Measuring Solar Power

If you stop by the church office, you can now watch how much solar power our new panels are generating and how much energy we are using. Yay, sun!

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Day 30 - Clutter Cleanse: Out with the old hiking boots. I do not remember when I bought them at REI, but it was well over 10 years ago, perhaps as much as 20. Trashed, unless I decide the hold on to them and take them to the NIKE Factory Store at Ontario Mills for recycling. Yup, that's what I should do. 

The Donut Man

On the way home from Mount Wilson on Saturday, we stopped at the Donut Man in Glendora for their legendary strawberry donuts (now in season). I blogged about this place last month and decided to finally see it for myself. 

My analysis: The strawberry donut was pretty big and very messy (it comes with a fork), and it was pretty good, but I've now had one and don't feel compelled to return.

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Day 29 - Clutter Cleanse: Yet another book - The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. I bought it last summer in Oregon (read blog post here), but I won't be rereading it, I'm sure.

Mt. Wilson Observatory

While H was on his second day of SCIAC softball tournament, my friends from Friday's trip to Claremont Craft Ales and I went to Mount Wilson to tour the observatory (actually multiple observatories). A two-hour tour makes for quite a bit of information, much of which I have forgotten, although much of it was very interesting. I know H would enjoy the tour, so someday I will go back with him.

Here are two solar telescopes. You can see these from the 210 Freeway, along with all of the tv towers.

Inside the taller of the two solar telescopes. Every day for the past 100 years or so, astronomers have taken tracing paper and drawn the sun spots and tracked their cycle. For demonstration purposes, the ball shows the size of Jupiter in proportion to the sun, the white circle.

This was written on the white board in the solar telescope room...

Perhaps the most impressive part of the tour is going inside the 100-inch Hooker telescope. This telescope was the world's largest from 1917 until 1948 and was instrumental in some important discoveries.

I rather liked this photo. The mirror over the museum was cracked. If you look in the lower right part of the mirror, there is my self-portrait with my head (and camera) and legs.

The day was quite hazy, and this is an enhanced photo of the view from the 5,700 foot vantage point.

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Day 28 - Clutter Cleanse: I found an old snow globe from years ago. Out!

Rounds Burgers

Friday afternoon in photos

H had the car - umpiring the SCIAC softball tournament in Redlands, so I rode my bike up to Claremont Craft Ales.

Food Truck Friday featured the Rounds Burgers truck. I have been wanting to try this new eatery in south Claremont, so I thought I'd start with the truck.

Veggie Burger and a pint of Roble'd 

(not pictured: my dinner buddies Edris and Bob)

The burger was pretty good, but very loose and a little difficult to eat. The bun was pretty good. The fries were just ordinary, but they came with garlic aioli sauce (or other sauces of your choice).

Aftermath: I couldn't finish

I was not the only one who rode their bike ...

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Day 27 - Clutter Cleanse: My college statistics text. If I haven't used it in over 30 years, chances are great (about 100%) that I won't. Donated.

Vista in the News

This just in: CBEE selects Vista as a 2012 Honor Roll School. Read more about what this means at the Vista website here.

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Day 26 - Clutter Cleanse: I finally put the broken cell phone in the mail to be recycled.

Big Cleanse

Yesterday at school I got rid of a HUGE pile of books. Last year I had gone through all the songbooks that various people had offed on given to me and decided that there were plenty that I would never, ever use. These music books had been sitting on a chair and table for nearly a year, and I decided that I would offer them to my orchestra students. They took everything and thought that they had just had a birthday. I have no idea what they will get out of the music, but that is not my worry!

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Day 25 - Clutter Cleanse: Even though I got rid of stuff at school, I still wanted to get rid of something at home. I found 3 AAA Tour Guide Books dating from around 2005. If I ever need current info on those states, I can always go back to AAA, or even just look online.

The Testament of Mary

This novella by Colm Toibin is thankfully very short - under 90 pages. Our book club will be discussing this, and it will be interesting to see what others thought. This is the story of Jesus' death and resurrection told from his mother's point of view.

I did not think it good at all. First of all, the prose (which some say is beautiful) is dull. The sentence structure does not vary very much, and it is repetitive, making plodding. One reviewer on Amazon pointed out the complete lack of research Toibin has done in understanding the time. I'm not sure exactly what religious point the author is trying to make, and I would not recommend this book to anyone.

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Day 23 and 24 - Clutter Cleanse: I've had a number of books listed on paperback swap that no one has ordered in several years, so I'm giving them away. 1) Nectar by Lily Prior (another terrible book club choice) and 2) a Dave Barry book - it was funny once through, but not a keeper

Dr. Grubbs

After walking by it for years (how long has it been here?), we finally had dinner at Dr. Grubbs. There are few choices here, but that's what makes it easy to order. You choose a protein (chicken, salmon, tofu), a sauce and a side or two. We both chose blackened salmon with garlic apple aioli sauce and steamed (?) vegetables. Although it was a little pricey ($12 per person) it was delicious, and I had enough that I saved half for another meal. H ate his whole dinner in one sitting. The sauce was so delicious and the vegetables were plentiful and cooked just the right amount of time.

