Ken Burns

Hal and I have been enjoying Ken Burns' newest documentary on PBS - The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I had to miss most of Monday's episode (I had orchestra rehearsal), but I just discovered that it not only is already on Netflix, but it is there for the viewing on the PBS website.

The photography is stunning, the information interesting. I am amazed at how many National Parks I've already visited (23!), but there are still more I want to see. Still on my "get to" list are: Glacier, Arches, Olympia, Canyon de Chelly, Hawaii Volcanoes, Great Basin, Death Valley, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Great Smoky Mountains, and I'm sure there are more.

Real-Life Eccentricity

I heard an interview with E. L. Doctorow on NPR at the beginning of the month about his new book, Homer and Langley. It is a fictionalized version of two eccentric brothers who lived in NY City from the late 1800s until the 1940s. You can read about them here. These brothers barricaded themselves in their home with so much stuff, that when they died, the whole place had to be excavated to actually find them. I found the story fascinating.

It's Boys All Around

Earlier this year I posted a picture of baby Tatiana with her big sister, Catia, both daughters of my cousin, Phil. Recently my cousins have had boys to add to the family. On the right are baby Caleb with big brother, Micah (taken last month). Caleb was born in Taiwan. On the left is picture of the newest family member, Jesse, with his big brothers, Isaac. He also has two other brothers, Moses and Levi. Jesse arrived in the world today, born in South Africa.

Now my own daughters have 33 second cousins, and one more on the way!

A Day of Orffing

This morning was the first Orff workshop of the year. I took two friends for their first visit to the ICCAOSA where I have been a member for a number of years. Here is a short video of a phasing canon we created on the xylophones. Sorry about the blurry picture, but you can hear the audio!

Tracy Kidder

I'm a fan of Tracy Kidder's work. I've read most of his books, and I was happy to be near the top of the waiting list at the library for this Strength in What Remains, his newest book. It's a powerful story - a refugee from Burundi makes his way to NY on $200 and somehow manages to not only attend Columbia, but also medical school. He was already a medical student in Burdundi before the Civil War there.

LA County Fair

Every year someone asks me if I am going to the LA County Fair. I believe it is the largest county fair in the US, at least I heard that once. Every year I say, maybe I'll go next year. We went when the girls were little, and Liesl had a pony ride and Claire liked her ride on the Thummer the Pig ride.

What's different this year is that there are no fireworks every night at 10:00 like there have been for years.

Claremont Has an Official Flower

Today I read in the Claremont Courier that the Claremont Community Foundation has declared that the Sticky Monkey Flower is now Claremont's official flower. It is a native plant which is pretty hearty. The photo on the left is the monkey flower we have in our backyard. Since it is not flowering at the moment, the picture on the right shows the bloom.

A Sweet Reward

Today was my first day back to teaching music for the fall. I taught 2nd-6th graders for about 3 hours, and I remembered that it takes a little getting used to after a summer off. The classes went very well for the most part, and I really enjoy seeing the kids and teaching music again. I'm just a little tired tonight.

Fortunately, Hal's department had a luncheon today with food from the Delhi Palace Express, and there were leftovers for dinner, so we didn't have to cook!

Further Adventures in Murakami-Land

While in Oregon last month, Liesl's housemate, Joe, loaned me Dance Dance Dance by Murakami. I didn't exactly read it on the way home, but I did just finish it now. I have the hardest time not only trying to explain Murakami's style, but why, exactly it is that I like it. Perhaps because it is so different than other books I read, or that the characters, though often very similar throughout all his novels, intrigue me. I'm not sure exactly, but I will continue to read his books.

Art from the Heart

Tonight was our church's annual fundraising hoopla - Art from the Heart. We have a silent and live auction, music, food and lots of fun. The most exciting live auction event was for a 1975 Karmen Ghia which ended up going for $7500. It was worth attending just to see the action.

More Monks

Harkening back to my post from a week ago, today I once again thought about monastic life. This time I watched the film Into Great Silence which is more a meditation than a film, and it certainly has no plot. For two and a half hours we watch as the monks of the Grande Chartreuse in the French Alps go about their daily lives as the seasons change. Spoken words are rare. Time certainly has a different meaning than it does to the rest of the modern world.

Another Passing

I was saddened to hear of the death of Mary Travers yesterday. Peter, Paul, and Mary were some of my childhood heroes. We had several of their records which I would listen to at bedtime on my Sears record player next to my bed. Mary's voice was particularly enchanting to me. I listened and listened to her harmonies, and soon I could sing along with her, paving the way for my own alto singing.

I heard the trio sing live at Ravinia, in Chicago, while living in Wisconsin during grad school. Their music will always be magical for me.

No. 1

Yesterday the first season of the HBO series The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency came out on DVD, and today the little red Netflix envelope came in my mailbox with the first disk. Since Hal never got into the series, I decided to watch it while he umpired.

I really liked the first two episodes, and I will probably try to get Hal to watch the other ones (5 more) with me. I think the acting is great, and it says mostly true to the books, although there are a few extra characters. I feel as though the spirit of the story is carried through, and I love the scenery and the music.

Garden Success

I've had various successes and failures with my new vegetable garden this summer. One success is my basil. Plentiful. So, tonight I made pesto and used it on pasta. I use walnuts instead of pine nuts and toast them in the toaster oven before they hit the food processor.

