Telling a story through the Presidents who shaped history

Barack Obama

Recently, while entertaining out of state friends, we happened one evening to visit the nation's only complete collection of presidential portraits outside of the White House at the Smithsonian Institute's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. The gallery of Presidential Portraits is a timeless exhibition that lies at the heart of the National Portrait Gallery's core mission: telling the American story through the individuals who shaped it.

From George Washington to Barack Obama, presidential portraits have always attracted our interest. Once upon a time – before newspapers, magazines and television – a painted portrait or a sculpted image was the only means that most of us knew of our Presidents. And, as I've learned, throughout much of the 19th century, there was a lively debate over which portrait of George Washington most accurately conveyed his proper image.

Inside the gallery of Presidential Portraits, there are a variety of presidential likenesses, including oil on canvas, marble head busts, engravings – and, there's the Chuck Close portrait of Bill Clinton that is truly amazing and has to be seen. As I took note while walking through the gallery and viewing the presidential portraiture in order of their presidency, from Washington to Obama, I couldn't help but notice that some portraits were more sophisticated and interesting than others. Let's face it – I think Teddy Roosevelt is just a bit more striking a figure than Millard Fillmore. Same goes for JFK compared to Calvin Coolidge. No offense, some presidents are just more interesting than others.

Bill Clinton

As I drew closer to the newest presidential portrait – of Barack Obama – I noticed an orderly queue line and soon I joined it so that I could take a few candid photographs. The portrait of the 44th President by artist Kehinde Wiley was unveiled on February 12 at the National Portrait Gallery and it's become the center of attention – along with the new portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama – inside the entire National Portrait Gallery.

"Historically, portraiture has always been about saying yes to things that we want to celebrate, but I think also the commissioned portrait has often times been about a society saying, 'Who are the people we collectively want to honor?' and particularly with the presidential portrait, this is the highest aspect of that tradition," said Wiley, during a recent interview with Time. "It's been – I can't tell you – an extraordinary honor to be able to participate in that."

The portrait of Obama makes quite a statement. It's anything but drab. The former president is shown wearing a black suit with an open-collared shirt. He's sitting on a wooden chair. And, he's surrounded by flowers and green foliage. The flowers, I learned, include: blue lilies, from his father's home in Kenya; jasmine from Obama's home state of Hawaii; and chrysanthemums, the official flower of Chicago, the former president's hometown.

John F. Kennedy

At the unveiling of his portrait, Obama said, "What I was always struck by whenever I saw (Wiley's) portraits was the degree to which they challenged our conventional views of power and privilege."

Wiley stated, "The ability to be the first African-American painter to paint the first African-American president of the United States is absolutely overwhelming. It doesn't get any better than that."

After seeing the Obama portrait, Brian T. Allen wrote in The National Review, "Obama looks directly at us, as if he reads our minds and challenges our assumptions. It's jarring but effective. He's formal and familiar, both tense and loose. He leans toward the viewer. It's not a position comfortably sustained. It's not repose. It suggests imminent action. For Obama, this probably means he's about to tell us, 'That's not who we are,' instructing us to question some near-universally held sentiment. Wiley builds the figure with straight lines and diagonals. His suit is dark. Aside from his wedding ring, he's unornamented. Obama's open collar softens the effect. It's his trademark look but seems like a uniform. He's a role model, so it works."

A Tuesday Night Memo: Thoughts on turning eight

People who know me well know that I've been interested in writing, reporting and storytelling for a long time. So, it's only natural that I turned to blog writing because it gave me an opportunity to hone my writing skills and provided a forum for writing about things that interested me and that I wanted to share with others.

My blog, A Tuesday Night Memo, turned eight last week. Here's a little history about it:

I started writing A Tuesday Night Memo on January 26, 2010, as a means for sharing musings about my life filled with music, sport, and urban travel, and to foster community with my friends, family and Facebook acquaintances. More recently, as I added a Twitter profile, it allowed me to reach a wider audience across the country and beyond.

People who know me well know that I'm passionate about music, sport, and urban travel. Additionally, I have used my blog as a vehicle for writing about art, food, fashion, religion and gardening – and, more recently, about politics. Before we moved to the east coast, sharing news and photos about our former Oakland, Calif., flower gardens at home always seem to generate great interest and enthusiasm. Maybe, it was the pretty shapes and colors of our flowers that others found appealing, especially since we could maintain a garden all year long.