We may not return frequently, but it's good to know it is here.

Day 22 - Clutter Cleanse: Three books big Bill Martin, Jr. - I Am Freedom's Child, Reach Out to the Morning, and Gentle, Gentle Thursday. Donated.

LA Phil Field Trip - '13

For the 4th year in a row, the CUSD Elementary Instrumental Music Program has been given tickets by the Foothill Philharmonic Committee for students to attend a Toyota Symphonies for Youth by the LA Philharmonic. We take our orchestra students on this trip since they have shown the fortitude to stick with their instrument for more than one year (and some for up to 8 years!). You can read about last year's trip here. This year while waiting for the concert to start, the students on either side of me were perusing the program and asked me all kinds of questions, including "what does 'on sabbatical' mean?" and "what are Junior Patrons?" I was happy to chat with them about what they were going to hear and see, and we looked at the arrangement of the string section (which is not the way we arrange our students) and also looked at the various percussion instruments and how many string basses there were. 

As usual, we partook of the music-making session pre-concert in the amphitheater where the kids got to play boomwhackers, tambourines and hand drums. And, as usual, our students were excellent at performing the correct rhythms and following the conductor.

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Day 21 - Clutter Cleanse: I've really gotten into the old media track and found 10 VHS tapes (some with stuff recorded from tv, some prerecorded stuff) that I will never use. Instead of writing about one a day, let me just say that I am donating or trashing all of these, depending upon their condition.

Composing a Life

During the Spirit of Women Dinner at church in February, our speaker, Eleanor Scott Meyers mentioned this book by Mary Catherine Bateson, the daughter of famed anthropologist Margaret Mead. On the cover it says, "Life is a work in progress - the improvisations of five extraordinary women..."

From that description, I thought this book might be how these women crafted their lives from various "materials" into a complete, but unexpected picture. I imaged five chapters, one for each woman with an intriguing look into a creatively-lived life. I was disappointed to find out that this book feels dated (published in 1989) and not nearly as interesting as I had hoped. While I fully understand that women are still having a hard time with the glass ceiling, this book goes on and on about how women have a hard time because they are the primary caregivers in their homes, or have to compromise so much with their spouses, or just because of discrimination against women and minorities. I did not find any insights into these lives that I had hoped. I skimmed the last 1/3 of the book.

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Day 20 - Clutter Cleanse: I found a VHS tape that I know I recorded on, but I have no idea what's on it. If I don't know what I don't have, then I won't miss it when it's gone. Trashed.

Motifs in Music

I keep two blogs. This one and a music blog. Even though I write in that blog with less frequency, it doesn't mean that music doesn't occupy my mind much of the time in various ways.

Today I blogged about new words I wrote for Vista to sing for our annual Multicultural Day to the tune of This Land is Your Land.

You can read that post here.

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Day 19 - Clutter Cleanse: More media is in the trash. I threw out an old VHS tape and also some CDs. Again, these are for things I may have used in my music classroom, but no longer do, and probably never will again.

Winter to Spring

My mom sent me this photo taken in Fort Collins two days ago - in APRIL. Spring is having a hard time coming through the door in Colorado right now.

During our winter, when we do actually get below freezing for short periods at a time, our bougainvillea appeared to have succumbed to the frost. (The green in the photo is the invasive asparagus fern that I can't seem to eradicate.) I took this photo in February

This is the same bougainvillea, photographed a few days ago, showing that spring is definitely coming to Claremont. 

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Day 18 - Clutter Cleanse: A VHS entitled "Isaac Asimov Presents a Musical Video Voyage in Outer Space: Voyage to the Outer Planets and Beyond." This video shows images from JPL and NASA of the planets set to Gustav Holst's The Planets. I think I showed the video once to students years ago, and it was pretty slow going for them. I'm sure that if I want to play students any of this music, I can find a different way to introduce it. Donated.

National Haiku Poetry Day

Today is National Haiku Poetry Day, smack dab in the middle of National Poetry Month. The Haiku Foundation encourages public haiku-reading events, and the closest celebration to Claremont, an open mic night, is in Sierra Madre at Bean Town Coffee Bar from 7:30 on.

The last kid picked

running his fastest

to right field

- Mike Dillon

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Day 17 - Clutter Cleanse: 

Old black pants 

waiting on the back porch

for new home

Shadow Photos

During one of the softball games at Occidental College last Friday, I strolled through the campus and took some shadow photos. Shadows are one thing I like to look for and photograph. I have a set of shadow photos on my Flickr site.

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Day 16 - Clutter Cleanse: I wrapped up the little book Grunt by Sandra Boynton to send to someone in Ohio through Paperbackswap.com. I thought I might use it in my music classroom, but I never did, and probably never will, even though it is a cute book.

