Year-End Entertainment Round-Up

I feel as though I should make some sort of "the year that was" post for this New Year's Eve. Since we went to see The Hobbit last night, I thought I would look back on the movies, tv, and books that entertained me this year.

First of all, Home Performance Matters, the company that did our house's energy retrofit, invited all its clients and staff and their families to see The Hobbit at the Laemmle all together last night. We started out with hot drinks and cookies on the Plaza (it was cold!), and then we trooped into theater 4 (the big one), nearly filling all 250 seats.

I agree with all the reviews I heard - too long, too much gore, but also great cgi, costumes, good acting, and fun for Tolkien fans. I can't believe there will be two more movies to finish this book.

The Hobbit brings our movies-in-the-theater number to 8 for this year. That number seems high and low. High, because we used to see about 2 movies in the theater every year before the Laemmle came to Claremont, but low compared to past years at the Laemmle. We need to remedy that.

As for television, we watched through 4 full series thanks mostly to the public library. We are waiting to watch more of Treme, Downton Abbey and The Good Wife.

This year I read 43 books. Two books were the second go-round, two were audio books, and I gave seven of them stars. That number is a little lower for me than usual, but some of the books were quite long.

Here's to a new year of stories!

Wedding

Most of the weddings I attend these days involve my participation on some level. Usually I am playing in a string trio or something, and this summer I got to be the mother of the bride. This year I attended two weddings where I was a mere guest, and that was pretty fun. Last night was one of these two. I love how each wedding is so different and reflects the personalities of the couple. I've known Brian, the groom, since we moved to Claremont when he was just two. His wedding was at Padua Hills Theatre which is a lovely venue. Thank goodness it was inside since last night was pretty chilly.

Dearie

You might think that with all the talk I give to food in this blog that I would be a big fan of the Food Network. Not so much. Although I love to eat and try different kinds of food, I am not so much a kitchen enthusiast.  Besides, I don't think it's fun to watch people make something that I cannot eat - please pass that to me right through the tv.

So, although I knew who Julia Child was, I don't think I'd ever really watched any of her shows. I did see her kitchen at the Smithsonian, but I really didn't know anything about her. I take that back, I had seen the movie Julie & Julia, so I knew a little bit about her.

Next month our book club is discussing Bob Spitz's biography of Julia which I just finished reading. It is not quite as long as her first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking (684 pages), but it comes close.

At first I wasn't sure how I was going to get through the book. It starts out very slowly with lots and lots of details that I will never recall with some main points that are repeated throughout the book too much. Julia loved to eat. She loved, loved, loved to eat. Julia had great disagreements with her father. They never saw eye to eye on many issues. They had a hard time talking about issues with each other. Etc.

However, by the time I got to the part where she was writing her first book, living in Paris and other European places, I slowed down and enjoyed the story. I also liked learning about how she put together her first cooking show for WGBH. She got $50 per show for The French Chef, and I think I remember reading that she had to buy the groceries herself. I found her marriage to Paul Child interesting, too.

At this point in the story, I checked out Julie & Julia from the library to rewatch, and I started looking online to see if I could see any of her early shows. For a book I was trudging through at the beginning, I seemed to have become engulfed during the process.

However, after that middle third of the book, I once again started skimming parts. I do not remember how many different iterations of her tv shows that she went through, but they were numerous and all seemed to run together for me.

This book, though comprehensive, needs a great deal more editing. It took Julia years to get her first book right, and she might have been the best editor for this one. Read the 3 star reviews on Amazon which mirror my feelings about the book.

Taking Time to Play

For his birthday last month, I gave H a Star Wars Lego set. He knew that he would have time to put it together over Winter Break, so here we are, and the building has begun this afternoon. I think we need to take more time to just play.

The Getty Villa

Yesterday we took a little field trip to the Getty Villa in Malibu. B is writing his dissertation and one of his chapters has a small section about this museum, but he had never been, so it was a perfect opportunity to go.  We left the cloudy, rainy, cold weather of Claremont and had a perfectly sunny time in Malibu. Of course I was happy to try out my new camera lens. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the museum.

