular holiday sale, starting on Friday night. Much of the artwork by its 110 artists will be at reduced prices, with lots priced at less than $100. Half the sale price goes directly to the artist, the rest to the organization. You can read more about the weekend sale and some of the artists who will be there, here.
The only real creative gene I have is my love for alliteration and, well, arguing ~ I can't even draw a straight line with a ruler. But years ago I spent two semesters as a volunteer working with kids with Cerebral Palsy ~~ I was lucky enough to see and feel what it's like to share in the creation of art with some amazing, amazing human beings. Like some of the artists at Creativity Explored, some of the kids I worked with did not speak ~~ but through art, and laughter, and hide-and-go-seek, and playing in the sand box, they spoke volumes to me about life, and how to cherish it ~~ hell, how to enjoy it. I'm glad I saw this newspaper article today, and glad it reminded me of the kids who changed my life so much, so many years ago. If you are in the Bay Area, go to the weekend sale at Creativity Explored! You can also shop at their online store, here. I bet you'll find much better, cooler, more unique Christmas gifts here than at the Mall! ~ :)
I took an amazing walk today. Through a cemetery. That's right. The sun shone brightly, the breeze danced around me, architectural and landscaping gems dazzled me. Yep. A cemetery. No, wait. It's not as morbid as it sounds. This was no ordinary cemetery ~ no ordinary day, no ordinary walk. We went to Mountain View Cemetery at the top of Piedmont Avenue, just off of Grand Avenue, in Oakland.
The walk was my friend S.B.'s idea and I am glad I took a break from my work to explore this part of Oakland I didn't know existed. Mountain View Cemetery was designed by the "Founder of American Lansdcape Architecture," Frederick Law Olmstead ~ his designs include New York's Central Park, the U.S. Capitol Grounds in Washington D.C., the campus grounds at Stanford University, and our breathtaking Yosemite Park. Olmstead's vision in designing the cemetery was that nature and human destiny are intertwined ~~ and you can see that in the way some of the final resting places were laid out, around certain natural elements. This natural-park-like cemetery is huge ~ 226 acres, including three separate Gothic, Tower, and Mausoleum chapels. The diversity of design, philosophy, and um, the "inhabitants," makes this an amazing place to visit. You gotta see it to believe it.
Olmstead transplanted Italian cypress, Lebanese cedar, and Italian stone pine, to join the native California live Oaks. The headstones, sarcophagi, and mausoleums include Arabic, Russian, Greek, and Art Deco designs. This cemetery is the final resting place for scores of famous Californians, including architects Julia Morgan (California's first female architect) and Bernard Maybeck ~ Charles Crocker, one of the founders of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads (whose mausoleum at the top of the hill enjoys an amazing view of downtown Oakland, the Bay, San Francisco, the Port of Oakland, and the Bay Bridge) ~ Warren A. Bechtel (um, yeah, as in founder of the world's largest engineering and construction services firm) ~ James Folger (as in the coffee) ~ Domingo Ghirardelli (as in the delicious chocolate) ~ and Captain William T. Shorey (the only black sea captain on the West Coast 1886). Regular people are buried here, too ~~ Civil War and World War II veterans, families born in early 1800, the two young brothers who died last year at the age of 20, and E. Wilkins and M. Wilkins, beloved husband and wife, whose headstone read, "Ready To Go."
We must have walked a few miles up and around the wide boulevards, and then up the steps and down the narrow curved lanes. A group of kids played hide-n-seek around the massive mausoleum of Samuel Merritt (1822-1890; Physician, Ship Master, Philanthropist; Regent of the University of California; and Mayor of Oakland). There were a few runners tackling the steep hills, and several speed cyclists taking advantage of the quiet, traffic-less paths. This was the most lively damn cemetery I have ever seen! Some of my favorite headstones:
| DOWNER |
(Yes, this was the deceased's last name, but that's all they engraved on the massive stone and it struck us as hilarious.)
| To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die. |
The cemetery was so quiet and peaceful in fact, that one poor girl was even getting a driving lesson from her father. Our car seemed to be the only one parked on the grounds, so this poor girl kept trying to practice her parallel parking skills ~ it was not going well. Can you imagine learning how to drive in a cemetery? Another hilarious moment. There were also the various moments when I refused to walk on the grass over anyone's grave because, you know, haven't you seen those horror movies where the arm shoots out from the ground to grab the unsuspecting stroller's leg? Uh-uh, I stuck to the damn path, thank you.
