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Berkeley: Day Three
Dec. 29th, 2023 09:32 pmA BETTER DAY FOR ELMER. My dad visited Elmer today, and he was still skittish but by the end of the visit he seemed to be hunting a lizard with his brother and had his tail in the air. Then our catsitter came over shortly afterward and she also reported Elmer hiding but in better spirits. So, hopefully our kiddo will be OK until we return home.
OUR REFRIGERATOR IS HAUNTED. Here in the suite. It frequently makes weird burbling and whining noises.
UP PANORAMIC HILL. This morning, the sky was overcast, but the rain held off, so I decided to take a walk up Panoramic Hill. This was one of my favorite little hikes when I lived in Berkeley. I could walk up from our house to the Clark Kerr campus, hike up into the fire trails, loop over to Panoramic Hill, and come back down. About 600 feet of ascent from our old house, some nice scenic views, and maybe an hour's time or so.
So today I did the reverse: up Panoramic Hill and then down above Clark Kerr before I headed over to Rockridge. And it was *HARD* work. Primarily the flights and flights and flights of steps up Panoramic Hill were hard work. I think that's partly that going up those steps is harder than the slopes (and steps) above Clark Kerr, but I've also definitely loss some of my climbing fitness from four years in Hawaii. Definitely time to get back into shape next year.
But it was a lovely hike today even if there were several rests along the way up.
OUT TO THE CITY. I walk through much of South Berkeley to get to Rockridge BART, and then took the train into and out of the city. Were things running on better schedule today? I dunno, because I never looked at a schedule. But I got a direct train into the city 4 minutes after my arrival at Rockridge and a direct train home from SF as soon as I stepped down onto the platform. So I was definitely luckier if nothing else.
ASIAN ART. My destination in the city was the Asian Art museum. I've never actually been there, though I'm sure I saw some of its exhibits when they were back in the de Young 20+ years ago.
The highlight of the trip was the Takashi Murakami special exhibit. A lot of his work is anime and kaiju influenced, and so it's a lot of fun. There was also some even _more_ pop art stuff, including happy flowers and even NFTs. But he also did some really thoughtful stuff, like producing two-D paintings of ceramics that REALLY looked like the ceramic.
The rest of the museum was terrific too. It was divided by culture, running from India through Malaysia into China, Korea, and Japan. So, so many buddhas (and really interesting didactics on the spread of Buddhism with trade in Asia, one of which said something like "and Buddhism was brought into this region as trade increased, and it was embraced by the population, we don't know why"). Also kukris and Samurai armor and swords and vases and jade carvings (jade can't really be carved by metal implements, it has to be abraded! I had no idea!).
I was bone tired by the time I'd been there a few hours, after 4+ miles of walking in Berkeley, 650 or so feet of ascent, and then circling and circling in the museum. There were a few smaller special exhibits I could have visited, but I couldn't figure out where they were, and I was tired, so I decided to call it a day.
A+++ MUSEUM. WOULD RETURN.
REST & DINNER. When I came home, Kimberly was chatting with K., who she'd spent some time with during the day. After K. left we both napped. (Tired!) Then we had dinner out with N., one of Kimberly's old co-workers, and someone we'd both taken a writing class with. Oh, she also married us. That is, she conducted the ceremony.
Good to see her, good dinner, and now it's another relaxing evening in the suite.
One day left. Gaming for me. Then we go home.
OUR REFRIGERATOR IS HAUNTED. Here in the suite. It frequently makes weird burbling and whining noises.
UP PANORAMIC HILL. This morning, the sky was overcast, but the rain held off, so I decided to take a walk up Panoramic Hill. This was one of my favorite little hikes when I lived in Berkeley. I could walk up from our house to the Clark Kerr campus, hike up into the fire trails, loop over to Panoramic Hill, and come back down. About 600 feet of ascent from our old house, some nice scenic views, and maybe an hour's time or so.
So today I did the reverse: up Panoramic Hill and then down above Clark Kerr before I headed over to Rockridge. And it was *HARD* work. Primarily the flights and flights and flights of steps up Panoramic Hill were hard work. I think that's partly that going up those steps is harder than the slopes (and steps) above Clark Kerr, but I've also definitely loss some of my climbing fitness from four years in Hawaii. Definitely time to get back into shape next year.
But it was a lovely hike today even if there were several rests along the way up.
OUT TO THE CITY. I walk through much of South Berkeley to get to Rockridge BART, and then took the train into and out of the city. Were things running on better schedule today? I dunno, because I never looked at a schedule. But I got a direct train into the city 4 minutes after my arrival at Rockridge and a direct train home from SF as soon as I stepped down onto the platform. So I was definitely luckier if nothing else.
ASIAN ART. My destination in the city was the Asian Art museum. I've never actually been there, though I'm sure I saw some of its exhibits when they were back in the de Young 20+ years ago.
The highlight of the trip was the Takashi Murakami special exhibit. A lot of his work is anime and kaiju influenced, and so it's a lot of fun. There was also some even _more_ pop art stuff, including happy flowers and even NFTs. But he also did some really thoughtful stuff, like producing two-D paintings of ceramics that REALLY looked like the ceramic.
The rest of the museum was terrific too. It was divided by culture, running from India through Malaysia into China, Korea, and Japan. So, so many buddhas (and really interesting didactics on the spread of Buddhism with trade in Asia, one of which said something like "and Buddhism was brought into this region as trade increased, and it was embraced by the population, we don't know why"). Also kukris and Samurai armor and swords and vases and jade carvings (jade can't really be carved by metal implements, it has to be abraded! I had no idea!).
I was bone tired by the time I'd been there a few hours, after 4+ miles of walking in Berkeley, 650 or so feet of ascent, and then circling and circling in the museum. There were a few smaller special exhibits I could have visited, but I couldn't figure out where they were, and I was tired, so I decided to call it a day.
A+++ MUSEUM. WOULD RETURN.
REST & DINNER. When I came home, Kimberly was chatting with K., who she'd spent some time with during the day. After K. left we both napped. (Tired!) Then we had dinner out with N., one of Kimberly's old co-workers, and someone we'd both taken a writing class with. Oh, she also married us. That is, she conducted the ceremony.
Good to see her, good dinner, and now it's another relaxing evening in the suite.
One day left. Gaming for me. Then we go home.