As you probably already know from my Twitter feed and Flickr pool, we had a great time in San Francisco last weekend.
Above I'm pictured on a cable car, on the way to North Beach, where we visited some famous bookstores, had cocktails at a historic bar, and ate some tasty Italian food, all thanks to that wonderful fellow, Kuhl Brown.
I have no photographic evidence, but the reason for the trip was the 84th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association. I was on the main program, talking Plato to a pretty packed room (well over 20 people attended; even Emily was there!)
Seemed to go well; I got some good, tough questions, but I also got some support and some enthusiastic applause. A good time all in all.
The paper? It was basically an argument that Socrates is super cool, despite his flaws, and despite the fact that one of his most famous admirers/students turned out to be a drunken mess instead of the promising politician he ought to have been. Sounds more exciting than that in person... There's an abstract up on the APA Pacific's site. If you want the whole paper, let me know!
We also had some free time, and checked out Golden Gate Park and the De Young Museum:
Okay, we didn't actually go into the museum proper, but we had a nice time enjoying the building and grounds... I'd really wanted to go to the nearby California Academy of Sciences, but the wait was like 90 minutes and I'm sorry but science is not that cool.
Did get a nice view of the roof from the De Young Tower, though:
Love those rounded roof areas. Think there's like a giant rainforest-y terrarium inside one; maybe some stars in the other? I know I read all about the building once long ago...
Enjoying the sculpture garden behind the Museum:
Okay, here's a little test: I've posted a few shots of works by these artists before. Anyone remember when, where, or the artists names?
What else? Well, as you may have heard, we mostly accidentally ended up in an Easter Vigil at the old mission church.
Oh, and Emily was real excited to see some jerking, a dance (?) thing that we first read about, of course, in the style section of the Times:
And on the windy Sunday of our return home, Kuhl showed us some sites, including this overlook:
Love that kid.
Great time. Can't wait to go back!
I would never have known the "Coosje" answer to your sculpture question, had you not linked to it!
ReplyDeleteBut... here's another sculpture tidbit for you: The next time you're in SF, you might enjoy the deYoung museum, if only to visit this exceptionally lovely sculpture of Penelope by an American artist named Franklin Simmons. Not Penelope Cruz, but still quite lovely. I stood in front of it for what seemed like an eternity 10 years ago, and still remember it fondly.
So glad to hear your trip went well. I've been to San Francisco only once but absolutely loved it!
ReplyDeleteBut doesn't that safety pin immediately make you think of the typewriter wheel at the Olympic Sculpture Park? And other giant-sized versions of everyday(ish) objects? (Or is that affliction mine alone?)
ReplyDeleteGood old Penelope! Wish I'd know while we were there! One more reason to return--can't complain about that.
We've been reading the Lost Books of the Odyssey lately, which is (mostly) super cool. A fun, twisty, unreliable string of stories about Odysseus, Penelope, et al that's at once very contemporary (can't imagine it existing without Borges having written first) and surprisingly true to Homer's tone and playfulness. Definitely a recommended read.
I loved SF too, Anonymous; hope to get back again soon (maybe when that overlook's not quite as cold and windy)!
super glad to hear you weren't lecturing to an empty room! (^_^)v
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