Everybody loves a best-kept secret. That feeling when you stumble upon something so special and so sweet that part of you wants to keep it all to yourself, yet you know the world would be a better place if you spread the word. So, you heard it here first—Box Trot Gifts.
Marin native Kathryn Tjosvold’s business crafting beautiful gift boxes filled with succulents and expertly selected specialty items is less than a year old, but budding.
“I’ve always loved making gifts for people—that steered away from typical, generic gift boxes,” Tjosvold says. “I think including succulents adds a unique touch.”
Tjosvold grew up in Corte Madera, attended Redwood High School and earned a teaching credential at Dominican University. When she graduated, she decided to put the classroom on hold, and instead got married, had a baby and began making the boxes.
Along with doing extensive research on mostly locally made, high-quality food and beauty products, Tjosvold took cues from her mom’s passion for succulents. Her boxes are crafted from distressed woods and galvanized tin, and organic, natural products await recipients.
Tjosvold hasn’t quit her day job working for her dad’s winemaking software company, but she does find time to make deliveries in Marin and fill orders from her San Anselmo home—complete with a potting shed
Kathryn Tjosvold’s potting shed. Photo courtesy of Kathryn Tjosvold.
straight out of Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and plenty of open space for seasonal sales and special events.
A variety of available boxes include everything from chocolate, caramel corn and wine, to bubble bath and luffa sponges. Boxes can be ordered and picked up by appointment, or delivered.
This year’s winter storms will cost California $866 million in road repairs, according to the latest estimates from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). That figure is a significant uptick from the $617 million in damages assessed at the end of February, and doesn’t include damage estimates from last weekend’s wind-blown deluge which knocked out electricity throughout Marin County, along with the usual array of rockslides, washouts and local road flooding.
The latest figures from Caltrans find Marin County easily at the top of the state list of storm-related 2016–17 damage with $91 million total spread over 17 different projects. The latest damage spreadsheets are a chorus of slip-outs and rockslides, road washouts and sinkholes, failed culverts and accelerated pavement failures. To date, Caltrans has identified 402 damage sites spread throughout the state’s 58 counties. Napa County has 14 damage sites and Sonoma County has 17, according to Caltrans spreadsheets that detail the statewide damage. The respective price tags for repair are significantly lower than Marin’s: Caltrans says it will cost $16.5 million to repair Napa’s storm-damaged roads and $44 million to fix Sonoma’s.
That Marin County figure of $91 million translates into an eyebrow-raising fact: Roughly one in 10 dollars spent by Caltrans this spring and summer will be spent on one coastal county. And of the $91 million in damages to Marin roads, $78 million is accounted for in 13 damage sites spread along Highway 1.
Several of the Sonoma County damage sites are also on Highway 1, and comprise about $10 million of the total $44 million damage estimate.
Marin County also fields the third highest single-job estimate of the 402 damage sites identified by Caltrans in its latest damage report, a $17.4 million job to fix a slip-out on Highway 1 with a tie-back wall. Only Santa Clara and Monterey counties have single-ticket items that eclipse Marin’s $17.4 million project. Caltrans pegged $30 million for a wall repair in Santa Clara County, and Monterey’s got a pricey $28 million line item on the spreadsheet to replace the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, representing about half of that county’s $60 million in damages.
Clearly the Bay Area and North Coast took the biggest hits in the winter-spring storms of 2016 and 2017. The top counties after Marin are Santa Clara, on the hook for $72 million; San Mateo, $63 million; Humboldt, $60 million; and Mendocino, $65 million.
Caltrans estimates that when local costs are factored into their estimate, the total damage price tag is $1.27 billion. Recent reports estimated Marin County’s road damage obligations at $10 million, out of the estimated $400 million that localities will pick up this year. The agency reports that it will spend $700 million on emergency projects this year, “leaving $170 million for permanent restoration projects.”
“This total will likely rise as we continue to assess damage and estimate repair and restoration costs,” says Caltrans spokesman Mark Dinger via email.
