Hey folks. I have a new post up on my WP site. I am going to use only that one from now on so if you want to see what's happening in my corner of the world, follow me over there! Here's the link. We went to see Tina, the play and the Foreigner concert with Loverboy. Fun times.
Hope to see you on the Word Press page.
Wrote a new post on my WP blog but since it is picture/video loaded I don't want to just simulcast it on here because then I'll need to change the sizes of everything so if you want to check it out, click here!
I haven’t posted much this month, as is my usual after the busy April A to Z, but it’s not because I’ve sunk my teeth into anything new, just because I sank into the “I don’t have anything exciting to say,” mood. However, I do have something fun to talk about now so here goes.
May 20th was our 39th anniversary. I’ve written before about some of the anniversary adventures we’ve been on and we went on another one this year.
We have a really good friend who had timeshare points to use or lose so he gave them to us. We went to Las Vegas for a few days and it was so relaxing. We stayed in a place called Tahiti Village and it was just as if we had gone to a tropical island. My favorite part was sitting by the “river” reading. I finished that book in two days.
Here’s my hubby floating along. I did it too but I didn’t take my camera with me because I was afraid I’d drop it.
We did drive up and down the strip a few times and went to the Gold and Silver Pawn shop but we didn’t sink a fortune into the slot machines. In fact, we only gambled for an hour and a half. That’s pretty good I think for being in Las Vegas. We also didn’t go see any shows. We were trying not to spend a ton of money.
I did notice one thing as we were walking through the SF airport that would have fit perfectly into my A to Z light show from last month:
I’d have taken a longer video but we were on our way to get our bags and had a friend coming to pick us up from the airport. I did some research and it is called Spirogyrate, designed by Eric Staller and installed in 2014. There are 12, 66-1/4 inch circles that spin and light up. Per the website, “Staller’s artwork utilizes light, space and motion to delight and surprise the public. Spirogyrate is an immersive and interactive installation composed of graphic spiral patterns and light that change and respond to people’s movement through the space. The result is a whimsical environment to be enjoyed by travelers of all ages.”
See, I’m always on the lookout for things to astound and amuse you with! It will probably be a while before I have anything else to say as we are back to the same old routine. Happy Sunday!
Linda’s words for yesterday’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday were sink/sank/sunk. I’m a day late but thought I’d play anyway.
Also, note to those who read this, I am afraid that I am going to stop the simulcast post from WordPress because every time I post I have to come back here and resize the pictures and I can't always do that right away. Besides, the whole point of the simulcast is so that I only have to post once. Since that's not really working, it's not time effective. Therefore, to continue reading my posts, please follow me at this link.
Another A to Z successfully completed! My theme this year was the Illuminate SF project where I went to find the different light installations throughout San Francisco. Here are my posts in alpha order in case you missed any.
F is for Federal Building and the SkyGarden
G is for Grant Avenue where you can see the Lantern Stories
H is for Hope Will Never Be Silent
I is for Illuminating Facts and Finds
J is for John F. Kennedy Drive where you will find Psychedelic Photosynthesis
K is for Joseph Kosuth who designed WFT
N is for Ivan Navarro who designed the Ladder (Sun or Moon)
O is for Olafur Eliasson’s Seeing Spheres
R is for Reading the Language of the Birds
T is for Traxon Technologies who created the lighting sequence for Coding
V is for Valencia Street where you will find the Handsignals
X is for the EXploratorium where you will see Buckyball
Z is for Zuckerberg San Francisco General where the Ethereal Bodies are
I think my personal favorites were the Entwined, Buckyball and Ethereal Bodies just because they have so many lights flashing. My least favorite were the Bayview Rise, Coding and SkyGarden. Kind of boring.
I did not visit as many new folks as I probably should have. I did go a few times to see what others were writing about but to be honest, some of them weren’t interesting to me or when I did stop by they were not really doing the challenge or were so many letters behind that I figured they had dropped out. Totally understandable as it is a commitment. I suppose I could have just said, “Hello from the A to Z,” but that seems kind of lame. I did respond to everyone who commented on my posts and I visited my regular sites. I also had trouble with folks who wrote very lengthy posts. I understand that you may have a lot to say on a particular subject but it is just too hard to read something several pages long. I tried to keep mine a reasonable length.
