Life is sweet in this relaxed neck (of the woods)
By Evalyn Baron
“Hey guys, I started going to a bio-geometric integrator.” Read More...
A paradise of words and good coffee: The Readers Bookstore and Café
By Evalyn Baron
A welcoming, book-cradled space redolent of rich coffee, it satisfies many appetites. I learned its history from manager Sarah Rosedale when we sat down to chat over a cup of their great coffee. Read More...
Behind the scenes: Magic Theatre’s Sara Huddleston
By Evalyn Baron
We miss most of what’s going on in the world around us, don’t we. We enjoy graceful ducks floating on a placid pond and don’t even think about their webbed feet industriously paddling to keep them moving. Read More...
Mighty redwoods I have known
By Evalyn Baron
Richard Laurence Baron would have adored living in San Francisco. He might actually have considered moving here from Houston with his beautiful wife Barbara, and that’s the highest compliment I can pay my new hometown. He’d never have moved to New York City. Visit every now and then maybe, if business necessitated or I was in a play he wanted to see, but live there? Not a chance. NYC is a violent place, and my brother was a gentle man. Read More...
Making art not war
By Evalyn Baron
Remember when you’d pile blankets onto the family card table and drape them over the sides so it would be darkly quiet underneath? You’d call it your “fort,” a safe place where your imagination was free to roam. Read More...
Take my tired boots, yearning to be tossed
By Evalyn Baron
Happy 2012. My resolution: to throw away my snow boots, let go of my last winter coat. Read More...
The art of playing
By Evalyn Baron
Once upon a time, we all loved to play. The kind of play that made us sweaty; the intense kind where we believed every imaginary circumstance we invented and gave it our all for the sheer fun of it. We invested it with every ounce of energy we had. Read More...
Coming to terms with earthquakes: Life is shaped by what shakes it
By Evalyn Baron
Years ago, I flew from New York City to Los Angeles for “pilot season” and my agent offered me his guest room. We shared an easy camaraderie, returning late after our separate days of work: him booking auditions for clients, me going to those auditions and reading out loud from more bad scripts than good ones. It was television, after all. Read More...
Going Bats And Not Minding At All
By Evalyn Baron
Is life a cabaret for you, old chum? Do you have a three-piece band in the corner of the living room that bursts into song whenever the going gets tough? I bet that your life, like everyone’s, is more akin to improvisational theater with you on stage, waiting for circumstances to influence how your story will go. Sometimes there’s laughter, sometimes the opposite, but no matter because somehow we celebrate it all. Read More...
My Blue Angel Blues
By Evalyn Baron
Could it be true? Have I found something about this glorious city that makes me wish I did not live here? Could be. Last month, there were four days when all I could think about was getting away from this neighborhood I’ve come to love. Last month was my first San Francisco Fleet Week. Read More...
Somewhere over the rainbow, people stroll
By Evalyn Baron
One thing I disliked about New York City was its frantic pace. As the most densely populated city in the United States – not counting the busses, subways, cars, animals, rats, and egos that come with those crowds – NYC has over 8 million humans hitting the ground running day and night. True, some of them hit the ground and just lay there, but that doesn’t stop other New Yorkers from pole vaulting over them and racing on. I’ve seen it happen. Sadly, I’ve done it myself. Read More...
The Magic touch
By Evalyn Baron
From the moment the first Barbary Coast saloon gal opened her mouth to sing to the rowdy swagmen and buccaneers in the mid-19th century, San Francisco’s performing arts have been provocative, stimulating and vibrant. Artistic ground has always been broken here, and all areas of live performance have benefitted from the innovations San Francisco has introduced throughout its rich history. Read More...
My lemon aid stand
By Evalyn Baron
In 40 years as a New Yorker, I never visited the top of the Empire State Building. I know, I can’t believe it either. One of the world’s top attractions, a short bus ride from my Upper West Side co-op, and I never made it to that famous 102nd floor. I was too concerned with street-level matters, too busy earning a living in theater, to let myself be a tourist for even one day. In Gerard Manley Hopkins’ words, my NYC days were “seared with trade, bleared, smeared with toil,” and I allowed myself very little elevation above it all.
I left my rage in New York City
By Evalyn Baron
Living here eight months now, I’ve discovered a tranquility I never knew back East. A gentle spirit pervades, often in surprising places, and I’ve experienced it while performing even the most mundane errands. Encountered daily, this spirit has opened my eyes to certain man-and-his-car rituals, so, I present my new practice: the Automotive Yoga of San Francisco.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Unto these hills, Richard Simmons
By Evalyn Baron
I’ve never thought of myself as an old woman, but I’ve begun to feel like one since I’ve come to live in a city built on steep hills. My body, which has performed well in previous cities, tells me it’s not quite ready for my new hometown.
Grey skies, smilin' at me
By Evalyn Baron
Yet again, the sun is not shining here in our new hometown, and I have to say, I like it like this.
My deal with Buddha: Getting 
the piano up the stairs
By Evalyn Baron
We had driven thousands of miles across country to our dream city and all had gone smoothly, until now.
