Grianstad Sona Daoibh!
December 2018
End-of-year relief and festivity greetings! It’s been a year; I hope you’ve survived. As for me ... well, there’s no excuse for boredom when you live in San Francisco. My activities with the Jane Austen Society Northern California Region, Art Deco Society, Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild, and other local cultural/educational/literary/costuming groups keep me on my toes. I finally visited Alcatraz, and had cocktails on the U.S.S. Potomac. I joined political protests and marches, and volunteered at my local polling place on election day. I created a program book for The Outer Dark Symposium and was on a panel at the World Science Fiction Convention. I’m doing reading research and building up my wardrobe for a Deco-themed trip down the Nile in 2019. I’m designing labels for my brother Terry’s new liquor creations, using illustrations by my brother Kevin (you may need to visit for a sample, though: password is “swordfish”). Somehow I’ve taken on catsitting for a few select friends (there are benefits, some of them furry). I acquired a lightsaber.
Travel this year included a weekend jaunt to Portland, Oregon, to attend Miss Fisher Con (great daytime programming, disappointing venue, maybe a few too many sequins), followed by a lovely afternoon with some Turkey tour group buddies who live in that fair city. My 2018 big adventure was July-August: I visited Ireland on my fourth Rick Steves tour, and had an absolutely terrific time: beautiful scenery, delicious food, fascinating historical sites, charming people, lots of great local pubs and live music. (Yes, I did celebrate my birthday drinking whiskey, and being serenaded by my lovely tour companions.) Emboldened by wanderings around Dublin with our fabulous literature-loving guide, Joe Darcy, I’m reading James Joyce. There is more on my trip (with photos) in my web journal.
Back home, there was some excellent Bay Area theatre in 2018, a lot of it Jane Austen-inspired (no bad thing): Sense and Sensibility (Coastal Rep, Half Moon Bay), Pride and Prejudice (Theatreworks, Palo Alto), Northanger Abbey (Pear Theatre, Mountain View), The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley (Marin Theatre Company). Livermore Shakes offered a vivacious The Importance of Being Earnest, and SF Shakes a rollicking Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also some fringe-y stuff and high school productions (good and ... not so good). December brings A Conversation with Edith Head (Pear Theatre) and my favorite Dickens adaptation (that does not feature my cousin Richard as Scrooge), Theatre of Yugen’s A Noh Christmas Carol.
I slacked off a bit on movie-going this year, but Black Panther was pretty awesome and I enjoyed Solo (so sue me). Some highlights: director Bob Geldof did a Q&A for his screening of the Yeats film, A Fanatic Heart, as did Arwen Curry for her Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin documentary. I got to see Graham Nash again (still sounding great after almost 40 years), performing at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and enjoyed a hilarious and moving live performance of Palette-Swap Ninja’s Beatles-infused song cycle “Princess Leia’s Stolen Death Star Plans.” (Both free, by the way.) Want some book recommendations? My 2018 selections include Jane Austen scholarship (and some fanfic), Irish history, Star Wars novels, and fantasy classics. I’m on the home stretch for finishing Book Riot’s 2018 Read Harder Challenge (a great way to expand your mental bookshelf). Best book of the year? For me, it was David Duchovny’s novel Miss Subways: Irish myth (inspired by a Yeats play about Cúchulainn and Emer) transposed to present day New York City. I am currently enjoying Literary Libations by Amira Makansi, which pairs literature with booze: perfect for cold/wet/snowy winter evenings.
The Giants’ season was ... not great (but thank you, Red Sox, for not making it worse). We still have garlic fries and the best view, and cool fan events such as the memorial for Hall of Famer Willie McCovey, which was a stirring tribute. In the spirit of my Celtic ancestors, Happy Winter Solstice! May the sun’s return be the start of a regeneration of hope and a sharing of goodwill (something largely missing in the current political climate) throughout the coming solar cycle. May the Force be with us all.