Up to now, I have "blogged" 391 entries for A Tuesday Night Memo, which collectively have received more than 142,000 page views. Among the many subjects I have written about include: my appreciation of tennis champion Roger Federer, how the city of Seattle fosters community through international cinema, a history of the world as seen through 100 objects, classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, my love affair with Pink Martini, validating our travel through our photographs, and Jerry Seinfeld's Internet comedy Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Some of my recent posts have focused on new books written by actor Tom Hanks and veteran newsman Dan Rather. My most recent post focused on the future of the food industry in light of recent sexual harassment allegations made against many high profile chefs across the country. I have shared my interest in digital photography since beginning my blog, which has enabled me to illustrate many if not all of my posts with colorful visuals to match the words I've written.

The feedback many have shared is not only very much appreciated, but I also find it very useful. Much of it has been positive, but sometimes it's also been critical. Whether good or bad, I've found the feedback readers provide to be a valuable learning tool. Occasionally, I like to sneak a look at my blog's statistics, which are the key indicators that show how many total "hits" my blog has received, which stories have been read the most, and what countries comprise the blog's readership. The numbers are modest but nevertheless interesting.

Here are a few fun facts about A Tuesday Night Memo I thought you might enjoy:

* Since my blog's debut, it has been read in dozens of countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Hong Kong – even Brazil, India, Vietnam, and Australia. The top five countries reading my blog include the U.S, Russia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. I hope Russia's interest in my blog has nothing to do with their wanting to hack me because of my occasional blog posts about President Donald Trump.

Looking ahead, the Trump presidency will continue to garner my interest and attention from time to time. How could it not? However, there's so much more to write about. Among things that I look forward to learning about include my continuing interest in exploring museums – and what we can learn from them. Also, I would like to explore the effect digital music and media have in connecting our world.

In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoy sharing my writing week in and week out, and I look forward to contributing more of my words and thoughts in what is shaping up to be another exciting year awaiting all of us.

Stay tuned!

Resolved: It's time to READ more books

We're a week into March – spring is almost here – and although I didn't formally jot down any New Year's resolutions for 2017, if I had, one that would have been near the top of my list is my desire to read more. "So many books ... so little time," reads the slogan printed on one of my tattered, well-worn navy-colored t-shirts that I bought a few years ago at The Elliott Bay Book Company, situated in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. It happens to be one of my favorite independent booksellers in the entire country – and it's always on my things to do list whenever I visit Seattle.

When I say to you that I want to "read more," by that I mean read more books. While I stay abreast of current events by reading The New York Times daily, both in print and online, and give a good read to periodicals like The New Yorker and Monocle, the London-based monthly that covers world affairs, culture, food and design, now, every day is like engaging in an American Civics class thanks to the narcissist behavior and dystopian actions of our current president. And, I should mention that perusing my Facebook news feed has become a necessity in order to stay current on what's trending with POTUS 45, too.

But, what about books, you ask? Yes, books, remember them? Books are the foundation behind what made Amazon.com one of the most successful online retailers. Before Twitter, before Facebook, before Netflix, before texting sapped all of our intellectual energy, there were books. I have several bookshelves at home that are lined with hundreds of titles that I've bought or received as gifts over the years. Let's see, I'm proud of my collection of books by The New Yorker writers Roger Angell and Calvin Trillin, among many, and I enjoy reading books about baseball, my favorite sport. However, a few years ago, in a space-saving and budget-cutting effort, I trimmed back on the number of new titles I bought and, instead, decided to start making better use of my local public library.

Looking back on 2016, I can say without boasting that I made good use of my Oakland Public Library card. I checked out about a book a month. One thing I've learned about libraries is this: If you're willing to wait for a popular best-seller or a new title to become available, checking out library books is a good way to save money (and, I might add, bookshelf space) while also showing support for our public libraries.

Both Comedy Central's The Daily Show and the New York Times Book Review are pretty good indicators for learning about good books to read. Before he left The Daily Show, former host Jon Stewart always brought out the best in authors. You could judge by his interest in a book if it was worth reading. New Daily Show host Trevor Noah is carrying on the tradition begun by Stewart.

