Mission District, San Francisco

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photo by Donald Kinney

Usually the weather in the Mission district is a bit nicer than the rest of the City, but not early on Saturday -- it was cold and windy -- just a bit out of my comfort zone (((by the grace of God I am not homeless))).   But I had great fun on my brief walk-around -- some of the window displays are highly creative.

Now, I ask you -- who couldn't use a set of Self-Empowerment cards, or a $40 book on Surviving Jellyfish Stings, a genuine Aretha Franklin doll?   And what about a Bondage and Truth Lasso -- that could probably come in handy in certain situations.   But who in the heck is going to need to pay extra for Glow in the Dark matches -- just strike the regular variety and they're pretty much guaranteed to glow -- wonder who the poor sucker was who bought them.



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photo by Donald Kinney

These drawings, along with dozens of others are in the window of a used book store on Valencia Street.   Now, I recognized the name of Edna Lewis -- she used to be known as the Julia Child of the South, but I had to check the Wikipedia for information on Octavia Estelle Butler -- but of course when I saw her photograph in the Wikipedia I instantly recognized her -- probably from television as I have never read anything she has written.   But her writings are extensive -- here's a short quote from the long Wikipedia article:

Octavia Jr., nicknamed Junie, was paralytically shy and a daydreamer, and was later diagnosed as being dyslexic.   She began writing at the age of 10 "to escape loneliness and boredom";   she was 12 when she began a lifelong interest in science fiction.   "I was writing my own little stories and when I was 12, I was watching a bad science fiction movie called Devil Girl from Mars," she told the journal Black Scholar, "and decided that I could write a better story than that.   And I turned off the TV and proceeded to try, and I've been writing science fiction ever since."

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photo by Donald Kinney

Well, here you go -- I don't think you need me to interpret this fine and expressive mural, but it's a great one isn't it?



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

And what I know about the Virgin Mary you could fit on the head of a pin -- but that isn't going to stop me from telling you all about my childhood struggle to sort out the differences between Protestants and Catholics.

You see, I grew up in a Protestant family, and we took our involvement with church activities and our belief in God supposedly to the highest level.   Not that our family didn't have problems -- mainly with that Don boy who was SO recalcitrant.   But my parents had deep suspicions and fears about Catholics -- oh, to make a long story short -- all the Catholics were going to end up in Hell.   (((oh brother)))


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