Christmas 2012 Wrap-Up

Reading over my past years' posts on Christmas, I see how helpful it has been to make note of what we did to celebrate since we are entering the years of new traditions, or no tradition at all. This blog post is purely for my own benefit, and I thank you your indulgence.

When I woke up and checked Facebook, I was not surprised to see so many posts about what people had already done - kids with presents, stockings, etc. Now that we have no one in our family under the age of 24, we can take a very leisurely approach to the day. H and I went to the gym and saw about 2 people the whole time. By the time we had returned and showered, it was time for C and B to arrive with muffins, and by 11:30 we had finally managed to open the stocking and gifts as well as have a nice Skype chat with L and C in Oregon.

It was time, then, to have a light lunch of cheese from the Cheese Cave and other delightful nibbles, and then we were not hungry, so we put off working on the turkey to later. We chatted with the family in Iowa, played some Words with Friends, heard that our Colorado family had been stricken with intestinal flu and were lying low for the day.

One thing we enjoyed about the day were looking at old photos from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Here are a few gems from Christmases past.

Santa brought me a new 50 mm lens for my camera, so I had fun taking pictures of the food. C and B really worked on the turkey, hacking at it to "butterfly" it, and when it was all done (in just a few hours), it was quite delicious. 

All in all, I was just happy to have a relaxed day with people I love so very much.

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Christmas Eve in the Kitchen

After a rousing yoga class this morning (27 people in one small room! - that's what you get for offering a free class...), daughter C and I put aside the afternoon for baking for tomorrow. We tried to use every baking dish or bowl at least twice. I think we succeeded. First we started with the zwiebach (pictured here), making only a half batch since there will be only four for Christmas dinner tomorrow. We also made our favorite company potatoes (dairy products with some potatoes thrown in for good measure) and started the pumpkin pie. Tomorrow will be the turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and brussell sprouts.

If it sounds a lot like Thanksgiving, then you get the idea of what we like around here....

Small Town Life

Having raised our girls and lived in Claremont for over 25 years, it has been fun to see our daughters' friends and peers grow up and become their own people. There's nothing like Christmas to see all these young adults come home (if they aren't here already) and to check in with them.

This weekend I talked to friends whose daughter I knew as a child who is now a new mother herself. I will soon be attending a wedding of a friend who I've known since he was 4. Two of my daughters' very good friends are living in Claremont and singing in the women's choir at church with me. I spoke tonight with one young woman who is in her second year of a PhD program in chemistry and her brother who is living in France doing physics research. Etc.

In church this morning we were treated to the singing of Devon Guthrie, who I've known since her childhood. She is a recent graduate of Julliard and is now a professional opera singer who is happy to be back in Claremont with her family for the holidays.

Holiday P.O.

This is the scene I found when I drove by the post office just now. I believe the reason the people were taking so long to deposit their mail was that each of the four boxes was stuffed to the gills. Note that on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 the last time for pick up will be 3:00, not 5:00.

Everything Old is New Again

Well, maybe not everything, but in this season of buying new things, we have recently put some effort into things that we are not ready to give up for a newer model.

On Sunday while at a stoplight, we noticed billows of steam coming from under our trusty 1998 Camry's hood. The diagnosis was that we needed a new radiator. Tuesday morning the car went in, and Tuesday afternoon the car came out all happy, only $300 later.

My 4-year-old MacBook laptop started frustrating me with how slowly it was running. H reinstalled the operating system and now it runs much better. Then he took it into the Mac dealer to replace the cracked outer casing which was still under warranty. They must have cleaned up the keyboard, as well, and this old computer feels much better (for free!). I like using the slightly older OS because it runs some of the software that the new Mountain Lion system does not run.

Continuing on the computer front, while on jury duty on Monday, H had plenty of time to do some quality internet searching. He was able to solve the problem of previously mentioned Mountain Lion OS not running the printer driver to our old inkjet Canon printer. We like this printer, and now we can continue using it.

So, no new printer, laptop, or car under the Christmas tree, and no old printer, laptop and car needing a new home or heading toward a landfill....

