Saturday, December 09, 2006

the miss list, vol. 3 (or, Salome was not a nice person)

We come to number 4 on the list of things I will miss when we move back to northern AZ in a few weeks. 4) Craigslist. "But Craigslist is ubiquitous," you might say. Ah, yes. But have you checked the wealth of listings across the board for the SF Bay Area, and then clicked over to the Flagstaff/Prescott/Sedona area of Arizona? 'Nuff said. Granted, my CL browsing is mainly limited to "Free" (I got a great couch and desk that we'll be hauling back with us); "Pets" (because you never know when someone may need to rehome a goat - not that I could help them out, considering my current living conditions); and occasionally "Artists." Which brings us to 5) the Legion of Honor. Mom and I bought yearly passes when we went to the Monet in Normandy exhibit this summer, mainly because doing so allowed us to bypass the hundreds of people waiting in line for one-day tickets. Recently we went back and took the kids (not something I recommend, unless you are a freakishly mellow person naturally (there is no one around here who fits that description), or are having a high-tolerance-for-aggravation kind of day, which we were). My daughter excused herself from the museum tour early on, preferring to show Abuela how much cooler it is to jump up and down on one of the lobby benches than to stare at a bunch of old paintings of naked people. But the boy. The boy I was able to keep hooked by suggesting that he lead the tour. He headed straight for the Rodin room where he was immediately captivated by the three figures from The Gates of Hell. This room was also full of warriors and struggles and the head of John the Baptist, which naturally elicited a long-winded lecture from me about the story behind said severed head. This was one of those biblical stories I'd heard something about before actually reading the Bible, thanks to the influence of Siouxsie Sioux in my goth-ish days. Long story short, I told the boy, Salome was not a nice person.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:30 AM

    I've finally thought of an advantage of you going back--now I can have more of your addictive smelling soap. We'll have to trade care packages :)

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  2. Anonymous11:25 AM

    Craig's List is the bomb and our San Francisco flavor has some sort of aura of coolness around it, so I getcha, sista.

    But even more stunning is the Fairfax Free Sign Phenomenon (say that out loud to hear my feeble attempt at alliteration). On any given day, you can drive the back streets of that sleepy little hippy town and people put out treasure and junk (in equal portions) curbside with signs marked "free" on them. No Craig's List needed! Just drive around and collect your loot! My mom put out my old birdcage, some raunchy 35 year old stuffed animals, a steamer trunk, some ballet costumes, and some rusty garden clippers. The whole lot disappeared within the hour.

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  3. I don't remember you having a bird.

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  4. Anonymous12:00 PM

    I had a whole succession of birds, each one suffering a more gory cat-induced death than the one before. We as a family were pretty much done with the bird thing by the time I reached the ripe old age of 11. I believe that you & I only go back 23 and a half years, so that's why you may not remember a bird in my past.

    My brother and I also had (all at one time) 12 cats, 2 dogs, 21 assorted frogs & tadpoles, a snake, a guinea pig, a hamster and a bird. Welcome to the Frustuck Avenue Zoo. The downstairs bathroom was a virtual terrarium (spelling?). My husband would NEVER EVER allow that to happen at our house. We don't even have a dog and our cat is pretty much purely decorative...not that we're fussy or anything.

    Goats are completely out of the question, so I hope you kept the receipt for that Christmas Goat you got me...

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