Different strokes?

April 2015

April. A lot of birds and bugs out now – I have millions of ants and spiders. I don’t know what to do with them.  Spring brings more activities than just yard work and night crawl. San Francisco Bay Area offer tons of indoor/outdoor events/activities accompanied by beautiful weather and scenery.

I kept myself busy with Arts, Culture, and Entertainments even in the winter. People tell me that I am so blessed to have Full of Life. Maybe so, I get a lot of attention wherever I go. I don’t know why, it doesn’t matter, I like it. By the way, I am not selfish, or self-centered, or egotistic at all.
However, when I am alone at night, my mood swings more sensitively. My brain seems to have auto recording of “I hate being fat.” I lament for not having a goal in my life. I am 69, for Christ’s sake!  I’m ratcheting down the short end of life’s stick.

Here is Shakespeare’s SONNET 73, first verse:
“That time of year thou may’st in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,  . . . “
. . . Is this my state of mind? No, no, no, I must look forward to SPRING. . . My advice to myself is to look at this phase of my life as a journey and a new beginning to do things I have never done before instead of as a dreadful time of life. I’ll try “go after what I want.”

Okay, I try to be optimistic in life. Spring brings new hope. April, I took care my health related things. I did have all preventive screenings/tests. I am fine. Everything is okay. I have a good rapport with my primary physician and specialists. I had cataract surgery done on my left-eye  (I don’t need to do on my right-eye. Good vision).

I’d like to mention a man who is very unique, deliciously different persona. He is a blue-color worker. Yet, his writing is very intelligent more so than who hold masters and/or PhD degrees. He has sharp wit, good manners, big heart, and very intriguing. He does random acts of kindness spontaneously  (at first, I thought he was crazy.)
– –  What I want to say is that we judge a person without knowing the facts. I do that. A man I just met made me realize how each person is different and each person holds so much goodness and power within themselves.

It was good reminder for me to not judge people prematurely and accept people who are different from me.  It’s about understanding the good of a person whoever they are.
Japanese proverb “ten people, ten colors”. It means “so many people, so many minds; everyone has own ideas and tastes; It takes all sorts to make a world.”

Different strokes for different folks.

Photo Gallery – April 2015

04/02/15: Mammography — Waiting room. Kaiser Permanente, Walnut Creek, CA. On the wall, Dream until your dreams come true.

04/02/15: Mammography — Waiting room. Kaiser Permanente, Walnut Creek, CA — Friends bring out the beautiful things in each other that nobody else looks hard enough to find.

04/02/15: I love fashion, but I am too fat to enjoy them. Quiet Smoking caused weight gain. My addiction to fashion reminds me of Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City”

04/03/15: Wedding – SF City Hall Rotunda. Such a beautiful bride handsome groom and parents of bride. +Love Forever+ Parents are from Tokyo. I’m from Takasaki, Gunma, Japan

04/03/15: Taiko Dojo – SF City Hall Rotunda — San Francisco Taiko Dojo was founded in 1968 by Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka, who is considered the father of modern taiko in North America.

04/03/15: Taiko Dojo – SF City Hall Rotunda — Their music has been featured in movies , “The Right Stuff”, “Rising Sun”, Return of the Jedi” and “Apocalypse Now”

04/03/15: Walk from City Hall to Union Sq. — I feel nostalgic when I see Golden Gate Theater because I saw Movie ‘Tora! Tora! Tora!’ when I arrived in SF, USA

04/03/15: Walk from City Hall to Union Sq. — I didn’t feel danger walking in tenderloin neighborhood because it was daytime.

04/03/15: Walk from City Hall to Union Sq.

04/03/15: Walk from City Hall to Union Sq. — Relief tablets in the parking lobby of the Parc 55 San Francisco – A Hilton Hotel

04/04/15: Archery lesson — Fat Shaft’s staff are very nice, patient and fun. They give a brief lesson and safety rules then walk around helping people as we practice.

04/04/15: Archery lesson — INDOOR RANGE 16 lanes at 20 yards

04/04/15: Archery lesson — my shooting skill is not bad at all

04/04/15: Archery lesson — We all had good time

04/06/15: Cataract surgery — My son came over Sunday night and stayed with me for my surgery on Monday. In hospital, nobody believed he is my son. I am not his girlfriend!

04/10/15: I went to see “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” I liked British actors in this film because they are natural looking. I am tired of American actors’ plastic faces on American movies/TV shows.

