Cynthia's Visit

Recently my sister Cynthia came out to visit me.  I come from a family of seven children--she is Number Two and I am Number Four in the line-up.  So what to do when a frost-bitten sister from the midwest shows up in sunny California?  Take her to the Getty on a nice sunny day.

I always think the Getty's gardens are the most captivating part, right after the illuminated manuscripts. So we headed outside.

 

We also took in some of the other exhibits, but that sun!  Those gardens!  Kept pulling us outside.  

We got some lunch and ate it on the patio.

Because it was just past the noon hour, the succulents looked especially rich.  Seeing all their plantings makes me want to go home and rip out my front yard and start again.  I just need their budget.

 Another type of flora.  

I liked the headband of the girl on the left--it's in the shape of some mini-bunny ears.  Sort of.

This would make a great quilt--sunny yellow, vibrant green, rich blue in the sky.

Lots of people were out on the lawns, enjoying picnics.  It was such a glorious day.

 The plaza--where you enter, and exit.

What else did we do when she was here?

Cooked.
 (Click on the link for the how-to's for Beggar's Linguini.)

Made a quilt.
(Click on the link for the two-post story of her quilt.)

Enjoyed each other's company.

Come again!

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

Push Cars

Our local arts center, the Culver Center for the Arts, had this display of push cars in their main atrium.  The cars were strung up like holiday decorations from a mounted beam near the ceiling, making for quite a visula impact.

Push--or pedal--cars are children's riding toys from an earlier generation.  For some reason, I remember hopping into one of these, but I don't know if we had one, if it were a neighbors.  The child would push the levers, or pedals to create movement.  Both Dave and I enjoyed this display.

The legend for the display.When I went online and tried to find out about how these were worth (all but one were perfectly restored, I was seeing the cars in the 200-500 dollar range each.  I could see my grandsons having a great time with one of these!

Ding Dong--School's Back in Session

It's Ding Dong Time.
This is a metaphor for school being back in session.  It's also a name for the students who act like Ding-Dongs.  On that note, let's open our mailbox.

Student #1

Hello, My name is {C}. I am a student here at Crafton Hills, and I would like to know if you have room for one more in your class. I know you may be done adding people, however, this is the only class I need to graduate this spring. Is there any possible way that I can get a sticker from you tomorrow in order to add? Please let me know asap so that I do not miss the date to add more classes. Thank you.
~C.~

Dear C--

You know I've never heard that line about needing this class to graduate.  No one has ever said that before to me--never.  So, of course!  I'll bump you to the front of the add line--ahead of the other 12 people who came the first day of class, trying to add, and who I turned away.  Why bother waiting when you can plead with the teacher later?

I'm Just Kidding!  I asked him to tell me a little about himself, thinking that if he were halfway decent, I'd get him to come to my class the next day and I'd size him up.  He didn't answer until two days later, on the day of the add deadline.  He wrote, in part:

I will just be honest with you. In normal conditions, I have been known to slack a little. I procrastinate, cut corners, figure out some way to B.S. my way through it, and it usually works. This, however, is not a normal condition for me. For the last few months I have done nothing but talk to my family about how I want them to come to my graduation. That I am finally going to get my Associates, and after all this work I'd finally have something to show for it. I am motivated to prove myself in this class. To prove myself, to myself. My only difficulties, at present, lye in the fact that I am basically homeless, though fortunate enough to have a friend with a couch. Also, I have no vehicle, and as a result rely on others for a ride. I will, however do my very best to be as punctual as I can, to work hard in your class, and to turn in quality work.

Because he was too late, I turned him down.  Don't worry--I referred him on the late-start teacher, who chews up and spits out these type of students for a snack.  This student will be in good hands.

Student #2

Hello Ms. E--

sorry I wasn't in class tues. but here is my library research paper, my computer at home crashed and this is the first I could get to my grandmas computer, but what do you know she's out of paper. Again very sorry. thank you - J.

Dear J--

You are so lucky!  I run a free service for students like you.  My husband and I like nothing more than to print off papers for students whose grandparents don't have paper. We love to use up our printer ink and paper and time because we know, by looking at the date (a day AFTER the assignment was due) that you have much more important things to do than get to the library to print up your own work and turn it in on time. 

And J, while we're having this heart-to-heart dicussion, please stop bring your Big Gulp sodas to class in defiance of the explicitly stated rule about no food or drink in the classroom.  Even though I've mentioned it to you four times (once in the library), I'm sure it just slipped your tiny little mind.

Yarn Bombs

 What is a yarn bomb, you ask?  It's when your local signpost shows up wearing a winter coat.  Or becomes a barberpole.  Or is a holiday decoration, like this one, which showed up a couple of days ago near my house.