Help is on the way—generally speaking. Last week, the California Legislature passed SB 1, which will raise California’s gasoline excise tax by 12 cents a gallon and enacts other auto-related fees in the state to fund a long-awaited, $55 billion road repair plan over 10 years.
At the federal level, on April 4, Trump signed off on an unspecified commitment of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dollars after Governor Jerry Brown petitioned the administration for disaster relief earlier this year when the storm damage had eclipsed $500 million. Last week, the administration freed up additional but unspecified funds for Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties. The declaration of disaster will presumably allow counties to pay for a range of repairs brought on by the wicked winter of 2016–17.
FEMA’s eventual contribution to California’s storm-damage repair remains an open question, especially given the erratic and contradictory messages coming from the White House. Trump has threatened to withhold FEMA funds to so-called sanctuary cities—there’s a bill in Sacramento that would make the entire state a sanctuary state. Even as Trump pledges disaster relief to California, the administration’s 2017 budget proposal calls for a $667 million cut in FEMA pre-disaster mitigation programs, according to North Bay U.S. representative Mike Thompson. Trump has also made lots of noise about a big infrastructure build-out, tantalizing talk for Democratic fence-sitters looking for a way to work with the president, even as his proposed budget eliminates the federal Department of Transportation, which Thompson recently noted in his critique of Trump’s budget proposal, “provides almost $500 million in road projects.”
So what does all this mean for Sonoma County’s notorious pothole problems? Probably not much. Voters in Sonoma turned back a proposed road-fix tax in 2015, a quarter-cent sales tax under Measure A. County officials have argued they need up to $1 billion to upgrade county roads—but the Sonoma County Supervisors could only scratch together $30 million in local road-fix dollars in 2015. The county website goes to pains to explain why there are so many potholes: “At about 2,700 lane miles, the road system of unincorporated Sonoma County is one of the most expansive in the greater Bay Area. Sonoma County also happens to be one of the more sparsely-populated municipalities in the region. This means that the amount of revenue generated for road repair in Sonoma County is below average for the amount of roadway. And for this reason, potholes are a common occurrence.”
Being a resident tourist sometimes takes effort. While gems may be hidden on a neighboring street, or in an unassuming parking lot, sometimes discovering the richness and boldness of your surroundings means driving for a few miles, immersing yourself in nature and, to your own surprise, finding a safari experience—minus the plane ticket to Kenya. Marin County-based professional photographer Daniel Dietrich has made a whole career of it. Born in Buffalo, New York, Dietrich moved to Point Reyes from San Francisco three years ago, and now lives on the coast with his family.
“Photography has always been a passion hobby of mine,” he says. “I developed my first roll of film in the darkroom when I was 13 years old. A camera went with me on every trip I took growing up, but it wasn’t until four years ago that I dropped my high tech industry job to pursue wildlife photography full-time.”
Since moving, Dietrich launched a service under the intriguing name Point Reyes Safaris, offering authentic safari experiences for groups of up to eight people. “Wildlife is my only focus,” Dietrich says, “and I am very fortunate that I don’t have to supplement my income with any other form of photography.”
On a full-day safari, visitors go from sunrise to sunset exploring Point Reyes National Seashore, photographing wildlife and barely stopping for lunch to spot as many animals as possible. Sound too good to be true? We asked Dietrich to tell us more.
Flora Tsapovsky:How did you come up with the safari idea?
Daniel Dietrich: “I have been fascinated with bobcats for years. They are elusive and shy, powerful and regal. As I spent more and more time observing them, I was able to obtain better and better images of them. Being one of the only places in the country where you can find and photograph them with any consistency, I invited a few friends to come shoot with me. With that, the idea to guide to photograph bobcats was born. But it really is the [Point Reyes] National Seashore that makes it all possible. Over 50 percent of North America’s birds have been documented here, as well as 85 species of mammals. It is a highly overlooked park for wildlife, but one that needs to be on any wildlife photographer’s list.”
FT: What kind of animals do you encounter on the safari?
