Today we got to see San Diego Opera's production of the double bill Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci (abbreviated "Cav/Pag").
Cav has some wonderful orchestral and choral parts. For me, the story and characters are not terribly interesting and I didn't really care that the cad Turiddu dies at the end nor that his shamed, tattletale girlfriend is left without a boyfriend. And none of their songs really does anything for me. Mamma Lucia is about the only character who I can feel sorry for but her part is too small to give me a chance to really care much. The orchestra, conducted by Edoardo MĂĽller, played well and the chorus did a good job. Richard Leech sang Turiddu. I guess he did a good job. He sounded a bit hoarse for a while.
Pag, on the other hand, has characters I think are interesting, though not terribly likable. José Cura sang Canio very well. Mr. Cura will be singing both Turiddu and Canio at the Met next season (it will be his first Canio there so we got to see him in that role before New York does!) And Elizabeth Futral was good as Nedda. I felt bad for everybody at the end when Nedda and Silvio died. All they did was want to run away together leaving Nedda's husband in the lurch.
For those of you who couldn't make it to the opera, here's a classic performance of "Vesti la giubba" from one of the Golden Eras of opera recordings (the 1960s).
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Ding!
Back when I said "I want to just stay at home for a while," I wanted to include a YouTube video that showed what such incidents can become. But it was removed (probably because of copyright violation). It's back but might disappear again. If silly YouTube videos appeal to you, watch it before it's gone.
I'm glad my little bump with the other car didn't escalate to this.
I'm glad my little bump with the other car didn't escalate to this.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Hello
I am always amazed at how people ignore other people (at least me) as they pass each other. At work there are very few people who acknowledge me as I'm wandering through the the building. As we pass they almost always just look straight ahead and don't see me. One day I was off to check my mail slot and one of the senior officers of the company was coming from the other direction. He gave me the look-straight-ahead-and-don't-notice-the-other-person treatment. I would have thought that high muckamucks should be happy to greet their little people. But no. About the only people I notice who acknowledge my presence are people I work directly with and people who don't work there like the folks who stock the snack machines and the toilet paper dispensers.
Yesterday I took another hike up the mountain across the street from work. I thought it was a rule that out in the wilderness (and as things are, that was the wilderness) you always greet others out there when you meet them. It worked that way for almost all the people I passed on this walk. Except for a couple who were walking together. When I passed them one was about 15 feet behind the other. Each looked straight ahead as she passed me. They didn't even look down at the ground, pretending they were making sure they weren't trampling the tender regrowth after the fire. They just ignored me.
Maybe there is some evil aura around me that everybody can see that makes them look away? Or is it just our self-contained, iPod world?
I saw a horned lizard on my walk. I hadn't seen one of those in years.
Here are a few pictures of some flowers and other scenery I took with my cellphone on the walk. It doesn't take the greatest pictures. I adjusted the color and contrast and such in some of them. Maybe with some tweaking the phone takes OK pictures.
I don't know what most of them are.
Where I work as seen from the hill
A cross put up after the fires. For Easter?
Yesterday I took another hike up the mountain across the street from work. I thought it was a rule that out in the wilderness (and as things are, that was the wilderness) you always greet others out there when you meet them. It worked that way for almost all the people I passed on this walk. Except for a couple who were walking together. When I passed them one was about 15 feet behind the other. Each looked straight ahead as she passed me. They didn't even look down at the ground, pretending they were making sure they weren't trampling the tender regrowth after the fire. They just ignored me.
Maybe there is some evil aura around me that everybody can see that makes them look away? Or is it just our self-contained, iPod world?
I saw a horned lizard on my walk. I hadn't seen one of those in years.
Here are a few pictures of some flowers and other scenery I took with my cellphone on the walk. It doesn't take the greatest pictures. I adjusted the color and contrast and such in some of them. Maybe with some tweaking the phone takes OK pictures.
I don't know what most of them are.
Where I work as seen from the hill
A cross put up after the fires. For Easter?
Monday, March 24, 2008
Are you Sirius?
The Department of Justice is not going to block the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Now it's up to the FCC to give its approval.
If this finally goes through, it's been in the works for more than a year now, I wonder if you XM subscribers will get the Metropolitan Opera channel. I hope so. It's worth the monthly charge by itself.
I wonder what other changes the merger will bring.
If this finally goes through, it's been in the works for more than a year now, I wonder if you XM subscribers will get the Metropolitan Opera channel. I hope so. It's worth the monthly charge by itself.
I wonder what other changes the merger will bring.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Tristan und Isolde
There were no incidents in today's performance of Tristan und Isolde that will be put in Mishaps at the Opera books. I enjoyed it a lot. All of the performers did great jobs.
It took me a while to get used to their using multiple images. They'd show the long shot of the stage in one image and close-ups of the singers in others. I've wished they'd show the long shots more often so I guess this solves the problem of satisfying people like me who want to see the big picture and satisfying the people who what to see up the singers nostrils.
And they tried to liven up this Park and Bark opera by making these close-up images move around the screen when there was no real action on the stage. That was too much for me. But I was there to hear the music so that didn't really matter much.
It lasted nearly five and a half hours. It felt like about twenty minutes. It must have been good.
