Weekly Astrology

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the coming weeks, I urge you to flee from stale and rigid certainty. Rebel against dogmatic attitudes and arrogant opinions. Be skeptical of unequivocal answers to nuanced questions. Instead, dear Aries, give your amused reverence to all that’s mysterious and enigmatic. Bask in the glimmer of intriguing paradoxes. Draw inspiration and healing from the fertile unknown. For inspiration, write out this Mary Oliver poem and carry it with you: “Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company with those who say ‘Look!’ and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A blogger named Chaconia writes, “I’ve cultivated a lifetime of being low maintenance and easy-going, and now I’ve decided I’m done with it. Demanding Me is born today.” I’m giving you temporary permission to make a similar declaration, Taurus. The astrological omens suggest that in the coming weeks, you have every right to be a charming, enchanting and generous version of a demanding person. So I authorize you to be just that. Enjoy yourself as you ask for more of everything.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The witch Lisa Chamberlain writes about the magical properties of colors. About brown, she says it “represents endurance, solidity, grounding and strength.” She adds that it’s used in magic to enhance “balance, concentration, material gain, home and companion animals.” According to my reading of the astrological omens, the upcoming weeks should be a deeply brown time for you Geminis. To move your imagination in a righteous direction, have fun wearing clothes in shades of brown. Grace your environment with things that have the hues of chestnut, umber, mahogany, sepia and burnt sienna. Eat and drink caramel, toffee, cinnamon, almonds, coffee and chocolate.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian poet Danusha Laméris discovered that earthworms have taste buds all over their bodies. Now she loves to imagine she’s giving them gifts when she drops bits of apples, beets, avocados, melons and carrot tops into the compost bin. “I’d always thought theirs a menial life, eyeless and hidden, almost vulgar.” But now that she understands “they bear a pleasure so sublime,” she wants to help the worms fulfill their destinies. I mention this, Cancerian, because I suspect you may have comparable turnarounds in the coming weeks. Long-held ideas may need adjustments. Incomplete understandings will be filled in when you learn the rest of the story. You will receive a stream of interesting new information that changes your mind, mostly in enjoyable ways.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You should never allow yourself to be tamed by others. That advice is always apropos for you Leos, and even more crucial to heed in the coming weeks. You need to cultivate maximum access to the raw, primal sources of your life energy. Your ability to thrive depends on how well you identify and express the beautiful animal within you. Here’s my only caveat: If you imagine there may be value in being tamed a little, in harnessing your brilliant beast, do the taming yourself. And assign that task to the part of you that possesses the wildest wisdom.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Whenever you are contemplating a major decision, I hope you raise questions like these: 1. Which option shows the most self-respect? 2. Which path would be the best way to honor yourself? 3. Which choice is most likely to help you fulfill the purposes you came to earth to carry out? 4. Which course of action would enable you to express your best gifts? Are there questions you would add, Virgo? I expect the coming months will require you to generate key decisions at a higher rate than usual, so I hope you will make intensive use of my guiding inquiries, as well as any others you formulate.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran blogger Ana-Sofia Cardelle writes, “I look back on past versions of myself with such love and tenderness. I want to embrace myself at different parts of my life.” I hope you’re inspired by her thoughts as you carry out the following actions: 1. Create an altar filled with treasures that symbolize major turning points in your destiny. 2. Forgive yourself for what you imagine to be old errors and ignorance. 3. Summon memories of the persons you were at ages 7, 12 and 17, and write a kind, thoughtful message to each. 4. Literally kiss seven different photos of your face from earlier in your life. 5. Say “thank you” and “bless you” to the self you were when you succeeded at two challenging tests in the past.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You know more about how karma works than all the other signs. Scorpio-style intelligence typically has a fine intuitive grasp of how today’s realities evolved out of the deep patterns and rhythms of the past. But that doesn’t mean you perfectly understand how karma works. And in the coming weeks, I urge you to be eager to learn more. Become even savvier about how the law of cause and effect impacts the destinies of you and your allies. Meditate on how the situations you are in now were influenced by actions you took once upon a time. Ruminate on what you could do in the near future to foster good karma and diminish weird karma.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Kabbalistic writer Simon Jacobson says, “Like a flame, the soul always reaches upward. The soul’s fire wants to defy the confines of life. It cannot tolerate the mediocrity and monotony of sheer materialism. Its passion knows no limits as it craves for the beyond.” That sounds both marvelous and hazardous, right? Jacobson concludes, “Whether the soul’s fire will be a constructive or destructive force is dependent on the person’s motivation.” According to my astrological analysis, your deep motivations are likely to be extra noble and generous in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. So I expect that your soul’s fire will be very constructive.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In the Spanish language, there’s the idiom pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo. Its literal translation is “thinking about the immortality of the crab.” It applies to a person engaged in creative daydreaming—her imagination wandering freely in hopes of rousing innovative solutions to practical dilemmas. Other languages have similar idioms. In Finnish, istun ja mietin syntyjä syviä means “wondering about the world’s early origins.” Polish has marzyć o niebieskich migdałach, or “dreaming about blue almonds.” I encourage you to enjoy an abundance of such explorations in the coming days, Capricorn. You need to fantasize more than usual.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): My Aquarian reader Georgie Lee wrote to tell me what it’s like being an Aquarius. I offer it to you because you are potentially at the peak of expressing the qualities she names. She says, “Accept that you don’t really have to understand yourself. Be at peace with how you constantly ramble, swerve and weave to become more of yourself. Appreciate how each electric shift leads to the next electric shift, always changing who you are forever. Within the churning, ever-yearning current, marvel at how you remain eternal, steady and solid—yet always evolving, always on a higher ground before.”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here’s a good way to build your vibrancy: Use your emotional intelligence to avoid swimming against strong currents for extended periods. Please note that swimming against strong currents is fine, even advisable, for brief phases. Doing so boosts your stamina and fosters your trust in your resilience. But mostly, I recommend you swim in the same direction as the currents or swim where the water is calm and currentless. In the coming weeks, I suspect you can enjoy many freestyle excursions as you head in the same direction as vigorous currents.