Among the books which I read during 2016 were:

• Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few by Robert Reich.

• I'd Know That Voice Anywhere by Frank Deford.

• Jackson, 1964: And Other Dispatches from Fifty Years of Reporting on Race in America by Calvin Trillin.

• Goodbye: In Search of Gordon Jenkins and Shop Around: Growing Up with Motown in a Sinatra Household, both by Bruce Jenkins.

• Indentured: The Inside Story of Rebellion Against the NCAA by Joe Nocera.

• Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession by William Skidelsky.

Among the ties that bind these titles are my interest in non-fiction, memoirs, sports, and music. And, of course, good writing and good stories always garner my attention.

Looking ahead, I ask: Is it possible that I can increase my output this year so that I'm reading an average of a book a month? Let's see, I've already started Writings on the Wall: Searching For a New Equality Beyond Black and White by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and I'm nearly finished with the current Michael Lewis book, The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds. 

Also, I received Eat Drink Delta: A Hungry Traveler's Journey Through the Soul of the South by Susan Puckett as a Christmas gift from my brother, and I recently bought an autographed copy of Trevor Noah's Born A Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood. 

Finally, I've got Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, the acclaimed 674-page memoir by Elvis Costello that spans his almost four-decade music career left over from last year's reading list that I would like to start this year.

There's plenty to look forward to reading while trying to forget everything that's going bad with our democracy, thanks to a certain POTUS. Now, if I can just remember to stop turning on the TV.

Photo: Stained glass sign at The Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, courtesy of Google Images.

A Tuesday Night Memo: Thoughts on turning seven

Michael Dickens / A selfie. 

I've been interested in writing, reporting and storytelling for a long time. So, it's only natural that I turned to blog writing because it gave me an opportunity to hone my writing skills and a forum for writing about things of interest and importance.

As A Tuesday Night Memo turns seven today, here's a little history about it:

I started writing A Tuesday Night Memo on January 26, 2010, as a means for sharing musings about my life filled with music, sport, and urban travel, and to foster community with my friends, family and Facebook acquaintances. People who know me well know that I'm passionate about music, sport, and urban travel. Additionally, I have used my blog as a vehicle for writing about art, food, fashion, religion and gardening – and, more recently, about politics. Sharing news and photos about our flower gardens at home always seem to generate great interest and enthusiasm. Maybe, it's the pretty shapes and colors of our flowers that others find appealing.

Up to now, I have "blogged" 358 entries for A Tuesday Night Memo, which collectively have received  nearly 108,000 page views. Among the many subjects I have written about include: my appreciation of tennis champion Roger Federer, how the city of Seattle fosters community through international cinema, a history of the world as seen through 100 objects, classical music conductor Gustavo Dudamel, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, my love affair with Pink Martini, validating our travel through our photographs, and Jerry Seinfeld's Internet comedy Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. My most recent post focused on the importance of the Women's March held last weekend in Washington, D.C, and across America and the world. I have shared my interest in digital photography within my blog, which has enabled me to illustrate many if not all of my posts with nice visuals to match the words I've written.

The feedback many have shared is not only very much appreciated, but I also find it very useful. Much of it has been positive, but sometimes it's also been critical. Whether good or bad, I've found the feedback you provide to be a valuable learning tool. From time to time, I like to sneak a peek at my blog's statistics, which are the key indicators that show how many total "hits" my blog has received, which stories have been read the most, and what countries comprise the blog's readership. The numbers are modest but nevertheless interesting.

Here are a few fun facts about A Tuesday Night Memo I thought you might enjoy:

* Since the debut of my blog, it has been read in dozens of different countries, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Hong Kong – even Brazil, India, Vietnam, and Australia. The top five countries reading my blog include the U.S, Russia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. I hope Russia's interest in my blog has nothing to do with wanting to hack me because of my occasional forays into writing about Donald Trump.

* The most widely-read blog entry in terms of "hits" remains one I wrote back in December 2010 about "CNN International: Connecting the world," in which I explored the intelligent – albeit sometimes irreverent – manner that CNN International delivers the news and how it differs from it's American cousin that's based in Atlanta. Other top "hits" include musings about the artist Pablo Picasso and the British comedian Ricky Gervais. (I'm still trying to figure that one out!)