It took me a while to get used to their using multiple images. They'd show the long shot of the stage in one image and close-ups of the singers in others. I've wished they'd show the long shots more often so I guess this solves the problem of satisfying people like me who want to see the big picture and satisfying the people who what to see up the singers nostrils.
And they tried to liven up this Park and Bark opera by making these close-up images move around the screen when there was no real action on the stage. That was too much for me. But I was there to hear the music so that didn't really matter much.
It lasted nearly five and a half hours. It felt like about twenty minutes. It must have been good.
(micro) EARTHQUAKE!
This morning at 12:17 before going to sleep we got to survive an earthquake. We didn't really feel it but we sure did hear it. There was a rather loud (it seemed) rumble followed by a sharp "crack" followed by a bit more rumbling. It was over in about three seconds.
Whenever I feel an earthquake I have to run to the Internet to see if Los Angeles has succumbed to The Big One. It hadn't. This one was very close to home. Its magnitude was 2.8. Here's the report from the USGS.
It says that it was 10 miles east of Escondido. But we're already a couple of miles east of what they're probably measuring from. So I had to go to Google maps to see where it was in relation to us.
View Larger Map
We're the pointer on the left and the earthquake is the pointer on the right.
We're OK! You don't have to worry about us any longer.
Whenever I feel an earthquake I have to run to the Internet to see if Los Angeles has succumbed to The Big One. It hadn't. This one was very close to home. Its magnitude was 2.8. Here's the report from the USGS.
It says that it was 10 miles east of Escondido. But we're already a couple of miles east of what they're probably measuring from. So I had to go to Google maps to see where it was in relation to us.
View Larger Map
We're the pointer on the left and the earthquake is the pointer on the right.
We're OK! You don't have to worry about us any longer.
Friday, March 21, 2008
What to do with PB2?
When I visited New Mexico last summer, Pegbert gave me a jar of PB2. It's peanut meal with only a little of the fat left. They say to mix some of the powder with water for a low-fat version of peanut butter. Or, they say, you can mix it with jelly and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with less fat.
Yum?
I couldn't bring myself to doing either of the suggested things with the product. So it just languished in the pantry waiting for an application that seems more appealing.
Finally I came up with the idea!
I had gotten some natural peanut butter (only peanuts and salt) from Costco. This peanut butter, being natural, is runny. This stuff is very runny. Very, very runny. If you tried to eat an open-faced peanut butter sandwich on warm toast you would need to have a bib and a drop cloth. It would run off the bread. Even if it had been stored in the refrigerator.
My idea was to mix some PB2 into the Costco peanut butter. I figured that the peanut meal would soak up some of the excess oil from the peanut butter and thicken it up. My idea worked!
I put this peanut butter in little 1 oz. soufflé cups I get from Smart & Final (your smaller, faster warehouse store). For the lunch I take to work, Jerry gives me a bagel, a 1 oz. cup of peanut butter, some fruit, and a soft drink. It would be too much to ask him to smear some peanut butter from a large jar on my bagel because the bagel is frozen and assembling my lunch as it is is enough for him to do.
So I use the soufflé cups and contribute to the solid waste stream. (How much does my use of this plastic contribute to the carbon footprint of my lunch, you ask? I don't know but it surely is a lot less than if I drove my car to a restaurant. And I bring my apple cores and banana peels and orange rinds and put them in my compost bin. So I remove a lot of stuff from the solid waste stream!)
This fortified peanut butter sometimes causes some major "Got Milk?" moments. I sometimes get too much PB2 in it and it sticks to the roof of my mouth big time.
For your time wasting needs, I made a movie of what the peanut butter looks like before and after the application of PB2. Watch it if you dare! Sorry. (It started out with the title "What to do with PB2?" but for some reason that doesn't show up.)
(Does everybody watch each movie bloggers insert into their posts? I hope you find the time for this one...I made it myself!)
Yum?
I couldn't bring myself to doing either of the suggested things with the product. So it just languished in the pantry waiting for an application that seems more appealing.
Finally I came up with the idea!
I had gotten some natural peanut butter (only peanuts and salt) from Costco. This peanut butter, being natural, is runny. This stuff is very runny. Very, very runny. If you tried to eat an open-faced peanut butter sandwich on warm toast you would need to have a bib and a drop cloth. It would run off the bread. Even if it had been stored in the refrigerator.
My idea was to mix some PB2 into the Costco peanut butter. I figured that the peanut meal would soak up some of the excess oil from the peanut butter and thicken it up. My idea worked!
I put this peanut butter in little 1 oz. soufflé cups I get from Smart & Final (your smaller, faster warehouse store). For the lunch I take to work, Jerry gives me a bagel, a 1 oz. cup of peanut butter, some fruit, and a soft drink. It would be too much to ask him to smear some peanut butter from a large jar on my bagel because the bagel is frozen and assembling my lunch as it is is enough for him to do.
So I use the soufflé cups and contribute to the solid waste stream. (How much does my use of this plastic contribute to the carbon footprint of my lunch, you ask? I don't know but it surely is a lot less than if I drove my car to a restaurant. And I bring my apple cores and banana peels and orange rinds and put them in my compost bin. So I remove a lot of stuff from the solid waste stream!)
This fortified peanut butter sometimes causes some major "Got Milk?" moments. I sometimes get too much PB2 in it and it sticks to the roof of my mouth big time.
