San Francisco 1878 Victorian House for Sale

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As of today, my mother’s Victorian home is for sale:

2125 Broderick Street (at Washington)
San Francisco

It has been a huge job clearing and preparing the house for sale but finally the work is done. The first open house is this Sunday. Our realtor is:

Charlene G Delaney
Keller Williams Benchmark Properties
415-786-7632
delaney@kw.com
http://www.charlenedelaney.com

This lovely Pacific Heights home has been in our family for fifty years but the many stairs make it difficult for my 81-year-old mother. I hope its next family will enjoy it as much as we have.

Image by Katy Dickinson 2011

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TechWomen 2012 Applications

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The Institute for International Education and Anita Borg Institute are again working together on the U.S. State Department’s TechWomen mentoring program for women in the Middle East and North Africa. Yesterday, Microsoft hosted the Mentor recruitment kick-off event, including a video of invitation and welcome by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, plus an in-person address by Lee Satterfield, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Dozens of technical women from Silicon Valley technical companies attended. It was wonderful to catch up with the 2011 mentors, listen to the panel, and meet potential new 2012 participants.

Women working in technology fields from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, and Yemen are encouraged to apply to be TechWomen mentees – Applications are due February 15, 2012. The TechWomen Mentor Application Opens March 1, 2012

It was fun to see the What is TechWomen? video (in which I was one of the speakers!) and to discover my picture at the top of the 2012 mentor handout for the event.  This year’s TechWomen mentees will all be going to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (3-6 October 2012 in Baltimore Maryland).

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Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson

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Eleanor Dickinson – Certificates and Honors

Eleanor Dickinson by Katy Dickinson

This week my mother, Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson, turned 81.  Happy Birthday Baba!  We are in the midst of clearing out her San Francisco house for sale. Eleanor has been an artist all of her life.  Below are photos of some of her honors and tributes and certificates we found in the house. I expect more will turn up as we sort stuff…

Children of the Confederacy, Eleanor Vaughan Creekmore, membership certificate in the Auxilliary of the Daughters of the Confederacy, upon the record of Great Grandfather Emmanuel Bolli, 1945
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Poster with drawings by Eleanor and a poem (“Thoughts to a Concerto of Telemann”) by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 1963. Inscribed: “For Eleanor + thank you Lawrence Ferlinghetti”
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National Cathedral School, 1978 Alumnae Citation, Eleanor Creekmore Dickinson “In recognition of your innovative artistic gifts and our sensitive interpretation of American culture, and with pride in your continuing achievements”
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Art Commission of the City and County of San Francisco Award of Merit to Women’s Caucus for Art for Distinguished Work in Art and Civic Projects, 33rd Annual Art Festival, 1979
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Portrait of Eleanor, paint on wood with burned-in frame by Howard Finster, Inscribed: “Eleanor Dickinson, The Lord Careth For You, Wood Stain Art Beyond This World, By Howard Finster Man of Visions, 1981, 2000 And_ 203 Paintings”
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California College of Arts and Crafts / Master of Fine Arts in Film/Video, 1982
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San Francisco Art Institute Distinguished Alumni Award “In recognition of outstanding contribution consistent with the goals and purposes of the Art Institute, and with the development of the fine arts”, 1984
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National League of American Pen Women, Inc. Award to Professor Eleanor Dickinson The Distinguished Service Citation for Art and Social Activist, 1989
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Women’s Caucus for Art President’s Award “In Recognition of Your Contribution to the Women’s Movement and the Arts” 1995
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California College of Arts and Crafts Confers Upon Eleanor Dickinson the Status of Professor Emerita Drawing “In Recognition of Your Outstanding Contribution to the College” 2001
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Women’s Caucus for Art – Honor Award for Lifetime Achievement In the Visual Arts, “We honor you, Eleanor Dickinson, as a visual and intermedia artist, professor, activist, curator, and author.  Your career has articulated a line of love that has encompassed the American people.  You drew our silent suffering when our ideology of freedom failed and pumped a subdued light into our night of pigmentation, cancer or AIDS.  You helped us see our lovers.  You made us love our gospel with a syncopated urgency that moved in and out of a contour breath.  You gave fire to a vision of each for the other and the American experiment”, rounded glass frame, 2003
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Collage and Poem by Claudia Chapline to celebrate Eleanor’s 80th Birthday, 2011
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Images by Katy Dickinson 2012 Copyright

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Clearing House in San Francisco

Before the move:
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After the move:
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We have almost entirely filled up a third storage space in San Jose with my mother’s stuff as we clear her San Francisco house for sale.  I spent two days with a crew of 6 movers who shuffled boxes and furniture into and out of a moving van. The attic is empty and the top two floors are cleared and swept. We would have finished entirely but the van was too full. One more half-day of moving, then we can sweep out the bottom floor.

Thanks to our generous and loving friends, the toxics (mostly paint and old medicine) have been taken to appropriate disposal sites.  The house plants have all been adopted out.  My brother is visiting next weekend and will collect some outside potted plants and garden ornaments.  We hope the 1878 Victorian house in Pacific Heights will be on the market in two weeks. What a big job this has been!

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Images by Katy Dickinson Copyright 2012

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ORNL Momento

ORNL Oak Ridge National Lab badge

Since my father died, we have been sorting out his belongings and affairs. This week, his brother Wayne sent me one of Wade Dickinson’s prize possessions, his ORNL badge from around 1950. My father attended the School for Reactor Technology at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Knoxville, Tennessee, after he was graduated from West Point in 1949. Apparently, this small oval brass badge was used for identification and entry into the facility.  It is engraved with “S-SITE 328”.  My father used to keep it on his key chain.  I hope it is not radioactive!

Image by Katy Dickinson Copyright 2012

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Birds vs. Mice

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We have two delightful boy birds, cockatiels named Sparky and Guapo. They are messy eaters, scattering seeds around their cage despite a guard skirt to catch such escapes. Where there is seed, there are mice. I have a running fight against small rodents coming in to eat bird seed.  Mice are fast, hard to catch, and happy to gnaw on most things.  I once found a new yellow cellulose sponge under the sink, with one whole corner eaten off. I sweep and vacuum and clean up seeds daily and all food is sealed away carefully. Even after setting traps, I still find mouse dirt. So frustrating.

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Images by Katy Dickinson Copyright 2012

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Wrought Iron Window Grates

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As regular readers know, I am fond of both public art and especially metal work. I took many pictures of the ornamental ironwork window coverings when I was in Morocco late last year. I even saw some urban blacksmiths at work on the street. Last weekend, during a visit to the Northern California’s Wine Country, I was amused to see small weathered Tunisian window grates for sale as decorations for $95 to $490 per. What a difference a little travel makes!

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Images 2011-2012 Copyright Katy Dickinson

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