Skin Contact White Wines

A “skin-contact” white wine is a white wine that has had extended contact with grape skins.

While red and rosé wines always spend time on skins—this is where these wines get their color and tannin—during the maceration and fermentation process, typical white wines do not. When white-wine grapes are pressed, only the juice is fermented.

In essence, skin-contact white wines are white wines that are made like red wines. Often known as orange wines due to their color, skin-contact whites started trending in a big way more than a decade ago thanks to niche international importers and regional wine-trade associations spreading the orange-wine gospel to the wine trade in major cities across the U.S.

When orange wines began hitting restaurant lists—curated by sommeliers who loved obscure, or different, wines—in cities like San Francisco, most of the wines being introduced to, drunk by and trending amongst the wine geeks of San Francisco were from countries like Austria, Italy—particularly within the Friuli-Venezia region—and Slovenia. Later, there were more from countries around the world including the U.S. and, primarily, California.

However, it was Georgia where the first known orange wines were made, a thousand or more years ago, and stored in large, clay, amphora-like vessels. Interestingly, many producers today that produce orange wines/skin-contact white wines follow suit by aging their wines in amphorae, or clay vessels, though many also opt for neutral oak or cement.

So what are skin-contact white wines like? And what are they … skin-contact wines or orange wines?

First, not all skin-contact white wines are orange wines, but all orange wines are skin-contact white wines. What does this mean? Not all white wines that receive skin contact turn orange or are as deep in color. The level of color and tannin a wine achieves depends on how long it spends on the skins, the varietal of the grape and—to an extent—the vessel, in relation to oxidation.

To keep things simple, most prefer to use the term skin-contact white now, as this is more accurate in many cases, as well as less confusing.

Second, there are aromas, flavors and components found in skin-contact white wines that are uncommon in traditional white wines. The additional time on skin results in higher tannins and stronger, deeper fruit notes, as well as a fuller body, texture and greater complexity. Ripe stonefruit, orange peels and white flowers are common descriptors of skin-contact white wines. This added complexity means that the wines are also more versatile when it comes to pairing them with a wider variety of foods.

Taste for yourself, starting with the following eight fantastic and unique local wines.
Wines With Skin in the Game
Bannister Wines Ribolla Gialla, bannisterwines.com
Idlewild Cortese, Fox Hill Vineyard, idlewildwines.com/wines
Joseph Jewell Pinot Gris, josephjewell.com
Kivelstadt Cellars Wayward Son Orange Wine (Roussanne), kivelstadtcellars.com
Pellegrini Skin Contact Chardonnay, pellegrinisonoma.com
Two Shepherds Skin Fermented Vermentino and Skin Fermented Pinot Gris, twoshepherds.com

The Soul’s Energy Field

The three-part division of the human being into body, soul and spirit is all but universal. Now, knowing you have a body is easy enough, but in these materialistic times soul and spirit have been forgotten, at best viewed as things that cannot be known, only superstitiously “believed” in.

Sometimes Hollywood’s special brand of magic can help us understand metaphysical truths, so let us take flight to the land of the pharaohs via the 1999 film, The Mummy, one of the silver screen’s dozens of depictions of ancient Egypt and its mysteries of death and resurrection.

In a flashback scene, the priest Imhotep uses necromancy to re-animate his lover, Anck Su Namum, whose mummified corpse lies on a stone slab. So much for the body, but the animated sequence that ensues helps us visualize the invisible soul.

Using his powers of sorcery, Imhotep summons his lover’s soul from a murky pool connected to the waters of the underworld. It rises as a kind of cloudy, electromagnetic-energy field that contains all of Anck Su Namun’s memories and emotions, including her love for Imhotep.

When it is sucked back into her body, she is not merely a living organism once again, but “herself,” which we can now see was not the physical body but the cloud-energy that animates it.

As for the third part of the ternary—the spirit—that, of course, is the Supreme Principle that has made possible the body, the soul and everything else in the universe.

