Daily Task

 In the fall, this tree next to the Vista music room is in full bloom with these pretty pink flowers.  Then said flowers fall, little by little, on to the ground right where the students walk.  When stepped on, they squish, almost like a banana.  So, every day before students arrive, you can find me out sweeping the walkway.

Oh, No!

Oh, no!  The Costco Food Court will be closed for about 2 weeks in order to remodel, starting today. What are we going to do for Saturday lunch for the next two weeks?????

Family Wedding

It was our pleasure to spend yesterday in Dallas celebrating the wedding of H's sister.  The ceremony was an intimate affair with family and some friends in attendance.  After the ceremony and photos, we all headed to Dunston's Steak House for a reception dinner.  We enjoyed the remainder of the evening chatting and catching up at their house before we headed off for some sleep and a morning flight back to California.

All Systems Go

This is the end of the first week of all of my classes.  Three weeks ago I started general music and this past Monday I started string classes.  The first week always wipes me out, but once I get going in the rhythm (so to speak), it's not as exhausting.

Check out my music blog to see one of the fun music activities I did with my upper grade students this week.

Let the Record Show

We had our first big rainstorm of the season yesterday.  Nice and early. We had our first district orchestra class yesterday afternoon, and it is usually quite hot for the first week or two of this class.  

Perhaps it was fitting that it was the day that Steve Jobs died.  What a life that gave us so much.

Moldy Water?

For the past week or so, our tap water has had a very moldy aftertaste which has made it difficult for me to drink.  I finally started asking around, and someone at book club last night told me that it has to do with an algae that is blooming and that it wasn't hazardous.  So, when I got home, I googled it and found this article.  I think it's time to finally get that water filter that I always keep meaning to buy to see if that helps with the taste.

Sunday in LA

After a very restful night at the Hotel Figueroa, we slept in and had a leisurely breakfast.  There was no hurry as the LA Co. Museum of Art (LACMA) does not open until 11:00 on Sundays.  As part of the exhibition called Pacific Standard Time, many art museums were free on Sunday.  This series of lampposts is an installation called Urban Light, just outside the museum, and it offers lots of photographic ideas.  I have put my artsier photos on my Flickr site under the LA album.

Our favorite exhibit was the Monet/Lichtenstein room which featured four Monets of the Rouen Cathedral, and then four Lichtensteins that interpret the Monets.  This photo is from the web here since we were not allowed to photograph that room.

 I also really liked this sculpture of a guitarist by Lipchitz.

 Late brunch/lunch at Real Food Daily in Beverly Hills.  These "egg" scrambles were quite delicious.  We've eaten at the RFD in Santa Monica and had to try out this one.

LA Trip - Part 2

After lunch we walked back to the LA Public Library where we wandered around and then rested and read magazines.  This is a picture of the rotunda and one of the murals that was saved when the library burned in 1986.

 After searching on the web for a hotel with a jacuzzi in downtown LA, I found the Hotel Figueroa where we booked a room.  This building, near the Staples Center, was originally a YMCA built in 1926 and has been decorated in a Moroccan theme.  We had booked a room with one king-size bed, but the one they had reserved for us had plumbing issues, so they upgraded us to a larger room.  We were on the 6th floor overlooking the pool and jacuzzi.  While the hotel does not have alarm clocks or free wi-fi, they do have a tv.

 Being hungry, we decided to walk across the street to LA Live to see what looked good for dinner.  We decided on the Yard House and enjoyed sitting outside while watching both the Wisconsin/Nebraska and Stanford/UCLA games on big screens.  Here is my Thai Noodle Salad.

 The Nokia Plaza/Staples Center area is quite brightly lit, kind of like Times Square in NYC and felt a little futuristic to us.  It is a grand place to sit and people-watch.

LA Weekend Getaway - Part One

For six years, H was on the advisory board for the Petroleum Research Fund.  That meant that three times a year, he would read a box full of proposals and then fly to the meeting place for the board and help his committee decide which proposals to fund.  The upside of this was that I got to go along with him, and thus we were able to travel to many places across the US, including Puerto Rico.  Now that his term on the board is over, we still get a hankering to travel someplace, especially at the end of September when we would normal go.

With this free weekend, we decided to take a trip into Los Angeles.  I particularly wanted to see things that we have not seen before. With our interest in history and architecture, we signed up for an historic downtown tour with the LA Conservancy.  First stop, Pershing Square where we were really glad we had a reservation when we saw throngs of people milling about.  Then we realized that these people were holding signs and dressed up and were probably not taking a Saturday tour.  It was some kind of protest about the economy.  Here is a youtube video that someone else put up on the web of the rally.

 The tour itself, 3 hours in all, gave us a much broader picture of some of the history of downtown LA than we had ever known before.  Our guide was quite knowledgable, and we saw parts of the city we have never seen before (in the 25 years we have lived in Claremont).

The end of the tour took us to the very famous Bradbury Building which looks nondescript from the outside, but quite amazing on the inside.  It was built the same year as the Columbian Exposition in Chicago - 1893.

This signature wrought-iron was made in France and was displayed at the Columbian Exposition before it arrived in Los Angeles.

 At the end of the tour, we headed into the Grand Central Market for lunch.

 Based on yelp reviews, we chose Tacos, Tumbras a Tomas for lunch (the long line confirmed that this was a popular place). We were not disappointed.

 Carne asada burrito that H could not finish.

 Birria tostada (goat meat) was particularly delicious.

Drowsy Maggie

Last night Lynn and I premiered our Celtic Duo, Drowsy Maggie, for Friday Nights Live! in front of City Hall.  Lots of our friends came by and we had a great time.