Sunday, July 22

I got up early and walked Rufus Douglass to Romain to Corbett to Graystone Terrace to Villa Terrace to Twin Peaks to Clayton To Ashbury to Clifford Terrace to Lower Terrace and then home down the Saturn steps. He was pretty beat from yesterday, but a sleepy puppy is a well behaved puppy so he had to go for his walk anyway. I got home and went biking. It was VERY foggy but luckily it had started to break up by the time I hit the Golden Gate Bridge. I went up Marin Headlands which is very pretty in the morning and it's been a while since I've been there at that hour. Here's Rodeo beach from above:

I headed up Ike Turner Hill and continued down Conzelman. The bridge was still shrouded in fog but it looked kind of pretty:

And here's a nother view of the bridge in the morning light:

I went down to Fort Baker and stopped on a pier. The bridge looks really pretty from there:

There's this tiny little building under the bridge that I can't figure out what it's for. Jeff thinks it's the remains of a lighthouse and he might be right:

Then I headed up back over the bridge and down into the Presidio. I stopped by the Palace of Fine Arts which is really nice in the morning:

It's kind of falling apart which gives it a glamorous, ruined look:

Here I am all bundled up for the fog:

And a parting shot from across the pond:

I took Scott up from the Marina into Duboce Park and then Castro to 17th and home. Fun ride! I've been riding so much on my commuter bike that I feel like a rocket when I ride my carbon fiber bike.

Jeff and I went shopping down Union Square. We needed a new toaster oven and I'm looking for a new fragrance what to cover my stank. They're awful breezy with the samples at Sephora and I've got testers of Prada, Yves Saint Laurent and Hanae Mori. I tried the Prada in the afternoon and it's light and fresh smelling.

Jeff had to get his Harry Potter book so we headed over to the Borders in Westfield Center. We got cornerned by these strange Israeli cosmetics salesmen at the Dead Sea Salt kiosk. And they were slathering my arms with caustic compaunds before I could stop them. Note to self: avoid Dead Sea Salt products.... The salt scrub was kind of nice but the rest of it was messy, irritating, and gross. And they put this exfoliator on my arm that stung and the guy couldn't tell me exactly what was in it that was doing the exfoliating and I get a little nervous when the #1 ingrediant on a skin care product is called something like "proprietary ingrediant" because that usually means it's some horrible caustic chemical that would scare you away from the product if you knew what it was. We also went to the Bath and Body Works to check out their Kose Sekkisei line. I've become obsessed with Japanese skincare for unknown reasons but it's kind of hard to figure out what a product is and what it does from the website for some of them. None of their products had any fragrance whatsoeverand some of them were kind of neat. The coolest was an Awake powder that turned into a liquid when you touched it. What it was for I can't tell ya but it was cool. Jeff was rewarded for his patience with a Wetzel's Pretzel with a hot dog inbedded in it.

We picked up my friend Nathan and then headed over to my office where I had to pick up a docking station for my laptop and a monitor because I'm working a lot at home these days and need a bigger screen and a full size keyboard. I totally got hassled by the building guard because I didn't have a "property removal" form completed. What the hell is that?? A coworker tells me she had the same problem a couple of weeks ago. Have they not realized that people stealing stuff would go out the BACK door?? And he was such a jerk about it. I guess there's a reason he doesn't work during the week....

We went home and had lunch and then Nathan and I took Rufus to the park. There were tons of dogs there and he had a great time. There was this TINY keeshond puppy that was about the most adorable thing I'd ever seen. Here he is:

And here he is with Rufus sitting on him. Don't worry. No puppies were injured in this prank but there was some foul language exchanged:

Here's Rufus mingling with the rest of the gang:

It was really hot and Rufus was getting tired so we walked a bit more in Corona Heights and then Nathan and I walked back to Ord Street where Nathan headed for the Castro and I went home. Jeff was napping and he slept with the dogs for a while and then we headed over to Stowe Lake to walk around the island in the center of it. It's very pretty:

Here are Jeff and Rufus:

And one of me with him as well:

The Chinese Pavilion was full of people tangoing which seemed kind of random and we didn't go in. But it looked beautiful in the afternoon light:

We headed home for dinner and an early bedtime. It was a long day.

Saturday, July 21

I got up early and took Rufus for a little bit longer of a walk. We took castro to 21st and then Collingwood up to the top of Collingwood hill and then down the other side and back on Eureka. He was pretty tired when we got back. I changed into biking clothes and headed out. I took Scott to Fell and then into Golden Gate Park. I sto[ed in at the rose garden (again with the rose garden!) and then took Funsten into the Richmond. There's a very austere church on Funsten near California that's in a very Roman style. Ah the Romans, if only they'd developed the letter "u" then they would have taken over the world!