Many of the headstones listed the deceased's line of work ~ such as "Woodman," or "Mason," or "Reverend." Obviously, these were the headstones from the 1800's. There was one headstone from the mid-1970's that said, "Certified Life Underwriter." Poor guy. I mean, if that's ALL you can think of to engrave on your FINAL RESTING PLACE, well, that's just sad. I mean, no disrespect, you know? I should not speak ill of the dead. But it was amazing at how many people we felt we "knew" today, even for a minute. Like "Cogswell," who died at the age of "79 years, 11 months, and 13 days" ~ but who's counting right? Cogswell must have been loaded because his mausoleum was the centerpiece of the cemetery, complete with a small plaza, fountains, and beautiful landscaping.
It wasn't surprising that at first, as I walked along the path, reading the names and bookend dates of strangers' lives, of course I began evaluating my own mortality, my own existence, and what trite saying I may have placed on my headstone. But then I remembered that I want to be cremated and have my ashes sprinkled in Ventana Wilderness or something. Instead of thinking of how I want my life to be summed up after I'm gone, I started thinking of all the parts that make up the total sum ~ the ones here and now while I'm around. I stopped thinking about death, and began thinking about life. And the amazing City I live in. And my amazing friends. And the indescribable view up on that hill. And how lucky I am. And then we went to have burgers and milkshakes at Barney's on Piedmont. What a strange and fun day ~ and it reminded me of part of this poem by Kabir, the universal Guru of Indian philosophy, who was born in India in 1398 A.D.:
| Friend, hope for the Guest . . . Jump into experience while you are alive! Think...and think... while you are alive. If you don’t break your ropes while you’re alive, do you think ghosts will do it after? The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic just because the body is rotten -- that is all fantasy. What is found now is found then. If you find nothing now, you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death. If you make love with the divine now, in the next life you will have the face of satisfied desire. So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is, Believe in the Great Sound! |
Dios mio, I am in heaven. What a meal. Tonight my friend Drew took me to the opening night of Colibrí Mexican Bistro down in San Francisco's Theater District, near Union Square. What food! What a setting! What amazing people own this restaurant! Colibrí, which means hummingbird, has a beautiful interior, which is modeled on 19th century Mexican cantinas. The owner, Sylvia Rallo, and her husband, Eduardo, who are both from Cuernavaca, sum it up quite nicely:
During the late 1800's and early 1900's, Mexico experienced major cultural and political changes. At the time the country had strong links to Europe, and particularly France. French influence was reflected in the art and architecture of buildings, homes, and public facilities, and eventually made its way into restaurant menus. Many cantinas (featuring a pub atmosphere of casual dining and spirits) opened during that period, and became important gathering places for leaders and the community as a whole. The décor of the cantinas during this period included traditional Mexican design elements, coupled with antique furniture common in France. People would come together at the cantinas to socialize, hear the latest news, and to celebrate while enjoying their favorite home-style meals served on hors d'oeuvres plates (tapas) that varied in fare day to day.
The interior was indeed warm and welcoming and incredibly beautiful ~~ in three months, Sylvia and Eduardo somehow transformed an old California Pizza Kitchen into a sublime dining and socializing environment. All of the art (including three huge original paintings) and fixtures are from Guadalajara. The bar is stocked sky-high with a selection of 100 tequilas, and a flat-screen TV nestled into the wall above the bar plays old Mexican movies. My favorite Lila Downs CD was playing in the background. The open kitchen, creating an air of casual familiarity, and the reasonable prices belie the upscale quality of the food. Wow, do I sound like a foodie or what? Sorry, but it was really great.