This morning, I was walking slowly and noticed there were calling cards attached.  These yarnbombs are made by someone who calls herself MJ, who says she is "brightening the world, one yarnbomb at a time" and then she has an emoticon of :)  a smiley face.

I think they are a hoot.  They are found on several of the poles around here.  When I went to her website, it has a FAQ sidebar with this:

Why yarnbomb, you may ask.

I do it to make you smile. It makes the world we live in a little bit brighter!!

 

Brain Fog

Between visits from family, quilt shows, school starting, a Writers' Conference, brain is fogged in.  More later.

Train Crossing

First week of school.  First office hours.  I get in the lane to turn onto the freeway ramp and it's closed.  Closed?  I glance at the freeway--a parking lot.  Now I'm going to be late.  I take the detour on the surface streets, which includes two train crossings.  I make it through the first one, but am caught by the second one.

This occurrence--the clanging of the bells, the lights flashing and the railroad crossing arms going down--used to drive me right up a wall.  Pat the steering wheel, check the time, crane my neck to see how long before the end was.   Then I decided that whether I freaked out about it, or was calm about it, that the train was going to do what it needed to do (go from Point A to Point B) and I could either adapt, or have a knot in my stomach.  Ever since that day, my fallback position when stopped by a crossing train is to open the window to listen, and take a moment to breathe.  Even if I was ten minutes late for office hours.  Which no one came to because it was the first week.

So, here for your boring pleasure, is one minute and 59 seconds of the train crossing this morning.  Watch this when you have a small boy nearby.  Or need to kill two minutes.  Or wonder at the massive miracle that is a train.

Monarch of the Glen

 Dave and I decided to watch an old BBC series titled Monarch of the Glen, about a castle on a loch in Scotland.  We needed something to do together, as we all too often retreat to our own caves.

The setting is luscious, with an grey stone castle of obvious vintage on the edge of a deep water loch bordered by hills and mountains.  Makes you kind of want to be a billionaire or something. 

The story line is anchored by Glenbogle, the fictional estate, with its cast of interesting characters.  The series played in prime time in England, so the language and the subject matter are family oriented, but interesting.  I loved hearing the deep Scottish brogue, and have more than once wondered aloud if we should go and visit there.

Anyway, long story short--we finished the series the other night.  I can't reveal any details as a friend is watching it too, but it was satisfying and sentimental.

Six!!

I've just finished six circles on my newest quilt project and yep, there are 104 pieces in each block.  (Really there's 108, but that's if you add the corner sections.)

Find the info at OccasionalPiece-Quilt!

MLA--Day in LA

As lowly adjuncts, my friend Judy and I are used to be low women on the totem pole, and even have learned to see the bits of black humor that come from having no benefits, low wages, no office, no official phone numbers, no committee assignments, no politics and no status.  So I was surprised when the august association of the Modern Language Association sent out an email inviting us lower-than-lows to their annual convention in LA.  Show this letter, they said, and you'll get a free one-day pass.

We decided to take a shot right in front of the poster, to prove we were there (we're using this as our "Professional Development" hours at the end of the semester).

After two energetic sessions, we slipped out for some lunch/dinner at the local Wolfgang Puck's--in the LA Live Center--really a plaza right next door to the Staples Center with big screens, cool lights in the trees and a nice ambiance.

It was an interesting day filled with contradictions, thought, interesting challenges, a call to labor activism (although I'm pretty sure the speaker meant the Real Teachers, not us) and a workshop or two on Digital Humanities.  We broke away from a few minutes to grab some linner (or dunch) to bolster ourselves for the upcoming sessions, and to rehash the ones we'd been to.

 

Since this is my blog, you know there has to be a picture of the meal.  

This pizza had goat cheese, sun-dried tomato halves, kalamata olives all adorned with prosciutto and bits of basil (I think).

 

As we walked, we enjoyed the sunset, the lights with their drippy lights and having a day away to think about all things MLA.  And that's not only how to list sources for your research paper.

 

Huge fake leaf shapes with fake shadows.

One of the fun things was throughout the day was receiving lots of text messages, phone messages, emails wishing me a Happy Birthday. Thank you all for your birthday wishes--sorry I wasn't always able to answer the phone immediately.

Judy had planned ahead (not surprisingly) and when we got back to the car after a long day, she whipped out a covered cake pan, and presented me with this Happy Birthday plate and cake.  She sang to me, then we enjoyed a sweet treat.  Thanks!

Today is My Day

Yep.  All day long.

Google Car in Our Neighborhood!

I did a double-take.

That wierd-o looking red ball on top contains a BUNCH of cameras.  It probably caught me taking this.