Nick Hornby

In search of a book to choose for April's book club, I read Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby. I had enjoyed Hornby's About a Boy, but this one wasn't as captivating for me. It starts out strong with an obsession about a recluse 80s rock musician who was not too famous. But about halfway through, it seems to just be people stuck in their messed-up lives with no chance of change. I didn't dislike this book, but I probably won't remember much about it in a year.

Buzztime Trivia

One of my volunteer efforts this year is to organize about 4 Carleton alum events per year for the Inland Empire. Last fall we had a potluck BBQ, and today we competed in a trivia game with 14 other Carleton clubs across the country. Seven of us gathered at Tequila Hoppers in Upland where you can get a game box and answer trivia questions that appear on a screen. The faster you answer correctly, the more points you get. Well, our LA club didn't win, but certainly had fun!

February Day in Claremont

So, it's a beautiful sunny February day in Southern California. It's perfect for sitting outside in the yard to eat lunch. Except. Except the wood chipper is going full tilt about a block away, and the gardeners across the street are whackin' weeds and mowing the grass. Ah, serenity.

Expanded Orchestra

Every year I start the off the school year off with a small orchestra at Vista. Then, after the February concert, I invite all the beginning string students to join orchestra. Today was our first rehearsal of all students with 100% attendance! We were nine strong, and now we have 21!

Hooray!

This fall several teachers and I wrote a Best Bet Grant proposal for a multimedia projector that I could use for teaching. We didn't get the grant, but about a month ago, my great principal found some money to order 4 projectors for the school, one earmarked for me. This means that every time I want to use one, I don't have to go around the school and borrow one that's not being used.

The projectors came yesterday, and I can start using it today!

Claremont Library

I haven't checked out a picture book at the Claremont Library for many years now, but today I wanted a copy of Peter and the Wolf to read to my 2nd graders. The online directory said that two copies were available, so I set out to find one of them. It used to be that all the A's were in one section, B's the next, but with no order other than that. To my delight, I found that they are now alphabetized with the first three letters of the author's last name and kept in order!

CUSD Calendar

Our school district sends out robo calls occasionally with various information. I get the ones for the music program, but usually not others since I am a consultant, and not an employee, for the district. Last night I got what I assume was for every phone number they have in the directory. For the first time since I've been involved in the district (starting as a parent in 1990), school will start before Labor Day this fall. This year it will begin on Tuesday, August 31. I'm curious as to what other changes will come to the calendar. Maybe we'll take off the day before Thanksgiving?

Lenten Book Discussion

Claremont UCC will be discussing The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan during Lent. Like other Borg books I've read, this one gives the reader an historical context to help us understand the Bible as the original readers would have.

We have the opportunity to attend one of three discussions each week - Sunday mornings, Wednesday mornings, Wednesday evenings. The book will also serve as the basis for Sunday sermons during Lent.

Egads! Redux

Just as I had feared in my Sept. 8, 2009 post. Arriving in the mail, THREE more traffic violations from Italy from our trip LAST March. Two at 107 euros, one at 111 euros. We're out another $450 as the price for getting lost. Twice in Arezzo and once in Siena. Factor in the first ticket of $150 from Florence, we could have ridden trains all over the place.

String Student Concert

The string students of the Claremont USD can be very proud of the work they have done so far this year. We had a great concert last night at the El Roble gym. We had over 80 beginning strings, over 40 in the Elementary Orchestra and about 40 in the El Roble Orchestra. Here I am conducting our orchestra favorite - Dragon Slayer.

Caught in the Act!

Aha! I caught this little squirrel nibbling on one of our tangerines this morning. I am going to be a little more vigilant in picking up the fruit from the ground since these little squirrels are messy eaters and don't clean up their peels when they are finished!

Collision of Holidays

In honor of Valentine's Day, we went out for dinner. In honor of the Lunar New Year (Year of the Tiger), we ate at one of the best Thai restaurants around - Bangkok Blue in LaVerne. Knowing we didn't have a reservation, we went out to dinner early, and it's a good thing we did. We found a table right away, but by the time we left, the place was full. I had beef panang tonight, and it was fabulous. I have just enough left for lunch tomorrow, too!