For your time wasting needs, I made a movie of what the peanut butter looks like before and after the application of PB2. Watch it if you dare! Sorry. (It started out with the title "What to do with PB2?" but for some reason that doesn't show up.)
(Does everybody watch each movie bloggers insert into their posts? I hope you find the time for this one...I made it myself!)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tristan und Isolde will be interesting
The Metropolitan Opera is broadcasting Tristan und Isolde to movie theaters around the world on Saturday. If Saturday's performance is like the earlier ones in the run, we will be in for surprises.
Ben Heppner, the Tristan we were looking forward to hearing, has not yet been able to perform. He's had a viral infection. They got replacement tenors for Tristan.
During the second act of the second performance in the run, Deborah Voigt, the Isolde we're looking forward to hearing, had tummy troubles and had to bail out. Her cover took over and finished the performance. This was with a second replacement Tristan.
Then in the next performance the second replacement Tristan slid down the raked stage into the prompter's box. He wasn't hurt and finished the performance (after a bit of a pause).
Saturday we get to hear a third replacement Tristan. And with any luck Deborah Voigt.
Read all about it (and much more) in this New York Times article.
What else can go wrong?
(Ben Heppner is scheduled to sing in the last two performances.)
Ben Heppner, the Tristan we were looking forward to hearing, has not yet been able to perform. He's had a viral infection. They got replacement tenors for Tristan.
During the second act of the second performance in the run, Deborah Voigt, the Isolde we're looking forward to hearing, had tummy troubles and had to bail out. Her cover took over and finished the performance. This was with a second replacement Tristan.
Then in the next performance the second replacement Tristan slid down the raked stage into the prompter's box. He wasn't hurt and finished the performance (after a bit of a pause).
Saturday we get to hear a third replacement Tristan. And with any luck Deborah Voigt.
Read all about it (and much more) in this New York Times article.
What else can go wrong?
(Ben Heppner is scheduled to sing in the last two performances.)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Alas!
Way back at the end of January Poss asked if I was still using my original coffee roaster. I was and I posted a movie of it in action (perhaps you remember). Its original roasting pot had cracked so I was on my second one of those. A couple of weeks ago I finally got tired of the bad fit with the lid so I got a third roasting pot. The lid fits that one just fine.
A couple of days ago I was roasting coffee and at the end of the cooling period instead of saying "whirrrrr" it ended with "squaaaaawK!" I asked "squawk?" then dumped the coffee into the colander and put the roaster away.
Today I set it up to roast a new batch. When I pressed the start button it said sadly "rrrrrrr-r-r." It has given up the ghost.
It was a sad day.
I went online and ordered a new one from Sweet Maria's. It's supposed to be delivered Friday. In the meantime we might have to open the can of Illy coffee Jerry got for Christmas from his work and use the French press.
A couple of days ago I was roasting coffee and at the end of the cooling period instead of saying "whirrrrr" it ended with "squaaaaawK!" I asked "squawk?" then dumped the coffee into the colander and put the roaster away.
Today I set it up to roast a new batch. When I pressed the start button it said sadly "rrrrrrr-r-r." It has given up the ghost.
It was a sad day.
I went online and ordered a new one from Sweet Maria's. It's supposed to be delivered Friday. In the meantime we might have to open the can of Illy coffee Jerry got for Christmas from his work and use the French press.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
One more flower post
Birds are messy eaters. They spill their seed on the ground. In the spring, when there is rain, the seeds sprout. This year the gophers did a lot of digging beneath the bird feeders and loosened the soil for the seeds to sprout in. There's quite a forest of sunflowers, safflower, and millet. Today one of the sunflowers opened.
When these volunteer sunflowers mature the birds just ignore them. I guess it's too much trouble to eat from the flowers when they have the perches on the feeders to eat from.
I have never had much luck with ranunculuses. I tried planting them in potting soil and they rotted. I tried planting them around the yard. The ground I chose was rather hard and didn't get watered enough so they made a few leaves and that was that. I didn't bother with them this year. A couple of ranunculuses grew after the rains. How they survived from their pitiful growth last year I have no idea. Today one opened. It's about an inch and a half across!
It's among a patch of naked ladies I transplanted a few months ago. They got very crowded in their old spot and, even though they say crowding is good for them, they produced only a couple of blooms in the past few years. I separated about a hundred bulbs from my eight square foot plot and planted them all over the yard. (I started out with two bulbs.) I hope at least a few of them thrive. They take a few years to get established so I probably won't get to post any pictures of them in bloom this year. Sorry.
One thing that is clear from the blurry picture of the ranunculus is that I need to get a new digital camera. This one is a nice camera and is very flexible. It's a Kodak EasyShare Z740. Kodak tells me that one of the manual controls I have with this camera is Auto-focus. The manual control I wish it had is manual focus. Its autofocus feature oftentimes chooses the wrong thing to focus on and will not let me take control. So some of my flower pictures are blurs because it finds a leaf to focus on.
Of course a camera that lets me take control of focusing will not be cheap.
Update already: So the ranunculus picture isn't blurry. It was just overexposed. I tweaked the picture and reposted it. But the autofocus feature of my camera does make me grumpy when it insists on focusing on the wrong thing and won't let me take over.
