The Man in the Wooden Hat

On tap for next week's book discussion - Jane Gardam's The Man in the Wooden Hat.  Generally I do not enjoy reading about unhappy marriages.  This novel (a companion to Gardam's Old Filth which I have not read) has garnered much critical praise, so I trudged through the fractured style at the beginning of the novel, settled into the plot of this solid, but lackluster marriage, not quite interested in the characters (though the sentences are well-crafted).  I always make sure I finish a book that we will be discussing, so I found myself surprisingly charmed as I hit the final (fifth) section of the book which turns in a slightly different direction.

I have gone back to reviews of the book, and I think that next week's meeting will help me to think better of the book than I did initially.

Proverbial Birds

This year I am going to try to ride my bike to school at least twice a week.  It's about 7 minutes downhill to Vista and about 12 minutes back uphill to home.  Our librarian rides her bike every day, and she lives north of Baseline, so her commute home gives her a good workout.

For me, this kills several birds with one stone: built-in exercise for me on days when I can't get to the gym for cardio, save money on gas, save the air from pollutants.

I rode this morning, and it was actually fairly pleasant.  I don't know why I haven't done this sooner.

Luis Alberto Urrea

Urrea

Last night Luis Alberto Urrea spoke at the CMC Athanaeum as part of the Claremont on the Same Page program regarding his book Into the Beautiful North. He spoke, among other things, about his life and how various people who he has met and known played their part in this particular novel.

I found it interesting that while some people I have spoken to said that they felt that most of his characters were not real, but mere cardboard or caricatures, Urrea spoke of the characteristics of flesh and blood people who were the models for his book.  I guess that truth can be stranger than fiction.

Some writers are not necessarily good speakers, but Urrea was funny and kept us listening for nearly an hour which did not feel that long.

Fox Barrel Cider

The Fox Barrel Blackberry Pear Cider that I so enjoyed in Oregon is actually available in the Inland Empire.  One just has to drive to Cucamonga to BevMo to buy it.  Thanks, Lynn, for making the stop for me!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

This cloudy day when I woke up with the sore throat and aches that H had last week was the perfect day to stay in bed and read.  It's been awhile since I finished a book (I have a few lying around that I haven't gotten up the gumption to start), but this one appeared from my wait list for e-books at the library.  A deadline is usually helpful to getting a book read.

Anyway, this is a fun mystery featuring our heroine - a plucky, chemistry-loving 11-year-old living in 1950 England.  Alan Bradley published this, his first novel at the age of 70, and he started writing about Flavia de Luce when she came into another piece of writing and started taking over the plot.  You can read more about that on the Amazon page's interview with the author.

There are three more Flavia de Luce mysteries, and I think there will be five altogether.

Falling into Orff

We used a few xylophones to
complement the drumming.

Ah.  I know it's the start of school and new possibilities when it's time for the first workshop of the ICCAOSA year.   Almost two years ago, the board was discussing what we would like to have presented, and someone said they wanted a drumming workshop.  Today was that day, and we had a great time of not only drumming, but singing and playing a few of the Orff instruments.

I have posted a video of one of the songs at my music blog.  It's always rejuvenating to get together with other music teachers to not only share teaching ideas, but actually get to PLAY music together.

Children's Art

I am just finishing up my first week of music classes at Vista.  This year the portable next to mine has become a preschool again after a year or two of no classes.  Now I have to remember to keep the gate closed and latched, but the upside is that I get to see the chalk art the little ones have drawn on the blacktop on the way to my room. I love these self-portraits! 

Any Guesses?

Any guesses as to what these are for?  I saw them at a house on Harvard, and my first thought was that very, very small ponies now have a place to do their equestrian events.

A US Postal Service Solution

What to do about the US Postal Service?  I know that people are quick to complain about the USPS, but I, for one, LIKE those people.  Sure, the mail sometimes gets mixed up when we have a sub or new person on our route.  Lines can be long at the PO.  But where else can you send something to someone 3,000 miles away for 44 cents?  Maybe we don't like the USPS because we get too much junk and not enough "real" mail anymore.

I hear that the PO needs about 8 billion dollars to stay afloat (and keep 600,000 people off the unemployment lines).  That's about 18 billion first-class letters (I think. I'm doing some back-of-the-envelope calculations here).  I don't plan to start paying my bills with checks and stamps anymore, and neither do most people, which is one of the problems that has led to declining revenues.

However, here's my thought.  Back in February I blogged about a book I'd just read called 365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Gratitude Changed My Life by John Kralik. Kralik's life took a turn for the better over the course of the year in many ways, not only when he felt gratitude for what others had done for him, but when he took the time to put that gratitude in writing as well as put a stamp on the envelope and mailed it.  His relationships with people not only transformed, he became a happier person, and his job as a lawyer became profitable once again.