DD: “The animals we encounter really depend on the season and what my guests want to see. The animals we see most often are tule elk, elephant seals, bobcats, coyotes, great horned owls, barn owls, whales, peregrine falcons and so many other birds. We get lucky at times seeing badgers, eagles and long-tailed weasels. I am still waiting to see a mountain lion with one of my guests. Each safari is quite different, which is great. They are wild animals so we never know what we’ll see, but we always see something exciting.”
FT: Have you done safaris in other countries? How is the Point Reyes experience different?
DD: “I am very lucky to have traveled quite a bit. Growing up, I was always saving for a plane ticket instead of saving to buy some material item. I have done quite a few safaris overseas. On these safaris, you cover vast amounts of land in pursuit of viewing wildlife. Point Reyes is quite small in comparison to the likes of a Masai Mara. So we don’t have to cover as much ground to encounter wildlife. And of course the wildlife itself is quite different. Point Reyes is home to many animals not found in any other country.”
FT: What are some of your tips on ethics and safety while on a safari?
DD: “Ethics are of the utmost importance to me. Keeping the safety of the animal first should be at the top of every photographer’s list. Never purposefully flush an animal or bird to get a shot. And never, ever, bait or feed an animal for the purpose of photography. The best tip I can give to anyone photographing wildlife in
Professional photographer Daniel Dietrich shares the magic of Point Reyes National Seashore through his wildlife viewing and photography safaris. Photo courtesy of Daniel Dietrich.
Point Reyes National Seashore is, use your binoculars first. Stop and scan. Walk to higher ground and search the hills for wildlife. It is there; you just have to find it. When you do find a bobcat or a coyote, work out the best plan to help you photograph it. Position yourself to where you think you can get a good shot without running after the animal. Patience is the number one thing needed to capture great wildlife images.”
FT: Who typically signs up for these experiences?
DD: “The diversity of people who have joined me on safari has been incredible. I have had guests fly in from overseas specifically to photograph bobcats. I’ve taken out many people who live right here in Point Reyes. I’ve taken out families with kids as young as 2 and retired folks who aren’t getting around like they used to. Since I typically take out very small groups, the itinerary is totally up to my guests, which I think makes it very personal and enjoyable for them.”
FT: Are there any photography pointers specific to West Marin and the Point Reyes area?
DD: “Point Reyes has so many different faces when it comes to weather. This gives incredible diversity to photography. Shooting the tule elk during a cool, foggy morning one day to a red, fiery sunrise the next is really exciting and creates such drastically different images. You always have to be prepared for any kind of weather here, so dress in layers, even in the middle of summer. Bring a variety of lenses with you. It is great to have a long telephoto lens for wildlife, but don’t forget your landscape lens. There is a magical scene around every corner.”
FT: And finally, what can we do to enrich our daily ‘resident tourist’ experience and be more open to our surroundings?
DD: “Point Reyes National Seashore sits within striking distance to millions and millions of people. Yet when I was living in San Francisco, I met an enormous amount of people who had never visited this magical place. We have national parks and public lands all around us here in Northern California. Get out and visit some of them. Connect with these special places that are right at your doorstep. You will be amazed at what a sighting of a whale can do to you, or the feeling you get standing on a sun-drenched cliff at sunset with the wind blowing on your face. There is growing pressure on these special places, and who knows what the future holds for them. By connecting with them, we will be more inclined to protect these national treasures for many years to come.”