Looking ahead, I suspect the Trump presidency will continue to garner my interest and attention from time to time. How can it not? However, among things that I look forward to exploring, include: the effect digital music and media have in connecting our world, and my ongoing interest in exploring museums – and what we can learn from them.

In the meantime, I've thoroughly enjoyed sharing my writing with you throughout the past seven years, and I look forward to sharing more of my words and thoughts in what is shaping up to be another exciting year awaiting all of us.

Stay tuned!

In support of English literacy and a love of learning

In support of English literacy /
Students benefiting from the Morocco Library Project.

During a recent walk through Town & Country Village, an upscale outdoor shopping mall in Palo Alto, California, near Stanford University, I crossed paths with a most interesting window display at independent bookseller Books, Inc., that immediately captured my attention.

Instead of witnessing a display of current New York Times best-selling books, I glimpsed a colorful collection of young adult books, including Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, The Major Poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Books, Inc. window display /
Promoting awareness of the Morocco Library Project. 

In the center of the window display were a pair of signs. One read: Morocco Library Project. The other: Support the Morocco Library Project with Books Inc.! A similar display featuring children's literature awaited customers inside the bookstore, too.

What I learned is this: The Morocco Library Project is Americans and Moroccans building libraries together in support of English learners in Morocco. The group has a Facebook page and you can also find them via LinkedIn.

The mission of the Morocco Library Project is simple: It is designed to inspire and support English literacy and a love of learning in Morocco, and to build a lasting bridge of friendship and peace between East and West. In Morocco, most students learn to speak English as their third language -- yes, third -- after their native Arabic and French.

According to the organization's website, I learned: "We strive to work with underserved communities, where a single library will make a huge difference. For each location, we work with teachers to understand the particular need and to curate a collection of books and other materials for the students and community. The students do a lot of the work putting the library together. This is truly a partnership."

The Morocco Library Project launched its first project, the Erfoud Library, at the Lycée Moulay Rachid, in April 2015. It is located in the eastern part of the country near the Algerian border. I learned that this library supports highly motivated students from under-privileged families in an after-school program called English Access, and it's also open to other students in the area. While interest in learning English is rapidly growing, until recently, there were few resources to support it.

A love of learning /
Young students at the Erfoud Library in Morocco.

However, thanks to the effort of the Morocco Library Project, both in the U.S. and abroad, about 650 books for all ages and in a variety of genres, including art, geography, literature, nature, and science -- as well as Kindles, games, puzzles and an extensive collection of National Geographic magazines -- dot the colorful library. The collection includes about 100 children's books, too.

After a successful launch of the Erfoud Library last year, the Morocco Library Project is now starting new libraries in Taroudant and Essmara in the south, and in Tétouan in the north, for a girls' high school, the Lycée Khadija Oum El Mouminine, near Gibraltar. All are in underserved communities with students eager to study English.

Recently, Moroccan author Laila Lalami, who last year won the Arab American Book Award for her most recent novel The Moor's Account, donated autographed copies of her books to the Moroccan Library Project for distribution in its libraries.

Last month, the Minister of Education in Morocco launched a new nationwide program, CIRCLE (Club of Instructional Resources for Culture and Language Enhancement), and the Erfoud Library was selected as one of the first locations.

So, as you can see, good things are happening with this meaningful organization as they strive to turn collections of books into libraries.

The Morocco Library Project is funded entirely by donations from the public. To learn more about this worthwhile project and how to donate, visit their website: http://www.moroccolibraries.org.

Photos: Window display at Books, Inc. by Michael Dickens. Morocco Library Project photos courtesy of their website.

2014: It was a very good year to be in my pictures

A selfie / It was a very good year to be in my pictures.

As many of you who follow me through A Tuesday Night Memo or via Facebook know, I'm an avid photographer. 

Whenever I travel across the country or abroad -- or even just to go to a University of California, Berkeley sporting event or out to eat, I make it a habit to bring my camera (a Canon PowerShot A570 IS) with me. And, thanks to getting an iPhone four years ago, I now have two sources for shooting photographs. 

Taking pictures has matured considerably as photography has morphed from film to digital, and it's become an easier and more affordable hobby. Once was the time when I worried about how many rolls of film to buy -- and what speed -- for a vacation. Then, making sure I didn't misplace any rolls after I shot them.

