What Is It About Art?

A good read especially having visited London for the first time. I get the gist of this novel. Thoughtful. Disappointments. Expectations. All shared in characters' day to day existence. Having recently spending time in London for the first time, I realized the setting that the story line is played is spot on. Helps me reference the experiences the characters encounter and the locations. The Names of the area, the language of what's spoken, helps me understand the story much better with appreciation. Totally relatable at times with love gain, lost, and all in between. The human spirit is always at constant reflect.  Now, if only the writer would have expanded more with the characters in their lives and what could have been reading. Just my thought.  Again, a good read on creating a climate of change in human behavior, politics, and relationships. 

I've created a new blog website to encompass this new adventure. Join me as I continue to celebrate a part of my retirement to more traveling and on my own terms.  Visit my new blog website, appropriately called, Edgar Would Go!  https://edgarwouldgo.com/ London, UK - Tower Bridge 

Photo Credit Portions of the Berlin Wall in the men's restroom at Main Street Station casino in Las Vegas . ( Flickr user Bryan Hughes ) In the Main Street Station Casino in Las Vegas, men can do something they would have been severely punished for doing in Berlin pre-1989 : pee on the Berlin Wall. In reality, a glass barrier prevents any urine from splashing on the historic wall, but the men's room at the Main Street Station Casino does have a section of the Berlin Wall, upon which three urinals are mounted. Boyd Gaming Corporation , who currently owns Main Street, told CNN that the Wall was already in the bathroom when the company bought the property. Female patrons aren't completely out of luck—according to CNN, they can request that a security guard escort them into the bathroom to look at the Wall. Source

  A brief assessment after reading this novel, not surprised, predictable in the world of art industry where one so much as wants to be accomplished and successful as a reputable artist , and end up not making a dent in this competitive field. I'm not surprised, but it was worth a read and being drawn into this world of art collection , and get a glimpse of their dealings. It was a smart and engaging book, wish I had more time to really get lost in this novel. It ended too soon. Hope to read the next book from B.A. Shapiro . 

  It took me awhile to read this memoir from Madam Secretary , but it's so appropriate to have completed reading this memoir as we are in an election year. How funny is it that some of her challenges back in in the 1990s is here again. Repackaged in a way that is seemed like something new but realize it's something that could have been resolved back then takes center stage in an attempt to win an election.  I remember very well how those very issues were pressing, but our American government lacked the political will to make things whole on behalf of the American people and global citizens. Seems like it becomes a generational attempt of presenting something that's old but reworked to be something acutely important today.  Madam Secretary, clearly documents and shares her trials and tribulations of being a first female Secretary of State . Personally, I found it refreshing as I knew she as up to the tasked. As a public service for so many years, it seemed fitting that sh...

 This book was given to me by a friend. Supposedly it's a page turner. But....  After reading this novel about domestic relationships , interaction came across more of repetitive actions, dullness, stale, and boring living. Found it strange, rut couldn't be shaken, only to have a "replacement" triggered some action to change things in someone's way of life. I'd give it 4 stars. next.  Goodreads Profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5421510-edgar

This book was quite revealing. I had no idea what to expect, but the information I learned help me realize there was more to just the installation of the Eiffel Tower . I see drama, politics, and outright honest. A very good read!  I picked up this book a few months ago at a book store in Sonoma county , it was a used book, great for a summer read, but finally finished reading at the end of summer. So many players behind the story of the tower being built. One because it was for the world exposition hosted by Paris, France . Participants included Thomas Edison , Buffalo Bill , Annie Oakley , Impressionists artists , and many others that played a role in being part of this magnificent install.  Definitely, I'd like to go back to Paris and really take steps to learn more about the tower than just it's look of beauty. Many Parisians hated the tower, but as it rolled out to be part of the Parisian skyline, they came around. Such a page turner! Let me find more historical books l...

