san francisco days/sacramento nights

one of the pleasures of visiting sf is its many fine museums. today we got up at 5:30 am to head toward the newly refurbished de young museum located in golden gate park to see the tutankhamun and the golden age of the pharoahs exhibit. a quick couple cups or rocket fuel, getting nicholas dressed and ready then waiting for my mother- and sister-in-law to arrive we were out the door and on our way by 7:30 am [which is practically moving at light speed for us] in the thick morning valley fog.

anna drove. i usually drive but it was a luxury to put my feet up and enjoy the trip. driving in sf is a logical nightmare but anna kicked serious butt and kept us on our tight schedule. the city was sunny with light cloud cover and warm, unlike my beloved home base. getting to the museum early made the tour so much more pleasant as large crowds usually avoid the morning.

nothing makes history alive than viewing the artifacts of past ages. however, as faulkner told us, the past is never dead. it's not even past. sure three millenia separate us and the boy-king but to get up so close to see the lines of wood carved in a cartouche and the paint of a model of a riverboat and know that the hands of artisans made those things and that it looks like, on the level craftsmanship, the can be made and used handily today.

the de young was closed for many years as it was remade for our new century. i miss the old classicism of its former self. it might be dated for today but the old dioramas and halls possess a discretion of viewing than the more digital presentation of 21st century exhibitions. no matter that even as the de young is gorgeous and has a justly famous observation deck with wrap-around glass and views of the city and the bay and the golden gate bridge to seriously die for.

that was it. a long day. we stopped at one of the many gift shops. i've not paid attention to painting for some time. however, i picked up a retrospective volume of paintings by cy twombly, i didn't buy it because the listed price was way outside my ken, yet the painting thrilled me like i've not been thrilled before. i also looked at a book of work by sean scully and another collection of work by william t. wiley. looking at paintings on the web is okay but the book form is superior and even better of course is seeing the works should we get the chance live in person.

we bought a few things. i picked up joseph cornell's dreams edited by catherine corman [essay press, 2007] because i couldn't help it. seriously fucking good shit. i've been ga ga for cornell for a couple decades now and this collection of the great artist's writings read like poems.

then we took a long driving tour of sf with anna driving again. drove thru the sunset district and haight/ashbury before hitting fell st and heading across the bay to emeryville where we had lunch at an indian place that has over the years become a tradition for us to eat everytime we are in the bay area.

apologies to my comrades in the art who live in sf -- esp. you senor hayes -- for not trying to visit. i can't imagine the boredom of anna and nicholas and my mother- and sister-in-law would endure me talking poetry with a good friend over a couple beers and/or coffee. i don't think they could take it and might even collapse under the weight. oh well, we bid sf a good day and went back home to our city in the valley. on top of that my cold has come back with a vengeance. excuse me now i have to wipe the gunk off my keyboard. blech!

blog tip of the week: the sfmoma blog. you'd think i'd find this blog by being a frequent visitor of the sfmoma website but no. i found it by searching for work by sf poet cedar sigo. now go read!