Brain Chimney

Randomnalia, again...

• Wahoozicool!  I got a job!  This year I'll be teaching first grade at a private school.  So I'll likely be MIA with the blog for a bit as starting a new school year is stressful and I am nervous as I can nearly be!

• The Best Latte in the Bay Area, in my opinion, can be found at Oliveto in Rockridge (essentially the "Gourmet Ghetto" of Oakland).  Their Goat Cheese Tarts rock , too!

• I've always said I'd be a Hybrid Woman if I got a car, but this damn obsession with the original Mini Coopers continues; they are just too cute!

Of course, I'd probably would never get an old Mini as I'd want the safety features of a new car.  However, my first car was a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle (a VW Bug)--not the safest car on the road.  I've rode in a new Mini Cooper with a coworker and it was divine--especially the heated seats!  Anyhoo, I am pretty much a public transportation type of person--I like to leave the driving to someone else.

• Speaking of public transportation, John and I spotted this couple on the bus.  Look at their matching Converse shoes!  It was awfully adorable to see, but I don't think I could ever pull off such a thing with a straight look on my face.

Hi, ho it's off to work I go.  Must plan, plan, plan!

"Facebook In Reality" by Idiots of Ants

Tasting the Bay Area Slice by Slice!

(The pic above has nothing to do with tasting pizza, except for the fact that we found it "as is" on the walk to the pizza place.  A little weathered and worn-out, but too cute!)

John and I are taking a "Pizza Odyssey" through the Top 6 Pizza Joints in the Bay Area as deemed by Michael Bauer, San Francisco Chronicle Restaurant Critic. 

Saturday evening we went to Pauline's Pizzeria  in the Mission and had what may have been the best pesto sauce on Earth in the form of their Pesto Pizza.  Pauline's uses ingredients from their own gardens and the quality of their produce shone brilliantly in their special salad for that evening which was full of cucumbers and fresh herbs.  The Pesto clearly was fresh from the garden and Pauline's is so confident in their pesto recipe that they'll allow no substitutions and no additions!  I have to say that this is a case where the chef is right--the Pesto is perfect just as it is!  It may not look so pretty, but it most certainly tastes divine:

For dessert, we had the much-raved about Butterscotch pudding with a side of vanilla ice cream reluctantly suggested by our waiter.  We found the pudding much too salty.  I think we would have been happier with the homemade vanilla and orange bergamot ice cream sundae.

Nevertheless, I was very pleased with their house brand of wine, Pauline's Pizza Red 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was spicy and smooth at the same time.  Delish!

And here are the other five pizzerias we will be visiting:

Gialina

Gioia

Pizzaiolo

Pizzeria Picco

Rosso

Frog, frog, frog...I suck at reading charts!

Ugh, so this is why I've avoided lacework and colorwork...I don't count or read charts very well!  I keep on adding or subtracting the # of stitches I'm supposed to work in a color.  Oh, well, I always knew that I wasn't a very good counter; as a sales clerk, doing inventory for stores was one of my worst nightmares.

This is what I've got so far on my entomology mittens.  However, I'll be frogging back to the ribbing to add another 10 or 15 rows of striping.  I've also decided that these are going to be fingerless mitts come hell or high water as I really don't wear mittens.

The blinkering of doe eyes...

Bugs on the Hands and Mind...

Yippee, I'm finished with teaching summer school!  And so some slightly-complicated knitting seems to be in order, thus the Entomology Mittens from the book Knitalong (sans the 2008 since I think it futzes with the lovely pattern on the palm of the mittens):

Details, so far:

• Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Zara in teal (color 1746, Lot 50) and chartreuse (color 1503, lot 210)
• Needles for ribbing: Size 1 DPNs, which will likely be exchanged for my Addi Turbos to knit Magic Loop style as 4 DPNs and two balls of yarn seems a little too much like juggling to me!
• N.B. Zara yarn is SPROINGY!

Chihuly is Cool-huly

On Sunday, the Parental Unit, John, and I went to the de Young Museum to see the Chihuly exhibit and it was spectacularly amazing!  I do believe this is an exhibit that I'll likely visit a second time.  The following piece reminds me of both the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie and the new Willy Wonka movie.

Here's one of the views from the de Young Tower of a pond with a Chihuly sculpture in the center.  I have ran by it in the evening and it looks amazing when the neon is lit!
And here's more glass!

Someday...someday...someday after I finish my thesis and get a bit more settled career-wise, I'd like to take glass-blowing classes over at The Crucible!

MOMA(SF), I'm coming home...

A portion of the Exterior of the SF MOMA:

Saturday, my parental unit came to San Francisco to do a massive, weekend-long museum hunt.  First, we were off the Asian Art Museum to see the exhibit "Power and Glory: Court Arts of China's Ming Dynasty".  Which was--in my opinion--nyet, nyeh (not very interesting).

We then went to the SF MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit, which was great, but uber-super-duper crowded.

I also loved this piece, but failed to note the name of the artist!

Today we're off to see the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young Museum!