Unexpected Spring Break Activity

When people asked me last week what I might be doing for spring break, I told them I planned on just hanging out at home, reading and relaxing.

Then the dentist had another idea for me. I had scheduled a teeth cleaning, and the hygienist told me that it had been 5 years since my full-mouth x-rays. In the past 5 years, Dr. Valdez has gotten new toys in his office, so I actually took a few new tests to go along with the x-rays, including a full-head, 3-D scan. Pretty soon I was handed a referral to an endodontist for a root canal. Having heard horror stories about this procedure, my heart started beating fast. However, I am such a good patient, that I followed through immediately.

Yesterday I went in for a consultation with Dr. Shimazu and he asked me how my afternoon schedule looked, so without much time to get too worked up about it, I went home for lunch and went back for the 2-hour torture procedure.

I have to say, I had no pain whatsoever. I did not enjoy having to spend 2 hours with my mouth open, and I really did not like how much it cost (and I still need to get a crown on that tooth), but I found Dr. Shimazu very kind with clear communication about what he was going to do, and why it is crucial to take care of this problem.

I went home and gave myself the rest of the afternoon to just vegetate in front of the tv and eat yogurt and a smoothie. Today I am feeling good, but treating that side of my mouth with great tenderness and still taking ibuprofen.

California Fibers Art Exhibition

I organized a girls' day out with a friend to visit an art exhibit of the California Fibers group at Soka University in Aliso Viejo. How I even knew about this exhibit, let alone the University, is that another friend of mine has a piece in the exhibit. We had no idea what this exhibit might entail. Would we spend five minutes there after an hour's drive? Actually, we spent a good deal of time enjoying the 66 pieces from 22 artists before we took a leisurely stroll through the campus.

These first two photos are of my friend's work - a comprehensive photo and a close-up of Altarpiece. You can read about her work at her website here.

I was taken with many of the pieces which look one way from a distance and have amazing detail up close (like a pointillist painting).

A number of works seemed to draw heavily on biological themes.

Many works were large, and with all their detail, it must have taken hours and hours and months of work.

Orfeo

Not my favorite book.

This book is supposed to be derived from the Orpheus myth. I didn't see it, unless it's as simple as Orpheus being a musician, as the main character of this one is. Reviewers have remarked that Powers writes from his head, but not his heart, and I would have to agree with that in this novel.

Mostly I had a hard time with descriptions of music since I think that music is its own language with different truths. Here is just one clunky example from the novel trying to describe music. "The piece was simplicity itself: a triplet-driven, Phrygian figure in the high voices, while beneath, arpeggios moved in contrary motion, in wide slow waves. Each new entry took the evolving figure into higher registers. The blend strained toward something archaic, a folk tune an ethnographer might find in a remote mountain village of a failing monarchy, to bring back to his studio in the decadent capital and flesh out with volunteer harmonies."

I have no idea what that means. I mean, I understand what triplets, Phrygian, waves, etc. mean, but it doesn't tell me about the music. Especially since the paragraph starts out saying that the music was simplicity itself. The description doesn't sound like the music is simple.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that my biologist daughter would not approve of the science writing, either.

More Gardens

After enjoying RSABG, we toured 5 private gardens and here are some of my favorite photos.

RSABG Exhibits

This year's Garden Tour, a CUCC fundraiser, started out at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden. Even though I have been through the garden on countless occasions, there seems to be something new every season, so we had to check out the new sculptures, the wildflowers, as well as the fabulous exhibit in the container garden. Here are some of my favorite shots.

Twice into LA in One Day

When we first moved to Claremont, we rarely went into downtown Los Angeles. The freeways intimidated us, we weren't exactly sure what we might want to see, and we didn't have much extra spending money at the time. All those things have slowly changed over the past 28 years, and now we think nothing of either hopping on the 10 or buying a Metrolink ticket.

Yesterday I went into downtown twice. First time was with the CUSD string students for our 5th annual field trip to the LA Phil for Minimalist Jukebox: Toyota Symphonies for Youth: Finding Patterns in Music. As usual, we had a great time with the students, although some of them wondered "when the real music will start" after listening to the first few minimalist pieces. You can read about last year's field trip here.

We arrived back in Claremont around 2:00, giving me a little breathing time before heading back downtown for an HMC event at the California Club. I had never been to the exclusive California Club before, and I made sure to follow the strict dress code so I wouldn't have to sit in the car during the dinner. Once in awhile I enjoy getting dressed up and going to a fancy place to eat good food in interesting company. 

Vista's Green Team - Follow-Up

Last night two of Vista's fabulous 5th graders made a pitch to the Claremont Community and Human Services Commission for funds for the Vista Garden. Here they are, making last-minute adjustments to the speech they gave with the teacher leader of Vista's Green Team. I blogged about this project in January, noting that Vista was participating in the Grades of Green Trash-Free Lunch Challenge. As one of 23 schools in LA County, we found out recently that we were in the top three. Perhaps this video helped us get to the top....Yesterday the officials from the program visited the school and by the end of the day we found out that Vista had won first place! 

Council Chambers

Here is a video of the girls speaking before the commissioners. I am so proud of how they spoke clearly and with obvious enthusiasm for their work on the Green Team.

Humans Vs Zombies

On Tuesday I saw these students walking toward Honnold Library, and their bandanas altered me to the fact that this semester's round of Humans Vs Zombies is underway at the Claremont Colleges. You can read the entire set of rules for the colleges here.  You can see a short youtube video from a game in 2011 here. According to the official website, this game of "moderated tag" started at Goucher College in 2005. There is a link at that site to a documentary about HvZ which I have not seen, but may watch during spring break next week.

Vavara

I recently discovered that a friend of mine has started a blog. She lives near the ocean and walks along the shore daily, taking photos and posting not only a photo, but thoughts about life. Her site is called Vavara and her subtitle is Pondering the Ocean as Art.

Earthquake Damage

We certainly felt the La Habra earthquake last Friday night at 9:09. Here in our house we felt a jolt, a brief pause and then shaking for maybe 5 seconds (it felt longer). Nothing was disturbed in the house, or so I thought, until a few days later I saw this sad scene in the music room. Poor Mozart had fallen off of his stool, and his music stand was on the floor. I can't say I am used to earthquakes. They still make my heart flutter.