I didn’t watch the GOP “debate” last night. If I wanted to torture myself, I’d do one-legged squats or something that might have a net benefit in the end. Whereas listening to this year’s crop of pathetic pick-me-oh-pick-me veep candidates just makes you, in what might have been the only decent line all night from what I’ve read, dumber. (That’s Nikki Haley to Vivek Ramaswamy. BURN.)
Also, wasn’t it on cable? I don’t have cable anymore. And the series finale to “Reservation Dogs” was on last night. And I was packing — we’re headed to St. Louis for a weekend wedding. It will be very hot, as is St. Louis’ way. But the event will be indoors and “cocktail attire” is the dress suggestion, so I’m very excited to be getting out all my auto-prom finery, including this Whiting & Davis bag that I scored via a Facebook mom-swap group for something like $20:
The bride and groom are both scientists. Seriously. I’m looking forward to seeing what their friends turn out in. As well as talking to them at the reception, because scientists are awesome.
I baked in an extra day, and I’m not sure why. I was born in St. Louis, but I know it not at all, having moved away in infancy and only returned for brief visits over the years. We’ll be staying in the Central West End, so I have the mosaics at the Basilica on our punch list, as well as Forest Park. I’m hoping to find a bike share. I’m expecting to have a good time.
I spent some time on Google Maps, trying to locate our old apartment in the city. My relatives all moved to “the county” years ago, and spoke of “south St. Louis” as their former stomping ground. G-Maps informs me the neighborhood is Dutchtown. The school across the street, its playground among my earliest memories, is now a Buddhist temple or cultural center of some sort.
Anyway, I have about two hours to shower, stuff my poofy dress into a suitcase and get on outta here. You all have a great weekend, and I’ll take a lot of pictures.
P.S. Trump was in town last night, trying to get UAW votes by visiting a non-union shop that, its owner contends, would be put out of business by EVs. The usual people turned out for this. Right now, The Detroit News doesn’t even have it as the top story on their home page — that would be given to the ongoing Mel Tucker saga. As the kids say, lol:
One individual in the crowd who held a sign that said “union members for Trump,” acknowledged that she wasn’t a union member when approached by a Detroit News reporter after the event. Another person with a sign that read “auto workers for Trump” said he wasn’t an auto worker when asked for an interview. Both people didn’t provide their names.
Jeff Gill said on September 28, 2023 at 8:06 am
But… nothing to say about the Pride of Upper Arlington?
57 chars
alex said on September 28, 2023 at 8:12 am
I hope the press busts some Blacks for Trump in blackface and Gays for Trump in gayface. Wouldn’t that be a hoot.
113 chars
Icarus said on September 28, 2023 at 9:26 am
My personal best marathon time was the 2006 Spirit of St. Louis Marathon. This was before Facebook so the only way I could annoy my friends was to send an email about it.
I’ve visited St. Louis a not insignificant amount of times. Wanted to move there and might if the option presented itself. It’s like smaller version of Chicago in some ways.
351 chars
ROGirl said on September 28, 2023 at 9:48 am
Good find on the Whiting and Davis bag, I have acquired a dew over the years. What a non-event that press event stunt at the Clinton Township (Macomb County) non-union auto supplier turned out to be. Funnily enough, the hourly production employees where I work are unionized, and are members of the UAW. The company has its own contract. The owner would probably welcome trump here, but not most of the hourly guys.
415 chars
ROGirl said on September 28, 2023 at 10:17 am
Few, not dew
12 chars
Little Bird said on September 28, 2023 at 10:26 am
I grew up in St. Louis, from age five to 27. The west end typically goes through ten year cycles of good and bad, and I’m thinking it’s in the middle of a down cycle, but I could be mistaken.
I still have a number of friends there. There’s a Greek place on Skinker or McCausland (one turns into the other) where the food is absolutely fantastic. And there’s a newer modern art museum that I think Deborah has something to do with.