As the poet said, most people lead lives of quiet desperation, driven by an unquenchable thirst to gratify bodily needs with material things. Those seeking awakening from a somnambulistic existence must disentangle from the body the ego’s sense of “me” and begin to identify it with that cloudy energy field the animation department at The Mummy has helped us visualize.

The forces magnetized in this cloud seek actualization of things that are far loftier than the limited conception of our lives would dare admit. Clues as to what they are can be obtained from our astrological birth chart.

The soul’s energy field lives outside space and time, and through imagination acts as a bridge between the physical body and the transcendent world of the spirit. That which cannot be satisfied on the physical plane of earthly life can still be actualized in the soul, which is why it is better to be poor with a rich imagination than to have all the wealth in the world but a withered inner garden.

The Dangers of Monetizing Creativity

When you’re a broke-ass-art-person, there are about a million podcasts and blogs and online courses encouraging you to create podcasts and blogs and online courses to help monetize your creative process by sharing it with other artists who, in turn, will create more podcasts and blogs and online courses.

As a career-long writer, I’ve been down this diverting wormhole more than a few times. Every time my industry was “disrupted” or I self-disrupted, I would start selling tours of the rag and bone shop of my expertise. I wrote ebooks, made podcasts, consulted. It worked, until it didn’t, and I’ve come to the personal conclusion that this kind of crap has derailed more than a few artists trying to turn a buck in the “creative economy.”

Remember when we produced writing and art of substance instead of merely making “content?” If content is still king, art needs to be the court jester that tells him he’s full of sh–.

I once received eight emails from an “artist” hawking an online “creative entrepreneur” marketing class. After the second email in an hour, I concluded that the spammer in question was both a shitty marketer and artist.

But what about the skill set we’ve developed? The bullshit corporate skills acquired in newsrooms and boardrooms? What of these skills that weaponized my talent until I became both an overqualified but underwhelming part of the very systems I once sought to destroy?

Like any Frankenstein monster, I suppose I’ll turn on my creators and destroy the systems that created me. Maybe this isn’t a popular opinion, but if I were seeking popularity I’d be more famous by now and not ranting into the void of print and pixels.

Because I’m done shaming the starving artist, the romantics, the ones we tell that they just have to get their work out there and pray they get the right algorithmic alchemy going so the gates to the middle class open wide. Really, at this point, for me the only reason to keep the aspidistra flying is for target practice.

Don’t get the reference? Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a book by George Orwell. ’Nuff said, right? Will we ever listen to him? Maybe if he had a podcast and blog and online course, we’d pay attention, but I dare say we can learn more—and teach more—through art.

Editor Daedalus Howell just directed a #wolfstorymovie and creatively consults at daedalushowell.com.

Culture Crush—Coffee Roasting, Salsa and More

Arts Festival

The Healdsburg Arts Festival is back! Wander the inimitably charming Healdsburg Plaza and prepare to be immersed in some of the finest in wine country creativity. The festival is dedicated to three categories of art: visual, performance and culinary. Attendees can enjoy art demos, public art on display, interactive art making, booths for nonprofits, music, entertainment, dance performance, and ample food and wine selections. Over 55 booths represent the creative skill and passion of the Healdsburg community. The festival is presented by the Healdsburg Center for the Arts in partnership with the City of Healdsburg’s Community Services Department. The Healdsburg Arts Festival is Friday, Aug. 26 at the Healdsburg Plaza, Matheson St. and Healdsburg Ave. 4-7pm. Admission is free. www.ci.healdsburg.ca.us 

Petaluma

Summer Salsa

What’s the next best thing to salsa dancing in Barcelona? It’s salsa dancing at Grand Central Petaluma to the spicy, rhythmic tones of Charlie Barreda and the All Star Trio. A downtown Ecuadorian-owned coffee shop, Grand Central showcases the South American country’s artisanal talent and exceptional coffee farms while supporting fair and eco-conscious trade practices. Barreda hails from Peru, where his musical career began at the age of 12, before he came to the states to study at the now-closed Music and Arts Institute of San Francisco. His musical expertise ranges from keyboard to vibraphone to composition and percussion. Barreda can do it all, with impeccable rhythm! Charlie Barreda and the All Star Trio play Sunday, Aug. 28 at Grand Central Petaluma, 226 Weller St. 3-6pm. Tickets $10. @grandcentralpetaluma on Instagram. 