04/10/15: Orinda Theatre opened in 1941, art deco theater retains nostalgia with its original lobby & main theater. Theater is the focal point of “Theatre Square”

04/11/15: Cherry Blossom Festival — Took this picture from upstairs of East mall.

04/11/15: Cherry Blossom Festival —

04/11/15: Cherry Blossom Festival —

04/11/15: Cherry Blossom Festival —

04/11/15: Cherry Blossom Festival — Japantown Mandala. Interchangeable work of art shaped in concentric circles, community members, that transform a collection of personal experiences into an integrated whole.

04/11/15: Cherry Blossom Festival —

04/11/15: Cherry Blossom Festival —

04/14/15 — Dog-sitting — She has Arthritis. Inflammation of left-hind leg joint, causing pain and stiffness

04/14/15 — Selfie with dog —

4/15/15: de Young Museum Special Exhibit

04/15/15: Botticelli to Braque: Masterpieces From the National Galleries of Scotland

04/15/15: Botticelli to Braque: Masterpieces From the National Galleries of Scotland

04/15/15: Botticelli to Braque: Masterpieces From the National Galleries of Scotland

04/15/15: Botticelli to Braque: Masterpieces From the National Galleries of Scotland

04/15/15: “Bouquets to Art. 2015” at de Young Museum. Art “A Particular Kind of Heaven by Ed Ruscha” I didn’t get designer’s name. Sorry.

04/15/15: “Bouquets to Art. 2015” at de Young Museum. — showcase work by over 125 of the Bay Area’s most talented and renowned floral designers.

04/15/15: “Bouquets to Art. 2015” at de Young Museum. The floral interpretations of the artwork. The floral displays are presented in juxtaposition with the works that inspired them.

I got here at 4:30pm, there was no line. I was on upper level before 6:00pm and saw this long line. Members enjoy private viewing hours (6-8) of this popular springtime tradition. I am not a member.

04/15/15: SF Opera House Lobby. I will come back for final season program 8 – Romeo & Juliet next month

04/15/15: Busy day… Walk too much in Museum. At Opera House, got band-aides for blister on my heel from First Aid station. Ballet “Swimmer” shows us where dance, literature, film, and music tell the story of American culture, & memory

04/15/15: SF Opera House. Ballet Program 7. Photography not allowed during the Performance. During curtain call, I took this picture anyway. I only got caught once before.

04/17/15: Friday Nights at the de Young — the Scottish Great Highland bagpipe

04/17/15: Friday Nights at the de Young — Scotland. The Red Thistle Dancers performed the dances and musicians on fiddle, keyboard.

04/17/15: Friday Nights at the de Young — Scotland — They made their own costumes. Unbelievable, detailed and accurate !!!

04/17/15: Friday Nights at the de Young — Scotland — They are a couple. Husband made his and her costumes. He made his own boots, too.

04/17/15: Friday Nights at the de Young — Scotland

04/17/15: Friday Nights at the de Young — I am holding “Royal Standard of Scotland” flag. The background must be somewhere special in Scotland.

04/18/15: Cal Day 2015 — On Cal Day, a full day of free lectures, performances, tours, concerts and more to showcase the campus, its students, and the school’s programs.

04/18/15: Cal Day 2015 — UC Berkeley – Campanile/Sather Tower Vertical Dance Performance by BANDALOOP In celebration of the centennial of Campanile

04/18/15: Cal Day 2015 — UC Berkeley –

04/18/15: Cal Day 2015 — UC Berkeley –

04/18/15: Cal Day 2015 — UC Berkeley –

04/18/15: Cal Day 2015 — UC Berkeley –

04/19/15: Cherry Blossom Parade —

04/19/15: Cherry Blossom Parade — Okinawan dancers background

04/19/15: Cloudy day. I took this picture from Japan Center – East Mall 2nd floor.

Origin of dance – in 1586 when Lord of Awa Province hosted a drunken celebration of the opening of Castle. The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth.

Cherry Blossom Queen and Princesses

04/19/15: Cherry Blossom Parade —

This SF supervisor pointed at me and said “Beautiful Kimono !!!“ He knows how to charm older woman. I’m not a SF resident, so I cannot vote for him. Sorry.

04/19/15: Cherry Blossom Parade — Taru Mikoshi

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, (aka St. Mary’s Cathedral,) is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.

