SEASONED GREETINGS

KEROUAC ALLEY: A WORD FROM STEINBECK

DEAREST FRIENDS...

Village Corner Bistro, Carmel-by-the-Sea

...since 1956 (when I was two).

At Christmastime (or anytime), old friends are the best friends,
especially those with whom you shared Christmas Eve during childhood.

THE MONTEREY PENINSULA

The land of Cannery Row and Steinbeck.

SF AWAKENS

From my room on the 26th floor, the city illuminates and comes to life.

UNION SQUARE, SAN FRAN, CHRISTMASTIME

This elderly gent had just come out of Tiffany.

He seemed to realize there was far more Christmas spirit out in the cold with this quartet.


And nearby, on California Street...

TADICH GRILL

This is Ken, perhaps the finest server on Planet Earth, and maybe why Tadich Grill continues to be San Francisco's finest dining experience.

Since 1849, Tadich Grill is the longest continuous-running restaurant in San Francisco.

For very good reason.

Without a doubt, the finest, freshest oysters on the half-shell (from Samish, Washington) I ever ate.

JACK KEROUAC ALLEY (NORTH BEACH)

In North Beach, between a beat bar called Vesuvio and City Lights Bookstore, is an alley once called Adler, now named after a writer who defined the road.

CITY GLIMPSES

Nothing like a cable car for a sense of place.

Sign in window:  Wherever you are, be all there.  Give presence.

ROOM WITH A VIEW

Telegraph Hill

If in SF only one night, this is what you want to see from the privacy of your room.

BIG CITY FIX

GUERNEVILLE

The drugstore sign of my childhood. 

Glad to see it still exists, somewhere.

A "five-and-dime."  Miss this, too.

Thank God for Guerneville.

Happy CoW

RUSSIAN RIVER ROADS

RUSSIAN RIVER

The best kind of booty

FLYING GOAT COFFEE

The cappuccino is pleasant enough, but strong, so I return to the barista and request a tiny top-up of warm milk.

“I don’t do that,” she sneers, as if she is a famous chef who will serve a hamburger with only toppings she approves.  “Perhaps you need a different drink, a misto or a latte?”

“No, this one is fine,” I say.  “It just needs a few drops of warm milk.”

“Well, I’ll have to charge you fifty cents.”

I shrug.

She reluctantly pours.  And instructs the cashier to ring up a sale.

Fifty cents.

In her mind:   Did she think I was trying to muscle in on a more expensive drink? Or might therapy and meds be in her future?

Little wonder Starbucks does so well…

HEALDSBURG A.M.

HEALDSBURG AT CHRISTMASTIME

Dry Creek Kitchen.

Maybe the world's finest scallop pot pie.

(And the peanut butter bar is no slouch either,)

Christmas orbs:  past, present, & future

THE VIEW FROM RICHMOND BRIDGE

San Fran

San Quentin State Prison

DUE NORTH

HOLIDAY READING

As he crisscrosses America -- driving in search of the present, the past, and himself -- Larry McMurtry shares his fascination with this nation's great trails and the culture that has developed around them. 

MARK TWAIN'S 9 TIPS FOR LIVING YOUR LIFE

1. Approve of yourself.

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”

2. Your limitations may just be in your mind.

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

3. Lighten up and have some fun.

“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”

“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”

4. Let go of anger.

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

5. Release yourself from entitlement.

“Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

6. If you’re taking a different path, prepare for reactions.

“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”

7. Keep your focus steadily on what you want.

“Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.”

8. Don’t focus so much on making yourself feel good.

“The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.”

9. Do what you want to do.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did so. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

i heart intelligence Mark Twain’s Top 9 Tips for Living a Kick-Ass Life

BEVERLY HILLS: SURGICAL STRIKE, SANTA

The New Beverly Hills: Riyadh Overruns Rodeo Drive - Pret-a-Reporter

Just waiting for Santa to be replaced by Aladdin on a magic carpet.

(I miss J.J. Newberry.)