Iced Coffee

I love to watch the fluffle in iced coffee.

Book Review

Last night I finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. I enjoyed Kafka on the Shore much more than this one. It started out pretty good, but it got too convoluted for me. 611 pages is a lot when it gets murky. I still like the style of his writing, but this plot left me cold.

Quakin' and Shakin'

Here's an image of various seismograph recordings during this morning's 5.4 earthquake centered in Chino Hills (here in the Inland Empire). I was sitting at my desk, reading email when I thought the gardeners next door were making some horrific noise. But things started shaking so that I knew it was an earthquake. It was a big enough jolt to give me a fright and make me run to the doorway. The shaking lasted about 15-20 seconds, but seemed much longer. Hal tried to call me to see if the house was still standing, but he couldn't get through, so he came home for lunch early.

Miro Quartet

This week the Miro Quartet is running a chamber music workshop at Scripps College. Last night they gave a free concert. Hal and I joined Pat in listening to Haydn, Ives, and Schubert's Death and the Maiden (the draw for us). What an amazing quartet! The cellist is quite the character with facial expressions. He seemed to have the entire concert memorized as he kept looking over at the violins for cues. Also notable were his striped socks - quite visible to the audience.

For an encore they played variations on Happy Birthday in various styles, which was quite funny for the music geeks.

In Search Of....

Hal is hankering to make some Thai food, so he went looking on the internet for an Asian market. He found several, and we headed into San Bernardino County. First we found an Asian Market (so titled) with the subtitle: Indo/Pak. And, sure enough, it was Indian/Pakistani groceries. The nice gentleman behind the counter told us of two other places to try. The next one was called Market World - a Chinese/Korean supermarket larger than my Stater Bros. Alas, no Thai noodles - the mainstay of any good Thai recipe. The third place was closed, but a quick peek in the window told us that we didn't need to come back.

The only thing gained from this trip was a DQ Mocha Moolate and blog fodder.

New Piano Arrives!

Roman Shades

The roman shades we ordered for Claire's room came today, and Hal put them up tonight. We also got a duvet cover a few days ago. You can see the brown scheme in her room which now just needs 1) a little touch-up paint around a sconce 2) the dresser stained.

Duo

Pat and I have been friends / colleagues / partners in crime (of the string and Orff sorts) for many years, and today we decided to get together to play violin/cello duets. We wondered why it's taken us so long to do so! We had a marvelous time, playing for over 2 hours this afternoon. I found it funny to go from exclusively viola back to the violin, but it was like riding a bike. (Well, not exactly like riding a bike!)

Book Club (another one)

How sweet it is to be back to this book club, as well as the other one. Last night we were all in agreement about The Mapmaker's Wife. Although some of the book was interesting, it was written in the style of a pedantic textbook. And the title character's story doesn't happen until the lasts 50 pages of the book. We did spend a good deal of time talking about other books we had just read or are reading. It seems that summer is the time to catch up on our lists!

A Composer's Dream

The toughest part about being a composer, I think, is finding people to perform, or even just play, your music. This string quartet that I am rehearsing with this month was kind enough to play the movement of the string quartet that I have been working on for the past several weeks. Josh even recorded it and will give a copy to me so I can listen to it without being distracted by playing the viola. I'll polish off this movement and start thinking about the next movement.

My inspiration came from Gregorian Chant as well as African drumming rhythms....and the players even have to clap during a short section of the piece.

Book Club!

We hosted book club last night to discuss The Namesake. I'll have to say that it was one of the best potlucks we've ever had with this group (and we've had some great potlucks). Many people brought Indian food. The others brought pie. I said that we now have to choose our books based on the locality so we can have good food. Anyone know a good book set in Thailand? Then Hal can make some of his pad see ewe or masaman.

We had about 15 people to discuss the book. Most of the people enjoyed it, except that there wasn't enough, um, strum and drang in the plot for some of the men....

It's great to be back into book club - and my other one meets tomorrow!

Why I Go to Church

Yes, I do go to church for some of the traditional reasons: a quiet time to reflect, to be part of a community by participating together in worship, to sing and to listen to music. But really, there are other reasons to go, too. For example, to hear the 3-year-old in the pew in front of us sing his little heart out during the hymns while looking at the music, but having NO clue as to how the song should go. I loved his sincerity and diligence, and apparently so did the people around him, as evidenced by the chuckles and smiles.

Even in the summer there are reasons to go to church. It's where you find out the news first hand. Usually in the announcements there is an item of note (for example: a wonderful older woman stood up and told us what type of items to bring to the church basement for the annual rummage sale by showing us what was in her bag). But today, at the end of the service we heard the news that someone is pregnant....!