Point Reyes Safaris; 303/929-8443; pointreyessafaris.com.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Be interested in first things, Aries. Cultivate your attraction to beginnings. Align yourself with uprisings and breakthroughs. Find out what’s about to hatch, and lend your support. Give your generous attention to potent innocence and novel sources of light. Marvel at people who are rediscovering the sparks that animated them when they first came into their power. Fantasize about being a curious seeker who is devoted to reinventing yourself over and over again. Gravitate toward influences that draw their vitality directly from primal wellsprings. Be excited about first things.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Are you weary of lugging around decayed guilt and regret? Is it increasingly difficult to keep forbidden feelings concealed? Have your friends been wondering about the whip marks from your self-flagellation sessions? Do you ache for redemption? If you answered yes to any of those questions, listen up. The empathetic and earthy saints of the Confession Catharsis Corps are ready to receive your blubbering disclosures. They are clairvoyant, they’re non-judgmental and best of all, they’re free. Within seconds after you telepathically communicate with our earthy saints, they will psychically beam you 11 minutes of unconditional love, no strings attached. Do it! You’ll be amazed at how much lighter and smarter you feel.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Now is an excellent time to FREE YOUR MEMORIES. Here are my thoughts on the subject: 1. You could change the way that you talk and feel about your past. Re-examine your assumptions about your old stories, and dream up fresh interpretations to explain how and why they happened. 2. If you’re holding on to an insult someone hurled at you once upon a time, let it go. In fact, declare a general amnesty for everyone who ever did you wrong. By the way, the coming weeks will also be a favorable phase to FREE YOURSELF OF MEMORIES that hold you back. Are there any tales you tell yourself about the past that undermine your dreams about the future? Stop telling yourself those tales.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): How big is your vocabulary? Twenty thousand words? Thirty thousand? Whatever size it is, the coming weeks will be prime time to expand it. Life will be conspiring to enhance your creative use of language … to deepen your enjoyment of the verbal flow … to help you become more articulate in rendering the mysterious feelings and complex thoughts that rumble around inside you. If you pay attention to the signals coming from your unconscious mind, you will be shown how to speak and write more effectively. You may not turn into a silver-tongued persuader, but you could become a more eloquent spokesperson for your own interests.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): We all need more breaks from the routine—more holidays, more vacations and more days off from work. We should all play and dance and sing more, guiltlessly practice the arts of leisure and relaxation and celebrate freedom in regular boisterous rituals. And I’m nominating you to show us the way in the coming weeks, Leo. Be a cheerleader who exemplifies how it’s done. Be a ringleader who springs all of us inmates out of our mental prisons. Be the imaginative escape artist who demonstrates how to relieve tension and lose inhibitions.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): People in your vicinity may be preoccupied with trivial questions. What’s more nutritious, corn chips or potato chips? Could Godzilla kick King Kong’s ass? Is it harder to hop forward on one foot or backward with both feet? I suspect that you will also encounter folks who are embroiled in meaningless decisions and petty emotions. So how should you navigate your way through this energy-draining muddle? Identify the issues that are most worthy of your attention. Stay focused on them with disciplined devotion. Be selfish in your rapt determination to serve your clearest, noblest and holiest agendas.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I hope that by mid-May you will be qualified to teach a workshop called “Sweet Secrets of Tender Intimacy,” “Dirty Secrets of Raw Intimacy” or maybe even “Sweet and Dirty Secrets of Raw and Tender Intimacy.” In other words, Libra, I suspect that you will be adding substantially to your understanding of the art of togetherness. Along the way, you may also have experiences that would enable you to write an essay entitled “How to Act Like You Have Nothing to Lose When You Have Everything to Gain.”
