New Block for the Victorian Englander House

A friend and I saw the Victorian Englander House that was moved Sunday from Franklin to Fulton.  (I'm sorry that we didn't know about it in time to watch the move itself.)  It has its house number 807 on it but will be renamed 635.  It was interesting to see the blocks it was put on for the move, the workers lunching, the mortuary that was moved over to make room, and the block it's now on.  It had been next door to Shell Service Station on Franklin

.  Now it's diagonally across from the Buchanan Mall (a gazebo, etc) and the African American Art and Culture Complex and a housing project, speaking of projects (like moving a house four blocks).

Then we went to see the 8,000 ton Commerce High School that had to be moved in 1913 to make room for the Civic Center.  They "slid" it down the road a few feet at a time on steel rollers, and that move took seven months!  We couldn't believe how mammoth it is.  We also noted that even though 170 Fell Street is etched in stone, Commerce High School is the brown building, not the white one in the photos.  I should make clear that I included one photo I didn't take because it shows the house at an angle I can't.  

After Erika and her dog Misou went on, I went back to the site where it was moved from, and it was all boarded up, of course, but it will be interesting to see the 8-floor, 48-unit rental as it develops.  I also took a closer look at the African American Art and Culture Complex.  

A Farewell and Thank You to Marshall Kilduff, Editorial Writer and Creator of SF Chronicle's Sunday Quiz

 Here's what I just sent to Marshall Kilduff, editorial writer and creator of SF Chronicle's Sunday quiz:

I'm not sure which editorials you've written over the years, but I have greatly benefitted from your Sunday Chronicle quiz.  It's one of the first pages I turn to, and then I find out what I've hit or missed during the week.  

This past Sunday, I learned that a snowflake is a touchy big shot who can't handle criticism, that the space agencies ar prepping probes to collect orbiting garbage, and that California is 44 of 50 when it comes to the successful vaccinations for Covid 19.

Your quiz has been a shot in the arm!  Thank you!

Revisiting the Women's Building on 18th and Lapidge in San Francisco

 Friday Erika and I took a closer look at the Women's Building on 18th and Lapidge Streets in the Mission--something I've been reading about in MaestraPeace, a book I got after realizing how little I knew when Bill and I were on a walk around there a year ago. Notice the beautiful sky, too!

I also noticed for the first time how street artist Daniel Doherty has transformed Seurat's Sunday Afternoon in the Park to make it Dolores Park and add people of color--people included in great numbers in yesterday's welcome-to-the inauguration program.

The Sun Sets on 2020 at Ocean Beach!

 I walked to the ocean to see the sun set on 2020 the same day I walked only part of the way to the Cliff House to watch the sign come down from that iconic restaurant, which will be a restaurant no more.

The Cliff House Sign (after 157 years) Comes Down

 The Cliff House sign came down on Thursday, December 31, right at noon, as planned.  The man you see being interviewed--someone maybe even older than I am,  told the reporter he remembered going there with his family back in the 50's.

I don't go back that far, but I told the reporter that I went there on dates in the 1960's and 1970's and also with my husbands--different decades--with my son, niece, etc.  I forgot to mention Jutta, my penpal from 1963!

What I don't show here are the crowds.  But you can see Dan and Mary Hountalas, the couple who ran the Cliff House from  1973 through half of this year.

Seeing SF Makes Watching "The Princess Diaries" Worthwhile

Yesterday  I  saw "The Princess Diaries" just to look at the SF scenes.  Willie Brown makes a guest appearance.  A young girl has that era's equivalent of a podcast and calls it "Shut Up and Listen."  

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/a-princess-diaries-guide-to-san-francisco/

The San Francisco Experience on Chesa Boudin

I found  Jim Herlihy's podcast on Chesa Boudin very interesting, but I have a couple of questions.

He doesn't pronounce his last name the way it looks in French, right?  He pronounces it BouDEEN.  

I'm glad Jim Herlihy clarified that he doesn't really think that "the sins of the fathers are visited on the children,." a quote he uses.

I heard a podcast with Chesa Boudin--either Heather Knight or Joe Garofoli was doing the interviewing. The interviewer said that some police officers were telling people that there was no need to file a report because Chesa Boudin wouldn't prosecute,  and he said that he prosecuted 80% of the cases that were brought to him, if I remember correctly.  I think the DA's office was one of Jim's sources.  I wonder whether he found that statistic.

Fascinating that there's now an app to navigate piles of feces!