Put in My Place

This is the week where the music teachers make the rounds at the elementary schools to give assemblies to the upper graders. We try to engender enthusiasm and interest in playing an instrument in our program. At my first assembly today, I went with the high school music teacher who also teaches in this program - a nice young man. After the assembly, two girls stood around and asked questions until I sent them back to their room. They managed to come back to ask "one more question." "Is he your son?" they wanted to know. Sheesh. I wonder how old I look to them.....

Be Thou My Vision

This morning Edris and I played violin/viola duets for the ministry faire at church. We garnered the 9:00 - 9:15 a.m. slot when not many people were milling about. Hal, however, was there as our roadie and filmed the four hymns that I had arranged for violin and viola. I put one of them up on youtube - Be Thou My Vision. Also performed were Precious Lord, I Will Arise and Go to Jesus, and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.

One of these days I plan to make a better recording of some of my arrangements for public consumption.

At 10:30 when the sanctuary had substantially more people, I sang with the women's chorus - the Amazing Grace version that we sang last spring, also on my youtube site.

Passing

This summer Claremont lost (at least) two treasures. I already wrote about Willard Hunter. Another loss was Carol Schowalter, El Roble English teacher. Mrs. Schowalter taught both my daughters in jr. high, probably one of the most influential teachers they had throughout their years in Claremont schools. They worked extremely hard for her and learned so much. Her page-long obituary appeared here in the Claremont Courier.

A Spiritual Geography

Liesl gave me this book - Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris. She had read it in her Christianity class in college. The best way to read this book, I found, was in small segments, like a daily devotional. It provides a stark contrast to the lives of urban and suburban folks and once again showed me how life is so fast now, and that riches can be reaped in the slowing down of daily living. The part I enjoyed the most was her interactions with the Benedictine monks and the new perspectives they gave her.

Cha Cha Cha!

Hal and I had our first dance class at HMC yesterday. We learned the beginning basics of the cha cha cha, and learned what shoes we should actually wear. Next time I'm going to wear my high heels....

Poltergeist?

About 1:10 this morning, our bedroom light came on, all by itself. It's a light attached to a ceiling fan. It has done this before, starting about 2-3 weeks ago. Then it will not do it for several days or a week, and then, it decides to wake us up. Hmmmm.....

Egads!

Today's mail brought a nice letter from Italy saying that we have a Notice of Payment Before the Notification because our rental vehicle "Circulated in Limited Traffic Area Without Authorization." We can easily take care of the 106 euro fine with a credit card online. After scouring the web, I found that this is quite common, especially in Florence (where we did drive on the date specified), but now I am a little concerned that more Notice of Payments will arrive in the mailbox since these things can continue to arrive for up to a year after you leave Italy. It's hard enough to drive in Italy (Florence especially) without getting lost, without driving into Limited Traffic Areas without even realizing it. I would think that a circle with a line through it would be a more universal symbol.

Another Year of Orchestra Begins

Tonight I carried my viola over to Garrison Theater for our first rehearsal of the year. We are playing Sibelius' Finlandia, Hindemith's Mathis der Maler, and Haydn's Harmoniemesse for our October concert. I especially like the Hindemith, and it has some juicy stuff for viola.

Art Exhibit

Yesterday Hal and I took a look at the Montgomery Art Center at Pomona College. Right now they have an exhibit called The New Normal. The art in this exhibit only made sense to me after reading the information about it, and then I found it quite interesting. This traveling exhibit is free and here until October 18.

Buyer Beware!

So, thanks to the lady at the Village Postmark (with backup support from Hal), I have successfully averted being taken in by a scam! Suffice it to say that I will NOT be buying a Macbook Pro from England anytime soon. Read about craigslist scams here.

The right tool for the job

I am in the process of finding a used, but fairly new Mac laptop. My trusty Mac desktop is going strong after 4 years, but I would really like to have a laptop to take to school. I am already creating powerpoints for my upper grade classes. I would love to be able to show short videos as well as visuals in order to reach and interest these kids.

I found several on craigslist, but usually they were too old, too expensive, or already sold. I did find one that I just might get, but the owner is now in the UK. She said she couldn't sell it there, for various reasons (most Brits don't want the American version), so we're working on a third party company to see if I like it, after she ships it to me.

Stay tuned, and hope that I can also get a computer projector for school!

Magical Thinking

I hadn't read any Neil Gaiman for awhile, so I checked out Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions from the library. I generally prefer novels over short stories, but I did like a number of these strange tales. Stardust is still my favorite Gaiman, at this point.

Happy Birthday!

Today my first-born turns 24! Happy Birthday to you, Liesl!

Gamelan!

Yesterday I went to the first rehearsal of the year for the Harvey Mudd College Gamelan, along with 7 students and two profs. In 1997 I played in the Pomona College Gamelan for a semester, but this one is different in that we read music instead of learning by rote. I thought that might be easier, but it actually isn't, at least at first. I have to learn which notes are which on the various instruments instead of just calling them by a number name. I started out on an instrument reading bass clef and then tried one out in treble.

This is a picture from my first gamelan concert in 97. I'm on the left in the middle row.

Video on Youtube

Thanks to our media guy, Bob, I have a copy of our church music from Sunday, Aug. 23. We put up the postlude - Precious Lord, Take My Hand - on youtube for perusal.