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): If you have a dream of eating soup with a fork, it might mean that in your waking life you’re using the wrong approach to getting nourished. If you have a dream of entering through an exit, it might mean that in your waking life you’re trying to start at the end rather than the beginning. And if you dream of singing nursery rhymes at a karaoke bar with unlikable people from high school, it might mean that in your waking life you should seek more fulfilling ways to express your wild side and your creative energies. (P.S. You’ll be wise to do these things even if you don’t have the dreams I described.)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If you’re a Quixotic lover, you’re more in love with love itself than with any person. If you’re a Cryptic lover, the best way to stay in love with a particular partner is to keep him or her guessing. If you’re a Harlequin, your steady lover must provide as much variety as three lovers. If you’re a Buddy, your specialties are having friendly sex and having sex with friends. If you’re a Histrionic, you’re addicted to confounding, disorienting love. It’s also possible that you’re none of the above. I hope so, because now is an excellent time to have a beginner’s mind about what kind of love you really need and want to cultivate in the future.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Your new vocabulary word is “adytum.” It refers to the most sacred place within a sacred place—the inner shrine at the heart of a sublime sanctuary. Is there such a spot in your world? A location that embodies all you hold precious about your journey on planet Earth? It might be in a church or temple or synagogue or mosque, or it could be a magic zone in nature or a corner of your bedroom. Here you feel an intimate connection with the divine, or a sense of awe and reverence for the privilege of being alive. If you don’t have a personal adytum, Capricorn, find or create one.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You could defy gravity a little, but not a lot. You can’t move a mountain, but you may be able to budge a hill. Luck won’t miraculously enable you to win a contest, but it might help you seize a hard-earned perk or privilege. A bit of voraciousness may be good for your soul, but a big blast of greed would be bad for both your soul and your ego. Being savvy and feisty will energize your collaborators and attract new allies; being a smart-ass show-off would alienate and repel people.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here are activities that will be especially favorable for you to initiate in the near future: 1. Pay someone to perform a service for you that will ease your suffering. 2. Question one of your fixed opinions if that will lead to you receiving a fun invitation you wouldn’t get otherwise. 3. Dole out sincere praise or practical help to a person who could help you overcome one of your limitations. 4. Get clear about how one of your collaborations would need to change in order to serve both of you better. Then tell your collaborator about the proposed improvement with light-hearted compassion.
Homework: Who’s the person you’d most like to meet and have coffee or a drink with? Why? Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
Q: I’m a woman in my 30s. I was married for five years, but now, thank God, I’m divorced and about two years into a wonderful new relationship. Disturbingly, I occasionally call my boyfriend by my awful ex-husband’s name. He laughs it off, but it really freaks me out. Should I see a neurologist? Is my memory going? Or—gulp—do I miss my ex on some subconscious level?—Disturbed
A: Right about now, you’ve got to be recognizing the unexpected benefits of those gas station attendant shirts with the guy’s name sewn onto them.
As with dead bodies carelessly submerged after mob hits, it’s unsettling to have your ex’s name bobbing up when you love somebody new. Naturally, you suspect the worst—that you’re subconsciously pining for the ex. But—good news!—the likely reason for your name swapperoos is something that you should find comfortingly boring. According to research by cognitive scientists Samantha Deffler and David C. Rubin, we’re prone to grab the wrong name out of memory when both names are in the same category—for example, men you’ve been seriously involved with or, in the pet domain, gerbils you’ve dressed in tiny sexy outfits.
You might also keep in mind that your ex’s name was the default for “man in my life” for more than twice as long as the new guy’s. Other memory research suggests that especially when you’re tired, stressed or multitasky, it’s easy to go a little, uh, cognitively imprecise. You send your mindslave off into your brain—back to the “My Guy” category—and the lazy little peasant just grabs the name he spent five years grabbing.
However, research by cognitive psychologist Robert Bjork suggests that you can train your memory to do better through “spaced retrieval”—correcting yourself just post-flub by asking and answering, “Who is the man in my life?” and then letting a few minutes pass and doing it again. But considering that you have a partner who just laughs at your errors, your time would probably be better spent appreciating what you have: An easygoing sweetheart of a guy and no readily apparent need for a neurologist. Bottom line: Your calling the guy by the wrong name probably points to a need for a nap, not unwanted company—as in, a tumor named Fred squatting in the crawlspace behind your frontal lobe.
Q: I’m extremely insecure about my looks, though objectively, I know I’m pretty. I constantly ask my boyfriend for reassurance. He gives it to me but feels bad that I feel this way. Now I’m worrying that I’m making such a good case for what’s wrong with me that he’ll start believing me. Possible?—Bag Over Head
A: One oft-overlookedbeauty secret is to avoid constantly giving a guy the idea that you might actually be ugly.
People will sneer that it’s “shallow” to care about how you look, and they’re probably right—if it’s all you care about. However, research confirms what most of us recognize about the especially eye-pleasing among us: They get all sorts of benefits—everything from social perks, to job opportunities to discounts, even when they act like dirtbags.