Once I became a digital photographer about 10 years ago, it allowed me to become my own editor. So, if I'm not happy with a picture, I can delete it and re-shoot it, then edit it for clarity. No longer do I have to worry about whether the film I shot of the Eiffel Tower or Westminster Abbey is in focus or not. 

Thanks to social media sites like Facebook, uploading and sharing photos with a large group of friends has become fast and simple -- and for me, personally, it's become a daily exercise in sharing my photography with others through my timeline: "It's what's on my mind."

Each year, I take more than a thousand photographs of people, places and things. In revisiting the photo albums I've shot over the past 12 months, I've pulled together a group of photos that I'm pretty excited about. They cover a variety of things important and interesting to me: Flowers and nature, sports, music and the urban landscapes of cities I've visited like San Francisco and Seattle. 

You may recognize some of these photos from appearing on my Facebook page or in my blog. Click on each photograph to see them enlarged.

I hope you enjoy the exhibit and I welcome your thoughts.

Cheers and Happy 2015!

Brittany Boyd and the University of California, Berkeley women's basketball team
face the USC Women of Troy at Haas Pavilion last January.

Mikayla Lyles (L) and Toni Kokenis / The Cal and Stanford basketball rivals
created a pair of panel discussions on support for LGBT inclusion in sports
that took place on the Cal and Stanford campuses last February.

A clash of mascots / The Stanford Tree and Cal's Oski Bear promote
a little school spirit for their respective teams during a Cal-Stanford
women's basketball game at Haas Pavilion last February.

Early morning beauty / A mid-winter sunrise as seen from my patio deck.

At Stitches West / A beautiful yarn display from A Verb For Keeping Warm
on display at 2014 Stitches West in Santa Clara, Calif. last February.

The home office / My MacBook Pro logged in to Facebook, a cup of French roast
coffee and a WriterCoach Connection tutoring assignment.

A rainbow of colors / Sharing the beauty of one of
our roses in our backyard garden.

All rise / A truly incredible spring sunrise as viewed from our patio deck.

Fun in the sun and sand / Cal's Joan Colairo (L) and Adrienne Gehan
playing sand volleyball  at the University's Clark Kerr Courts last spring.

Easter Sunday / The altar at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral last April.

Enjoying Bumbershoot / Listening to music at the Starbucks
Stage during the 2014 Bumbershoot festival in Seattle. 

On stage / Valerie June played a distinctive blend of rural roots and country
music on the Starbucks Stage at the 2014 Bumbershoot festival in Seattle. 

The Seattle Space Needle / The iconic Emerald City
landmark as seen on a cloudy Labor Day.

A summer night of sound / Enjoying Bumbershoot after dark as Neon Trees
plays an "upbeat collection of sleek, modern alternative pop songs powered
by singer/songwriter Tyler Glenn's bright melodies, huge choruses, and
witty lyrics about the challenges of finding love in the digital age."

A clear sky / Throughout the year, our clear skies over the Bay Area afford
us an opportunity for moon gazing.

Up close and personal with the Nutcracker / Celebrating
Christmas at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco.

The Tree of Hope / Celebrating Christmas
at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.

A San Francisco treat / A cable car climbs Nob Hill on Powell Street
at the intersection of California Street.

Christmas in San Francisco / A view of the Union Square
Christmas tree.

My friend Joslynn Celestine Mathis-Reed's MFA thesis choreography notes
for her performance of "Narrowed Mind" at Mills College in Oakland, Calif.

A celebration of orange / Sharing a vibrant orange rose from
our backyard garden.

Connecting community with public space / Public, a San Francisco-based
urban bicycle design and gear company is making bicycle riding more
enjoyable, practical and chic.

Looking deep into the power and beauty of nature /
A eucalyptus tree near Shakespeare Garden in
San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. 

Dreaming my future / Enjoying a Peet's caffe mocha
at the Emeryville Public Market.

All photographs by Michael Dickens © 2014.

A simple question with a complicated answer: Where do you want to live?

Copenhagen Concert Hall at night. /
The No. 1 best global city according to Monocle.

Our cities are designed for living, working, cultural entertainment and late nights. Even fresh starts. Some cities have it figured out, some don't.

From transportation to green space, retail possibilities and residential settlements, it's always interesting to find out what makes a good city a great place to live.

