The Burrow

Traveling makes for some odd experiences.  It takes its toll on digestion and sleep patterns and reading habits. Reading habits, you ask?  Books are books.... they travel well.... they fit in a purse and they exist in the ether on my Kindle Fire.  Why should my physical location have anything to do with that?  My problem is that I never remember to take them along when I leave the hotel in the morning. Big Cuter's apartment is a 20 minute walk downhill from the Marriott we're funding with our Reward Points.  Before I was shot, I hiked it happily and easily.  Now, with the hills presenting a challenge I've not faced in the flatlands of Tucson, taxicabs or Zipcars move my achy body from Union Square to the Tenderloin.  It really is a dry heat in the desert; the humidity in Baghdad by the Bay is making its presence felt with every step I take here. Leaving at 10am and returning at 10pm requires more planning than I've been able to manage this trip. ...

We introduced the Amster to Humphrey Bogart last night. She gets a great smile on her face when she sees that Movie Night will be in black-and-white. I'm not sure exactly what it signifies, but it sure is nice to look at. Does she think that it means the movie is really old ? Last week we saw The Adventures of Robin Hood in gorgeous Technicolor; it predates last night's flick by 3 years. That era before the studios and the movie theaters were separated into two different revenue streams produced stunning films in both black-and-white and color. (Will CGI and films with actors be the next dividing line? You'll have to read the Cuters' blogs 70 years from now for that answer. ) Maybe she, like me, loves the texture of those shades-of-gray films. Every once in a while I wonder about the color of the gowns by Orry-Kelly (who was Cary Grant's roommate in NYC in the early 20th century) but mostly I give myself over to the shadows. The diaphanous curtain in Bogie's...