San Rafael

Heritage Festival 

Celebrate the Heritage Day Festival at the historic China Camp Village this weekend, and appreciate the vibrant and diverse community of Northern California. Lion dancers in brightly-colored costumes, traditional guzheng music, mahjong lessons, Chinese brush-painting lessons, tai chi and more are all part of this event. Bring the entire family—kids have the opportunity to build their own boat and to learn about the local wildlife, ecology and history through hands-on activities provided by the National Estuarine Research Reserve, the San Francisco Maritime Museum and Wildcare. The Heritage Day Festival is Saturday, Aug. 27 at 101 Peacock Gap Trail, San Rafael. 11am-3pm. $5 parking fee for non-members. www.friendsofchinacamp.org 

Fairfax

Coffee Roasting

Ever wondered how that gorgeous, dark brown liquid we call coffee got into its mug? Find out this weekend in a Home-Roasting Workshop with Punto Fino Coffee in Fairfax. While sipping from the specialty drinks menu, examine several popular at-home roasting methods, and ask questions about the world of coffee and roasting. Then watch as green beans are placed in an open roaster and observe the transformation to roasted bean, noting the different smells and sounds as the process occurs. Partake in a guided, handheld roasting lesson and take a bag of freshly roasted beans home. The beginning of a new hobby, perhaps? The Home-Roasting Workshop is Sunday, Aug. 28 at Punto Fino, 85 Bosque Ave., Fairfax. 11am-12:30pm. www.puntofinocoffee.com 

—Jane Vick

A guide to Sonoma, Napa and Marin’s Fall Arts

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Though summer is quietly slipping out the back door as you read this, be assured that there’s no shortage of fall fun on the horizon. What follows are some standout selections sure to amplify your autumnal experience.

Special Events
Sonoma County Harvest Fair Grand Tasting Event
It’s no secret that Sonoma County is home to some of the best wines and wineries in the world. The Sonoma County Harvest Fair will showcase unparalleled palate-pleasers from over 100 wineries. Come find a new favorite blend or single grape wine, and sample till the heart is full and the buzz is perfect. Saturday, Oct.15 from 1-4pm at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, 1350 Bennett Valley Rd., Santa Rosa. www.harvestfair.org

Sound Summit
An annual musical gathering on Mt. Tamalpais, Sound Summit is a unique festival in a breathtaking location that San Francisco Chronicle has called “a day of restorative celebration.” Produced as an annual celebration of and fundraiser for Mount Tamalpais State Park by Roots & Branches Conservancy, Sound Summit is held at the historic Mountain Theater, with stunning views of San Francisco Bay. This year’s festival includes The War On Drugs, Fruit Bats and Faye Webster. The festival is Saturday, Oct. 22 at 11am at the Mountain Theater, Easy Grade Trail, Mill Valley. www.soundsummit.net

Sonoma Harvest Music Festival
Held at gorgeous B.R. Cohn Winery, nestled between the Mayacamas Mountain range and Sonoma Mountain, the Sonoma Harvest Music Festival brings big acts to a smaller stage, for those who don’t love a major crowd but do love a majorly good time. This year, the lineup includes acts like Phantogram, Portugal. The Man and K.Flay, plus an inimitable offering of wines, craft beers and artisanal California food. Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9, 11am-7pm at B.R. Cohn Winery, 15000 Sonoma Hwy., Glen Ellen. www.sonomaharvestmusicfestival.com

Petaluma River Craft Beer Fest
The art of beer and the Petaluma slough—I can’t think of a nicer combination. Neither can the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce and the Petaluma Rotary Club, and that’s why they’re hosting the Petaluma River Craft Beer Fest. Come sample Lagunitas, Bear Republic, Crooked Goat, Fogbelt and more. Live music by Randy & the Special Agents and Petaluma Pete will keep the energy rocking. Bring sunscreen and water; it’s going to be a hot, sudsy, fun fest. Saturday, Sept. 10 from 1-5pm on Water Street by the river in historic Petaluma. www.petalumarivercraftbeerfest.org

Chautauqua Revue
The revue is not a usual show. Think vaudeville, circus and storytelling combined, with a fair amount of clowning around. Hilarious and cutting satire, stunning musical numbers and heartfelt tales are all woven together to connect audience and performers alike. Led by Mistress of Ceremonies Wysteria McBrylcreem, with stage band Big B and his Cityslickers, and the irreverent interludes of Clowns On A Stick, plus guest performers both local and visiting. Shows are September 8, 9 and 10 at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, 15290 Coleman Valley Rd. www.oaec.org
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One Mind Music Festival for Brain Health
Not only is Napa a number one destination for wine and food, it’s also a hot spot for brain science. Yep, that’s right. This fall is the 28th One Mind Music Festival for Brain Health, including music from Jewel and Hunter Hayes. Also on tap is an interactive scientific symposium on brain health from leading experts such as Dr. Regina E. Dugan, PhD, president & CEO of Wellcome Leap, and Dr. Christopher M. Palmer, MD, of the Harvard Medical School. Saturday, Sept. 10 from 12-8:30pm. For tickets and information, visit www.music-festival.org.

Cinema Calistoga
Napa Valley Film Festival, the legendary festival that blends the art of film, food and wine together in one delicious event, presents Cinema Calistoga, hosted at Mount View Hotel and Spa in Calistoga. The event includes three separate film screenings, each paired with three course meals inspired by the films, from local chefs including Rebecca White-Keefe, Nicholas Montanez and Doctor Dread. The series begins Wednesday, Sept. 7 and runs through Friday, Sept. 9. Dinner at 6pm, film at 7:30pm. For tickets and information, visit www.napavalleyfilmfest.org.