I took Funsten to Lake and then headed toward Seacliff. I'm crazy about this house on Lake. I believe its form the 20's and the ornamentation is supposed to be in Mayan style, kind of like the Medical Dental Building on Sutter:

It was a gorgeous morning and Seacliff and I found this beautiful view of the Headlands:

The Korean Consul is also in Seacliff. I didn't know that but they have two big satellite dishes on the side of the building and it made me curious and then I saw the plaque. And you know I can't resist snooping:

Then I headed up to the Palace of the Legion of Honor.

The museum looked especially serene in the morning fog:

Then I headed out to Geary and down to the Great Highway and then down to Lake Merced and out Brotherhood Way to Alemany. I turned up Capitol and rode through the OceanView neighborhood which was a little seedy even at 8AM! Then I crossed ocean and took Faxon up into the Westwood Highlands. It's very pretty:

I continued up to Monterey and then took Yerba Buena to Miraloma to Portola and then home on Corbett. It was a really fun ride but there was a bit of climbing at the end so I was ready for a break.

As promised, I headed over to the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park after work. The fog had rolled in but everything was in bloom and it was beautiful:

Here I am among the blooms:

Then I headed back to Stowe Lake where I took this pic of the Chinese Pavilian-- gorgeous! I'm gonna try to head back there on Sunday with Jeff if I can actually manage to get him on a bike.

There's also a neat waterfall:

Then I headed into the Sunset on 18th Ave. A branch of the library is near 18th and Lincoln and it's a fantastic structure:

I took 18th Ave to Lawton to Lurline. Never heard of Lurline?? Neither had I. But here it is:

Lurline spat me out on Funston and I took it to Aloha and then back up into Golden Gate Heights. I got back on 14th Ave and took it to Radio to RockRidge up past Golden Gates Height Park and then 12th Ave to Pacheco and then down through Forest Hill to Dewey to Clarendon to Twin Peaks to 17th and home on Ord. It was a lot of climbing and I was really beat. But, Rufus doesn't understand really beaat so I had a snack and then Jeff and I took him to the dog park. There was somebody there with three little dogs. Two of them were very old and I didn't want Rufus to jump on them. The third was younger and thankfully, a little yappy and kept Rufus in his place:

We were about to leave when some of his friends showed up. This dog was rescued from the floodwaters after Katrina and is now king of the park! He tried to pick my pocket the first time I met him. Must be from New Orleans...

Then, our old upstairs neighbor Roger showed up with his three insect like Italian Greyhounds. He pointed out the heavily processed state of my hair. I basically called him fat to his face. Meow! Have I mentioned how much happier I am since he moved away?? Evidently he and his partner are having a baby through a surrogate. The thought of that sent chills down my spine. My memories of them mostly involve the foul stench coming from their filthy, urine soaked home because neither of them could be bothered to either walk their dogs or clean. Just my opinion, and I'm certainly allowed to have one, is that their parenting skills will produce more visits from Child Protective Services than Britney Spears gets and that the kids first word will be "eight-ball".

Looking forward to the weekend. We don't have anything planned and I'm looking to get in a bunch of biking and a lot of walks with Rufus and just maybe Mimi too!

Friday, July 20th

I slept very soundly and didn't wake up for the earthquake that hit at 4:44.  Neither did the dogs.  We were all beat-- nobody sleeps well when Jeff's out of town .  I didn't get out of bed until a little after 5 so I was pretty much running late all morning.  I took Rufus for a walk in Ashbury Heights and he had a very nice time.  I wanted to ride in Golden Gate Heights today, so I took Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel to 14th Ave and then headed north.  It's really, really steep getting up 14th avenue between Rivera and Quintara and it was very foggy once I got to the top.  I continued down 14th avenue and headed over to Golden Gate Park and went to Stowe Lake.  The ducks seemed happy there:

It was very pretty in the morning light:

I headed down  JFK drive and saw this freakish sculpture.  I don't know if I like this or not.  I'm thinking likely not:

 Then I headed over to the Rose Garden which is exploding in flowers
but the light wasn't great so I figured I'd hit it again after work.  Then I headed over to the Presidio which was very beautiful as usual.  I stopped at Immigrant Point Overlook.  Dedicated to Immigrants!  In America today!  I'm surprised they didn't build a fence around it.  You can read more about it here .

