Brief Encounters

At a party on the waterfront I ran into the State's Lt. Governor, and former mayor of this city, Gavin Newsom. I haven't spoken to him in a decade or so, but he was charming as always, and complained bitterly about his boss, Gov. Jerry Brown.

He said Jerry drives him crazy.

Afterward, I thought to myself how little like the rest of the country California really is. Ever since I arrived here, over 40 years ago, I've had experiences like this one.

You walk into a room, and there stands an impossibly famous politician, actor, writer, or athlete. You talk to them; they talk to you. There's usually little celebrity worship expected or expressed.

It's a flat society out here, on a social level, though hardly on a financial level.

I saw a few old friends as well, and hung around just long enough to sample the food.

I've always hated cocktail parties and the chatter that seems required at them, but I have to admit that they are where the business of our society happens, and I should go to more of them, and hang around longer.

Rather, I come and go quickly, savor the brief memories, and write about it all.

PhD Party

All six kids and five grandkids and two grandparents got together today to celebrate Peter's accomplishment.



his youngest sister designed this card.



Our favorite neuroscientist, and the one we are most proud of!

-30-

Breakfast

This morning brought a rare treat -- seeing all three of my sons in the living room of this small flat laughing and joking. I cooked them a big breakfast, and then the oldest was off to his friend's wedding this afternoon in Tilden Park.

I took the younger two to their favorite video game store on Mission a bit later on. My youngest also came over; she and I tried to visit the adoption room at the SPCA near here, but they are closed on Mondays. That was a bummer, for her, because she is trying to convince me to adopt a cat.

As a parent, despite that setback, it was a good day.

I think I'll leave it at that. Nothing else good happened; in fact everything else was pretty much bad. But in the spirit of remaining hopeful, I'll stay tonight with the good stuff.

The sound of laughter, the smell of cinnamon toast, eggs and sausages, the taste of coffee and the sounds of a light rain outside this morning, the vision of three big and beautiful boys in my living room...well, it never gets any better than that.

-30-

South to Salinas

Two hours south to Salinas we drove, three of the Seals players and I.

It was a terrific game, desperately close all of the way.

At the end, our defense never allowed a clean shot on goal, but theirs did.



We only had one experienced center back in the lineup today, and as usual he played every minutes of the game.

Afterward, the Seals had a 1-0 victory, and they have won the first two games of the season.

To celebrate, on the drive back north to the City, we stopped at In N Out Burger.

A good Sunday.