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For the Super Dooper Screen Cleaner, click here

(Sorry, friends, the super dooper screen cleaner might be gone…..)

To visit OceanStudiosAlliance, click here

very cool Buddahs seen in window at Big Pagoda, click here

(photo by artist Leon Kunke)

And when the shop opens, Blue Sky’s Sally Coverdell will be there to help you.

Makes interesting reading…..

One of the most evocative paintings I’ve enjoyed recently can be seen on the walls of Bix, a San Francisco restaurant with a 1930s spirit–for a special occasion.

I’m told there’s a Gus Van Sant movie being made about openly gay San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk (played by “tough guy” actor Sean Penn. Supervisor Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in City Hall in 1978 by Dan White, a crazed former supervisor.

The film is being shot in the City’s far- from- shy Castro District, and to sync the scenes with the era, store owners were asked [paid!] to dress up their windows a la 197os. Here’s a sampling of fun photos from my friend Leon Kunke.

I was in Seattle for Valentine’s Day and while waiting in the reception area of a small hotel-chain, athletes and cheerleaders from a local high school arrived.

Here are the cheerleaders from Deer Park, Washington.

Why was I in Seattle for one day/night only?

I was there to visit a orthopedist-nutritionist for my “broken back.” Yes, I fell on my butt outside my home in El Granada and broke L-1, L-2. It’s very painful.

Because this was an overnight trip, we stayed in a motel-hotel near the doctor’s office. After getting up at 5 a.m. to catch the flight……. etc. etc…… and my exam, I was anxious to get some rest. Looked like the place was booked solid and we ended up in a room with a running toilet, and a very good view of the building’s giant air conditioner, that was also making a persistent, loud noise.

It didn’t take more than a couple of minutes for us to grab our stuff and say goodbye.

In the lobby, the athletes I mentioned earlier started to arrive, healthy high school wrestlers and gymnists, as well as the cheerleaders in the photo above. What an irony, me, with the broken back surrounded by– these at-the-peak of their athletic careers– young, agile, talented kids.

Our problem seemed to matter less and less as we were outnumbered at the crowded reservation desk. Getting a taxi was not easy, either–but the taxi driver, when he arrived an hour later, was a young guy who was a lot of fun. He told us he usually takes passengers to the airport so driving into Seattle was a treat for him. He especially enjoyed people-watching and laughing about the crazy city drivers.

Heading for downtown Seattle turned out to be a great idea on the night of Valentine’s Day. We checked into the newly remodeled Alexis Hotel, a delightful place to stay with big pieces of art, paintings on the walls everywhere– and a comfortable bed for a lady with a broken back to sleep in. Very quiet, too. The Alexis has a cool restaurant/bar called the Library Bistro & Bookstore but we had dinner was down the street at the partly- unfortunately- named “McCormick & Schmick’s” Seafood Restaurant.

Nice close to a difficult (you have no idea) day.

At the airport, on the way home, I picked up a copy of the “New Yorker.” There’s a great story I highly recommend for you murder mystery fans. This one is a true crime piece called “Poland’s Postmodern Murder” by David Grann. It’ll keep you reading–but the story isn’t available online–you’ll have to buy a copy of the “New Yorker” in town at the Moon News Bookstore and enjoy local Jan Tiura’s photographs at the same time.

Sure helped reading the story while I tried to find a comfortable way to sit in the tiny seat on the fully-loaded flight back to Oakland.

It’s great to be back home in El Granada.

P.S. Maybe someday, when we’re in pain, we’ll be able to bring our broken bodies into a repair until while we’re given a healthy “loaner,” so we can keep on going.

P.P.S. I thank the excellent ER staff at Seton-Coastside in Moss Beach for taking care of me when I appeared in extreme pain on a Tuesday at dawn a few weeks ago. Doctor, nurse, X-ray technician, everybody, thank you.