As a woman, being babe-alicious is a pretty vital tool for landing and maintaining a relationship, because the features that men—across cultures—evolved to consider beautiful are actually health and fertility indicators. So, for example, full lips and an hourglass bod are basically evolution’s bumper sticker: “Your genes passed on here!”
Not surprisingly, psychologist Tracy Vaillancourt, who researches competition among women, explains that women attack other women “principally on appearance and sexual fidelity” because men prioritize these qualities in their partners. One way women chip away at rivals is by trash-talking another woman’s looks to a man—suggesting that he really could do better. That’s what you’re doing—but to yourself.
Beyond that, constantly begging a romantic partner for reassurance can be toxic to a relationship. Also, the fact that your need for reassurance seems bottomless suggests that it’s not your exterior but your interior that’s in need of work. Get cracking on that, and try to remember that your boyfriend is with you for a reason—and it probably isn’t that your mom and grandma are crouched behind your sofa, holding him at gunpoint.
In Ghost in the Shell’s horrifying dystopic future year of 2017, Scarlett Johansson has her face sawed off—“scanned” is the parlance. Her kissable visage is used as a model for a digital avatar, roaming around Neo-Sorta-Kinda-Tokyo killing her fellow avatars with a blaster. She’s a federal cop called Major—with a human brain in a synthetic body—on the trail of terrorists assassinating execs from the robot-making Hanka corporation. The investigation involves some cyber eavesdropping, rousting yakuza nightclubs and penetrating a “lawless zone” where the rebels live, scrawling their Unabomber-like manifestos.
Studying the live-action version of the distinguished 1995 anime Ghost in the Shell, one broods over psychological questions. How much humanity can Johansson have after all of the movies where she’s been animated into a cartwheeling, hair-whirling, ass-kicking electronic phantom? Does ScarJo have any “glitches”—any unsanctioned memories—of her time sashaying around Tokyo in Lost in Translation?
Hushed and expressionless, ScarJo goes on missions in a Barbie-doll body, as shiny as a factory-new Kia. She’s given support by the maternal scientist Dr. Ouelet (Juliette Binoche), as well as from a controller, the paternal if ever-sinister Beat Takeshi—here with his own funny haircut, a cross between Larry Fine (The Three Stooges) and Dick Tracy’s villain Flattop. Major’s partner, Batou, is played by Danish dreamboat Pilou Asbaek, and director Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) sets a tone of dead seriousness.
ScarJo breaks a lot of real and synthetic bones, but the movie doesn’t break any new ground. Ghost in the Shell wouldn’t exist without the original RoboCop—it’s a haunted, abject copy of the Paul Verhoeven movie. The easy compare and contrast, given the holographic chimeras all over the place, is with Blade Runner. Ghost in the Shell isn’t interesting, but there is a lot of blasting—that may send it over.
Grammy-winning bluegrass and folk songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up in the mill and steel town of Wheeling, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. His Leave it to Beaver upbringing included a lot of country music on the radio, but little in the way of local economical options, so O’Brien headed west to Colorado before moving to Nashville.
Since becoming a famed figure in that city’s music scene, O’Brien has released more than a dozen acclaimed albums that have made him a household name for bluegrass fans across the country. He returns to his roots with his new album, Where The River Meets The Road, inspired by his home state. O’Brien will perform off of the new record on Friday, April 7 in Berkeley and on Saturday, April 8 in Sebastopol.
“When I sang bluegrass and country music, people took me more seriously because I was from West Virginia,” O’Brien recalls. “The love of the music kept going, but I kept viewing it from afar.”
The two original tunes on the album are a couple of O’Brien’s most personal songs ever. The title track is the story of his family’s arrival in West Virginia from Ireland in the 1850s, and “Guardian Angel” is the heartbreaking story of the death of O’Brien’s older sister when he was just a toddler.
“If I look at it one way, I’ve been spending my whole artistic life getting ready to make this record,” O’Brien says. “It’s a reflection of where I’m at and what I’ve experienced.”
Tim O’Brien, Friday, April 7, Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St., Berkeley; 8pm; $26-$28; 510/644-2020; Saturday, April 8, Sebastopol Community Center, 390 Morris St., Sebastopol; 8pm; $25-$30; 707/823-1511.