Sushi Takumi

As per our custom, we went out for lunch on concert weekend on Sunday. This time I had a hankering for Indian food, and we yelped to see if we could find a new one. We saw that the little place in Upland at Foothill and Campus has a new name (new ownership?), so we drove there to find that although yelp said they opened at 12:30 on Sunday, the sign on the door said 1:00. (Who opens for lunch at 1:00?) I was ready with a second suggestion, and we stopped at Sushi Takumi on Foothill in front of Lowe's. 

Yelpers give it 3.5 stars, so we didn't have high expectations. The staff was very friendly, and the service was good. The sushi tasted fine, but it was not the best we've had. I would say that the 3.5 was a pretty fair assessment. My go-to is a spider roll. I like tempura crab, and this gives me something with which to compare head-to-head with various places. 

Annual Chemistry Study Break

The Claremont Colleges are on a late schedule this year, so it felt much colder walking to the annual Chemistry Dept. study break last night. Well, it really was colder than it has been in the past. As usual, the students enjoyed treats prepared by their profs and then commenced to decorate cookies to get prizes. 

Students working very hard. As usual.

All the entries on top of the piano.

This one won one of the prizes and was my favorite.

This one was pretty.

This was one of the ones with a chemistry theme.

Black Cat in the Garden

I do not know if this cute little black cat belongs to anyone around here, but it would seem to me that it does. The fur is nice and glossy. He/she (I have not checked) hangs around our house, our back house, and the neighbors. Today I saw her (I'll take a guess at the gender) napping in our garden, next to the lettuce and on top of the very little snap peas.

This kitty seems to want your attention by coming around and meowing at you, but as soon as you put your hand down to pet her, she skitters back, although if you have patience and wait for her to come to you, she'll let you pet her eventually.

Methodist Church Nativity

On my way home from Trader Joe's this morning, I noticed that the Claremont United Methodist Church has put up their nativity scene. At first I thought that the man in the hoodie was someone looking very closely at the scene until I realized he was part of the scene. Then I thought that the fence around the manger was to thwart vandals (given what happened last year), but then, of course, I figured out that the fence is representative of the borders keeping out the undocumented. Now that I look at the photos, I see that there is a sign with some kind of explanation that I did not bother to read. I will have to go back to check it out.

Community Close and Far

We feel so helpless in this time of national tragedy. What can we do to support the people of the tight-knit community devastated by the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut?

A Claremont UCC member contacted the Congregational church in Newtown and got a list of addresses where anyone can send cards of condolences and healing thoughts to not only the people of that church, but to Sandy Hook Elementary School as well as the first responders, most of whom are volunteers.

Please send your own note of love and compassion to the church, the school, and the first responders. The addresses are:

Sandy Hook Elementary
12 Dickinson Drive, Sandy Hook, CT 06482

Newtown Congregational Church

14 West Street, Newtown, CT 06470

Newtown Police Department
3 Main Street, Newtown, CT 06470

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company
P.O. Box 783, Sandy Hook, CT 06482

Hawleyville Fire Company
Hawleyville Road, Hawleyville, CT 06440

Botsford Fire Recue
P.O. Box 335, Botsford, CT 06404

Newtown Hook and Ladder
45 Main Street, Newtown, CT 06470

Dodingtown Fire Companty
55 Dodgintown Road, Newtown, CT 06470

The Sense of an Ending

Our next book club meeting will discuss Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending. We will have much to discuss. I knew from the first page that something was up with the narrator when he said, "but what you end of remembering isn't always the same as what you have witnessed."

This is my first Julian Barnes novel, and I am going to read more. On the one hand, this book was an easy read, and if I'd had the time, I would have tried to do it in one sitting. It's only 167 pages. Did I say easy? I meant quick. And yet, now that I am finished with it, I think I want to reread it because so many questions go unanswered. I found a blog which speculates on some of these mysteries, and so many people posted comments that I feel as though I have already gone through one book club discussion.

No spoilers here, folks. I just recommend that your book clubs choose this one if they haven't already.

So Long and Farewell, Stone Center

 It is with great sadness that I heard last night that the George G. Stone Center for Children's Books (The Stone Library) will be closing its doors for good. The last day for the public to come is next Wednesday, Dec. 19. The library has been a part of CGU's School of Educational Studies since 1962, and it has been a part of our lives since we moved here in 1986. Declines in patronage and use by the Teacher Education Program and a shift in academic emphases have "finally forced the question of long-term sustainability of the library," said the Dean of the School of Educational Studies in a letter to the CGU community.

