The Help

Even though school started yesterday, I don't start teaching for a few weeks, thus giving me a little extra time to prepare.  I took advantage of the free afternoon and took my daughter on a date to the Laemmle to see the wildly popular movie The Help.  I had enjoyed the book back in January, and every one of my friends who saw the movie recommended it.

It did not disappoint.  Even though the movie had to leave out interesting things from the book due to time constraints, I felt as though it was true to the spirit and arc of the plot.

I went on rottentomatoes.com to read the critics' reviews, and it seems that the people who did not like the movie had a problem with the story (the book) rather than the realization of the story on the screen.  That is another debate, but as a person who is usually leary of book adaptations to the screen, I was pleased with this one.

BTW, C was, by far, the youngest audience member.  She said, "the wheelchairs in here outnumber the under-30 set."  True!

New Year

I love a fresh start, and I am so glad that there are several opportunities each year to have a New Year.  (I usually like to restart the calendar New Year on Chinese - or Lunar - New Year, too.)  Today's the day with the first day of the new school year in Claremont for both the CUSD as well as the Claremont Colleges.  The cars were lined up outside our local school this morning, bells were ringing, college parking has spilled over into the residential areas (one thing I actually don't like about school) and it is hot out.

For the many years that my children went to CUSD schools, we always started after Labor Day, but last year and this, we have started the last day or two of August, bringing joy to many parents, I'm sure.  The other new part of our calendar this year includes the entire week of Thanksgiving off instead of only Thursday and Friday, and I think that we will all enjoy that week off, too.

Continuing Summer Construction

 I'm not sure if it's a sign that the economy is moving a bit, but after the streets in Historic Claremont were given the slurry seal this summer, now bits of sidewalk are being replaced in the same neighborhood.  Given that many people walk in this area, it's quite helpful to have sidewalks that are flat.

An LA Day

It has been sweltering hot for the past 4-5 days, so, of course, we took up the offer of free tickets to the Dodger game this afternoon when Rick and Mary Beth couldn't make it.  Fortunately, their seats are in the shade, so it wasn't unbearable.  The Dodgers put up a good effort against the Rockies, but couldn't make the sweep - losing 7-6 today.  With attendance so low these days, getting parking (an outrageous $15) was easy, and getting out of the parking lot after the game was even easier.

We wanted to go to Philippe's for french dip sandwiches after the game, but it was too early for our stomachs.  (We had lunch around 1:00, and we got to Philippe's by 5.)  So we settled for boysenberry pie à la mode for dinner which was perfect for the hot afternoon.  By the time we got home the house was 88 degrees inside.

Bing.com

When should one buy plane tickets?  It always seems to be a gamble.  You look at a particular flight while you make up your mind, and when you decide to purchase, the cost has magically increased.

I've heard that the best days to buy are Tuesdays-Thursdays, and the cheapest days to fly are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

This past week we've gotten the date to be in Dallas for a wedding, and on Monday when we looked at the flight that best fit our schedule, the price was, indeed, higher.  So I decided to look at bing.com/travel which has this feature that tells you whether the prices are likely to increase or decrease in the near future, and the engines told me to wait.  I kept checking back, and on Thursday the flights in in our sights were $100 less each person, so I saved $200 by having a little patience.  It also said that there was a 66% chance that tickets would continue to decrease, but I was happy to have already saved.  I guess I'm not a big gambler.

Machu Picchu

Since we visited Belize, Guatemala and Costa Rica, we have been dreaming about going further south into South America.  First thing on our list to see is Machu Picchu (a close second are the Galapagos Islands). We're not sure when we will actually get to make this trip, but hopefully sometime in the next few years.

While we are waiting for that time, we have both just finished Mark Adams' new book Turn Right at Machu Picchu.  Also, there have been big articles in the travel sections of the NY and LA Times recently since this is the 100-year anniversary of Hiram Bingham III's first expedition which led him to this Peruvian site.

The Andes around Machu Picchu are chock full of many Incan ruins, most accessible only by strenuous hiking.  I doubt if I will ever be in good enough shape to hike the Inca Trail to get to any of the ruins that way, so I am glad to have read this book and take the trip vicariously.

Adams recounts two hiking trips he takes with an Australian guide (and a crew of porters and some mules) and puts his journeys in context of Bingham's expeditions with some historical information.  Reading this book only confirms, though, that I would like to take a trip to Peru to see this amazing site.

Harbingers of Fall

Back when I went to college a hundred years ago, I took a trunk of clothes, bedding, a typewriter, a dictionary, a lamp, two posters, some photos, a cassette player and my violin. It fit easily in the back of the Volvo station wagon. Over summer vacation, I packed up what I didn't need for 3 months and put the three boxes in a locker in the dorm basement.  

These days, enterprising companies bring these storage boxes to the Claremont Colleges in May.  Students put their storage items in these containers which get whisked away somewhere.  I know that the return of the upperclassmen is imminent when these boxes return.  First year students officially arrive this week, RAs and fall athletes have been here for awhile and everyone else arrives in a few days.

Another sign that our sleepy town will soon be bustling is the return of the Zipcars.  I don't know where the cars disappear over the summer, but in the last week the Priuses and Honda Hybrids have made their appearances.

July 28

This morning

More Armchair Travel

Just as my friends returned from their sabbatical years in New Zealand and Denmark, two more families have set off for a year of foreign exploration and fun.  I have added their blogs to my reading list (links on left) and am now enjoying Kyoto and London vicariously.

The Hypnotist

Last night our book club discussed Lars Kepler's The Hypnotist.  One of the book club members who could not come to the discussion emailed me that she was "so sorry not to be part of the discussion of a book that I found to be so poorly written and a plot so haphazardly and recklessly played out."

Her opinion echoes ours to the T.  Even the one star customer reviews on Amazon outnumber the five star.  I had seen this book advertised in the NY Times Book Review and heard the author/s interview on NPR (Lars Kepler is the pen name of a husband and wife writing team), and having been a fan of the Stieg Larsson trilogy, I looked forward to another Swedish murder mystery.  Well, the plot here was not really a plot, but several sort-of plots - perhaps Lars wanted one plot and Kepler the other - that got smooshed together with events that required way too much of my suspension of disbelief.

The good news was that I did not purchase this book and that it read quickly, so I was put out of my misery sooner rather than later.  Some in our group really liked the book.  Some did not, and we had a most lively discussion, but even those who didn't like it finished all 500 pages.

Thai Green Mango Salad

Last weekend H made this Thai Green Mango Salad which was so tasty that he is going to recreate it for book club.  The green beans are pad prik which have quite a zingy flavor, but I'm not sure what his recipe for that is.