I think honestly this was one of the easiest challenges I’ve done. I had drafts of all my letters in the beginning of March and as I took the corresponding pictures I uploaded them right away. I did the writing at least the day before so that I only had to give a final check and then hit publish on the actual day. I will say that even though I had mapped out where I needed to go to see the lights, I should have been just a bit more careful in checking addresses and in actually reading the description of what was supposed to be in the installation as there are a few that I want to go back to, like the Language of the Birds to read what is on the ground around it and the Conservatory of Flowers to see more of the Psychedelic Photosynthesis show.
For sure I will be watching for the Illuminate SF Light Art Festival in November so I can see what new lights will be there. I’ll also make sure to post if I go back and revisit any of the ones I did this year.
Thanks to Arlee Bird, J. Lenni Dorner, John Holton, Zalka Csenge Virág, and Jayden R Vincente for their hard work to keep us all organized. I do have to say that I was not a fan of the graphics this year so I just didn’t use them. I think they were too hard to read, including the trophy for finishing. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my place. Appreciate it.
I think I have my theme for next year already. It’s one I have done previously so we’ll see if I can pull it off. For now, back to our regular programming – LOL.
I’m kind of grateful to Mark Zuckerberg for donating so much money to San Francisco General Hospital because I’ve been able to use it as the “Z” letter in two of my A to Z Challenges.
I first went to ZSFG to get pictures for my “A is for Archipelago” post so it is kind of fitting that I end there with the Ethereal Bodies. On the official Illuminate SF site the description is of something else, which is too bad.
In any case, when I went the first time it was a little too early to see either the Archipelago or the Ethereal Bodies in their full glory. This is what I saw on that visit. The lights were just starting to come on and even that was kind of neat. It looks like there is a fire in the bottom.
When I went back to get the night time views for Archipelago, I was so excited to see the changing colors in this sculpture. It was designed in 2015 by Cliff Garten who also designed the Monarch. The stainless steel rods “gather sunlight by day and interact prismatically with the LED lights by night which are activated by motion sensors.” Accordingly, the vision changes as you drive around the circular driveway. The tallest point is 21 feet, 8 inches high and it is 19 feet wide, 15 feet deep overall.
I pulled over and was able to get this video without leaving my car, just in case an emergency came through since it is right in front of the emergency room entrance. Fortunately it was a quiet night, at least while I was there. It might be kind of nice to have this light show to focus on if you are a patient in one of the rooms facing the courtyard.
Best Viewing: After dark in the driveway of Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Emergency Room entrance, 1001 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco.
And with this we have come to the end of the A to Z Challenge for 2023! I hope that you have enjoyed my trek through San Francisco to find the unusual exhibits that make up Illuminate SF. You can bet that I will be on the lookout for the opening night in November this year to see what new installations they have. Maybe it will be enough for another A to Z! I will be doing my reflection post next week sharing more of my insights on this fun experience. See you then and thanks for coming along this year!
“Y” is another one of those letters that can be tricky to find something to fill in the A to Z Challenge. You can bet I was excited that there was an installation in the Illuminate SF project called YUD.
Finding said YUD was a little more difficult. It was on the list with the “Love Over Rules” exhibit and we know what trouble I had finding that one! You would think that a 60-foot cube would be easy to spot but it is actually down a tiny street called Yerba Buena Lane. It is attached to the Contemporary Jewish Museum and you can visit it during business hours with a paid admission.
It was after hours when I went so I couldn’t get inside and there were some people walking around the plaza that I was unsure about (they were yelling at each other) so I didn’t really walk too far away from my husband and our car. Still, this is pretty impressive, don’t you think? There are 36 diamond-shaped windows around the cube and it was designed by Daniel Libeskind in 2008. Inside, the space can be used for parties or other events and there was a video project done in 2017 that you can read about here.
Best Viewing: After dark stand in the museum’s entrance plaza. The address is 736 Mission Street but it is actually on Yerba Buena Lane.
One more day in our A to Z! We will have a rare Sunday post to finish it off before May starts on Monday. See you tomorrow with what I consider the grand finale!