443 chars
Deborah said on September 28, 2023 at 10:55 am
Yes we lived in St. Louis for 23 years but 20 years ago moved to Chicago, so much has changed. We manage to go there about once a year, we have good friends there.
I had nothing to do with the more recent addition to the art museum there, wish I did because it’s a wonderful place.
I did design the signage for the Contemporary Art Museum which is in midtown, but that was over 20 years ago. That museum is next to the Pulitzer museum which is in a great building designed by the famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando.
My husband designed a few buildings there, the tall pinkish beige federal courthouse with the dome, it’s downtown. He designed the convention center and connected stadium also downtown and a few other more obscure buildings.
Since it’s been so long since I’ve lived there I can’t really think of any restaurants that are still there.
There’s a great bookstore, Left Bank books in the Central West End, on Euclid.
There’s a horrendous new high rise building on Kingshighway across from Forest Park, that was designed by the acclaimed architect Jeanne Gang, she did the lovely Aqua Tower in Chicago so I don’t get why the building in St. Louis is so atrocious.
1211 chars
Mark P said on September 28, 2023 at 10:56 am
I’ve been through St. Louis many times on trips to and from Colorado, and I stopped on my motorcycle at a sketchy gas station late one night. And I’ve been to the top of the arch. I’m also a scientist. Does any of that count for anything?
244 chars
Jeff Borden said on September 28, 2023 at 11:53 am
I watched the first QOP debate, but couldn’t stomach another massive dose of stupid. It’s psychologically damaging. Instead, watched the Cubs choke. Again.
The toddlers in the House –at the behest of the doddering walrus in a golf shirt– are going to fuck over the nation they presumably sought to guide by shutting down the government. Brilliant. The other shutdowns have worked out so well. Fucking assholes. May the voters wash them away like so much reeking garbage.
473 chars
Mark P said on September 28, 2023 at 12:06 pm
The problem is that a certain percentage of the people love them some stupid. Evidence? Trump 2020, MTG 2022. And a certain percentage of those actually want to bring the government down. I think they imagine an Eighteenth Century libertarian utopia with them at the top of the ruins holding their AR-15’s and Gadsden flags, spewing sovereign citizen nonsense.
363 chars
tajalli said on September 28, 2023 at 2:19 pm
I avoid adjacency to stupid people the same as avoiding drunks or the drug-addled, their consequences tend to rub off on those around them. The cognitive dissonance of the Republicans is so repellent that I stay in touch only at 2nd or 3rd hand (like skimming here) so I can vote properly.
Loved the handbag – trés bling. And now, “Meet me in St Louis, Louis, meet me at the fair” is worming its way through my ear for today.
432 chars
alex said on September 28, 2023 at 2:28 pm
I was just reading how people like MTG benefit from these antics. MTG inserted an amendment to strip General Austin of his salary and the press focuses on this and not only helps her burnish her racist creds with her base, but gives her a platform from which to further attack the Biden Administration and pretend that it has emasculated our military. She gets to put on a show for the rubes who elected her and the fact that she looks ridiculous doing it isn’t really a downside.
480 chars
basset said on September 28, 2023 at 2:58 pm
Saw my first major league ball game in St. Louis ca. 1965… we used to load up all four of our local Little League teams on yellow school buses and take in a game there or in Cincinnati at the end of each season, long drive down 50 from southwest Indiana either way but we made it.
The Cards were playing the Giants and quite a few locals around me got on Willie Mays pretty hard when he misplayed a ball, forget exactly how but I do remember thinking “that’s Willie Mays! You can’t talk to him that way!”
Had my first soft pretzel, too. Big day.
561 chars
Jeff Borden said on September 28, 2023 at 5:15 pm
In the first debate, every QOP male was wearing a dark suit, white shirt and red tie onstage. . .a group of mini-me tRumps. Did they do that again last night?
I just read one of the exchanges between Haley and Scott. It was soul crushing. South Carolina sure can produce ’em.