When these volunteer sunflowers mature the birds just ignore them. I guess it's too much trouble to eat from the flowers when they have the perches on the feeders to eat from.I have never had much luck with ranunculuses. I tried planting them in potting soil and they rotted. I tried planting them around the yard. The ground I chose was rather hard and didn't get watered enough so they made a few leaves and that was that. I didn't bother with them this year. A couple of ranunculuses grew after the rains. How they survived from their pitiful growth last year I have no idea. Today one opened. It's about an inch and a half across!
It's among a patch of naked ladies I transplanted a few months ago. They got very crowded in their old spot and, even though they say crowding is good for them, they produced only a couple of blooms in the past few years. I separated about a hundred bulbs from my eight square foot plot and planted them all over the yard. (I started out with two bulbs.) I hope at least a few of them thrive. They take a few years to get established so I probably won't get to post any pictures of them in bloom this year. Sorry.One thing that is clear from the blurry picture of the ranunculus is that I need to get a new digital camera. This one is a nice camera and is very flexible. It's a Kodak EasyShare Z740. Kodak tells me that one of the manual controls I have with this camera is Auto-focus. The manual control I wish it had is manual focus. Its autofocus feature oftentimes chooses the wrong thing to focus on and will not let me take control. So some of my flower pictures are blurs because it finds a leaf to focus on.
Of course a camera that lets me take control of focusing will not be cheap.
Update already: So the ranunculus picture isn't blurry. It was just overexposed. I tweaked the picture and reposted it. But the autofocus feature of my camera does make me grumpy when it insists on focusing on the wrong thing and won't let me take over.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
I want to just stay at home for a while
After we saw "Peter Grimes," we went shopping at the Viejas Outlet Center. I needed some new pants. One pair I liked got torn when I was taking one of my lunchtime walks with my GPS doo-dad and tripped when I was looking at where I was going on the map rather than actually watching where I was going.
It's always fun to go shopping with Jerry when I'm the one on the mission. He ends up getting a lot more things than I do. Good thing Costco had a coupon for a box of 50 wooden hangars this week. They're going to be put to use by this little shopping excursion.
After we finished shopping we needed coffee. So we stopped in El Cajon to go to a Starbucks we knew we could find. But we left the freeway one exit too early. So we were heading down a cross street to get to the street we should have gone to in the first place. As we were cruising down this street we saw somebody pull out of a parking lot in front of a car coming from the other direction. They collided. The car that caused the accident was spun around and the car that was hit had its airbags deploy. The victims' car didn't even have permanent license plates yet. What a bummer.
The people who caused the wreck took off. Somebody went after them and got some of the license plate number.
So Jerry and I hung around in case the cops needed our story. It was raining and hailed for a while. So we got cold and wet. The cops finally showed up after about a half hour and talked to the witnesses who stayed. We finally made it to Starbucks.
I parked but noticed that the spot was painted with blue stripes so, not wanting to get in trouble with the law, decided I ought to move the car. I backed out of the spot and tried to get into a spot on the street side of the lot. That was going to involve backing up a bit. I backed into a car that had pulled up behind me. Our bumpers got little scratches.
The other driver decided that if I gave him some money we could avoid talking to insurance companies. I took him up on his offer.
We had a little cash left after this incident, got our coffee and came home. I just want to get under my blankie and whimper for a while.
It's always fun to go shopping with Jerry when I'm the one on the mission. He ends up getting a lot more things than I do. Good thing Costco had a coupon for a box of 50 wooden hangars this week. They're going to be put to use by this little shopping excursion.
After we finished shopping we needed coffee. So we stopped in El Cajon to go to a Starbucks we knew we could find. But we left the freeway one exit too early. So we were heading down a cross street to get to the street we should have gone to in the first place. As we were cruising down this street we saw somebody pull out of a parking lot in front of a car coming from the other direction. They collided. The car that caused the accident was spun around and the car that was hit had its airbags deploy. The victims' car didn't even have permanent license plates yet. What a bummer.
The people who caused the wreck took off. Somebody went after them and got some of the license plate number.
So Jerry and I hung around in case the cops needed our story. It was raining and hailed for a while. So we got cold and wet. The cops finally showed up after about a half hour and talked to the witnesses who stayed. We finally made it to Starbucks.
I parked but noticed that the spot was painted with blue stripes so, not wanting to get in trouble with the law, decided I ought to move the car. I backed out of the spot and tried to get into a spot on the street side of the lot. That was going to involve backing up a bit. I backed into a car that had pulled up behind me. Our bumpers got little scratches.
The other driver decided that if I gave him some money we could avoid talking to insurance companies. I took him up on his offer.
We had a little cash left after this incident, got our coffee and came home. I just want to get under my blankie and whimper for a while.
Peter Grimes
Today we got to see another in the Metropolitan Opera's broadcasts to movie theaters. This time it was "Peter Grimes" by Benjamin Britten. This has been one of my favorite operas from my early days of being an opera lover. I probably wore out the library's copy from all the times I checked it out. I'm pretty sure that Mom got tired of hearing it.
I was looking forward to seeing this and wasn't disappointed (much).
As I've said, I really don't know a good performance from a great one. (I wish I did know how to tell. I'm a self-taught music listener and have never really discussed performances with others who could give me other insights.) Anyway, I thought that Grimes, Ellen Orford, Mrs. Sedley and Auntie were very good. And, of course, the orchestra was great and had a lot to say.