The July/August issue of Monocle
rates the 25 best global cities.

Each summer for the past seven years, Monocle, the London-based global magazine that's a must-read for its coverage of international affairs, business, culture and design, has presented a special quality of life rankings with a top of the world list of the 25 best global cities.

"Too many major cities, including some of our top 25, all but shut down on a Sunday -- we believe a city should be a seven-day operation," writes Monocle's Steve Bloomfield and Michael Booth, in the introduction to this year's top of the world list, which appears in the magazine's July/August 2013 issue (issue 65, volume 07). "We asked our team or correspondents and researchers to judge how easy it is to arrange a spontaneous dinner with friends on a Sunday night. Are the restaurants open? Can you buy groceries and wine?"

Other common factors which Monocle studied include: crime rates, weather, education, health care, transportation and "an airport with a host of international destinations." Of course, it helps if a city has good plazas and outdoor cafés as well as art galleries that stay open late and museums that are free, too.

It did not surprise me that few U.S. or North American cities made Monocle's Top 25 -- Honolulu at No. 17 was highest ranked while my beloved San Francisco ranked 24th. Nor, should it be surprising that six of the top 10 were European cities, including this year's No. 1 Copenhagen.

No. 14 Paris /
The Pyramid at the Louvre is always a buzz of activity.

Why did Copenhagen rank No. 1 and not Paris (ranked No. 14) or London (which did not even rank in the top 25)? Here's why: "World-conquering urban quality of life requires the trickiest of balancing acts -- between progress and preservation, stimulation and security, global and local. Perfection is unobtainable, of course, but Copenhagen is striking one of the best deals right now.

"The Danish capital has hit the top spot this year not just because of its daring art scene, its matrix of cycle super-highways and its pioneering approach to street culture but also its ability to define itself as a global city. Copenhagen's wonderful self-reinvention continues to impress."

As for what the magazine said about San Francisco, in a nutshell it wrote: "Northern California's spectacular city scores high on tolerance and urban verve but tech-dollars continue to drive up the cost of living." I'd have to agree. As much as I would enjoy living in the Inner Sunset, within walking distance of Golden Gate Park, the cost of buying or renting is somewhat prohibitive. Thus, living across the bay in Oakland, I believe, is a better value.

No. 19 Vancouver, B.C. /
This western Canadian city hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Here's Monocle's world list of the 25 best global cities for 2013:

1. Copenhagen

2. Melbourne

3. Helsinki

4. Tokyo

5. Vienna

6. Zürich

7. Stockholm

8. Munich

9. Sydney

10. Auckland

11. Hong Kong

12. Fukuoka

13. Kyoto

14. Paris

15. Singapore

16. Hamburg

17. Honolulu

18. Madrid

19. Vancouver

20. Berlin

21. Barcelona

22. Amsterdam

23. Portland (Oregon, U.S.)

24. San Francisco

25. Düsseldorf

No. 22 Amsterdam /
The city's bicycle culture and canals are an appealing.

In looking over Monocle's top 25 best global cities list, I've been lucky enough to have visited eight of these cities in my lifetime -- Copenhagen, Helsinki, Paris, Honolulu, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Portland and, of course, San Francisco, which I get to see nearly every day. There are many more on Monocle's list I would love to visit some day in the future like Sydney and Berlin.

Does the perfect city exist? Not likely. Will it ever? Probably not. And, of course, what works for some of us, doesn't for all of us. Yet, it's nice know that there are a handful of good cities throughout the world whose quality of life makes me want to live there some day.

No. 24 San Francisco /
The de Young Fine Arts Museum in Golden Gate Park.

By the way, one reason the San Francisco Bay Area (which has been my home for nearly 18 years) is a great place to live is because it is easy to arrange a spontaneous dinner with friends on a Sunday night; great restaurants are open on Sunday nights; and you can buy groceries and wine on Sundays, day or night.

And, having a Major League baseball team -- the San Francisco Giants -- that's won two World Series titles in the past three years is a nice bonus and adds to the quality of life, too.

Where do you want to live?

Photo of Copenhagen Concert Hall courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.
Photo of Monocle courtesy of monocle.com.
All other photos by Michael Dickens, copyright 2010, 2012 and 2013.