278 chars
brian stouder said on September 28, 2023 at 5:29 pm
We’ve been to several Indy Car races at Gateway – including this year – with the St Louis arch on the near horizon. The thought has occurred that a Mississippi River cruise might be a fun vacation (the idea of traveling and seeing sights, and bringing your hotel room with you sounds alluring)
295 chars
kayak woman said on September 28, 2023 at 6:46 pm
Small world stuff. My cousin and her husband have lived in a suburb very near the Central West End for approximately the number of years I’ve lived on The Planet Ann Arbor. They moved there from A2, which is her hometown, just after I moved here and they go to Forest Park all the time. We are close but I haven’t traveled to St. Louis since our 30-something children were babies. We meet mostly in our adjacent seasonal cabins on L. Superior, the land our grandfather bought 100 years ago. Have fun. I envy you for enjoying dressing up for a wedding. I have a similar function in November and am really struggling. Why can’t I just wear my telecommuting clothes 🙂
666 chars
4dbirds said on September 28, 2023 at 8:21 pm
My mother had a couple of ne’er-do-well uncles who once tried out for the St Louis, Cardinals. They died before I was born but this story seems to be a theme, I’ve run into so many times in my 68 years that I wonder if it isn’t everyone’s Urban Legend. My Mid-West roots took my relatives first to Kansas City and then to California. Once my soldier dad got a taste for California, he was never going back. He/we never did either except to visit his parents. When my siblings and I sold my mother’s farmhouse and remaining land (she rented it out for years), I looked at my sister and muttered “We’re never coming back are we?” She shook her head no. My family went ‘west’ in the 1820s, but I never felt much like a mid-westerner nor a farmer.
Nancy, I work surrounded by scientists and feel privileged to work with them. How did I get to so lucky?
855 chars
David C said on September 28, 2023 at 8:33 pm
I always thought the nice thing about a river cruise is when the norovirus hits you can hail a boat or if things are really desperate, swim for it.
147 chars
Suzanne said on September 28, 2023 at 8:40 pm
We never got wedding invitations that said what type of attire was requested until the past 5 years or so. I don’t see that people follow it much, though, because the clothes look about the same whether the invitation says cocktail or semi-formal or dressy casual.
266 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 28, 2023 at 9:17 pm
Our soon to be daughter-in-law wanted something formal and so chose black tie. But that information, like most of the rest, is on the website, not the invitation. Based on the number of family members who were confused about the idea of going online to RSVP, it’s a safe bet none of them read it. But at the last fancy family wedding, the info was on the invitation and most wore any ol’ thing.
So, black tie means full length dress for the moms, right? That’s what I thought, but the mother of the bride is wearing knee length. Oh well.
Fancy purse? Crap, I forgot that one.
581 chars
Dorothy said on September 28, 2023 at 9:19 pm
Suzanne my nephew is getting married next May and the reception is at a fire hall out in the country in Pennsylvania. Nothing the least bit wrong with that – I’ve been to several receptions and baptism celebrations and graduation parties in fire halls. But the Save the Date card they sent said it was semi-formal dress. Is it just me or does that seem to be kind of odd to have that kind of attire at a country fire hall?
Also I’m trying to imagine a world where Jasmine Crockett of Texas could maybe the President one day and let me tell you, it’s a fun way to get lost in thought! Have you all seen the clip of her at the impeachment hearing today? If not drop everything and go check it out. Boy howdy is she a hoot. Who’s going to make a fortune making tee shirts with some of the things she said today in that hearing?
835 chars
Sherri said on September 28, 2023 at 9:33 pm
I went to a wedding in August where the dress code was cocktail attire. The catch was it was an outdoor wedding at a farm about 45 minutes from here, not quite in the mountains, but higher elevation. While August is usually a dry month, this day was not. So there we are, in our cocktail attire, outdoors on grass, in a steady drizzle.