My guess is that it won’t take you more than five or 10 minutes of watching AlterTheater’s production of Bondage to recognize that this is the real thing—what we look for in live theater, but rarely find.
Star Finch, its author, is a local woman. Born in San Francisco, she went to San Francisco State for a B.A. (Anthropology) and M.A. (Creative Writing), and made her professional debut in 2015 with H.O.M.E. (Hookers on Mars Eventually), produced by the Mission District’s Campo Santo theater company. In the same year, she was commissioned to write a new work by AlterTheater as part of its remarkably successful “AlterLab” program, and now here it is in a strong production directed by Elizabeth Carter.
I didn’t see H.O.M.E., so I have to rely on a second-hand report. In her review, San Francisco Chronicle critic Lily Janiak predicted a bright future for the young playwright, citing her ability to involve memorable characters in a story that reflected contemporary issues, told in a distinctive quasi-poetic style that blends reality with science fiction. The only problem seemed to be one that affects many playwrights’ early work—a tendency to expand the content beyond what the narrative can comfortably accommodate. All of these virtues are present in Bondage and, while the danger of excess remains, it doesn’t negate the conclusion that Finch is a formidable addition to American playwriting. Looked at broadly, the play is a rich collection of psychosocial threads that include Freudian psychology, racism and sibling rivalry, bound together by a literary style that Finch labels “Afro-Surreal.”
Actually, Bondage is more Chekhovian than anything else. The action takes place on a rundown island plantation somewhere in the Caribbean during the waning days of 19th century slavery. It’s an isolated, claustrophobic world from which all of Finch’s characters would gladly escape if only they could find a way and have some clarity about what to do if their goal was achieved. Lacking both, the frustration level is extremely high, particularly for a pair of 13-year-old cousins who have been raised as sisters by Philip (Shane Fahy), the somewhat befuddled master of the household, who took on the task after his own sister died. Although he attempts to be fair to both his prim and proper daughter Emily (Emily Serdahl), and niece Zuri (a flamboyant Dezi Soley), who had a black father, he can’t quite overcome the racial bias that goes with being a slave owner. When that happens, it’s Philip’s black housekeeper Azucar (Cathleen Riddley) who must mediate the conflict.
Emily and Zuri’s relationship is also heavily affected by the racial issue. During childhood they played games together and were close in many respects, including sleeping in the same bed. Yet, Emily’s higher status as Philip’s white-skinned daughter has meant that she enjoys more privileges and material advantages than her darker cousin. When added to normal sibling rivalry, they create occasional power struggles that have to be controlled by the watchful Azucar. When these occur, demure Emily’s only weapon is a society-bestowed racial superiority that is easily countered by Zuri’s more aggressive, carefree attitude, and sexual maturity. Everything reaches an emotional climax when crotchety old Aunt Ruby (Emilie Talbot) comes for a visit and finds the girls in a compromising situation under a bedsheet.
By now, it should be clear that Bondage is not just about race. Like Chekhov’s refugees from a crumbling czarist regime, all of Finch’s characters are shackled by forces they can’t control. Strange, then, that she should end with a shocking act (which I won’t reveal) that is anything but liberating. For me, it was the only false note in an otherwise splendid play that adds to Finch’s reputation and that of AlterTheater, as well.
NOW PLAYING: Bondageruns through April 16 at AlterTheater’s temporary space, 200 Tamal Plaza, Corte Madera (opposite the DMV); 415/454-2787; altertheater.org.
The Paleolithic diet, in recent years, has basically clubbed America upside the head and dragged many of us around by our hair. Swept us off of our feet, as it were. The idea of consuming a diet based on what early humans might have eaten has captured the imaginations and bellies of many, including the scavengers.
I guess I’ve taken it as a given that our ancestors were feasting on wild game 24/7. But in many primitive societies, past and present, anthropologists have noted that the village gatherers regularly outperform the hunters. Springtime is an especially good time to forage, because the landscape is rich in edible shoots. Nettles evoke caution, thanks to their being covered with ant bite venom. But cooking them will take care of that problem, and what is left is a nutrient-dense plant full of forest umami, spring tonic and fiber. Enjoy this nettle soup recipe.