A little shopping

This morning Hal and I made our first real visit to a flooring shop to look at vinyl for the kitchen. We found a local store (Tony's Carpets), and on Tuesday, Tony will be coming by to look at our kitchen and give us his bid. Finally, after 10 years of a new kitchen, it's time to replace the old floor!

At home we did some online shopping, and I have discovered a great secret. Whenever you go to checkout, and there is a space to put a "coupon code" or "promo code," and you don't know any code, just google coupon code and the name of the store, and you will probably come up with some coupons. When I bought the new Roman Shades for Claire's room from JC Penney, I found an online coupon for 10% off. Today when I bought pants for Hal at Kohl's, I found a coupon for $10 off. I have to credit the Today Show with pointing this out.

The piano story continues....

I decided that I still want to have a piano in my music studio, so I went on craigslist and found this one at a great price. Today I drove out to Corona and had a lovely chat with the owner and gave her a check. She wants to wait until the check clears, and I need to find piano movers, so I'll probably get it by next weekend.

Now I need to sell my other one. Anyone need a lovely upright piano with teak facing?

An exercise in futility and physics

Hal and I had ideas about rearranging furniture in the house, and last night we tried to do it. We had thought we'd like to make Liesl's room into a music studio (with piano and organ), the dining room into a tv room, and move the dining room table into the living room. First we put Liesl's old bed upstairs, and moved the desk and dresser into the hall.

Now for the tricky bit - moving the piano. The old upright piano. The one where the two back wheels fall off. After about 45 minutes, Hal, Claire and I had the piano wedged into the hallway (after successfully getting it through the kitchen). I had measured the space in the room to see if the piano would fit, and it would. However, we could not maneuver it through the narrow hall into the room. If the stairs weren't there, it would go in. Alas. What to do? Would we like to move it into the dining room?

Well, first we thought we've move the dining table into the living room to see if we liked it. Short story, we didn't. So, dining room stays a dining room. And as much as we didn't want to do it, the piano had to go back to the living room. Minus the two back wheels.

This morning Hal and I propped up the back of the piano onto two wooden blocks.

We moved the desk and dresser back into Liesl's room, but without the bed, the room is much roomier. We are trying to sell the dresser as well as the desk from Claire's room on craigslist. So now the question is, how to arrange the living room to our satisfaction?

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

I enjoyed this book enough that it only took me three days to read. Hal and I liked the movie, so I chose the book for our upcoming book club on Sunday. The thing about seeing the movie first (even if it is pretty true to the book) is that you have images of the characters already implanted in your brain while you read.

I look forward to reading more of Lahiri's work. I also look forward to my next Indian meal - lots of good food mentioned in the book.

Chamber Music!

Tonight I got to be a substitute viola player in a string quartet. I practiced all week, working hard at the alto clef. The hard work paid off, and I didn't feel like the odd man out. In fact, I had a great time. I get to be substitute viola for two more times, so maybe I'll be ready to play viola in orchestra this fall!

Simply in Season

I bought this book at the Evanston Ten Thousand Villages store, and now it's time to start trying out the recipes. What reminded me of this book was going to the Claremont Farmer's Market after church today. I bought tomatoes, a cucumber, little potatoes (of various colors), and a dozen brown eggs. (I had a tomato on my taco at lunch, and I was reminded, once again, of the difference between homegrown and store-bought.)

I look forward to trying new recipes from this cookbook which focuses on fresh, local foods for each season. Of course, summer vegetables and fruits are the very best of the year. You can get a copy of this book at any Ten Thousand Villages, or online.

Boom boom!

We are having a rare summer thunderstorm right now! And by that, I mean that there is thunder and lightning and a smattering of rain.

Movies

Tonight I watched My Kid Could Paint That - a documentary about a 4-year-old painter named Marla Olmstead. It explored the questions about raising a gifted child (or exploiting one, or creating a fraud), and just how does one judge abstract art? It was somewhat interesting, but about 25 minutes too long. Sometimes I wonder if I should be a movie editor (she said in jest).

I also watched East of Eden, that classic from 1955 with James Dean. Last summer I read the book (and loved it), and I loved Dean in the movie. And as well done as the movie was, it left out at least the first half of the book, and also my favorite character - Lee.

When Hal returns from his last umpiring gig of the summer tomorrow, we'll get back to watching The Wire. We've just started Season Three.

