The Presidency 101: learning to say hello

He pulls, he pushes, he holds on too long. The deconstruction of the awkward

Donald Trump handshake continues. The commander in chief, an admitted germophobe, often seems to have trouble executing this basic gesture of polite greeting in a manner that looks natural.

Perhaps help is in order. Dan Fost sent along a press release from Denise

Dudley, author of “Work It! Get In, Get Noticed, Get Promoted,” which provides rules for the proper business handshake. In brief:

Introduce yourself; extend right hand to shakee’s right hand; slide your hand finger-first until your palm touches the shakee’s palm, and wrap your hand around his; grasp and squeeze gently once; pump once or twice “to show sincerity”; hold for two or three seconds; look person straight in eye; smile; “continue with pleasantries.”

Subject for Chapter 2 in the education of the newly elected leader: What is a “pleasantry”?

Perhaps a “pleasantry” is an exchange of money. Marc Troy received a note from Melania Trump noting that her hubby will turn 71 on Wednesday, June 14, and that it’s always an occasion the Donald shares with family and close friends — and that, of course, they consider him a close friend. “I hope you will consider commemorating his birthday with a gift our entire Party can share,” the note reads. “Please return your signed card to Donald along with your special donation of $71 or whatever amount you can afford to the RNC today.” Enclosed is a birthday-card-like form and handy envelope.

Or perhaps it is something more profound, something about communicating.

“I always tell the people in my band to communicate,” wrote the late Dan Hicks in his newly published memoir, “I Scare Myself.” “That’s what you want to do, that’s the idea. If you’re not communicating with the listener, then you may be playing too busy, or playing too many notes. And whether you’re playing or listening ... you want to get inside of it. That’s part of the thing. You get inside it and you’re in there, and you’re listening to everything and you’re feeling it and it’s affecting you. That’s what you’re always shooting for.”

There’ll be a signing/celebration of the book’s publication, including a musical tribute, at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, on June 24 at 1:30 p.m. It’s true, movie stars Danny Glover and Delroy Lindo were at the opening festivities for “Revelations: Art From the African American South” at the de Young Museum on Saturday, June 3. But it’s also true that at this particular event — no offense to them — they weren’t the stars.

The star was Lonnie Holley, who has four works in the show and was born in Alabama, “in the days when I was a Negro.” In a panel discussion led by curator Timothy Burgard, Holley talked about his roots as an artist: His grandmother was throwing away a piece of trash, “had balled it up and put it in a barrel. I took it and made it into a butterfly and gave it to her. It made her cry. And I told her I was an artist . ... I was always taught to rummage through the trash.” African Americans had spent 150 years working, Holley said. In the morning, “we got up. We got used to working. ... struggling, pulling, toting.”

Holley and the other artists in the show “put their daily struggle into something,” he added, “and they left it there, and moved on. Art allows you to move on.”

There are art lovers at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and there are life lovers. Chris Goedewaagen was at the museum when he overheard an older woman: “Every day I dress in costume because that’s what life’s all about.”

On a Palo Alto yard sign spotted by John MacMorris: “When they go low, we go covfefe.”

Allen Matthews overheard a man insisting to a woman that he hadn’t buttdialed her, and her insisting to him that he had. “I’ll turn the other cheek,” he said.

And on that note, Amelia Marshall was shopping at Archery Only in Fremont when she noticed a sign touting “Hip Quivers.” She wondered if that’s the same as twerking.

“If the Republicans get their way on health care,” says Fred Reiss, “the only way I’ll be able to get a doctor is on StubHub.”

Strange de Jim responds to the Facebook post in which Tom Daly noted that “Anderson Cooper was born on the day Sgt. Pepper came out.” “Sgt. Pepper came out?” asks Strange.

PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING “She has a triangular face. She could pull off anything.” Woman overheard at Dujour Bakery in Brooklyn, overheard by Skip Hutchison