Clubs & Venues

HopMonk Novato
A classic music venue delivering lively performances, HopMonk welcomes Bay-Area based singer songwriter Megan Slankard as she debuts her new song, “California,” the breakup song written as a “gentle reminder of why it might not be the best idea to date a songwriter,” according to Slankard. This is the first release from her forthcoming album, California & Other Stories, coming Oct. 28. Slankard performs Saturday, Oct. 8 at HopMonk Tavern, 224 Vintage Way, Novato. Show starts at 6pm. www.hopmonk.com

Oxbow Public Market
A keystone of downtown Napa, Oxbow Public Market is brimming with Napa’s best in food and wine, and boasts an outdoor deck with seating along the Napa River. It’s 40,000 square feet of good, local Epicureanism. And this fall Oxbow is hosting live music, on the last Wednesday of every month, starting at the end of August with blues rock trio Riverfront District Aug. 31. 6:30-8:30pm. For information, visit www.oxbowpublicmarket.com.

The Big Easy
A little hip hop—or a lot of hip hop—is just what the doctor ordered this fall. The Petaluma bar is hosting “Manifest Your Destiny,” a North Bay hip hop showcase series presented by Decolonized Mindz Entertainment. The brainchild of hip hop artist and promoter Damion Square in collaboration with Josh Windmiller of The Crux, “Manifest Your Destiny” showcases and brings together a diverse range of artists from the North Bay. Check out Tru Lyric, Simoné Mosely, D. square, KingLung and Eki’Shola. Friday, Sept. 9 at The Big Easy, 128 American Alley, Petaluma. 7pm. www.bigeasypetaluma.com

Little Saint
An awesome new addition to the Sonoma County culinary and nightlife scene, Little Saint has an incredible lineup this fall season, including musical performances, book-signings and conversations with local thought leaders, and a rotating exhibition of art shows. Langhorne Slim, Lucy Dacus, a Sonoma Land Trust Dinner and a Saint Joseph’s Holiday Bazaar are all on the menu. Check out www.littlesainthealdsburg.com for tickets and more information.

Green Music Center
The performing arts center for Sonoma State University, the Green Music Center is committed to providing artistic inspiration through year-round programming, and serves as home to the Sonoma State University music department, the Santa Rosa Symphony and Sonoma Bach. Music lovers, look no further. This fall, catch such acts as Aida Cuevas, Sacre, Cantus Song of the Universal and more. For tickets and information, visit www.gmc.sonoma.edu.

Sweetwater Music Hall
From 1972, when Sweetwater opened in a rustic Mill Valley storefront, to today, this music hall provided stellar shows and great times to the Marin County community. In 2007, the original Sweetwater closed its doors, but five years later it reopened in Corte Madera. There, it continues to keep the old vibes alive, providing great music, food and vibes. This fall, catch such acts as Antibalas and Bill and the Belles. For tickets and information, visit www.sweetwatermusichall.com.

The Blue Note Napa
A live jazz club, music venue and gourmet restaurant on the first floor of the Napa Valley Opera House, The Blue Note Napa “seamlessly blends the quintessential Greenwich Village jazz club experience—an intimate atmosphere where the stage is so close to you that you feel as if the performers are playing in your very own living room—mixed with the Northern California wine country ambiance and the historic architecture of the nineteenth century Napa Valley Opera House.” (bluenotnapa.com) This fall, Brendan James, The California Honeydrops and more are scheduled to play. For tickets and information, visit www.bluenotenapa.com.

Arts & Exhibitions
Sonoma Plein Air Art Show
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Sonoma Plein Air Festival, where art lovers and artists can wander through an outdoor art show and sale, celebrating the practice of outdoor painting and benefiting arts and creativity in the Sonoma Valley. Held on the beautiful Sonoma Plaza, this event includes artists’ demonstrations, live music and art activities for all ages. All artists’ paintings “en plein air” are on display and available for purchase. The show is Sept. 10 in the Sonoma Plaza, 453 First Street East, Sonoma. 5-7pm. See www.sonomavalley.com for more information.

Hilos Visibles/Visible Threads, A Latino/x Community Project & Exhibit
The Napa Valley Latino Heritage Committee, Napa County Historical Society and St. Helena Historical Society have partnered to showcase the rich Hispanic heritage of the Napa Valley through quilt squares, banners, papel picado and quilts, in the show “Hilos Visables/Visible Threads.” The exhibition opens Oct. 7 at the Napa Historical Society and Oct. 14 at the St. Helena Historical Society. For information, visit www.napacountyhispanicnetwork.org.

Sonoma County Arts Trails
One hundred sixteen professional artists open their studios for two weekends this fall, inviting the public to explore the beauty of Sonoma County and the incredible artistic talent housed within it. Come meet the myriad painters, sculptors, ceramicists and photographers, and collect their exceptional art works. Studios open from Sept. 24 to 25, and Oct. 1 to 2, 10am-5pm. Visit www.sonomacountytrails.org.