If there is one thing I like about Malcolm Gladwell 's book called, The Tipping Point is the take on the broken windows theory .  I like this Broken Windows theory . "If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it faces, sending a signal that anything goes. In a city, relatively minor problems like graffiti , public disorder , and aggressive panhandling , they write, are all the equivalent of broken windows, invitations to more serious crimes ." Who would have thought, near inaction causes a huge and negative outcome in a community. Don't I know that, living in a big city. Lesson learned, and will apply. Did that the other day, someone left trash unattended and decided to grab it and manage before it became a dumping ground for more trash.... Living in a City that is notorious for t...

This is a book that was given to me by a friend. She thought it would be a good read. The book is about a man named Arthur Less , a writer , who will soon turn 50 years old . He looks back on this life as he anxiously awaits the new reality of turning middle age .  Though the character's reflection on his life has been interesting, comical, and adventurously hopeful. I liked how Arthur Less seems to run away from his shortcomings in relationships and in his own writing career. He travels to a few countries as part of his book tour ; encountering a few awkward interactions with locals. In the end, as he travels to these countries, he really never forgets why he "flees" home. He realizes that he never can forget things as they follow you in memory and thought.  Source: Goodreads

I really wanted to try something different in helping me lose a few pounds and reignite a better healthy lifestyle. I'm already moderately physically active, but when it comes to food, I'm a total failure. I love my savory food, McDonald's French Fry to those kettle chips you find at Trader Joe's . They are indeed my salty kryptonite !  After reading and trying this 10-day detox , I would have to say it was hard to literally follow step by step instructions but what I got out of it was to rethink the way and what  choices I make in what I put in my body. This past 10 days has been interesting, I lost a few pounds but don't really see physically any changes. But as the book mentions, page 206, "... it gave you a taste of what is possible".  Purged for now, any carbs , trying more protein , vegetable , and salads . I hope this will be a great new way to enjoy food in my life.  blog

Agent. Of. Change.  I've always gravitated towards strong women in my life. My mother, my grandmother, my tennis captain, my female classmates, and strong characters depicted in TV and film. They include Bionic Woman , Wonder Woman , and oh of course, Hilary Clinton .  Photo Credit: AbeBooks But one that has stood out the most in my life is Billie Jean King . As a preteen I really did not have any dream or life direction. When I saw this woman compete against a guy who is twice her age in a tennis match, it really helped me view and solidify the idea that women are just as good and should be respected as such. Even though I'm a guy, this imagery and motivation was a positive aspect.  This is one of the reasons why I picked up tennis, I wanted to be part of a group or have some sense of belonging and accomplishment. As a youth, you constantly struggle to develop an identity , or begin to find one. BJK was a motivator. Based on her platform and abilities in her career sport...

I'm one of many thousands of San Francisco residents who are paying way more than the national monthly rent for an apartment. I understand the idea of supply and demand , but when an individual who is trying to make a living and trying to live in a world class City shouldn't be giving up close to in my opinion 50% of their monthly pay.  In the book, one housing law was listed. The state of California has "a law called the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act that limited the scope of what sorts of rent control to single-family houses and condominiums and any apartment built after 1995 (or whatever year the city passed its rent control ordinance, which in San Francisco was 1979). It also freed landlords from rent regulation whenever a tenant moved out, allowing them to raise the rent back to the market price." page. 204-205 In light of the current Coronavirus epidemic , the impact on housing and how to maintain, and pay for it, is a huge stress on renters. This book ...

This book is one of America's classics used in countless high schools as a literature standard. In light of this recent Coronavirus pandemic , I searched through some books I've been dying to revisit and appreciate. The Catcher in the Rye is one of them.  Set in the 1950's Pennsylvania ,  this book delves in a young man's life of borderline teenage years to leap into inevitable adulthood. It's simply a story of a boy's age of becoming. In his efforts to get through this threshold of life, he encounters individual, social, and personal challenges.  One quote, that says it all.  " . . . I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all." It's a reminder, that we all struggle in one way or ...

Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman My rating: 4 of 5 stars "Se l'amore, If this is love, then... love found, departs, returns. View all my reviews

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee My rating: 4 of 5 stars "Prejudice, a dirty word, and faith, a clean one, have something in common: they both begin where reason ends." Harper Lee , author of the acclaimed To Kill a Mockingbird , writes a landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece. Go Set a Watchmen perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past - a journey that can only be guided by one's own conscience. I picked up this book to delve in the 1950s period and realize how telling in 2020, that much has not really changed in social and political climates. To me, it only surfaced with the "elephant in the room (country)" divide. The quote above taken from the novel seemed to encapsulate the struggle of the protagonist that she must deal with the reality of being away from home to be more "enlighten" with the rest of the country, only to re...

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt My rating: 2 of 5 stars So begins another book to really lose oneself. The Goldfinch by author Donna Tartt is supposedly known to write only one novel a decade. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize , I look forward to reading this book about " haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity." Ok, here goes. "A great sorrow and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don't get to choose our own hearts. We can't make ourselves want what's good for us or what's good for other people. We don't get to choose the people we are." The story starts with a boy who loses his mother in a museum explosion terror attack. In his effort to preserve his sanity and memory, he takes a single artwork, called the Finch from the museum collection from there, his one action leads to one of many series of events that shapes his life as a child to an adult from the setting in Las Vegas to the big ...

San Francisco Landmark #195 Alcazar Theater 650 Geary Street Between Jones and Leavenworth Built 1917 This eclectic Moorish/Byzantine building, commissioned by the Shriners as the Islam Temple , Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of Mystic Shrine , was designed by architect Thomas Patterson Ross . The façade, with Byzantine arches and filigree lattice work, is primarily of ornate polychrome terra cotta with a granite water table . The June 1917 edition of Architect and Engineer noted that the temple was "an adaptation from Alhambra , a building that stands as the highest mark of Arabian art and civilization." The Islam Temple was used for Shriner meetings and ceremonies from 1918 to 1970. Later it functioned as a small theater in the tradition of the original Alcazar Theater which was located on O'Farrell Street. (The original Alcazar opened in 1885, was destroyed by the 1906 Earthquake and Fire , was rebuilt, and was razed for a parking lot in 1963.) (Sou...

The phenomenon of relative deprivation applied to education is called - appropriately enough - the " Big Fish-Little Pond Effect ." The more elite an educational institution is, the worse students feel about their own academic abilities. page. 80 Easy read, but coated with insightful information that anyone can become aware and take action in the best way possible. Author Malcolm Gladwell engages the reader to really take a step back and understand behaviors, actions, and situations where sometimes one may not have control, but actually you do as situations are fully understood. Not. As. It. Seems.

Inferno by Dan Brown My rating: 3 of 5 stars "The soul craves emotion, and it will continue to seek fuel for that emotion - good or bad. Your problem is that you're giving it the wrong fuel." The whole idea of reading a book is to remove oneself from reality and to simply become immersed in the content and story line. What ever emotions come of it, so be it. Although it took me some time to really finish reading this novel, I found it to be quite thought provoking in a sense that even if it's all fiction, there's some truth that is being drawn into the story. The above quote seems to be one that was memorable in my mind. The quote came from a psychiatrist whom Sienna was meeting with to sort her own identity and place in the world. She was very unsure of herself at that time and was seeking how to best contribute to her current status. Today, we all have to sometimes find ourselves even though we "think" we have direction in our life. It can be a paus...

SAN FRANCISCO, January 9, 2017 – The City announces the installation of six large-scale illuminated bamboo lanterns, titled Sui Sui Ping An – Peace All Year Round , by Hong Kong artist Freeman Lau. Organized by the San Francisco Arts Commission in partnership with the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department and the Asian Art Museum and sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, San Francisco, the installation commemorates the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and is scheduled to coincide with the Lunar New Year. Sui Sui Ping An – Peace All Year Round , by Hong Kong artist Freeman Lau SOURCE: http://www.sfartscommission.org/pubartcollection/pubart-press-releases/2017/01/09/large-scale-sculptures-will-light-up-civic-center-plaza/