One problem I have with seeing these broadcasts is that the camera is always giving us a close-up view of the action. We rarely get to see the big picture. And characters like Mrs. Sedley can come across as silly caricatures on the big screen when they probably appear as well acted characters from a seat in the theater. I just wish they'd have a camera at the back of the theater and use it now and then.
I wasn't terribly thrilled with the Wall-o-Doors. It was oppressive but it seemed that having a rather abstract set behind people in very literal, period costumes was strange. And there was something about the chorus standing still, staring straight ahead when they are expressing their anger towards Grimes that didn't work for me. I think I have some feel for what the director had in mind with that but I'm going to have to think about it some more.
But I go to operas first to hear the singers and orchestra then to see the spectacle. So I was satisfied with the important parts of it.
Now I have to read the New York Times review to see if I saw the same opera as their reviewer did.
I was looking forward to seeing this and wasn't disappointed (much).
As I've said, I really don't know a good performance from a great one. (I wish I did know how to tell. I'm a self-taught music listener and have never really discussed performances with others who could give me other insights.) Anyway, I thought that Grimes, Ellen Orford, Mrs. Sedley and Auntie were very good. And, of course, the orchestra was great and had a lot to say.
One problem I have with seeing these broadcasts is that the camera is always giving us a close-up view of the action. We rarely get to see the big picture. And characters like Mrs. Sedley can come across as silly caricatures on the big screen when they probably appear as well acted characters from a seat in the theater. I just wish they'd have a camera at the back of the theater and use it now and then.
I wasn't terribly thrilled with the Wall-o-Doors. It was oppressive but it seemed that having a rather abstract set behind people in very literal, period costumes was strange. And there was something about the chorus standing still, staring straight ahead when they are expressing their anger towards Grimes that didn't work for me. I think I have some feel for what the director had in mind with that but I'm going to have to think about it some more.
But I go to operas first to hear the singers and orchestra then to see the spectacle. So I was satisfied with the important parts of it.
Now I have to read the New York Times review to see if I saw the same opera as their reviewer did.
Friday, March 14, 2008
The sparaxises are in bloom
I love the spring! My favorite flower, the sparaxis, has started to bloom. They really like this climate and are eager to grow. Everywhere. They have moved to many places in the yard on their own. And I'm happy they have.
The link I have above shows that I'm growing only one of many varieties, the Sparaxis tricolor. I need to find all the others.
They come in many colors. Here are pictures of the different colors I found in my little yard tour this morning. One of the pictures is very blurry. It is a color I wanted to show. They close up at night so I couldn't do a retake. I'll try to get that one again when the sun is shining. In the meantime you'll at least get a feel for its color.
The last picture is a clump that are growing in the asphalt next to the driveway. As I said, they find places all over to grow. I guess that spot gets the sun they like.
The link I have above shows that I'm growing only one of many varieties, the Sparaxis tricolor. I need to find all the others.
They come in many colors. Here are pictures of the different colors I found in my little yard tour this morning. One of the pictures is very blurry. It is a color I wanted to show. They close up at night so I couldn't do a retake. I'll try to get that one again when the sun is shining. In the meantime you'll at least get a feel for its color.
The last picture is a clump that are growing in the asphalt next to the driveway. As I said, they find places all over to grow. I guess that spot gets the sun they like.
The calla lilies are in bloom
When Jerry and I moved here in November 1988, one of the first things I did was plant some callas. I haven't done much to help them along in all these years but they seem to be very happy where I put them. I don't water or feed them or anything.
Their spot is being overtaken by the plumbago. They're visible only to the evil next door neighbor so they're not doing me any good so I should go out and cut me a bouquet.
Their spot is being overtaken by the plumbago. They're visible only to the evil next door neighbor so they're not doing me any good so I should go out and cut me a bouquet.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Things are just ducky!
Years ago we got a little ducky from Shidoni made by Shidoni's gallery dirctor, Karen Avila (who, sadly, is no longer with us). It's the cutest little thing. The ducky has been in the bathroom basking under the light of a lamp held by a pile of turtles.
The day after Thanksgiving every year there is an Arts Festival at the convention center in San Diego that Jerry and I go to. This year we came home with a little ceramic bathtub from Wild Earth Fantasy Sculpture. It's got a couple of turtles sitting on its rim. There is blue glass on the bottom of the tub that looks like water. It's a nice little knickknack.
We put it in the bathroom next to the turtle lamp. The little ducky was excited about it and took to it like, well, a duck to water. It now spends all its time swimming around the tub exploring its new universe.
The day after Thanksgiving every year there is an Arts Festival at the convention center in San Diego that Jerry and I go to. This year we came home with a little ceramic bathtub from Wild Earth Fantasy Sculpture. It's got a couple of turtles sitting on its rim. There is blue glass on the bottom of the tub that looks like water. It's a nice little knickknack.
We put it in the bathroom next to the turtle lamp. The little ducky was excited about it and took to it like, well, a duck to water. It now spends all its time swimming around the tub exploring its new universe.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
I am so embarrassed!
Back in the sixth grade we got to go (had to go?) to shop class (thanks, Colleen, for reminding me about shop class). We made our candy dishes, ash trays (sixth graders could encourage smoking back then), and the likes.
There were examples of projects hanging on the walls. I chose to make a smiling face. It was a simple face cut out of a board of wood. When I turned it in to be graded the teacher wondered where the other mask was. He explained what the comedy and tragedy masks were about. I had no idea that they were a set. I just wanted the happy one. I was very embarrassed!