We could all use some healing in this country and this world these days, couldn't we?  I would like the PO to keep running (I have a hard time with the private companies of UPS and FedEx, but that's another post) and keep those 600,000 employees off of food stamps.  I would like more people to get real mail in their boxes again. The US has a population of about 312,000,000.  If every one of these people (this is a stretch) would send one thank you note a week for a year (and everyone in Congress would send one a day...) - the $8 billion gap would nearly be eliminated.  But what would the other consequences of such an act be?

Fall Signage

School has started, so it's time for signs to pop up all over Claremont.

These are the signs for the Claremont On the Same Page book.

This year we're voting for school board members (next year it will be city council).

The Claremont Education Foundation raises money for schools.  Looks like this sign is still up from last year.....

 But this sign surprised me.  Yard signs advertising the LA Co. Fair.  Never seen those before....

Fiesta de la Luna

As if Zip Code Day wasn't enough excitement for one day, CUCC's annual fundraiser, the Fiesta de la Luna (formerly Art from the Heart) arrived yesterday evening.  This event features silent and live auctions, dinner by Homegirl Cafe (muy delicioso), and lots of fun.

This year a highlight of the silent auction was a year's worth (one dozen a month) of cupcakes provided by our pastor's daughter, a 6th grade baker. She came prepared with samples of mini red velvet cupcakes and business cards. After sampling her wares, I should let the new cupcake store in Claremont know that they have stiff competition.  So, if you live in the Claremont area and need some cupcakes for an event, I would recommend contacting the church for more details.

9.17.11

On an unseasonably cool fall day, Claremont rolled out the fun for Zip Code Day.  Here are the Village Pipers.  I have uploaded a video of our group playing the Zip Code Boogie on youtube.

I had to stop by Stamp Your Heart Out to see this rock featuring the Post Office, painted by local artist Dawn Grimes.  At this point, the rock is for sale.

LA Times

For the first time in the many years we have gotten the LA Times delivered, we did not get a paper on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday until I reported the paper missing, and they delivered - later in the morning.  This morning it arrived at 7:15, which is pretty late for the Times.

My neighbor said that she was on the phone to them several times this week about her missing paper, so I don't think that anyone had taken our paper.  She said that no one on her block had gotten them all week, either.  I think they are changing over to a new system, but whatever that system is, it does not work.

Seems to me in this current technological climate, the Times would be sure to keep their print patrons happy.

Ducey Gym

On Monday the Ducey Gym at CMC closed down for a bit so they could replace all the cardio equipment.  I think this is the third set of elliptical machines that I have used here in the past 10-15 years.  I believe that the founder of LifeFitness is a CMC grad, and the story that the tour guides tell when they come through the workout room (when I've been there) is that he wrote a proposal for this company as his senior thesis, but he didn't get a very good grade on it.  Obviously he was better at starting a company than writing a proposal....

Hummingbird

For the past week or so when I open up the curtains in the morning from my study, I see this little hummingbird sitting on the wire next door - sun or clouds.  Today we had beautiful clouds in our early  morning.

Wine

Here is a red wine recommendation.  I am not the first to blog about it. You can read a review on Jason's Wine Blog here. It's only $5.99 at Trader Joe's, and I think it's only at the Claremont store right now.  Daughter C brought one bottle for dinner a week ago, and I have been back to buy a few more bottles.

Ten Years Out

A few thoughts on the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. 

I distinctly remember 9/10/01 in the morning.  I went to the Albertson's below the 10 Freeway that Monday morning, and I had a short chat with the checker who told me that it was a great day to be alive because we live in a wonderful country.  The weather was beautiful that day in Claremont.  The next morning I woke up to NPR and the news that something awful had happened in NY.

My daughter's friend's mother had a real connection to the World Trade Center on that day - she was supposed to be giving a talk in a room at the top of one of the buildings, but had decided to stay in California because her daughter was playing her first volleyball game of the season.  You can read her story in the Palo Alto Online here.

The Interfaith Walk and Rally for Hope and Peace (which has taken place on the Sunday closest to 9 / 11)  happened exactly on the 10-year mark today and ended in Memorial Park. 

Zip Code Day

In 1963, Claremont received it's five-digit zip code - 91711.  Next Saturday our fair city will celebrate a once-in-a-lifetime event - Zip Code Day.  September (9) Seventeen (17) in the year 2011 (11) - 9.17.11.  Since the next time we will have this date will be in the year 2111, I believe this will be my only time to mark this historic occasion.

Organizers have put together a day of events with something for everybody.  You can see the page at celebrate91711.com.  If I get my act together, I may just send out some mail to get that special postmark.

Also...one may want to hear the Village Pipers from 11-12 in front of City Hall (free) with a special piece commemorating the day. ...