Then I finished riding through the Presidio and came out the Lombard gate and took Lyon to Union to Polk to Broadway and came into Chinatown through the Broadway Tunnel (It's a posted bike route!) and then into work.  Fun ride with lots of hills!

Thursday, July 19

I went riding after work and I tried to go to a couple of places that I hadn't seen enough of on my tour to the Bayview on Wednesday.  Specifically, I wanted to look around the Dogpatch after I'd find the article about it which you can read here  .I rode around Tennesee and Minnesota streets, and indeed you can see some of the older structures in the city here.  This is San Francisco Firehouse #16 which dates to the late 1890's and which was originally constructed for fire wagons drawn by horses:

These are some of the Pelton designed victorian homes from the early 1880's.  They are all exuberantly painted and look fantastic all in a row:

Here's me with the view of the Tennessee Street looking North:

And these are some more of the beautiful homes I found on Tennessee:

You can see that the neighborhood is gentrifying rapidly.  There are a lot of new Loft buildings in the area.  And a lot of the older structures are being fixed up.  I turned on 22nd street and there's a bunch of cool buildings there and even a little park:

Turning up Minnesota Street I photographed some beautiful trees.  I don't know what kind they are but they are purple and pretty and there's a bunch of them on Minnesota Street:

This is the back of the Irving M Scott School built in 1895.  I think it's seen better days and could probably be updated.  The front didn't look much better:

I took Minnesota to 18th street and then crossed over the 280 to Potrero Hill.  I stopped on the bridge and took this pic of downtown.  You can see the huge new tower going up on Rincon hill to the right:

This is one of the Mansions on Pennsylvania Street @ 18th.  There's a bunch of them on Pennsylvania Street and I've photographed them before:

The big surprise for the day turned to be St. Gregory of Nyssa on 18th Street at De Haro.  It's fabulously beautiful.  Not bad for the Episcopalians:

There's a garden in the back and the gate was open and you know I can't resist snooping.
It has a cool fountain built into a rock:

And also this wacky sculpture.  It's Disco Jesus!  Freak out!

Then I headed over to Maricopa and went to Vermont to 18th and then took the footbridge over the 101 and continued on into the Mission.  The other thing I wanted to look at was a church near Saint Mary's Park.  I didn't realize that the neighborhood was built on the grounds of a Catholic College from the 1860's.  I remembered that there was a big church in the neighborhood and I wanted to see if it was from the same period, which would have made it really really old for San Francisco.  It wasn't.  It's St John the Evangelist dating from the 1880's (and later).  But it is a fabulous Baroque style church:

 

Evidently Saint Mary's college moved to Moraga.  You can read more about the school here .  I've heard of their MBA program--  I know somebody who goes to school there but I have a sneaking
suspician that the reason he started going there was because he
believed an untrue urban myth that the age of consent was only sixteen
in Moraga.  Foolish Chester will do anything for the TABs.... 

It was getting pretty late so I raced home to walk Rufus.  There weren't a lot of dogs at the dog park off of States Street so I headed up to the one off of Roosevelt.  There were a couple dogs there and Rufus had a good time running around:

I went home and made everybody dinner and then we went for another walk.  Mimi is getting a lot easier to walk now that we've got Rufus.  She only growls at people she sees on the street a little these days which is a huge relief.  We took Corbett to the Pemberton Steps and then all the way up to Crown Terrace and then over to Twin Peaks.  I took these pictures in the fading light as we came down the hill:

Downtown:

Saint Ignatius at the University of San Francisco:

The coast looking north to the Golden Gate:

We continued down Twin Peaks down to 17th and then up the steps to Mount Olympus and then
down Upper Terrace to Roosevelt to Levant and then down the Vulcan
Steps.  Mimi was very, very tired but Rufus still had energy so we
played a little until Jeff got home at about 9:30.  Then we all went to
bed and, finally, I slept through the night.

Thursday, July 19

I'm still getting used to my adjusted schedule.  I need to get up at 4:45 (WTF???) in order to walk Rufus for half an hour and then get ready for work and out of the house by 6:30 so I can ride before work.  I can happily report that the dogs are getting along pretty well and Mimi only wants Rufus dead a little these days.  I caught them sitting together on the futon in the Study.  Rufus was trying very hard not to have to go to his kennel when I left.  He doesn't like it and can't figure out why Mimi gets to lounge around and read magazines all day when he's stuck in a cage.  But as we all know, a bored puppy can be a very destructive one so it's best that he's contained while we're gone until he's older lest I come home to shredded pillows and god knows what else.  But they certainly look cute together:

Don't even get me started about the ugly futon cover or the layers of clashing fabric that are laying on top of it.  Suffice it to say that Jeffery and I have radically different taste in textiles and that he needs to stop buying upholstery while I'm on bike tour.  The red blanket, however, is special.  It was Ashley's.  I used to wrap him up in it like a burrito before I left for work in the morning and he'd still be sleeping in it when I got home.  I hope it survives Rufus' first year.