Friday

Life in Claremont today included:

• playing tennis with Jennifer
• biking to Trader Joe's
• walking downtown to the bank and library
• practicing the viola
• working on my current composition (string quartet)
• reading a book on menopause (it's time to bone up)
• enjoying the overcast sky and cooler weather

I had to entertain myself today since Claire was working and Hal is in San Diego (Escondido, actually) umpiring a state tournament. I have no trouble entertaining myself!

Kayaking

Since Claire had the day off from work yesterday, and Liesl is leaving this morning, we took a little family trip to Dana Point yesterday. Liesl is enamored of kayaks lately, so we decided to rent some for a little paddle around the breakwater. The weather was overcast, cool, and delightful, and we made our way through all the little sailboats with kids taking lessons.

After our hour jaunt, we wandered over to the marine center. It's been years since we were there - long enough for them to completely rebuild the small center into a rather large one, and now they charge admission. We couldn't go in, anyway, since during the week they are busy with summer camp kids.

Finally, I finished another book!

It took me awhile to get through this book because I wasn't terribly motivated to get back to it. Although the information in it was interesting, the style of writing was like a dry textbook. And the mapmaker's wife doesn't really come into the story until the last 1/3 of the book (which is the most interesting part to me). I should have chosen River of Doubt about Teddy Roosevelt's time on the Amazon.

The book club in Evanston had liked the book, or so they told me, so that's why I chose it for the book club here. We'll see what the group here thinks.

BTW, after Hal worked on our computer network with the new cable DSL, we DO have much faster internet than before. YAY!

More Transitions...

Today we switched over our internet and phone service to Time Warner Cable - Road Runner. Of course, it takes much longer than you think it should. Hal has just gotten the computer network up and running (at 10 p.m.), but I don't think we have phone service yet. At least I got to check my email and blog once today!

Wall*E

So, today's life in Claremont included seeing Wall*E, the new Pixar film. First of all, I have to say that it is fabulous to be able to walk downtown to see a movie! I'm not sure this is a kid-friendly movie, but we certainly enjoyed it (and by we, I mean Hal, Liesl, Claire and me). The funny part was the first little pre-movie where the girl sitting in front of us laughed and laughed, which made the movie even funnier. However, not a peep was uttered by the girl during the feature presentation.

It was a little dark, but we enjoyed the references to 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars, as well as the sound for the Macintosh when it's being booted up. Of course, the animation is amazing, and the main character is totally cute.

Redecorating

I spent a good deal of time watching HGTV on sabbatical getting all kinds of ideas of what to do to our house when we returned. It seems that our first project is Claire's room. When Claire goes off to Europe in September for her junior year abroad, her room will become Hal's study. So, the room is being transformed from a baby blue room to "Wilmington Tan" - a coffee-like color. We are also going to paint the trim. After the painting, we'll find new linens, stain the dresser, and make roman shades for the two windows. We might even replace the yukky screens.

4th of July

Another 4th of July in our own Garrison Keillor town. The park in the center of town (two blocks from our house) is filled with booths for various causes, food and games. People walk to parties bearing desserts and appetizers. But the best part is the parade at 4:00. When you can sit on the curb and yell out to people you know in the parade and they yell back at you, when you watch the high school marching band, when you see the mother-daughter belly-dancing duo and all the kids on their decorated bikes, when the teacher of the year gets the loudest cheers (and you cheer, too, because he was a favorite teacher of your kids), then you know you are in Claremont on the 4th. It's good to be home.

A Movie Blog

A few weeks ago, my friend, Bill, invited me to be a contributor to his blog - http://whatsinyourqueue.blogspot.com/

Bill and his son, Tim, write about the movies they enjoy, and their tastes are quite unusual, so don't be looking for reviews from any Pixar or Indiana Jones movies on this blog. I've written two reviews for whatsinyourqueue.

Anticipation.......

Liesl is somewhere in the Central Valley on I-5 on her way home to celebrate the 4th of July!

Neighborhood Excitement

A little bit ago, Hal called me to come look at a hawk that was on a car on our street. It was obviously hurt or sick since it didn't fly away, even though several of the neighbors stood around and talked about what to do. Mikal called several friends and one came by and said she'd take it to the vet that helps such cases. Mikal got a blanket, and I got a box to donate to the cause, and now the neighborhood drama is over.

This morning I met with my school principal to talk about my working at Vista next year. He has found some money to pay me to be the music teacher for about 7-8 hours/week, but first I had to officially resign as librarian. I wrote the letter and filled out the paperwork which I'll turn in tomorrow. I am excited that they want me for afternoons which will free up my mornings for exercising and composing music!

Next week I meet with the district people to plan the strings, and perhaps recorder, program for next year. All music, all the time!