My daughters grew up reading in this wonderful treasure of a library. We would come after nap times and spend a hour or so reading books and checking out a stack to take home. It's here where we first learned about Harry Potter and The Golden Compass books. Carolyn Angus, the library director, was always ready with some of the very best book recommendations that we had. We loved the new and used book sales, the friends we made and met in the cozy space.

Although I don't read many children's books anymore, I will certainly miss knowing that this very special place will no longer be there.

The first home we knew for this collection of the books was this building on 10th St.

A number of years ago, the library moved to its current location on College Ave.

Here is the room with picture books and I Can Read books.

Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta

I have not tried a new recipe for a while, but I made this couscous salad Tuesday night from Cooking Light, and it was delicious. I will probably take it to book club one of these times. It can be vegan if you leave out the feta cheese, and it is vegetarian as it is, but you could add chicken if you'd like. You don't need the chicken since this has plenty of protein, though. I used red wine vinegar instead of the white wine vinegar, and I don't think it made a big difference.

Guasalmex

I do not know if I have blogged about Guasalmex - a pupuseria in Pomona near the corner of Garey and Holt. We had not been there in a long time, and after the wedding Lynn and I played last Friday we decided to pick up our husbands and go out to eat. They had never been here, and it sounded good to them, so we inaugurated them to the deliciousness that is a pupusa. 

Not only do we like the food, but the people who run it are extremely friendly and chatty, and though they were supposed to close at 7:00 (and we wandered in at 6:40), they did not rush us nor make us feel, in any way, that we were difficult for them. 

This is a photo of special #8 - a pork and cheese pupusa, black beans and rice, and plantains.

Another Little Free Library

People are now alerting me whenever they see a new Little Free Library in Claremont, and now I know of 5. The newest one I know about is on Harvard across the street from Wolfe's. 

Instant Hot Water

In our continuing effort to conserve water and energy, H installed a hot water circulating pump in the bathrooms and kitchen. When the pump is working, we get nearly instantaneous hot water from the faucet/shower head so that we don't have to run the water for a minute or more waiting for it to get hot. At first he had it set on a timer to run for several hours in the morning. Then he figured out how to use a remote control to turn the pump on and off. Now, when we turn it on, we wait for 1-2 minutes before turning on the tap, and we get our hot water.

In order to remember to turn it back off when we are done, we have devised a system. After turning on, we turn the remote control upside down, and when we turn it off, we flip it to the right side up, as seen in this photo.

Annual Voyager Christmas

Last year the Voyager Christmas party did not conflict with any of my concerts, and, for the second year in a row, it did not this year, either! Our instructions are always to bring a consumable White Elephant gift, and this year, the gift in the highest demand was a gift certificate to the Laemmle Theater.  We did not walk out with that gift certificate, but we did manage to snag one from the Cheese Cave. We also came home with a gift from someone (who remains mysterious) that was not consumable. At least I shall not try to eat it. It is a Mr. 7 Hands tool which requires 2 AA batteries (sold separately).

Fleur de Lis Chapel

Yesterday Lynn and I played in a wedding at the Fleur de Lis Chapel in Upland on 18th St. I had never heard of this place, but it is a lovely venue for a wedding. From the website I learned, 

"The Chapel is recognized as a California State Historic building.  It was constructed in 1910 as the Saint Mark's Episcopal Church on the north-east corner of Euclid Avenue at "F" Street in Upland.

When the congregation eventually left for a larger home, the entire building was given to the Chaffey Communities Cultural Center and was transported to its current location in 1966 in three sections."

Friday Photo

In honor of the holiday season and that classic Christmas movie, here is Claremont's own tribute to It's a Wonderful Life. You can think about this movie every time you pass this house on 8th St. between Harvard and College.

Sinterklaas

It's December! And yesterday (or today) in some European low countries, that means that St. Nick, or Sinterklaas visited children and filled their shoes with goodies last night. The kindergarteners at Vista have been learning about December holidays for many years now, and yesterday Sinterklaas visited Rooms 1 and 2 and left some candy in their shoes.