Getting up early was certainly worth it because it was a spectacular morning in San Francisco.  It was warm and sunny and I didn't even need I jacket which is very unusual in July.  I took Corbett to Portola to Woodside to Dewey to Taravel and then down to the ocean.  It was warm and sunny at the beach.  Another one of those mornings where you can't figure out why you don't live there.  This is a view looking south from the cliff house.  The ocean is calm and the beach looks gorgeous:
 

We don't get a lot of mornings like this in July!  Here's a pic of Seal Rocks which should probably be renamed "Bird crap rocks" but I guess that isn't as poetic:

 

From the Cliff House I made my way up Geary and then over to the palace of the Legion of Honor.  It was especially beautiful this morning.  It must have known I was coming:

Don't I look delighted to see it??

It was starting to get late so I headed down Lake to Arguello to Clay to Steiner to Post and into work.  I took a couple of photos in Japantown.  This is Peace Plaza:

And this a view of Buchanan Street looking west.  There's a pedestrian mall between Sutter and Post with Japanese stores.  No, Hello Kitty is in the Westfield Center in Union Square.  Put if you're looking for Pocky or Krunky this is the place.

There's a sculpture in Peace Plaza commemorating the Japanese interred in camps during World War II:

Then I continued down Post into the Financial District and into work.
 

Wednesday, July 18

After work I decided to head down third street and see how the new T line was affecting the neighborhood.  I think there's already been a big impact and that gentrification is right around the corner.  Starting in the financial district, I took this pic of the Pacific Stock Exchange which is now the Equinox Gym.  How telling:

I started down 2nd street where all sorts of new buildings are going up.  Some are more fabulous than others.  Here is one of the winners:

Then I looped round AT&T park and continued down Third Street.  I crossed Mission Creek, which used to be known affectionately as "Shit Creek" because of it's condition and smell.  It's cleaned up a lot today.  Maybe there will be birds in it next year:

Then I continued down third street and rode around the Dogpatch neigborhood.  It's an interesting residential neighborhood which is sandwiched between the docks and the freeway.  It escaped the 1906 earthquake fire and has lots of old residential structures in it.  You can read more about it here .  I found this fabulous building on one end of the neighborhood.  It's arechitecture and placement near the docks leads me to believe that it was once a customs building.  But I don't know for sure:

From there I continued down Third Street into the Bayview District.  I won't go there at night, but during the day it has a lot to offer and signs of gentrification are everywhere:

I think in ten years many will view the T line as the first nail in the coffin of the last black neighborhood in San Francisco.  But there's a lot there that's architecturally interesting and that which is not can be torn down.  And it's convenient to Caltrain and now Muni.  And it's only a matter of time before Candlestick Point gets redeveloped.  I saw this pretty church up on a hill:

The houses across the street from it reminded me of New Orleans in the way that they're so romantically decayed:

And Candlestick Park within sight:

The Bayview is much cleaner and safer than it was when I moved to San Francisco in 2000.  It has a lot of shops and services that weren't there before.  This park in the shadow of Candlestick Park looks like some place you'd like to hang out:

A little farther down third street I found this spectactular Mural which covers the entire side of a very large building.  I couldn't photograph all of it but this is as much as I could get:

And then it was time to head home.  I took Evans to Bayshore and then through the Visitacion Valley to Silver Terrace.  Then I cut accross 280 through Saint Mary's Park which is a 40's neighborhood built on the sight of an old Catholic College:

And then I went home to walk the Rufus.  He had a good time at the dog park and stayed out of trouble:

Here is he playing with the dogs:

Aren't the pugs cute??  The technical term for them is "Pugly".  The black and white dog is named Socks and she's a little bossy which is a good trait when you're dealing with a dog with as much sass as Rufus.  I love how she's watching to make sure that he isn't to rough with her pugs.  We walked a little and then we went home and everybody had dinner and I had a little
work to do (lousy job).  Rufus wasn't done playing and a bored puppy can be a VERY
destructive thing.  First, he started flinging around his water bowl. 
Yes, it had water in it.  Then he staked claim to Mimi's pillow by
peeing on it.  And then there was barking and flailing around.  What a
mess!  By the time I got everybody settled down it was getting late so
I took them for a long walk and after I threw a toy around with Rufus
which purged him of any remaining energy.  Both the dogs collapsed
exhausted and I was able to finish my work and we all went to bed. 
Jeff comes back tomorrow night.  Huzzah!!