Paleo Vegan Nettle Soup
One large onion, sliced
Two large carrots, sliced
Three stalks of celery, sliced
One clove of garlic, grated or pressed
Olive oil and/or butter
Mushroom stock
Freshly gathered nettles
Cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper
Saute onions in butter or olive oil (or both). When they are translucent, add carrots, celery and a quart or so of stock, and simmer, with about a teaspoon each of cumin and garlic powder. Meanwhile, blanch and shock the nettles. When the carrots are soft, add the fresh garlic, stir it around and kill the heat. When cool enough to blend, puree the whole thing. Puree the nettles separately and stir them in. Adjust seasonings. Serve with a big ol’ dollop of Vegenaise.
By Tanya Henry
Everybody loves a best-kept secret. That feeling when you stumble upon something so special and so sweet that part of you wants to keep it all to yourself, yet you know the world would be a better place if you spread the word. So, you heard it here first—Box Trot Gifts.
Marin native Kathryn Tjosvold’s business crafting beautiful...
By Tom Gogola
This year’s winter storms will cost California $866 million in road repairs, according to the latest estimates from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). That figure is a significant uptick from the $617 million in damages assessed at the end of February, and doesn’t include damage estimates from last weekend’s wind-blown deluge which knocked out electricity throughout...
By Flora Tsapovsky
Being a resident tourist sometimes takes effort. While gems may be hidden on a neighboring street, or in an unassuming parking lot, sometimes discovering the richness and boldness of your surroundings means driving for a few miles, immersing yourself in nature and, to your own surprise, finding a safari experience—minus the plane ticket to Kenya. Marin County-based...
By Rob Brezsny
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Be interested in first things, Aries. Cultivate your attraction to beginnings. Align yourself with uprisings and breakthroughs. Find out what’s about to hatch, and lend your support. Give your generous attention to potent innocence and novel sources of light. Marvel at people who are rediscovering the sparks that animated them when they first...
By Amy Alkon
Q: I’m a woman in my 30s. I was married for five years, but now, thank God, I’m divorced and about two years into a wonderful new relationship. Disturbingly, I occasionally call my boyfriend by my awful ex-husband’s name. He laughs it off, but it really freaks me out. Should I see a neurologist? Is my memory...
This week in the Pacific Sun, our cover story, 'Climate Solution,' highlights the carbon farming work of North Bay farmers. On top of that, we've got a piece on a left-winger's run-in with the far-right, a recipe for nettle soup, a review of Star Finch's 'Bondage' and an interview with Grammy Award-winning bluegrass and folk songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien....
By Richard von Busack
In Ghost in the Shell’s horrifying dystopic future year of 2017, Scarlett Johansson has her face sawed off—“scanned” is the parlance. Her kissable visage is used as a model for a digital avatar, roaming around Neo-Sorta-Kinda-Tokyo killing her fellow avatars with a blaster. She’s a federal cop called Major—with a human brain in a synthetic body—on...
By Charlie Swanson
Grammy-winning bluegrass and folk songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien grew up in the mill and steel town of Wheeling, West Virginia, along the Ohio River. His Leave it to Beaver upbringing included a lot of country music on the radio, but little in the way of local economical options, so O’Brien headed west to Colorado before moving...
By Charles Brousse
My guess is that it won’t take you more than five or 10 minutes of watching AlterTheater’s production of Bondage to recognize that this is the real thing—what we look for in live theater, but rarely find.
Star Finch, its author, is a local woman. Born in San Francisco, she went to San Francisco State for a B.A....
By Ari LeVaux
The Paleolithic diet, in recent years, has basically clubbed America upside the head and dragged many of us around by our hair. Swept us off of our feet, as it were. The idea of consuming a diet based on what early humans might have eaten has captured the imaginations and bellies of many, including the scavengers.
I guess...