So, every time we go to a performance at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, I am reminded of my embarrassment. They have the Comedy and Tragedy Masks hanging over their bar in the lobby.
I am so embarrassed!
There were examples of projects hanging on the walls. I chose to make a smiling face. It was a simple face cut out of a board of wood. When I turned it in to be graded the teacher wondered where the other mask was. He explained what the comedy and tragedy masks were about. I had no idea that they were a set. I just wanted the happy one. I was very embarrassed!
So, every time we go to a performance at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, I am reminded of my embarrassment. They have the Comedy and Tragedy Masks hanging over their bar in the lobby.
I am so embarrassed!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Hair today, gone tomorrow
One of the things that happens to some of us as we age is that our hair stops growing in some places and takes up residence in others.
So far, I haven't really paid much attention to my hair's migration away from the top of my head. After all, it wasn't till I was in the eighth grade that I finally summoned the nerve to ask Jack if he'd stop buzzing my head. He said "fine" and gave me a tube of Score hair gel. I got no advice about how to go about styling my new, longer hair. So I had longer hair. For a while it was glued down with Score. (That was probably geekier than the buzz cut.) And I never saw a barber until I went to college. I think Poss did my hair cutting for much of the time until then. (Jack was never much interested in giving me advice about any of my hair. When he noticed a bit of hair on my lip he said "Beth, show your brother how to shave.") Anyway, my scalp has never had a lot of style so less hair up there isn't a big deal.
What does bother me is the hair that has shown up where it wasn't or grows longer than it used to.
There's that tuft on the tragus that gives it its name. My tragus hair is very thick. Then there are nose hairs that have decided that they need to be longer and thicker than before. If I don't take care of them they stick out of my nose and look gross and tickle. My eyebrows have been getting rather long. Sometimes when I forget to trim them they hang down and tangle with my eyelashes tickling them and being very annoying. The weekend before last I got my hair cut and the stylist offered to trim my eyebrows and I was happy to let her.
So, this morning while I was taking care of my nose hairs and tragus hairs with the Sharper Image Turbo Groomer 5.0 that Jerry gave me (isn't he a sweetie?). I was surprised when I noticed that I no longer have a unibrow! It went away with my lengthy eyebrows! I don't really have a problem with it. I've always had it. (There was a time in elementary school that I did try to get rid of the hair above my nose. I don't remember being teased about it but why else would I pluck those hairs back then? I did a terrible job and had some asymmetric eyebrows for a while.)
Maybe I'll keep it trimmed for a while to see what normal eyebrows are all about. The main problem is that when it grows back it will be very obvious. That's going to make me look goofier than a kid with greasy kids' stuff in his hair.
So far, I haven't really paid much attention to my hair's migration away from the top of my head. After all, it wasn't till I was in the eighth grade that I finally summoned the nerve to ask Jack if he'd stop buzzing my head. He said "fine" and gave me a tube of Score hair gel. I got no advice about how to go about styling my new, longer hair. So I had longer hair. For a while it was glued down with Score. (That was probably geekier than the buzz cut.) And I never saw a barber until I went to college. I think Poss did my hair cutting for much of the time until then. (Jack was never much interested in giving me advice about any of my hair. When he noticed a bit of hair on my lip he said "Beth, show your brother how to shave.") Anyway, my scalp has never had a lot of style so less hair up there isn't a big deal.
What does bother me is the hair that has shown up where it wasn't or grows longer than it used to.
There's that tuft on the tragus that gives it its name. My tragus hair is very thick. Then there are nose hairs that have decided that they need to be longer and thicker than before. If I don't take care of them they stick out of my nose and look gross and tickle. My eyebrows have been getting rather long. Sometimes when I forget to trim them they hang down and tangle with my eyelashes tickling them and being very annoying. The weekend before last I got my hair cut and the stylist offered to trim my eyebrows and I was happy to let her.
So, this morning while I was taking care of my nose hairs and tragus hairs with the Sharper Image Turbo Groomer 5.0 that Jerry gave me (isn't he a sweetie?). I was surprised when I noticed that I no longer have a unibrow! It went away with my lengthy eyebrows! I don't really have a problem with it. I've always had it. (There was a time in elementary school that I did try to get rid of the hair above my nose. I don't remember being teased about it but why else would I pluck those hairs back then? I did a terrible job and had some asymmetric eyebrows for a while.)
Maybe I'll keep it trimmed for a while to see what normal eyebrows are all about. The main problem is that when it grows back it will be very obvious. That's going to make me look goofier than a kid with greasy kids' stuff in his hair.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Simple Grudge Index
Let's make up a new measurement: The Simple Grudge Index. This is a measure of how long a grudge has overstayed its usefulness. Well, grudges usually aren't very useful but we'll assume that there is some time that a grudge can be held that gives the grudge holder some time to ponder the reasons for being unhappy.
My Simple Grudge Index is just the time the grudge is held divided by the time the grudge should have been given up.
Before we get to my grudge, let's consider a hypothetical case.