Marin Arts and Crafts Show
Hosted at the newly renovated Marin Center, this show brings together 200 artists, artisans and purveyors in celebration of handcrafts. The three-day show encompasses all handcrafted media—jewelry, clothing, woodwork, ceramics, artwork, paper arts, specialty foods, antiquities and more. Come explore products made with exceptional detail by hand, and marvel at the human ability! And perhaps, for the early planner, pick up some holiday gifts? Friday through Sunday, Nov. 4-6, at the Marin Exhibit Center, 10 Ave of the Flags, San Rafael. 10am to 6pm Fri-Sat and 10am-5pm Sun. www.artsandcraftsshow.com

Bolinas Museum
Bringing arts programming to Marin County year-round, Bolinas Museum is hosting its 30th Annual Benefit Art Auction Last Call Cocktail Party this fall. Held at the Peace Barn in Bolinas, the event features fine wines, great food, live music and excellent company while bidding on art to support the ongoing efforts of Bolinas Museum. Find work from Yaz Krehbiel, Kathleen Lipinski, Dharma Strasser MacColl, Tom Marioni, Alicia McCarthy and more. Saturday, Sept. 10 from 4-6:30pm. See www.bolinasmuseum.org for tickets and information.

Sebastopol Urgent Care doctors tirelessly serve West County

It has been a long year for Sebastopol Urgent Care

Founders Drs. Libby Flower and Kathleen Whisman have worked themselves, well, to the quick, since they opened their new business on Aug. 23, 2021. Flower has worked seven days a week for the past six months, with only four days off, while Whisman was diagnosed with a rare cancer in February and is currently undergoing chemotherapy as she fights for her life. She will return to her practice Sept. 19, while continuing to receive cancer treatments until August 2023.

While the two owners exude palpable dedication and enthusiasm during an on-site interview, they make it clear that their fledgling business needs community support in order to make it through the end of the year and into 2023. “We’re in the sweat-equity part of the phase,” Whisman says. “And then I got pulled out of the game, and we don’t have the capital to replace me.”

“Once we see 30 patients a day in the urgent care—we’re up to 20—we have enough revenue flow to pay another doctor,” Flower adds. In the meantime, she continues to work seven days a week until Whisman returns.

The story behind Sebastopol Urgent Care begins in early 2020, when Whisman began working for Providence Health at Healdsburg Hospital. When the pandemic hit, her dream job went from 10 patients a day and four work days a week to 25-plus patients a day, six or seven days a week. Though swamped, she fortuitously met Elizabeth “Libby” Flower there, a contract doctor who had once started her own urgent care clinic, and together the two dreamed up—and opened—Sebastopol Urgent Care.

The business fills an important niche for the entire West County, which suffered a huge loss when Palm Drive Hospital closed in 2015. “Our facility helps with the crowding of the ERs,” Whisman says, “because if people, especially on the weekend, [are] injured, cut, whatever, they can come here. They don’t wait in the ER for 12 hours before they get their arm sewed up, and that helps the whole system.”

The practice is currently officially open 67 hours a week. “[But] if the demand grows, we’ll stay open longer,” Flower says. “Sometimes somebody knocks on the locked door, and we let them in and we take care of them.” At 5pm their first day, they let in a patient who had been bitten by his pet bearded dragon. In researching how to treat his bite, they also diagnosed the bearded dragon as being sick.

In addition, the two perform advanced treatments that few, if any, other local ERs are able to perform. This is partly due to Flower being an ER doctor by trade. During the last year, she obtained a urine sample from an infant—not an easy task, I’m assured—reset a dislocated shoulder and stitched nearly amputated toes back on.

Plus, Flower and Whisman are dedicated to helping patients of all economic levels. “Anybody who is at Burbank Heights [an affordable housing complex in Sebastopol] gets a 50% discount, which amounts to about $60 a month,” Flower says. “I really want to care for people who are on limited incomes.”

Their business model is unique in several ways.

In addition to running the Urgent Care facility, the two doctors each also run their own concierge practice out of the same space. The concierge practices allow patients to pay a yearly one-time, out-of-pocket membership fee and get same- or next-day appointments and 24/7 access to Whisman’s or Flower’s cell-phone number. The plan is for each doctor to take on only 200 to 500 patients so they can each guarantee personalized care. Running all three practices out of the same space also allows them to share staff and rent, reducing overhead.

Whisman’s and Flower’s interest in personalized care clashes with today’s corporate medicine model.

“The basic problem is that the administration of medical care has been taken over by business people whose goal is profit, and our goal is care. And those conflict,” Dr. Richard Powers, a local medical practitioner, and friend to both Flower and Whisman, tells me. His book, The Murder of American Medicine: How Medicare Took the Caring Out of Medical Care (2021), illuminates the subject in greater depth. “For the doctors who came before this change came around, their reward was the care they gave to people, and the appreciation that came back from those patients. And that becomes less and less available as the system presses us to see more patients, do more paperwork and have less opportunity to really care for—and spend time with—each patient.”