Sunny Weekend

After chilly and rainy weather for the past month or so (it's hard to remember just how long), the sky is blue, and the temps have reached into the 70s today. Mother Nature must know that it's parents weekend at the Claremont Colleges. I took a little walk through several campuses today and saw a myriad of activities as well as a multitude of strolling people - parents with nametags and students leading them around.

Watch your Carry-on Luggage

Here is a local story from the LA Times. A Pomona College physics major is suing the TSA for violation of "his rights to free speech and protection against unreasonable search and seizure" after they found Arabic flashcards in his carry-luggage.

Where the Winter is Real

While California has been having its share of winter weather in the form of rain storms and mudslides, the east coast has been ground to a halt. Claire's school was closed down on Monday, Wednesday, and today, although they've managed to have some kind of food available. She sent me this picture of the view from her room. It doesn't really show the depth of the snow. This is the first real wild snow weather Claire has experienced, and I asked her what she thought about it. She said she was about done with it.

*later* Turns out school is closed tomorrow, too.

I Hope I Get a Letter

In First Grade today, we did one of my favorite lessons. We have a letter carrier go around the circle while the class sings. The letter carrier gives a choice of envelopes to the person where they stop, and the student looks inside the envelope, reads the number written on the valentine, goes to the drum in the center of the room and looks at the various rhythms on the board and chooses the one matching the number from the valentine. They play that rhythm and chose a student to guess/say which rhythm was played. If they say the correct one, they are the next letter carrier.

Orffin'

On Saturday, in the rain, Lynn and I attended an Orff workshop geared for teachers of the youngest children. We had lots of fun, and here I am dancing down the alley with the presenter.

Hey Blue!

Hal got called at the last minute to ump a NCAA D-3 double header this afternoon, and it was just down the street at Pomona College. The Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens played the Patten University Lions. I left the game scoreless as I had to leave to teach my Monday string classes, but it was great to be out in the sun.

Super Bowl - Super Chili

As per Hal's request - Chicken Chipotle Chili for watching the Superbowl. I added a Fat Tire Beer (brewed in Fort Collins, CO) to complement my bowl.

Video Stores

I wonder how long video stores will be around. And yet, I found myself at Claremont's Video Paradiso today. Season 3 of The Tudors came out in December, and we watched the first disc from Netflix. Since then, the second disc has been listed as Long Wait, even though it has set atop the top of my queue. I got tired of waiting, so I set foot in this brick-and-mortar store and got my instant gratification.

Ted

Need some inspiration? Got some time? Log onto ted.com. Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED is a private, non-profit foundation which holds conferences focusing on ideas worth spreading. Videos from these conferences are available on the website on a wide variety of ideas. Last night I watched this one: "Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister takes the audience on a whimsical journey through moments of his life that made him happy -- and notes how many of these moments have to do with good design."

Book Club Book

Next week our book club will discuss the bestselling book, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. We usually choose books out in paperback, but the buzz about this novel was so great, and some have been itching to discuss it, so it rose to the top of the list. Although it's over 400 pages, it didn't take me long to finish it. I had to find out what would happen next. The characters are real and compelling, the issues seem fresh, even though it was set in the early 60s. My mother's book club spent their whole discussion of race relations and didn't even get to the book. I know our discussion will be great.

Similar Words

So, we were chatting with my daughter this weekend, and we told her how well our lettuce was growing. She wanted to know what kind we had planted, and I said that one of the varieties was mesculun. Huh? She said, that sounds like peyote. I knew it wasn't hallucinogenic, so I finally looked it up. We planted a mesclun mix, and mescaline is peyote.

Mariana Cook

Ansel Adams' last protégé, Mariana Cook, spoke at the CMC Atheneum tonight. Although she also enjoys landscape photography, she spoke tonight about her portraits, a number of which you can see at her website. Her work is quite inspiring.

A Great Valentine Gift

Look closely at the blue bumper sticker that I see when I come home from the gym. Should I get one for Hal for Valentine's Day?