Sister's Selfish Coat
Let's say that a person has gone off to work and sends money from each paycheck home to his widowed mother. Now this hard working person finds that one of his sisters has the audacity to buy herself a coat rather than giving the money spent on the coat to their widowed mother. It might be understood that this hard worker could be upset with his sister's spending money on herself when he's helping their mother get by but you'd expect him to get over that in just a couple of days after he realizes that it might be cold and the sister needs a coat or that maybe Mom can survive without another ten dollars.
So let's say that this grudge is held for around 30 years and you'd expect it to be dropped after three days. That would make the SGI around (30 years * 365.25 days/year) / (3 days/grudge). That comes out to more that 36,000. That means the grudge is held about 36,000 times as long as you'd expect. That's a lot.
Missing Point
In my first semester of college in 1973 I took Physics 101. One of the first labs was to measure the Earth's gravity. It involved measuring the distance a marble dropped in a known time. We had a stick hanging on a nail with some carbon paper attached to it. We pulled the stick to the side and held the marble at the pivot point. We released the stick and the marble at the same time. We measured the distance from the pivot point to the spot the marble and the stick collided (a mark was left by the carbon paper on the stick where the marble hit). Now, we know that the period of a pendulum is constant no matter how far it swings so we didn't have to measure how far the stick was pulled back. Maybe it was another experiment where we determined the period of this pendulum.
Now, the teaching assistant had us record how far the marble fell measured to the nearest quarter inch. We repeated the experiment several times and averaged the results to come up with our estimate of the Earth's gravity.
Since our measurements were to to quarter inches, my averages were rounded to the nearest quarter inch. In my lab report I reported my numbers decimally so some of my numbers were something like 12.75. The T.A. took off a point because my reported results were too precise. I was told I didn't measure to the hundredth inch.
I know I didn't measure that precisely. I didn't report them that precisely. It's just the nature of quarter inches reported as a decimal fraction. All of my results ended with .00, .25, .50 and .75. That was reported in exactly the precision we were told to measure.
I WAS RIGHT AND THE T.A. WAS WRONG! I should have marched up right then and there and demanded my point back. (That was one point out of 25! That's four percent of the lab!) But was shy then and I hadn't learned to challenge authority.
I hold this grudge to this day. I want my point back.
My Simple Grudge Index. I should have gotten over it in about 10 minutes (the time it would have taken to talk to the T.A.) I've held the grudge for nearly 35 years. So, let's do the calculation: (35 years / 365.25 days/year * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/hour) / (10 minutes/grudge).
My SGI is around 1,840,000. I've got the hypothetical Sister's Selfish Coat grudge beat 50 times over. I'd say it's time for me to drop it.
(I want my point back.)
My Simple Grudge Index is just the time the grudge is held divided by the time the grudge should have been given up.
Before we get to my grudge, let's consider a hypothetical case.
Sister's Selfish Coat
Let's say that a person has gone off to work and sends money from each paycheck home to his widowed mother. Now this hard working person finds that one of his sisters has the audacity to buy herself a coat rather than giving the money spent on the coat to their widowed mother. It might be understood that this hard worker could be upset with his sister's spending money on herself when he's helping their mother get by but you'd expect him to get over that in just a couple of days after he realizes that it might be cold and the sister needs a coat or that maybe Mom can survive without another ten dollars.
So let's say that this grudge is held for around 30 years and you'd expect it to be dropped after three days. That would make the SGI around (30 years * 365.25 days/year) / (3 days/grudge). That comes out to more that 36,000. That means the grudge is held about 36,000 times as long as you'd expect. That's a lot.
Master's Degree Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation ideas: Grudge indexes that include more factors such as the intensity of the grudge, secondary grudges of others, and tertiary grudges of those who have incidental effects from the original grudge.Now consider my grudge.
Missing Point
In my first semester of college in 1973 I took Physics 101. One of the first labs was to measure the Earth's gravity. It involved measuring the distance a marble dropped in a known time. We had a stick hanging on a nail with some carbon paper attached to it. We pulled the stick to the side and held the marble at the pivot point. We released the stick and the marble at the same time. We measured the distance from the pivot point to the spot the marble and the stick collided (a mark was left by the carbon paper on the stick where the marble hit). Now, we know that the period of a pendulum is constant no matter how far it swings so we didn't have to measure how far the stick was pulled back. Maybe it was another experiment where we determined the period of this pendulum.
Now, the teaching assistant had us record how far the marble fell measured to the nearest quarter inch. We repeated the experiment several times and averaged the results to come up with our estimate of the Earth's gravity.
Since our measurements were to to quarter inches, my averages were rounded to the nearest quarter inch. In my lab report I reported my numbers decimally so some of my numbers were something like 12.75. The T.A. took off a point because my reported results were too precise. I was told I didn't measure to the hundredth inch.
I know I didn't measure that precisely. I didn't report them that precisely. It's just the nature of quarter inches reported as a decimal fraction. All of my results ended with .00, .25, .50 and .75. That was reported in exactly the precision we were told to measure.
I WAS RIGHT AND THE T.A. WAS WRONG! I should have marched up right then and there and demanded my point back. (That was one point out of 25! That's four percent of the lab!) But was shy then and I hadn't learned to challenge authority.
I hold this grudge to this day. I want my point back.
My Simple Grudge Index. I should have gotten over it in about 10 minutes (the time it would have taken to talk to the T.A.) I've held the grudge for nearly 35 years. So, let's do the calculation: (35 years / 365.25 days/year * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/hour) / (10 minutes/grudge).