The upside was that the dinner was hamburger and fries, and instead of one wedding cake, they had an assortment of cakes of different flavors. The weirdest thing, though, was the toast by the father of the bride. It wasn’t about the newlyweds at all, but I learned the father’s life story, for some mysterious reason.
661 chars
susan said on September 28, 2023 at 9:41 pm
Black Women are going to save this ⨕ü⊄⊭ country from going over the brink.
81 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 28, 2023 at 10:03 pm
And of course Jasmine Crockett is getting attacked by all the usual suspects spouting all the usual racist comments.
Weddings have definitely gotten out of control. We’ll be spending more just for our outfits and the rehearsal dinner than our entire wedding cost. But this is what the bride’s parents want and our son just wants her to be happy. She’s an only child and it seems she has to be everything for them.
417 chars
LAMary said on September 28, 2023 at 11:51 pm
My only married son, the notorious merch roadie, Pete, got married in the Inglewood city hall. His bride Ruby wore black and white paisley leggings, a white lace blouse and a veil. Pete wore a short sleeved white shirt and black jeans. Both wore sneakers. The reception was attended by the newlyweds, Pete’s brother Tom and his girlfriend Zoe. After the ceremony they had Mexican seafood on the Manhattan Beach pier. I’m perfectly ok with all this. The newlyweds had a limited time to use their fiancee visa. Ruby, the daughter in law, is now teaching at a private school in the part of LA County where a lot of parents want their kids to stay fluent in Chinese as well as English and Pete is now a manager in the merch department.
732 chars
Dexter Friend said on September 29, 2023 at 1:50 am
My aunt’s husband was a legendary shortstop for teams in Auburn and Fort Wayne in the late 1930s and early 40s. He’d drive to St. Louis twice a year to watch his beloved Cardinals at Sportsmans Park.
My bunkie from army days in Monterey was from St. Louis. He resumed his degree pursuit at Mizzou after Vietnam, and got a business degree. I visited him twice there in St. Louis (not at Mizzou) , once to see a baseball game and hit the cool bars near the river and once to crash there when I went to the 1978 NCAA Men’s BB tournament at the old Checkerdome. I got to see an all-star game at the old Kiel Auditorium. People were much thinner when that place was built; the wooden seats had arm rests and my ass would barely fit into a seat there.
I spent a lot of time in the Chase Park Plaza hotel lounge and restaurant on Kingshighway. One night they had a free oyster cart for the drinking customers in the lounge. I think I ate 40 raw shucked oysters. *schlurrrp* As Julia Childs said, “Drink the JUICE!”
1011 chars
nancy said on September 29, 2023 at 9:11 am
Diane Feinstein is dead. Let the scramble to replace her begin.
63 chars
alex said on September 29, 2023 at 9:15 am
I can’t claim any familiarity with St. Louis at all other than having overnighted there as a child on summer trips out west with the parents. Went to a wedding in Kansas City one time, though, and got to sample the barbecue and the cut of beef known as the Kansas City strip. This was when a good friend in Chicago married a guy from KC and they both relocated to Miami Beach.
I need to check out Jasmine Crockett. All I’ve seen so far was a very short clip from the network evening news that was a bit salty; more time was given to Republicans telling Gym Jordan that he didn’t have a pot to shit in.
605 chars
Deborah said on September 29, 2023 at 10:26 am
Didn’t the Gov of CA say he would replace Feinstein if she had to resign because of health with a black woman? Or something like that? Now that she’s dead will he hold to that? I know Schiff really, really wants the job and Rep Barbara Lee, a black woman is after it too. It will be interesting and needs to happen fast.
320 chars
Andrea said on September 29, 2023 at 10:39 am
The City Museum in St. Louis is something unique. https://www.citymuseum.org
My in-laws lived in St. Louis and we used to go there all the time when they were alive.
168 chars
Deborah said on September 29, 2023 at 11:22 am
Yes, City Museum is fantastic, good point Andrea.
