Blind Side

Two things are on my mind this morning. One is Blind Side, an uplifting movie, based on a true story, about a woman who spontaneously decides to invite a homeless teenager to spend the night at her family’s stately house, an arrangement that leads to a deep emotional bond between the boy and family and eventually launches him into a college scholarship and pro football career. Along the way, the Mom shows great courage venturing into The Projects where she encounters some of what he had to overcome to survive. It was uplifting and/because Sandra Bulloch managed to play the Mom role in such a way that her character was saintly but still believable and appealing.

The other thing on my mind is closer to home and harder to take in. We just learned about the death of Holly Horton, until recently the head of school at Live Oak. Her decline from being in remission from cancer to actively afflicted to receiving round-the-clock hospice care was stunningly fast. I believe she was surrounded by people who loved her and I believe she felt acknowledged for the amazing school she helped create, but I’m sorry I didn’t write the note I meant to send when I heard the end was near. When we were choosing a school for Ty, there was a school much closer to home that advertised the same type of nurturing environment, but that’s almost a given in the Bay Area. What is amazing about Live Oak is that the day-to-day reality seems to match the mission statement.

On a Roll

Ty decided to collect change for UNICEF while trick or treating this year. I tried to prepare him that people might not welcome the solicitation after spending hundreds of dollars on candy, but he persevered. Thanks to additional contributions from Granny, Albert (our next door neighbor), and Don (whose massive collection of coins also included a penny-colored button, a tiny screw, and Pet Food Express token), the grand total was $175.42.

Ty initially became interested in UNICEF because FC Barcelona, one of his favorite soccer teams, supports them by wearing the UNICEF logo on their jersey instead of a paid sponsor's logo, but he has obviously done some research. As we were putting the coins into rolls, he told me that 24,000 children die each day from preventable causes.

Speaking of preventable death, we took an evening walk after wrapping up the UNICEF project and saw a car blatantly run a red light at Geary and 23rd as we were about to step into the intersection. Poor Ty had to listen to another lecture about being a careful pedestrian.

More Magic

For the record... we also went to see Mrs Whitney by John Kolvenbach at the Magic Theatre. It was very engaging, but we found it distracting that they used the same lead actors in both Kolvenbach plays. The female lead was playing an older version of the same character she portrayed in the first play, but the male lead was now her former husband/love interest where before he had been the derelict father of her daughter's college boyfriend.

It was hard not to keep the first play from bleeding into the second. We found ourselves wondering how the destitute father from the first play suddenly had a nice house in the second play, before remembering it was a different storyline.

Museum and Goldfish

This week got off to a theatrical start with Adrienne's opening night performance in Museum, staged in the Chamber of Horrors at the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf, and Goldfish, a Bay Area premiere at the Magic Theatre. Adrienne and Sondra were great playing society matrons attending the final day of an art exhibition and the Boxcar Theatre creative directors (Nick and Peter) were characteristically inventive, arranging to stage the show in actual museums and galleries around the Bay Area. Goldfish was a wonderful introduction to playwright John Kolvenbach. Before the show, Adrienne was commenting on the age (50 and up) of the Magic audience and I was speculating that the whole nature of theatre might not be appealing to generations used to interactive entertainment. This show was wonderful in every way and I hope it proves me wrong. I don't know anything about John Kolvenbach, but maybe he is from the texting generation and knows how to bridge the gap. The scenes were short -- practically "tweets," but each line packed a punch and often a punchline.

Moving Day

Ty moved into Chloe’s old room over the weekend, and it was interesting to see which of his furnishings and decorations made the move with him.

His old room was decorated with maps and artifacts from his interest in family history and Eastern Europe. The new room is strictly soccer – Juventus, Barcelona, and Chelsea posters and Pele paraphernalia. His bed is resting on slats on the floor, because we didn’t have the tools or know-how to disassemble his old bed frame, but he says he loves it that way. The only other furniture is a giant soccer ball beanbag chair and a TV/wii for playing FIFA Soccer. I’m not sure what he’s planning to do about underwear and socks, but he didn’t want to clutter up the room with a dresser, bookcase, or desk.

Although he shed most of his childhood accessories, Tigger, Panda, and all the other stuffed animals made the move from the old closet to new and he is careful to leave the closet door open so they don’t get claustrophobic.

Fog City

It was supposed to be a beautiful day on Saturday, and I knew it would be, if only I could make it through the fog and up to Skyline where I was meeting Alix to see her "new" 2005 Ninja 250, which had been lovingly souped-up for racing by its previous owner.

The fog was so thick in San Francisco that pedestrians I passed on Sunset Blvd. were huddled under umbrellas as they waited for the bus. Water was dripping off my helmet, which I wore visor up so I could see out. I did not feel safe at freeway speeds on the slick roads and without a visor, so I slowly made my way down Mission Street through Daly City, which becomes El Camino. Eventually (in Millbrae) the sun burned through the fog and started to dry out my leather jacket. The ride through the Redwoods was great once I turned off 35, which was already backing up with traffic heading for the pumpkin patches in Halfmoon Bay

Visiting Alice's Restaurant, the biker hangout on Skyline Boulevard, was quite an experience with Alix because she likes to stir things up. Never mind that the regulars who frequent the parking lot across from Alice's were decked out in full leather regalia and had elaborately decorated Harleys with 5X the horsepower. She would say, "How do you like my bike?" and you could see them momentarily at a loss for words before quickly warming to her obvious enthusiasm for her new sport.

Both Ways

I don't usually like short story collections, because of the effort involved in getting invested in each new story, but between Olive Kitteridge and this month's book club pick, Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy, I'm becoming a convert.

The author has an interesting way of "teetering near catastrophe," as the Slade reviewer put it, without going there.