Paris with Picasso and Matisse

On Friday, my wife and I went to the De young and saw the Picasso masterpieces from the Musee Picasso National in Paris. Afterwards, we went to SFMOMA to see the Stein Collection of Picasso and Matisse.It was double treat of exceptional art.

I don't know if I will have a chance to visit Paris.

I'm reading Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Reading Hemingway's account of seeing these paintings of Picasso and Matisse on the walls inside the apartment of Gertrude Stein was a live reenactment of those years in Paris.

Many tasks

Im' putting my attention again to chess although I really want to write poetry.
I'm reading Garry Kasparov book on chess tactics and Hemingway's A Moveable Feast.
At the same I'm preparing for my role as an assistant district governor in my Rotary district. The work is assisting the district governor helps the local Rotary club.

Because my mind likes to do many things all at the same day not necessarily all at the same time I have to be organized and I'm not. There lies my problem.

Old but still new

With care the old training airplane flies like new.
Keeping our body and mind fit they can last forever almost...
Lots of studies now support that physical fitness can make us sharp and agile. Fragility can be postponed.
Calm, happy and detached attitude makes an enjoyable life.

Lessons learned

A few lessons I learned after reading Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer:
"Practice makes perfect-only if it's the right kind of concentrated, self-conscious, deliberate practice";
"How we perceive the world and how we act in it are products of how and what we remember..."
"...our ability to find humor in the world, to make connections between previously unconnected common culture:all these essentially human acts depend on memory."

All these seem so obvious but they are not.

Smile on your face

While walking in the river walk along the Napa River in the downtown I stopped and talked to Lonnie who playing his music in the Veterans Park. He is the man tat rides a bicycle pulling a rig that contains music speakers and a laptop and plays all kinds of enjoyable music that everyone enjoys. His dog, Charlie, was resting next to him.

His last dog was stabbed to death.

Wherever he goes in the downtown he plays the music. He is not homeless. Lonnie plays the music and doesn't want money.

"I want to see the smile in your face," he told me. "I take those smiles home with me at the end of the day." The last time he was next to Ben & Jerry Ice Cream store "I met people from 15 different countries," he said.

Lonnie looks content. He is happy.

"Look me up at: man's best friend Napa and you will see the picture of me and my dog and my story". When I got home I did. I was impressed.