Wednesday, July 18th

It was raining when I woke up!  Which really surprised me because it isn't supposed to rain again until October.  Well it's really dry and everything's been burning so I guess I shouldn't complain.  Rufus went for his walk in the rain this morning without any issues which was a relief because I didn't know if he'd walk in the rain.  Mimi, predictably, didn't put up much of a fight when I left her behind because she doesn't like getting wet at all.  I didn't go riding this morning because it was way too wet so I went into work early instead and figured I'd take a long lunch.  I'm glad that I did!  Around 10:00 the sun came out and it warmed up and was generally gorgeous everywhere you looked.  There was a wall of fog covering the coast and obscuring the Golden Gate Bridge, but the rest of the city was warm and sunny.  I headed through North Beach towards the Marina.  Here's a view of the where the bridge should be from Fort Mason:

I went up Arguello and stopped at Inspiration Point to get another view of the fog:

I headed pit the Arguello Gate and down into the park.  The Conservatory of Flowers looked especially pretty:

 

There's a pretty planting bed there commemorating 100 years of nursing at UCSF

I headed out 9th Avenue and up into Forest Hill.  Here's a view of the giant Antenna from the forest hill:

And one from Golden Gate Heights down Quintara towards the ocean which is still socked in with fog:

Then I took 14th Ave to Taravel to Dewey to Clarendon to Twin Peaks and then back home down 17th St.  Here's a view of Oakland from the top of Clarendon.. what a beautiful day!

I got home, pet Mimi, and got Rufus out the back door so he could go to the bathroom....

He loves the back yard.  So many things to chew!  Please note how disproportionately large his feet are to the rest of his body.  When he finally grows into them he's going to be a very large dog.  Mimi, although happy to see me, wasn't finished napping and she went back to sleep immediately:

Rufus likes to hang out on the front porch.  Note the many moods of Rufus:

Again with the giant paws.  He's attacking the city!  Call Godzilla!  The view from our front porch was very beautiful today.  The trumpet vines are really, really lush and blooming like crazy:

 

I finished up lunch and headed back to work which was tough to do on a day like today.  Why can't I be a lady of leisure??

Tuesday, July 17

After work I went to what is probably San Francisco's newest park, Victoria Manalo Draves Park which is located South of Market bounded by Folsom, Harrison, Sherman, and Columbia Square.  It's on the site of a school which they tore down.  It's a beautiful park and a much needed patch of green south of Market.  The park is fenced and closes at night to keep the homeless out and it's really neat inside. It's dedicated to two time olympic medalist (1948), Filipino community activist, and octogenarian hottie Victoria Manalo Draves.  You can read more about her here but be forewarned you will also be subject to photos of hotheaded jerk Chris Daly and his freakishly big head. 

There's an interesting sculpture inside called Stan, the Submerging Man which is from Burning Man 1999.  I love it!  He's supposed to be temporary but I hope they keep him right where he is.

Watch out!  It's attacking the city!  Call Godzilla!!!

I headed out Harrison and rode through the Mission.  I saw this fabulous mural in the Mission painted on the side of a grocery store at 24th and Harrison, and a driver actually stopped his car in the middle of the block until I had finished photographing this.  How nice!  The signature said something about the Precita Arts Project or something like that.  It's a little cheesecake don't you think??

Then I headed through Glen Park over to Monterrey and stopped at the  Sunnyside Conservatory Sunnyside Conservatory .  You can click on the name to learn more about this fascinating little park, one of two conservatories in San Francisco the other being the much more famous and well kept Conservatory of Flowers.

The building is a little overgrown and a little run down but it's fun to visit and would be spectacular if the city made an effort to improve it.

I had to get home so that Rufus could go to the dog park.  I got there about 6:30 and there weren't any dogs there and I was going to take him to the second dog area in Corona Heights when a whole bunch of dogs showed up.  Rufus loves to play!

This little puppy is awesome and he loves to run and chase Rufus around.  Unfortunately he's also pretty little and got stepped on.  No harm done though....

Here's my ittle baby exhibiting what the experts call "crazy face"....

Jeff's out of town on business (again!... don't even get me started because I'm pretty pissed about it).  So I made everybody dinner and went to bed early.