In the corporate world, all three doctors spent two minutes on paperwork for every one minute they spent with a patient. Now the mandated charting, once meant exclusively for personalized communication between doctors, is filled with billing notes. Nevertheless, the three doctors remain determined to offer their patients care over profit.

“Dr. Powers has given us funds in emergency care to treat the uninsured, the unemployed, the people that get lost in the system, the people who don’t get care because if they go to the emergency room they get a $10,000 bill,” Flower says.

The actual clinic, located in a small business park along Petaluma Boulevard a few short blocks south of downtown Sebastopol, has lofty ceilings and bright, sunlit rooms. It consists of four exam rooms, one pediatric room and the main office, or “the Bullpen,” as Whisman jokingly calls it. The concierge lounge has velvet-upholstered comfy chairs and offers patients a relaxed space for conversation, consultation and a cup of tea. A lab room contains two high-tech analyzers for NAAT/PCR COVID tests that yield results in 10-15 minutes. They are the only such rapid-test machines in the county, and last spring the clinic did brisk business in providing walk-ins with fast COVID test results.

The professional dedication Flower and Whisman exhibit is not limited to my own observation. Regarding Flower, Cassidy Whisman, Kathleen Whisman’s daughter, says, “Libby is a passionate doctor; you can see it in her work. She just lights up when she helps people. It’s amazing to see.”

Flower emphasizes that her goal in practicing medicine is not to make a fortune. “Who needs to get rich? I don’t want to get rich. We’re very community focused. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Whisman acknowledges the outpouring of support for her recovery and the success of the business. “I appreciate all the healing prayers from my patients and community, and their generous contributions,” she says.

As this article goes to press, Sebastopol Urgent Care celebrates its one-year anniversary in downtown Sebastopol. At this time, patients and contributions are needed in order to help it find its footing. Let’s hope West County steps up to embrace the quality personal care this valuable business offers the entire community.

Sebastopol Urgent Care, 555 Petaluma Ave., Suite B. Hours Monday-Friday, 8am to 7pm; Saturday-Sunday, 11am to 5pm. 707.509.5961. fr*******@***uc.org

GoFundMe for Dr. Whisman and Sebastopol Urgent Care: https://tinyurl.com/yc34nxta

Atlas, the Lonely Gibbon at Spreckels in Rohnert Park

Despite the word “robot” being initially coined in Karel Capek’s 1921 play R.U.R, “science,” “fiction” and “play” are three words not generally associated with each other.

Truth be told, Deborah Yarchun’s Atlas, the Lonely Gibbon is less sci-fi and more a scary not-so-speculative, not-so-fictional story. Sheri Lee Miller directs the world premiere production running at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park through Aug. 28.

Yarchun’s play centers on Irene—an endurance race of a performance by Taylor Diffenderfer—an investigative journalist now reduced to copy editor for bot-generated work. Again, not so far-fetched. We’re looking at you, New Yorker poetry.

Irene is leery of all the smart technology in her home. Everything from the lights to the refrigerator to the fern, hilariously played by Kevin Richard Bordi, is hooked up to the home’s AI. However, her husband David (Keith Baker), a cybercrime reporter, is excited when the fridge (played by Julianne Bradbury) gets hacked, starts a fire and, in a Shakespearean rant, shuffles off its refrigerated coil. The fridging of the fridge sends David on an epic AI home upgrade with some unexpected results.

The AI leads to some truly funny moments, but as with all good speculative fiction, the heart isn’t in the technology but in the people. Irene’s leeriness soon gives way to paranoia à la Charlotte Perkin’s Yellow Wallpaper. Mix in David’s singular career fixation, the fern’s sudden interest in emo poetry and a lonely gibbon named Atlas, and you have a bittersweet—but very human—mix of the sublimely absurd and the devastatingly accurate.

Special mention must be made of Jess Johnson’s sound design. Johnson might be the best sound designer in the county. Her work is showcased here with a design that delivers just the right emotional, aural jab needed to recenter the play when the script veers too close to the sentimental or silly.

As a world premiere, a lot could have gone wrong. But thanks to intelligent writing, sound acting and Spreckels’ first-class design team, all the circuits clicked into place to produce a show that, though a bit shouty at times, was nonetheless enjoyable. Audience members should not be surprised if they have the urge to unplug their Alexas when they get home.
“Atlas, the Lonely Gibbon” runs through Aug. 28 at Spreckels Performing Arts Center, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. Friday–Saturday, 7:30pm; Sunday, 2pm; Thursday Aug. 25, 7:30pm. $12–$26. 707.588.3400. spreckelsonline.com

Jack and Charmian London Return as Holograms

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All birthdays are good, but this year mine was the best, because Jack London State Park digital tour’s soft release date coincided with it, on Aug. 6. So, while I ate cake on my deck, I also downloaded the app and took the tour. And it was both informative and enjoyable.