So since we’ve been talking about St. Louis for a couple of days, my former hometown, there’s an article in the NYT about my current home town, it’s a 36 hours in Chicago travelog and if you read it, when you get to 1:30 pm, you get to my neighborhood and they even mention our buildings. This is a gift link https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/28/travel/things-to-do-chicago.html?unlocked_article_code=aHhW8dTaw407Pfzohv-B1bnusuhrFcAPSot5oCnmRnYKWdY20IM30a2tAR2tw_LPH7-RFGYt3NFLjgsjC74NrrXV_bkbtMdfCpe3V9KMWMxeBrVoMVjrB3lZDEgO6mKFr5TObEFs_O59CDxNJkugZJWdHVzqtRD56rbSSqHm5N0DvosU7eG8_wbMW5mv5cq60DVT7LDZ7Hggsnw16zGHp5jtMdVIOm7URuYWi_39zbq1GgeWuFpkK9rIR2fNBk8HdavL4hEaBgP8CMJo43W1TXB7ezExZ3JdS0fkJdo_DNWiSSPgdQJ4XlxCoGm6x8MUp7OvtaTzmGv9ZjXe2XJ15qX3dSxA3HM8NuzVvP4&smid=url-share sorry about the long url, I don’t know how to make it shorter.
905 chars
Conrad said on September 29, 2023 at 12:05 pm
Hey, welcome! I ran into your writing back when I was in Fort Wayne in the early 2000s working for ACPL. I’ve been living in St. Louis the last 12 years, and my landing spot was the CWE. Euclid street is a great walk, lots to see. Electric scooters edged out the bike shares a few years ago but you might be able to rent something at Mikes Bikes (https://www.mikesbikesstl.com/rentals) Good people, I used to get my bike serviced there when I lived closer.
Hope you have a good time!
484 chars
nancy said on September 29, 2023 at 4:06 pm
What a coincidence — we just returned from a two-hour-plus jaunt through Forest Park on Mike’s Bikes rentals, and I don’t think I’ve sweated so much in quite some time. I told him he’d have to burn the rented helmets. But we got our exercise, dammit.
251 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 29, 2023 at 12:08 pm
Katie Porter has been running for the seat too. She’d be terrific.
66 chars
David C said on September 29, 2023 at 12:56 pm
The trouble with Katie Porter is her district. Both times, she’s barely won it. It seems to be a bad idea to name anyone already in the house to fill out her term. Name a place holder who won’t vote any different than any other Democrat but isn’t interested in running for the seat themselves.
293 chars
tajalli said on September 29, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Barbara Lee would be a great choice as a replacement. She’s been my state congressional representative for decades, I always vote for her. There’d have to be a special election to replace her, of course, the usual shuffle.
Too bad Feinstein didn’t resign. There could have been a nice tribute while she could still appreciate it. There still will be, but with a taint.
371 chars
Dexter Friend said on September 29, 2023 at 1:17 pm
Katie Porter is a brilliant genius.
Of course she is the best choice. However, she’ll never get the Dianne Feinstein seat because of too many haters. Porter don’t take no shit from nobody.
195 chars
Sherri said on September 29, 2023 at 1:40 pm
It’s easy to say just appoint someone who doesn’t want to run, but it’s harder to find that person. Anybody good is already doing something, and you’re asking them to give that up to do this huge job for a year and change, and then what? They probably can’t go back to their old role, because that role had to be filled, but you’d better have something interesting to offer.
I think Newsom should just stick to his promise to name a black woman, and name Barbara Lee. Yes, that gives her an advantage in the race, but so what? Schiff has tons of campaign money, which is an advantage, and nobody’s worrying about that.