Ump Stuff

Many years ago I told H that he should get a hobby so that he would have something to do when he retires so he wouldn't have to "devote his life to" me. He took that advice to heart and took up softball umpiring. This hobby has developed from little girl rec ball to NCAA softball. And by developed, I mean that the amount of gear required has expanded. Here is a little peek into the car last weekend as I went along on the road trip from Occidental College on Friday to California Lutheran on Saturday. This meant four games.

This is the second and much better rolling duffle bag that carries quite a bit of stuff. 

All umpires seem to have a rack for hanging various shirts and pants. 

Must have water to drink, and a spray bottle of water to wash off the dust from shoes after each game. Not pictured are the two pairs of shoes (one for behind the plate, one for the bases) and the folding chair used for between games.

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Day 15 - Clutter Cleanse: Today I am shredding a whole folder of past string student registrations. Why did I hang on to them?

Garden Tour 2013

This year's CUCC Garden Tour was definitely cloudier and chillier than last year's. That did not deter people from wandering the 6 featured gardens in Historic Claremont. Our Celtic Duo, Drowsy Maggie, played background music for one of the houses, thankfully inside the pool house room off of the garden. Since we were the second group to perform, we took the opportunity to visit the other gardens and enjoy the diversity and beauty of them all before our gig. I took along my camera and shot lots of photos. Here are a few of my favorites.

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Days 13 and 14 - Clutter Cleanse: I finally got around to shredding my folks' outdated will and trust. I also decided that I was not going to finish the book The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich, so that gets donated.

Solar

For some reason, I just knew that I had read Ian McEwan's latest book, Solar. Then I went through the blog and couldn't find it, so I thought I would check my book list for last year. Nope. The year before? Nope. I think I was remembering that my friend Jennifer did not particularly like it, and on her recommendation, I didn't read it.

Now, book club will be discussing this book, so I thought it would be a good idea if I actually did read it, and spring break gave me the time to do so. I finished the last 75 pages this afternoon while watching H umpire a softball game at Occidental College.

Parts of the book I did enjoy - the writing for one. McEwan knows his craft (I particularly enjoyed Atonement and Saturday), at least his style and character development or descriptions. However, I like a tight novel where nothing is there that doesn't add to the story, and I wonder what the whole trip to Norway was all about. It did seem to go on a bit there, as it did in other parts. I'm glad I read it, and we should have a good discussion about it, but it won't get a star from me.

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Day 12 - Clutter Cleanse: I went through the two pencil holders in the house and threw out a handful of pens that don't work or don't work very well.

Garden Fail

We tried to grow brussels sprouts in the garden this winter. The plants grew nice and tall - about 18 inches - but the sprouts themselves never got very big, and when H dug them up last weekend, they were rock hard. Plus, they took up lots of space in the garden. So we are back to our favorite garden produce - tomatoes. We (by which I mean H) planted two varieties of heirlooms in the place of the brussels sprouts.

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Day 11 - Clutter Cleanse: Perfect time to clean out the refrigerator. I got rid of about 4-5 nearly-empty containers as well as cleaned out some tupperware.

Annenberg Leadership and Management Speaker Series

In the past year or two, HMC has hosted a speaker series for leadership development. They bring in people who share insights into leadership in a technological world. Last week we went to hear Indra Nooyi, the COO of PepsiCo, and last night we heard an HMC alum who works for Microsoft and was instrumental in the development of their tablet, Surface.

Michael Angiulo '93 gave a very engaging talk about his path through Microsoft, from intern to Corporate VP and the things which motivate him to be creative and successful. He works on projects that are 1) hard 2) intrinsically interesting to him 3) supposedly impossible. If someone says to him, "It can't be done", he knows he's on the right track.

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Day 10 - Clutter Cleanse: Donated a cardigan sweater that I no longer wear.

A Photo An Hour - April 8

I got this idea for a blog post from my daughter's Instagram feed. One day she posted a photo an hour from the time she got up until the time she went to bed. Yesterday was the Monday of Spring Break, so I had more leeway for photo-taking throughout the day. Here is a look at my day off from work.

7:00 a.m. - My shades are drawn as I listen to Morning Edition and learn that Margaret Thatcher has died.

8:00 a.m. - Walking home from the gym in the gentle rain.

9:00 a.m. - Updating my podcasts and drinking coffee. (Day 9 of Clutter Cleanse entailed going through many files on my computer and deleting them.)

10:00 a.m. - Trying to decide which salsa to buy at Trader Joe's.

11:00 a.m. - Practicing the viola.

12:00 noon - Almost time for lunch, but admiring the way the sun has come out and the start of leaves on the trees.

1:00 p.m. - Starting a book.

2:00 p.m. - Getting ready to practice the violin.

3:00 p.m. - Working on garageband for an accompaniment for my recorder students.

4:00 p.m. - Words with Friends.

5:00 p.m. - Gathering ingredients for dinner.

6:00 p.m. - Working on eating dinner.

7:00 p.m. - Going to orchestra rehearsal at Balch Auditorium. 

8:00 p.m. - Rehearsing Haydn's Creation.

9:00 p.m. - Chilling in front of the t.v.

10:00 p.m. - Getting ready to read a little in bed before falling asleep.