The digital app is part of a new breed of self-guided smart phone-based tours that includes virtual holographic guides—in this case Jack London and his wife Charmian London themselves—who speak to the viewer on their phone screen, appearing as if they are in front of the landscape said viewer’s phone camera is pointed at. It’s unlike any app I have previously used, and the experience reminds me of a toned-down version of the time I donned a virtual reality headset.

Kristina Ellis, tours and education manager at Jack London State Historic Park, managed the project in partnership with Timelooper Inc., which developed the app.

“My job was to research and develop the storyline and script, gather resources like historic photographs and information on the historic structures [and] find actors for the holograms,” she told me. “This is a new and interactive way for visitors to engage with the story of the park and sort of take a step back in time. The virtual tour is comprised of 10 different tour stops located throughout the park, and combines exciting elements like digital animation, holograms of Jack and Charmian London, historic photographs, 3D augmented-reality models of the famous Wolf House and more.”

Jack London State Park, located on 1,400 acres near Glen Ellen on the eastern slope of Sonoma Mountain, was founded on London’s own Beauty Ranch in 1959. 

“While we are an historic park, rich in artifacts and stories, we also have nearly 29 miles of gorgeous wilderness trails dotted with coastal redwoods,” Ellis said. “I recommend that visitors see the House of Happy Walls Museum and the London’s Cottage to truly get a picture of Jack London’s life and story. We also have excellent docents who lead free tours to the Wolf House on weekends.”

“The app was designed as a guided tour of the park, and the experience is maximized by being here,” she added. “However, there are quite a few elements such as video clips, slide shows of historic photos, story narration and the 3D models and animations that can be enjoyed anywhere. I have enjoyed the tour from the comfort of my living room and gotten quite a bit out of the story.”

Enter moi. By simply scanning my deck with my cell phone camera, a virtual reality table  appeared on it in my iPhone’s viewscreen; it was on this table that buildings and animations—and sometimes Jack London himself—manifested as 3-dimensional holograms. I was led through an interesting and informative history that began with an explanation of how immigrant Chinese workers wound up working for local wineries and that ended well beyond London’s death at Beauty Ranch many years later. Atmospheric music accompanied each point.

As a lifelong history buff, I found the tour illuminating and learned about London’s non-literary interests, which I’d heretofore been unaware of. One video seemed to sum both he and his primary interests up with the narration, “Jack saw his ranch as an outdoor laboratory for experimentation and innovation in sustainable farming, a place that could teach the nation how to farm organically.”

I won’t describe the tour in further detail; that would spoil everyone’s fun. My advice: Download the free CalParks Adventurer app, which is available online at app stores everywhere, right now, and take the tour pronto. At the park or at home? Both are worth the price of admission.

For more information about the new augmented reality tour app, visit  www.jacklondonpark.com/digital-tour-experience/.

Finding Meaning on a Ship of Fools

Life is like a journey aboard a steamship. We did not ask to be here, and we can’t get off until the captain says so. 

No one has ever seen the captain, and no one knows why this is even happening, but a few can point us in the right direction. The journey is the same for everyone, starting with birth and ending with death, and the point of it seems to be how we choose to spend our time on board.

Some were given first-class accommodations, while others are in steerage. Some rise to a better room through good works, while others are booted down if they prove unworthy of their privilege. We make the best with what we’ve got, and in the end everyone has a spot to call their own—and this is called having a life.

We can wander the ship and interact with others, who represent the spectrum of humanity. Some are saints and sages, and others are devils and demons—so remember two pieces of golden wisdom. First, the devil’s greatest ruse is convincing us he doesn’t exist, and second, vice is never more dangerous than when hiding behind a mask of virtue.

Almost all the passengers spend their time in the bowels of the ship, where the only light that shines is artificial. There are endless entertainments to distract us from the journey, and an all-you-can-eat buffet of bad food to gorge upon gluttonously. Many have never even been on deck before to experience the wonder of the starry night and vast ocean.

A few solitary souls, however, like to visit a special observation deck at the highest point on the ship. In the morning, they greet the sun, bringer of light and life, and at night, the moon, which points the way to the eternal realm beyond the confines of the ship. If we ask, they will tell us of a secret compartment on board the ship, a library of sacred books from around the world and a place to receive illumination. Those who find it are never the same again, and one look in their eyes shows that they know something others do not.

Most of the passengers mock these quiet solitaries and call them fools. But when someone finds the sea too stormy and the entertainment too empty, they ask about the secret chamber, and they are always told the same thing. No one can tell us where it is, because it’s different for everyone. But if we seek it, we will find it, and if we knock, the door will be opened.

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All birthdays are good, but this year mine was the best, because Jack London State Park digital tour’s soft release date coincided with it, on Aug. 6. So, while I ate cake on my deck, I also downloaded the app and took the tour. And it was both informative and enjoyable. The digital app is part of a new breed...

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Life is like a journey aboard a steamship. We did not ask to be here, and we can’t get off until the captain says so.  No one has ever seen the captain, and no one knows why this is even happening, but a few can point us in the right direction. The journey is the same for everyone, starting with...
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