We were like a little faux family Friday night, C and I and my little sister and her real big sister as we went to see Elizabeth's show, In remembrance Of...at St. Gregory of Nyssa Church, 500 DeHaro St., San Francisco (starting time is 8:00 p.m., tix are 20.00, or 10 for students, but you can get them for half of that on goldstar.)

Acting on Carla's recommendation, I had bought some simple toys and crafts to keep M (little sister) entertained, and to my astonishment, they worked like a charm. Colorful pipe cleaners, a plastic doll with cut out clothes, and she was happy as a clam in her shiny silver sandals. True, we had to visit the bathroom about three or four times, and she asked a lot of questions about a moth on the floor in the middle of the performance, but quietly. Her older sister, age 12, was a dream.

We played "I spy, with my little eye..." over the bridge, which was jammed up, and I could feel C relaxing and enjoying himself despite all the traffic. The show was great, beautiful music, and the dancers danced their hearts out. My highlight was Elizabeth's rendition of the anti-war rant at the end, but there were many stand-out moments. Impossible to say how it would have been for folks who did not know the poems beforehand, but everyone seemed to like it, and both girls said they had a great time.

The rest of the weekend: scraping and painting. And writing. I have 3,800 words on the Carla piece, but it is far from finished. I'm just almost through the first draft.