Recent Posts

Today was trash pickup day in my neighborhood, and the friendly crew from Recology was here on time, as usual. It is a misnomer, however, to refer to “trash” or “garbage.” Thanks to early efforts of San Franciscans to recycle, we now have three separate bins – one for compost, one for mixed recyclables, and one for trash.  My trash bin is half size because, thanks to the system, I generate less trash.  In the early days of recycling in the 1970s, individual community efforts enabled people to recycle glass.  At that time, the glass had…

Among the many treasures of New York City, the iconic Carnegie Hall in Midtown Manhattan ranks among the best.  With its storied history filled with music greats, the concert hall today remains one of the finest and loveliest places to hear beautiful music. Last month, I had the privilege of visiting Carnegie Hall with family, where my 10-year-old grandson was part of a performance sponsored by New York’s The School for Strings in the Isaac Stern Auditorium.  The New York School for Strings extended the invitation to the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, which my grandson attends…

Many years ago, in the early days of the Internet, I spoke with a vendor from a technology firm, and an analogy that he posed has stuck with me all this time.  His company’s search engine was the best, he said, because their spiders were constantly crawling the web to find information.  The image was slightly creepy.  There are many options for search engines, often specialized for different interests and needs.  With the addition of AI to my search engine, I can get more extensive responses to my questions, all within seconds. I no longer recall…

Social Correspondence has reached a new anniversary.  Launched in 2014, we are now twelve years old. After a lifetime of writing and receiving letters in the mail, it was my hope to motivate friends and readers to do the same.  Postcards, notes, or full-length letters –all are good.  Could this thing, so often characterized as “the lost art of letter writing,” be revived?  I was hopeful.  There were several letter writing sites available on the Internet.  Perhaps Social Correspondence could add and strengthen these efforts, some of which were written and managed by women much younger…

While living in increasingly fractured times, many of us seek refuge, though often in very different ways.   For me, a long walk a, either by myself or with friends, is a way of finding peace.   Listening to music, visiting a museum, joining friends for exercise classes and/or lunch, are all small pleasures.  One might take comfort in helping to build local community through organized structure and events.  Volunteer work also can bring people together to find companionship and fun with like-minded people. Recently I had the opportunity to attend a community event, a birthday party for…

One recent morning I woke up dreaming of art.  Of my upcoming visit to the Frick Museum in Manhattan.  Of recent exhibitions at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.  Of a whole world of art and discovery to enjoy. Visits to museums have always been a part of my life.  I have had the good fortune to visit some of the best in the world, including those close to home.  But the benefits of both age and more leisure time has given me a more profound appreciation for what I am seeing. When San Francisco…