As soon as we sat down, the waiter brought out a trio of salsas ~ mild green, medium pineapple, and spicy red (all of which were amazing). Ai, then instead of standard Mexican restaurant chips (which aren't traditional anyway), he brought us a pile of handmade, warm, "mini-size" corn tortillas to dip into each sauce. Oh Lord, how delicious. Eduardo sat with us for a while, telling us the story of how he met Sylvia and how they ended up in San Francisco with two restaurants, one more on the way, and three beautiful toddlers. We shared funny stories about how we forget our English and "think in Spanish," especially about intense visceral reactions like enjoying amazing food and conversation. I told Eduardo that my good dreams are in Spanish, and my anxiety-ridden nightmares are in English. And we laughed at how Latinos sometimes mix up English colloquialism ~~ like my friend who says, "C'mon, go out on a branch for me!" instead of "Go out on a limb for me" ~ or how, because in Spanish you do not "blow out candles" but rather say "apaga la vela," I always tell people, "Turn off the candle," to which they usually reply, "Um, is there a switch?" Oy, we laughed and laughed and Eduardo and Sylvia, whom I just met tonight, were as warm and inviting as their restaurant.
And then we ordered the guacamole, which was made-to-order at our table ~ the waiter brought out a some beautiful avocados with five small dishes containing the traditional ingredients (cilantro, onion, etc), and then asked us how spicy we wanted it. Que rico. We shared móle and pozóle and way too many margaritas, and were so excited to see that nearly every table was full on this, their first official night open to the public. We capped off the evening with the Mexican Chocolate Cake and vanilla ice cream. The warm cake gently melts in your mouth and after a few seconds you realize, they really use authentic Mexican chocolate ~ you can taste the distinct flavor on the "finish" ~ and so Drew and I had to have a spoon-duel to attack the rest of the cake.
Even better, the restaurant is directly across the street from the A.C.T. Theater and the Curran Theater, so the theater crowds will (finally) have an upscale and nice, but reasonably-priced, place for an authentic Mexican dinner ~ and Colibrí will stay open until 1:00 a.m. during theater season. The other restaurants in the area are either way too pricey (like Asia de Cuba) or just kinda cheesy (like Maxx's ~ sorry). You could have a fancy dinner/theater date night at Colibrí (ask for that romantic table in the corner at the window), or just enjoy a few casual drinks with friends at the bar, or even eat solo at the bar. Tourists and locals and couples and large groups, all ages and races, blended together tonight with the art and music and food and the warm smiles on Eduardo and Sylvia's faces ~ what a fantastic evening!
In May 2003, Eduardo and Sylvia opened Consuelo Mexican Bistro on San Jose's Santana Row, and later this year they also plan to open a Mediterranean restaurant there on the Row. As I spoke with Eduardo tonight, I was fascinated, impressed, and inspired by the fact that he is clearly a socially-responsible investor. He told us that, in addition to the restaurants, he is a partner in a pharmacy in Oakland's predominantly Latino Fruitvale District that seeks to address specific Latino health issues. The pharmacy has been open for about seven weeks, in the new Fruitvale Transit Village near BART, and it's called Farmácia Remédios. Eduardo wants to address issues such as the high rate of Diabetes in the Latino community, as well as offer wellness, preventative, and educational resources to our community. When I got home, I googled him to read more about his projects (in a non-stalker kinda-way, of course), and learned that he and a group of friends were the founders of World Wrapps, which "began as a community-based, small business with a mission to be active in the communities where it operates by giving back to local non-profit organizations, schools, and neighborhood organizations, especially those that promote health and wellness and support our children." Eduardo is also the CEO of Pacific Community Ventures, which "develops and invests in businesses providing economic gains to low-income communities throughout California with a focus on the Bay Area," and he is one of the founders of BrainStorm Ventures, which funds emerging technology companies. AND they have three kids under 4! WOW. They are amazing people and Colibrí is a wonderful restaurant ~ get yourself to San Francisco and check it out ~ and tell them Marisa sent you. ~ :)
Beautiful Boricua ~ I just bought my ticket and can't wait to see John Santos and the Machete Ensemble at the ODC Theater in San Francisco this Saturday, August 7 ! The show is called Fiesta Boricua ~ The Puerto Rican Element in Jazz and Salsa. John and his band are brilliant at blending traditional Yoruba and Cuban forms with innovative, modern, contemporary latin jazz arrangements ~ their shows are HOT and fun. Of course, they are from the Bay Area ~ we kick-ass here. Damn, between Saturday night with John Santos and Sunday afternoon with Dolores Huerta, this weekend is going to be amazing!