Word for the Day?

Back before the board game Balderdash came out, my family played Dictionary.  It required a dictionary (of course) and paper and pencils. Oh yeah, a good imagination was helpful. One person looked through the dictionary to find an interesting word that no one knew.  Everyone wrote down their definition of that word, and the person who found the word wrote down the dictionary definition. After listening to all the definitions, everyone votes for what they think is the correct definition. Points are tallied and the next person searches the dictionary for another word.

Years ago, I am sure that we found the word fluffle. It is one of the words that I have remembered (another is squiffy*....). Fluffle is the cloud that cream makes when poured into coffee.  With the hot weather this week, I've been drinking iced coffee which allows me to see the fluffle because of the clear glass.

So, I thought I would find a great link for this blog post and after 15 minutes of internet-searching, I could not find MY definition of fluffle.  Well, never mind.  I will continue to use this great word.

* slightly inebriated

It's the Cheese

For book club last night, I wanted to try something different for treats.  We usually have some sweet goodies (homemade gingerbread, Some Crust cookies or pastries, homemade pumpkin pie, etc.)  Since the Cheese Cave opened in Claremont I have walked by, and yesterday I finally went in and decided to order a platter of cheeses for book club.

Cheese is not the only commodity in the shop.  You can try sandwiches and olives.

 Also, there are ciders and other speciality alcoholic beverages.

 Along with honeys and jams and pickles, etc.

Here is a party platter for 8-12.  We had 7 and did not even make a dent in the selections, so I could have easily gone with the smallest platter for 4-6 people and still had leftovers.  Usually the owners (two sisters and their mom - very friendly and helpful) like 24 hours notice, but they were kind to me and had it ready in 6 hours.  When you order a platter, they give you samples of every cheese on the plate, and since I had no idea what to order, they just gave me samples, but I am pretty sure that I would have liked just about everything they gave me.  The cheeses were all quite delicious, and I will be back!

It comes all prepared on this great wooden board which I can return when I am finished - no hurry they said.

Outliers

A while ago I read Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and enjoyed it.  Now I just finished Outliers and found it equally interesting.  Gladwell writes clearly about big ideas, and Outliers focuses on what makes highly successful people so successful.  The thesis is fairly simple - people who are in a position to take advantage of opportunities and do so are more likely to be successful in life.  One of those opportunities is being smart enough to recognize such chances, but also to work at it.

Of course, that it a quite dry and boring summary of an entertaining book filled with real-life stories from various times and places.

Now I am going to read his other books, too.

Reviving an Old Tradition

Back in the late 80s/early 90s, a group of us from church would gather with our children at Harvey Mudd College on Friday nights in the summer for bring-your-own picnic and play.  The adults and older kids would play softball, and the younger kids would play in the sandbox, otherwise known as the volleyball court.

Last night we gathered with our picnic dinners at Cahuilla Park and some played bocce ball while the rest of us enjoyed some chatting time.  This time there were probably about 25 people, no little kids.  I had found this old photo from 1989 and brought it along, and we had fun trying to figure out who some of the half-hidden people were, and remembering the one family in this photo who has moved away.

Sports Saturday

Yesterday was a bonus day for sports fans.  On tv we had the opportunity to watch the US Open, the Dodgers and the Oregon Ducks Football.  In order to more fully enjoy the day, C and B came over and made us some delicious grilled pizza while we watched the Dodgers win and the Ducks (unfortunately) lose.  We think that next year the Ducks might want to chose an easier first team to start their season.

26

Today my oldest turns 26!  This is what she looks like at 26, and below is what her mom looked like at 26.

On the Same Page

The Friends of the Claremont Library chose Luis Alberto Urrea's Into the Beautiful North as their selection for this fall's On the Same Page where we are all encouraged to read the same book across the City.  Along with reading this book, we discuss it in book groups and attend various events sponsored by the Friends.  This year the author will be in Claremont at an informal brown bag lunch as well as at the CMC Atheneum.

Next week my women's book club will discuss this book, and a few weeks later our co-ed club will also talk about the novel.

I enjoyed the not-quite-believable story of these young people who cross the border into the US in search of men to bring back to their small town, since most of the men had fled into the north.  The characters are fun, the language, not-quite magical realism, flows in a lovely storytelling ease.

Here is a youtube video of the author talking about this book.

Quinoa Salad

While searching "too hot to cook", I came up with this quinoa salad recipe. I modified the directions a bit (I did not steam the veggies, but used them raw and used lime juice rather than lemon), and we ate it at room temperature. It has potential, but I would add some more kind of flavor to the dressing. Perhaps it will taste more flavorful tomorrow after it has set all night in the refrigerator.  Or maybe I will try the recipe for quinoa and black beans that is suggested near the bottom of the page.