A real life break up play in women's studies class at Cal-where else?

My niece just got a full scholarship to the UCLA directing program. Don't worry, this won't turn into a bragging blog-although she is perfect. She also happens to look just like me-brunette, brown eyes while her mom, two years younger than me, is blonde and blue-eyed. Maybe it's the fact that she looks like me that got me thinking about my college days. I got accepted into UC Berkeley and became an English major. At the end of my freshman year I fell in love which lasted for two years. When we broke up my bf and I were both taking the same class-a college women's studies class-this was the late 70's and he called himself a Renaissance man. For his final project he decided to do a play about how horrible I was. Instead of worrying about me, the female faculty member sided with him because he was the only male in the class. Talk about a nightmares. I can laugh about it now but it was devastating at the time. I wish I could prevent my niece but from any pain but guess it's part of growing up. She's already much more mature than me at that age.

Bobcats replacing Cougars in SF?

Just got back from San Francisco (which I miss desperately and want to move back to so badly!). Right now is a great time to visit...sales everywhere. I'm going broke saving money. Walked by Wilkes Bashford...the bastion of "the city's" elite and they had a big sign out front saying "Warehouse Sale," almost like a garage sale! I had no idea what this sale was all about but for a shopaholic like me it was like waving whisky in front of an alcoholic.
When I walked in the front door, I smiled at the doorman and asked where the sale was taking place. He directed me around the corner to the elevator and I while I waited, I heard him joking with an employee about cougars versus bobcasts. (Apparantly bobcats are women in their 30's preying on younger men while cougars are in their 40's.) Since I'm 51 I dared hope they were talking about me. I had on a couture dress (from a sample sale) but paired with my Keen walking shoes, I knew it had the same effect as pumps.
After I perused the sale on the 5th floor-they had signs for $10 jeans and $20 skirts, but the good stuff was gone. Not one to admit defeat, I managed to find a cashmere blood-red T for only $20! Sold! Especially since I got the famous orange bag. The saleswoman told me I was missing out by not looking at the dresses marked down to "only" $300, but since I had already lusted after the discounted cashmere robes (a mere $800) I grabbed my credit card and ran down the stairs while my willpower was intact, only to find..
the famous Willie Brown, former state assemblymember and mayor of San Francisco, talking to his good buddy, Wilkes Bashford himself. Wilkes looked despondent, standing alone by the bar, but I followed Willie downstairs to the gifts and he was his usual cheerful self, saying well, hello, in his tenor tone. Later I thought about telling him how much I enjoyed his column in the SF Chronicle, about how I met my husband the night I saw Willie walk in to a bar with a blonde on each arm in the Bermuda Triangle, (the name for a corner with three bars in between Union and Chestnut Streets where singles were known to disappear forever), but all I could manage was hi.
I left with my red top, orange bag and fervernt wishes of returning to SF. Maybe it's just my youth I want back...or maybe I think moving back will return me my carefree days. Of course memories always cancel out the dark days I worried about paying rent and how I was underutilized in my job, but those months when my sister and I went out partying and I juggled three boyfriends at once are priceless.

I miss San Francisco

It's 90 some degrees in "the city" today but the heat wave doesn't bother me--it's still my beautiful city. I miss working and living here. The revamped ferry building is fantastic-I ran in, got caviar, aged gouda, bread, champagne and chocolate at five different shops and took it to my lovely room in the old-fashioned Palace Hotel to eat. It felt like being in France or London or Sydney with charming alleyways and surprising shops around every corner.
If you go visit the San Francisco CVB website first, they have been rated one of the friendliest in the world. I live in Santa Cruz now and love it but everytime I come to the city I want to move back. A wise person once said to move to the place you were last happiest and that would be SF for me...who knows maybe I'll come back. Today in the paper it said most San Franciscans are natives-hard to believe-but then again-where else do you find a great walking city with beautiful architecture, fun boutiques, fantastic restaurants and a live and let live attitude.

McMansions in Paradise

I live in what is called the only authentic beach town in Northern California, certainly the only one with an old-fashioned amusement park that my sister calls the poor-man's disneyland. My neighborhood, the yacht harbor, has been called a secret paradise by locals and visitors because it's sheltered from the wind and fog by the Monterey Bay Marine sanctuary. This banana belt has been my home since 1989 when my husband and I bought a house right before the big earthquake. Our house survived the quake and since then we have only grown more attached to our former hippie town. Unfortunately while progress has improved the downtown, replacing smoke shops with boutiques, it has also encouraged a new breed of folks to move in...those who are building McMansions in this town that used to be proud of it's beach dwellings. Tiny little lots are being overrun with overdone, gingerbread houses. The unique charm of Santa Cruz is fading away so it's becoming like any other town in any other city in the world. For some reason the recession has not hit the Santa Cruz real estate market like it has the rest of the state and country. Now we're thinking of moving to try and get a better view and more light and some of the authentic feel we moved to Santa Cruz to experence...unfortunately Perth Australia seems to be the closest place in spirit.

No such thing as originality

My friend Beth and I thought we were being so cool-combining our mother's names (my nom's maiden name Kuhl) and her mom's name Bella into a blog: KuhlBella. Guess what? I just saw a clothing line by that name. Is it even possible to come up with an original idea in 2009?
It seems like history is repeating itself with the "great recession" and people returning to basic values (ie; poverty). I remember reading about the depression when I was little and asking my dad about this terrible time and he assured me it could never happen again. Part of me didn't believe him even as a kid...didn't we always learn that history repeats itself?
I guess those Silicon Valley types keep coming up with new ideas: green collar jobs and technology, new ways to communicate, twitter, and new ways to make and lose money (skype).
But are they new ideas or just spiffed up versions of the age old way of communicating--talking? After all blogging is just a diary-gone public.
This curmudgeon clearly needs a nap--if I wasn't so addicted to facebook I might take one.

One Step Closer to George Clooney!

My Clooney Crusade is making advances! Last time we talked I met a woman in Norway who lived in Lake Como and knew George and told me to come visit her. She said everyone knows George in town, he's very down to earth. He owns two villas, one for his workouts alone!
I told my sister Jane about my quest and she mentioned how Ellen DeGeneres got him on her show-she brought in two old, former baseball players who George admired and it finally got the movie star to come on the set. A re-run of this Ellen show was on the other day and one of the baseball players was Joe Morgan! I know Joe Morgan! He got a degree in mid-life at Cal State Hayward where I worked!
It's meant to be --George is going to meet me. But like Ellen, I'll think now what? The fun of it is the hunt. Well it's more fun than all the real work I should be doing!