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Author Archive

June 8, 2019 by tomdalzell

Painted Ladies #3

I look at this house and smile.  I imagine the people living there.  I imagine that they are intelligent and compassionate, with exquisite if simple taste that reflects solid Berkeley values.  Is that reading too much into a beautiful painted lady?  I doubt it. After a first and second post on Berkeley’s painted ladies, I […]
June 1, 2019 by tomdalzell

The Elephants of Bruce and Carol Feldman

  What happened is this. I published a post with depictions of elephants on March 2.  It was a very popular post. I got more suggestions about elephants that I had missed than any other feature that I had written.  On May 4, I published a second elephant post. After the post appeared, Ian Wood wrote me. Ian […]
May 27, 2019 by tomdalzell

Dorothy Herger

This post is about Dorothy Herger, a retired art teacher who lives in Vallejo. It is about her life, the art she has made, and the art she has collected. Quirky Berkeley All-Star Doug Heine suggested/insisted that I meet Dorothy, who was his art teacher in high school.  Heine was not wrong with his instincts.  Herger […]
May 25, 2019 by tomdalzell

Susan Brooks’ Sketchbooks

A little more than a year ago, I met Susan Brooks and visited her studio/gallery in the Sawtooth Building.   I showed you photographs of her prints, jewelry, and small figures that she calls her “objects of desire and mirth”  We saw a prolific artist.  Here is her website and here is her Facebook page. When she posted […]
May 18, 2019 by tomdalzell

Big Birds

Once upon a time I published a post about big birds.  That was in October 2013.  My standards have changed considerably since then. In this post I polish things up.  I omit birds that have gone away.  I include birds that have newly arrived on our scene.  And I freshen up some photos. While at […]
May 11, 2019 by tomdalzell

Before the Caldecott – The Inter-County Kennedy Tunnel

  When the Caldecott Tunnel opened in 1937, it was not the first tunnel to link Contra Costa County with Alameda County.  The Caldecott’s predecessor, known variously as the Broadway Tunnel, the Kennedy (L. W. Kennedy, who started work on a tunnel years earlier but got flooded out) Tunnel, and the Inter-County Tunnel, opened in […]
May 4, 2019 by tomdalzell

Elephants 2

After publishing my March post chronicling the artistic presence of elephants in Berkeley, I got many tips for depictions of elephants to include and here I show you the best of  the new.  Caveat/tease – there will be another post about an absolutely astonishing collection of elephants. I am surprised by the popularity of elephants.  I can’t explain it. Could […]
April 27, 2019 by tomdalzell

Ophelia and Drac

A little while ago, Quirky Berkeley Believer Maureen Hanion wrote me about Linda Gallaher-Brown and Steve Napoli.   She wrote this: “You might want to check out and talk to my neighbors who live on south side of Virginia in the Queen Ann house between McGee and California. On their porch you will see the mannequin Ophelia and […]
April 20, 2019 by tomdalzell

Chronological Errors 2

In January, I published a post that I called “Chronological Errors,” presenting photos of  objects that are no longer commonly used or in some cases even understood. Quirky Berkeley readers have been all over this, suggesting other errors that I might want to bring to you.  Sure, why not?  Let’s start with police telephones, as shown […]
April 16, 2019 by tomdalzell

Northeast Berkeley Walk – Stanford Alumni, April 14, 2019

  On Sunday, April 14th, I led a walk of 25 Stanford alumni.  We followed the northeast Berkeley trail.  Karen Koman organized the walk.   The group was great.  The weather was perfect.  The walk was great.  Karen really set the tone.  Good job Stanford alums.
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