I first learned about John Santos maybe 10-11 years ago (um, when I was about 10 ~ yeah right) ~ anyway, my friends Kristina and Ian were taking this class that John was teaching in The Mission: What is This Thing Called Clave? If you don't know, clave is a rhythm that is played by striking one wooden stick against another, or on percussion ~~ although some songs might not include the actual clave instrument and instead there is an implied clave ~ i.e., feel the music and find the damn beat yourself! :) Anyway, clave is a five-note, two-bar rhythm pattern which generates rhythmic measurement and is the foundation and backbone of Salsa (and all Afro-Cuban based music). Salsa musicians always say that salsa music should obey the clave. In fact, clave is the primary rule and chief factor that defines all music called "Salsa" ~~ it's what you try to listen for when you're figuring out whether to shimmy forward quick-quick-slow, or backwards right-rock-back when you salsa dance. As you can imagine, the concept of clave goes far beyond Latino and African music, breathing rhythm into our friendships, relationships, emotions, enjoyment of life, and even endurance in hard times. Check out this excerpt from the inscription found on the inside cover of the first issue of New York's Clave magazine, published throughout the 1970s:
Clave...To us the word goes beyond explanations and definitions. It means life, salsa, the food of our leisure time, the motion of intense rhythm, the emotion of 20,000 people simultaneously grooving to the natural sounds of life. It's being in beat, on key, on clave....It means to be on top of things, to be playing it right...Clave is history, it's culture. African drums from far off places like Nigeria, Dahomey, and Ghana married the Spanish guitar to bring us clave. The seeds were planted in the Caribbean and now their grandchild is Salsa.
Ian and Kristina, and all our friends back then, were/are salsa-lovin', Spanish-spewin' Gringos and Latinos ~ spending 2-3 nights per week out salsa dancing, way before the "Latin Explosion" hit the United States. Ai, there were Friday nights at Pier 23, Tuesday nights at Cafe du Nord, Sunday afternoons at El Rio or The Ramp, the weekends at the no-name clubs in those alleys South of Market or at the house parties, including that Labor Day Weekend when I visited Ian in New York and at the house party in Brooklyn my dance partner (whom I had met about two hours earlier) introduced me to his father at the party and asked me to marry him ~ for reals ~ I thought the guy was crazy, now I think I should have said YES during our cha-cha-cha! Dios mio, salsa dancing does that to you ~ makes you feel like you are falling in love with your dance partner, with everyone around you, and with the amazing rhythm screaming out of your body. Back in these good ole days, after John's class each week, Ian and Kristina would punctuate our dinner conversation with some brilliant comment John had made that night, and we would basically swoon at the mere thought of him. John Santos is amazing and inspiring, and hot. His musical philosophy bears in mind what our collaborative life philosophy should be:
Music is education, honesty, documentation, freedom, physical and spiritual release, an extra-sensory form of artistic human expression which speaks to issues of the heart and mind. Music is a gift which deserves the utmost respect from practitioners and listeners alike.
What's your clave like? Do your life's actions obey your clave's rhythm? Are the two in sync? (And no, I don't mean the Boy Band!). Are you off-beat and dancing backwards? Can you trust the rhythm around you, stop trying to lead, and follow the music, or even create your own? Play it loud, play it proud ~ be honest, be free, educate yourself, express your emotions, ask yourself questions, don't worry about the answers ~ find your clave.
If you live in California and/or are Latina/o and/or a social activist and/or are simply familiar with the civil rights movement in this country (hell, if you have a pulse), then you know Dolores Huerta, the most prominent Chicana labor leader in the United States, and the co-founder (along with César E. Chavez) and First Vice President of the United Farm Workers union.
When Dolores received a $100,000 award for her lifetime of service, she gave the money away to be used as the seed money for the Dolores C. Huerta Foundation. Recognizing that "immigrants are the new civil rights movement," the Foundation's mission is to train a new generation of organizers to build informed Communities of Conscience, working for fair and equal access to health care, housing, education, jobs, civic participation, and economic resources for disadvantaged communities with an emphasis on women and youth.