635 chars
Jeff Gill said on September 29, 2023 at 3:13 pm
Deborah, my sister now has her office at Indiana University in the new “rediscovered” van der Rohe building they put up a few years ago. It’s an interesting layout, though the classrooms do not work . . . open plan has some problems on a bustling college campus.
https://news.iu.edu/live/news/27657-iu-dedicates-rediscovered-mies-van-der-rohe-design
352 chars
FDChief said on September 29, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Good obit for Feinstein over at the “Lawyers, Guns & Money” website (no link because the comment app rejects my comments about half the time I include one) that points out how 1) she was a walking example of how the way the Framers set things up has succeeded in doing what they intended it to do; skew national politics to favor the most “conservative” side of the aisle (Feinstein was always noticeably to the right of her state party going back to Harvey Milk), and 2) she, in her latter days, was a damning indictment of the “politics as personal choice” that gave us other atrocities like Ginsburg and Breyer failing to retire strategically to hold their seats for a Democrat.
I have no patience for bothsidesing our current political shitstorm, but Feinstein was, indeed, part of the problem. She refused to change with the change in her opponent from “merely plutocratic scum” to “ out and proud fascists stanning for a criminal conspiracy”.
Hopefully her replacement has seen that change and legislates appropriately.
1055 chars
Sherri said on September 29, 2023 at 4:20 pm
Rebecca Traister’s profile on DiFi from June 2022 is a good obit.
https://www.thecut.com/article/dianne-feinstein-abortion-gun-civil-rights.html
150 chars
basset said on September 29, 2023 at 5:12 pm
And I assume Newsmax and such are saying about what we’d expect, can’t stand to look though.
96 chars
FDChief said on September 29, 2023 at 7:34 pm
Interesting part on the Traister piece; it tends to gloss over Feinstein’s political acts in favor of crediting her political speech, which is the most “American political media” thing I can think of.
Example: her role in the post-Milk SF mayoralty.
Traister calls out her pro-gay language…and omits the fact she fired to SFPD chief who’d been a crucial Milk ally and replaced him with a hardline Irish Catholic flatfoot who turned the coppers loose on the gay community (I remember the “Free Dan White” cop t-shirts from that period).
Traister rightly calls out Feinstein’s purblind institutionalism, but, I think, misses the degree to which Feinstein was already a dinosaur when she entered the Senate, oblivious to the extinction-level event Rush and DeLay and Newt represented to the comfy bipartisan fantasy she lived inside.
855 chars
brian stouder said on September 29, 2023 at 10:15 pm
I get what you’re saying, FDC, but I’d still stand on her side. She – and all successful politicians – had to play the cards dealt to her/them, with a realistic view of the OBTAINABLE. I suppose THAT is the (eternal) discussion point: which actions genuinely ADVANCE the ball closer to the goal? Practical, hands-dirty, well-connected, and effective policy-making and legislation is genuinely an art, and she was a master.
429 chars
Sherri said on September 29, 2023 at 11:30 pm
I think Traister was fair to DiFi; she was always thus, more comfortable with order than justice, but personally leaning towards progressive stances as long as they weren’t disruptive. You can argue, and I do, that prioritizing order instead of justice makes all your pieties about what you personally believe pretty worthless, but that was DiFi. And we can never forget that she and Boxer came into the Senate in the wake of Anita Hill.
But let’s save a little ire for Nancy Pelosi, too. Pelosi, who has announced she’s running for reelection, has been trying to control DiFi’s replacement for some time. She encouraged DiFi not to retire, encouraged Schiff to enter a race with two female Congress members already announced and has backed him. I don’t dislike Schiff, but he is my least favorite of the three candidates, and the most centrist.
858 chars
alex said on September 30, 2023 at 8:54 am
Biden carried a lot of baggage unfavorable to progressives in 2020 but he did what Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders couldn’t achieve, the paramount objective of unseating an unfit president. How politics works is a lot like how sausage is made: Those who get anything done have the most blood on their hands. So I don’t see any point in belaboring DiFi’s shortcomings. On balance she’s been better than any senator elected in my state in the last half century. And who cares who replaces her besides the people in her state?