04/19/15: St. Mary’s Cathedral — LAMB of GOD Oratorio by Temple Hill Choir.It is a sacred work for choir, orchestra, soloists and narrators. It recounts the events of the final days of the life of Jesus Christ

04/22/15: Happy hour at Stanford’s. I colored my hair around face . . . and . . . highlighting hair gone wrong.

04/22/15: Happy hour at Stanford’s. I colored my hair around face . . . and . . . highlighting hair gone wrong.

04/24/15: Labyrinth Walk with live music — is a spiritual tool . . . It reduces stress, quiets the mind, and open the heart. It is a walking meditation . . . BTW, I am atheist.

04/24/15: — (1) Stand in front of the entrance to the labyrinth. State your intention. (2) Center yourself by taking a couple of deep breaths. (3) Acknowledge your coming meditative or spiritual journey within the labyrinth. (4) Pause on reaching the center. (5) Walk out.

04/24/15: Labyrinth Walk with live music

04/24/15: Berkeley Folk Dancers — Bay Area dance Week Apr. 24 – May 3. Many dance groups and studios are open for public. A 10-day festival with over 600 free dance events.

04/24/15: Berkeley Folk Dancers

04/26/15 Pier 39 SF —

04/26/15 Pier 39 SF — Notice my yellow-orange hair around my face? It was mistake. I toned down with brown color a few days later .

04/26/15 Pier 39 SF —

04/26/15 Pier 39 SF —

04/26/15 Pier 39 SF —

04/26/15 California Mille’s 25th Annual Celebration of Italy’s Most Famous Race — Starting with crossing of Golden Gate Bridge, Napa Valley, Mendocino County, final destination is Calistoga. Total 4 days 869 miles.

1928 Bentley 3/8 liter, by Doug & Ellen Weitman of Cal. He found this car in Germany, paid a lot of money, didn’t tell me how much. He collects many classic cars.

1954 Lancia D24, by Charles & Mark Nearburg of Texas. 1954 Maserati A6GCS, J. Feiber & I. Zaremba of Cal

Gorgeous 1957 Porsche 356 coupe, driven by Steve and Debbie Earle of California

1956 Jaguar XK-140 fhc, driven by Jeffrey Mirvis and Christina Jennings-Vadis of California

Jim Feldman is the AC guru and AC restorer

AC & ACECA — Jim Feldman owns about half the AC’s ever built, there’s no better example of the brilliance of England’s small-volume sports car.

Ed Mazula of Southern California has been participating “California Mille” since 2004.

Ed, I bet you had fun evening, a lot of champagne in elegant Fairmont Hotel? Good luck 4 days of driving beautiful northern California.

04/29/15: San Pablo Casino — I have no interest in gambling. A special friend of mine took me to play slots. It was fun & enjoyed good company. I liked Duck Noodle Soup, delicious !

* * * * *

I met Will (William) at events in San Francisco. He is photographer and you may see his photos from some of SF Bay Area publications. He sent me some of his works. Excellent !! After all, he is a professional photographer. Search “Photo by Will Lee” to find his work.

My iPad has no flash. Here is example of my photo (left) and his (right).

June 7, 2013: SF City Hall Rotunda: Mexican Dance

4/03: SF Taiko Dojo at SF City Hall Rotunda
4/04: $20: Archery lesson at Fat Shaft in Benicia, CA
4/06: $$$: Left Eye Cataract surgery
4/10: $7Senior: ‘Second best exotic marigold hotel’ at Orinda theatre
4/11: Cherry Blossom Festival Japantown, SF
4/15: $$$ but let me in FREE: 2 special exhibits at the de Young Museum (1) ‘Botticelli to Baroque’ Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland (2) ‘Bouquets to Art’ They gave me 2 ‘member’ tickets (past 3/15, 7/13)
4/15: $$: Ballet “Program 7” Triple Bills, SF War Memorial Opera House
4/17: Friday Nights at the de Young – Scottish events.
4/18: Cal Day 2015′ at UC Berkeley
4/19: Cherry Blossom Parade, Japantown, SF
4/24: $5Donated: Labyrinth walk with live music. church in Berkeley
4/24: Berkeley Folk Dancer
4/26: Pier 39, SF
4/26: California Mille’s 25th celebration of Italy’s famous Race at Fairmont Hotel Nob Hill.
4/29: San Pablo Casino.