Help support the Foundation and La Causa at An Afternoon With Dolores Huerta and Friends on Sunday, August 8, 2004, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Join Francisco X. Alarcón, one of the nation's most prominent Chicano poets, Kaylah Marin, singer-songstress-poet-artist, and Dolores' many friends at Café de la Paz at 1600 Shattuck in Berkeley, CA, (510) 843-0662. If you can't be there, well, please consider mailing your tax-deductible contribution to: Dolores C. Huerta Foundation, 255 Ninth Street, Suite 205, San Francisco, CA 94103. ~ :)
Tickets for the Buffet and Program are $60, or Sponsors at $100, $250, or $500, and Founding Members at $1,000. To RSVP or for more information, call (415) 621-2665.
I can't wait to attend this event, not just to support the Foundation but because Francisco X. Alarcón is one of my all-time favorite poets, and his book de Amor Oscuro - Of Dark Love is by far one of the most intense, passionate collection of poems I have read on love and loss ~~ I am going to take my tattered copy next Sunday and hope he signs it for me. The book is hard to find but you can probably order it directly from the publisher. The collection features 14 sonnets in Spanish, with facing page translations in English by Francisco Aragón (who translated Federico García Lorca's poetry). Here, then, is my favorite (the English version, pero aquí está la versión en Español):
What or who has opened your eyes and ears to a different vision and different tune in life? What makes you run and shine and blaze with life and live it out loud? Ai, my list is long.....
Well ~ that explains a lot.
Tonight, Saturday, July 31, we have a Blue Moon. There are several definitions of a Blue Moon, but the simplest one, and most recent, is that a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. For a Blue Moon to occur, the first of the full moons must appear at or near the beginning of the month so that the second will fall within the same month (the average span between two moons is 29.5 days). July 2004 had two full moons: the first on July 2, the second on July 31— that second full moon is called the Blue Moon ~~ and Saturday's full moon was also one of "the biggest" full moons of 2004, increasing vertical tides by as much as 10-20 feet (imagine how it affects the 70% of water that is your body). The last Blue Moon we had was in November 2001, and for the next one we will have to wait until June 2007. I hope you looked up on Saturday night and saw that moon, or felt it, or heard it ....... above you, around you, inside you.
Full Moon, or Blue Moon, nights are amazing for doing "once in a Blue Moon" things like hikes and kayaking. When I lived in Mill Valley, I used to go with friends on monthly full moon hikes in the Marin Headlands ~~ we'd hike several miles, scaling these huge freaking hills, literally on all-fours up that first crest, at first in pitch dark until the moon got high enough to cast moon shadows of our stumbling figures across the hillsides, with the soft roar of the Pacific Ocean all along to our left ~~ our destination? The Pelican Inn in Muir Beach, to have a few beers ~ then we would scurry back on the fire road, or if someone was smart enough to park a car up at the Inn in advance, we would coast down the highway back home ~~ sand in our shoes, moon shadows in our eyes, and beer breath. Damn, I loved that. I've also gone full-moon kayaking (a "Full Moon Paddle") in Sausalito, around the San Francisco Bay, in October (the warmest month out here). There are these pockets of the Bay that get completely dark, the City Lights obscured by the hills, and all you can hear are your paddles skimming along the water, the sound of the sea lions in the distance, and schools of fish splashing around you ~~ then the group leaders have you "park" your kayak in the middle of this alcove, and you face East....waiting for the Moon to rise ~~ and the night I was there, we had a Harvest Moon ~~ explosive orange. And of all of us were dumbfounded, silent, as we watched this giant, orange, glowing, amazing Moon slowly rise up over the Bay and the Hills and our imaginations. Damn. Full Moons are for Full Nights.
Anyway, then I thought of that old song, Blue Moon, damn, especially the live version by Billie Holiday. But the Cowboy Junkies have a haunting, sweet, eerie, sublime version, Blue Moon Revisited (Song For Elvis), on their amazing Trinity Session album. If you don't already own this album, get it now. Yes, go to iTunes right now and download the entire damn album. Do it.
I just got home ~ it's nearly 1 am and I'm staring out at tonight's Blue Moon, bewildered by its mystery and it beauty, drunk from the delicious 4-hour dinner with wonderful friends, and haunted by Margo Timmins' silky voice. If you don't know, The Trinity Session was recorded live in one day in November 1987 at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto. Damn ~~ What do you have to show for your day today?
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