526 chars
Jeff Borden said on September 30, 2023 at 9:59 am
I’m reading this morning that Gavin Newsom may have painted himself into a corner. On the one hand, he’s gone on the record as saying a black woman deserves the seat, which would favor Barbara Lee. On the other, he’s gone on record as saying he doesn’t want to appoint someone already running for the seat because it would give them the incumbent’s advantage, which would include Lee. It could be a real political problem for him.
So, the eunuchs on the Freedumb Caucus are going to throw our nation into another shutdown, which invariably will cost us billions of dollars and potentially create serious issues for both the domestic and international economies. Why? Because they can. . .and because Kevin McCarthy is competing to be the worst speaker in history.
I heard someone refer to this as “the ‘Seinfeld’ shutdown” because it is about nothing. These fucking people. . .
883 chars
alex said on September 30, 2023 at 10:02 am
Thus Spake Sarasota.
77 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 30, 2023 at 11:15 am
Alex, there’s a woman I follow on Instagram under the handle Americans for Democracy, a nurse practicioner who lives in Sarasota. She’s been uncovering the work of these Maggots and a lot of it is truly shocking. So nothing in that story was new to me. Worth a follow.
I’m just beginning to learn the super-racist areas of Florida, with Sarasota high on the list. Another is Tavares, a bucolic rural area an hour or so away from us. Our daughter has a pastor friend who started introducing the idea of racial injustice to his church, and very quickly found himself without a church. So many parishioners left that the church closed, and they had to leave in the middle of the school year. It was very very ugly.
714 chars
FDChief said on September 30, 2023 at 11:50 am
Oh, don’t get me wrong; Feinstein was better than the best California Republican (like Oregon, their electoral insignificance has turned the CA GQP deep into the Q-weeds; they’re utterly bugnuts). She was just worse than nearly 70% of California Democrats; your “order over justice” point nails it, Sherri. Worth noting that she was also deeply in the bag for NIMBYism and developers – the Loomis piece points out:
“…Feinstein was quite close with the developer community, but her focus was on downtown redevelopment, not housing. She wanted to undermine grassroots opposition to her downtown plans by giving homeowners a big bone to gnaw on and the knowledge that a development-friendly agenda would not threaten them. It worked for her politically. It also empowered homeowners in the city to refuse nearly all new development, based around specious claims around livability covering for actual concern about property values and veiled racism. By 2015, San Francisco had a workforce of 689,000 and only 382,551 housing units. This failure of San Francisco to remain a city where people can live has many people we can blame, but right at the top of that list is Dianne Feinstein.”
That falls into line with her indifference to climate issues. She was wealthy in a system that rewards wealth, and was too complacent to bother to look outside that system.
That’s kind of my point. She was long past her sell-by date when she died, and should have been replaced a decade or more ago. But institutionalism and better-than-the-best-Republican kept her (and Pelosi, etc. etc…) where she was. It’s that sort of “meh” that’s helped the MAGAts toward making our country their Own Private Sarasota.
1710 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 30, 2023 at 1:19 pm
When I announced Feinstein’s death, my 91 yo mother said good, it was time for her to get out of there. I thought she heard me wrong and that I said she resigned, so I asked for clarification. Nope, she was glad she died because she was too old. I told her I thought that was harsh. The 91 yo though it was good for the 90 yo to die. Wowza.
Jeff Fill back @38, does your sister also say heating and cooling the building is a nightmare? That’s what I read.
458 chars
Mark P said on September 30, 2023 at 1:37 pm
If the image of the Mies building is correct, then I’ll bet the East- and West-facing sides will be unusable in the morning and afternoon, respectively. The South or mostly South facing part may be unusable any time of the year during daylight hours. Glass walls are dramatic, but not very practical. It’s very easy to overheat a space with all that solar gain, even in cold weather.
387 chars
Sherri said on September 30, 2023 at 3:07 pm
FDChief, way too many people prioritize order over justice, many of whom consider themselves liberal or even progressive. That was the point of MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It’s very frustrating working with them in liberal and progressive organizations, because they certainly don’t see themselves as part of the problem.
Once upon a time, I probably would have been the same, but then I grew older and realized that nothing was changing if order was maintained. Now I’m just a pissed off old woman!
520 chars
Deborah said on September 30, 2023 at 5:35 pm
As many of you know we live in a Mies building in Chicago with a west and north exposure of floor to ceiling windows. So we get afternoon sun, and northern wind. Our windows are original 1947, single pane. But I have to say, we rejected the custom air conditioner for our unit (that all the units have) and that’s why we spend our summers in northern New Mexico and we also spend winter there because of the cold but not because of the cold in our unit, it’s actually too warm for us most of the time in our unit in Chicago in the winter, we have our thermostat way low and often have to open windows a crack. The neighbors above and below us must crank up their heat or something because in January or February when we’ve had to be in Chicago it can be unbearably warm in our unit especially when we’re in bed under the down comforter. When we’re cold we close the windows and wear a sweater as Jimmy Carter suggested.
Single family houses are the least energy efficient because they’re free standing with wind, cold and heat all around. If you live in a multifamily you share walls, floors, ceilings and it’s much more efficient.
1135 chars
Deborah said on September 30, 2023 at 5:46 pm
A few years ago for his mother’s ashes to be interred there my husband was in Sarasota, FL and he called it then. He was appalled at what he described as the contractor class which was everywhere there, in restaurants, hotels etc. He was only staying for a couple of days with his siblings for the internment but he said the surrounding vibe was unmistakable, they were maggots for sure, speaking loudly at tables next to them about their disgusting racism and MAGA politics.
475 chars
Deborah said on September 30, 2023 at 7:57 pm
Jeff G, When my husband taught architecture at IIT in Chicago his classes were held in Crown Hall, which is a highly acclaimed building designed by Mies van der Rohe in Chicago. My husband found it very suited for flexible spaces, so when they needed more space it was easy to spread out and when there were lectures etc for lots of people they could be accommodated easily. We’re used to more rigid, specific function rooms that end up being empty more than you’d think. Open flexible spaces have their appeal but not for everyone. https://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/buildings-of-chicago/building/crown-hall
618 chars
FDChief said on September 30, 2023 at 9:42 pm
I think a big part of the must-have-a-little-brick-house problem is that construction standards in multiple units are favela-grade poor. Paper-thin walls, drum-head floors…your night’s sleep is at the mercy of your neighbors party or playing Madden with the speakers all the way up. The notion of being ashamed if your neighbor is disturbed by your noise is utterly alien to a critical mass of the public.
I get the social value of housing density. But until the American public adopts a more Japanese attitude towards living standards, I’m not going to bet that wellness see a Tokyo-level of density…
612 chars
LAMary said on October 1, 2023 at 6:24 pm
So did McCarthy cave because he realized people were deeply pissed off that he would refuse to do the right thing or was it because he realized he was probably toast anyway?
173 chars
susan said on October 1, 2023 at 6:28 pm
Yes.
4 chars
Deborah said on October 1, 2023 at 11:27 pm
I think McCarthy worked out some kind of a deal with the Democrats that they will save him but I have no idea what it is that the Dems will get out of it. Maybe McCarthy will put an end to the stupid impeachment investigation in return, which is not much of a concession for him since it’s already making the Republicans look ridiculous. Who knows?
Jeff G, I sent your link about the resurrected Mies building and his response was that it was “a Frankensteinian Farnsworth fetish”. One of his IIT colleagues said, no one needs that.
541 chars
ROGirl said on October 2, 2023 at 7:15 am
Diane Feinstein wouldn’t resign because the Republicants had said they wouldn’t allow someone to be appointed to fill the seat before the election.
147 chars
diane said on October 2, 2023 at 9:09 am
ROGirl @60
Can they do that? I thought that appointing a replacement Senator was a state function but I don’t really know.
128 chars
ROGirl said on October 2, 2023 at 9:16 am
I don’t know how it would actually work, but I heard an interview with Barbara Boxer and she said it.
101 chars