My SGI is around 1,840,000. I've got the hypothetical Sister's Selfish Coat grudge beat 50 times over. I'd say it's time for me to drop it.
(I want my point back.)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Classified Information
After the comics section, my favorite part of the newspaper is the classifieds. That's because that's where they put the puzzles. No day is complete without the New York Times crossword puzzle, the Jumble and the Sudoko.
In addition to the puzzles, there are some features I read that kind of baffle me.
One is the bridge column. I haven't played bridge since high school. They use terms like "splinter" and "transfer" bids that didn't exist when I was playing the game. The bidding conventions they use these days are strange (to me). The explanations of the processes used to learn the positions of the opponents' cards are fascinating. But I'll never put any of it to use. But it's interesting.
The feature that is amongst the puzzles that I don't want to read but find I have to is "The Family Circus." That Billy. That Dolly. That P.J. They are so precious. They make me barf. That Barfy. I can't help reading it when it is sitting right next to the puzzle I'm doing. It's got one panel and usually one sentence. It's so simple that a brief glance gets it all. But sometimes it is on a page I don't have to look at but find myself searching for just to see what sickeningly precious thing Billy has to say today. On Sunday, it's sitting between two strips I read but can simply blip over it. What is it about the daily panel that makes me look?
Barf.
In addition to the puzzles, there are some features I read that kind of baffle me.
One is the bridge column. I haven't played bridge since high school. They use terms like "splinter" and "transfer" bids that didn't exist when I was playing the game. The bidding conventions they use these days are strange (to me). The explanations of the processes used to learn the positions of the opponents' cards are fascinating. But I'll never put any of it to use. But it's interesting.
The feature that is amongst the puzzles that I don't want to read but find I have to is "The Family Circus." That Billy. That Dolly. That P.J. They are so precious. They make me barf. That Barfy. I can't help reading it when it is sitting right next to the puzzle I'm doing. It's got one panel and usually one sentence. It's so simple that a brief glance gets it all. But sometimes it is on a page I don't have to look at but find myself searching for just to see what sickeningly precious thing Billy has to say today. On Sunday, it's sitting between two strips I read but can simply blip over it. What is it about the daily panel that makes me look?
Barf.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
The Color Purple
Yesterday I took my lunchtime walk on the sunny side of the street. I normally walk on the side of the road where there are trees giving me some shade but I decided I ought to see what the far side of the road has to offer. It turns out that it has a lot. I suppose much of it comes from getting much more sun than the side I usually walk on.
As I've pointed out before, it is spring and the flowers are making their appearances. As I was walking I kept noticing that there were a lot of purple and blue flowers. So today I took that walk again with my camera and I took pictures of all the bluish flowers I could find.
So I hope you all have broadband connections to the Internet because there are a lot of pictures below. I hope this doesn't take forever to load. Remember if you click on the pictures you'll get a larger version.
(This is washed out but it was a pale blue.)
Sweet peas
A field of thistles. Well, eventually they'll be blue!
Rock Rose
Society Garlic
Lantana
Mexican Sage
Plumbago
California Lilac
When these are really blooming the whole hillside will be a pale purple. It's pretty spectacular.
Iceplant
I should know this one.
Lavender (this was at home after work)
Dutch Iris (again, this is at home, not on my walk)
California Poppies
So they're not purple but they are pretty!
Well, now I'm going to have to read a book to see what the title of this post refers to.
As I've pointed out before, it is spring and the flowers are making their appearances. As I was walking I kept noticing that there were a lot of purple and blue flowers. So today I took that walk again with my camera and I took pictures of all the bluish flowers I could find.
So I hope you all have broadband connections to the Internet because there are a lot of pictures below. I hope this doesn't take forever to load. Remember if you click on the pictures you'll get a larger version.
(This is washed out but it was a pale blue.)
Sweet peas
A field of thistles. Well, eventually they'll be blue!
Rock Rose
Society Garlic
Lantana
Mexican Sage
Plumbago
California LilacWhen these are really blooming the whole hillside will be a pale purple. It's pretty spectacular.
Iceplant
I should know this one.
Lavender (this was at home after work)
Dutch Iris (again, this is at home, not on my walk)
California PoppiesSo they're not purple but they are pretty!
Well, now I'm going to have to read a book to see what the title of this post refers to.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Update: Roses will rise
You might remember that we started to dig up a part of our back yard to make a place for our new rose garden. Well, this weekend we finally had some cooperating weather that let us get the roses in the ground. We spent all of our daylight hours Saturday and Sunday on this little project. We dug up the ground to clean out the Bermuda grass. That is a futile effort...it will be back. There's no getting rid of that stuff. Then we dug our two foot deep holes to plant the tiny plants in. We made baskets out of chicken wire to try to keep the gophers from eating our roses.
(All the green in the background are weeds.)
There are climbing roses on each side of the little arch. They are are going to be good smellers.
We've got a lot of work left to finish this project. Then we have a lot of work to keep it going. I understand that I get to figure out how to keep it all watered.
(All the green in the background are weeds.)There are climbing roses on each side of the little arch. They are are going to be good smellers.
We've got a lot of work left to finish this project. Then we have a lot of work to keep it going. I understand that I get to figure out how to keep it all watered.
Update: Flood!
Remember our new driveway?
I took one of my use-or-lose vacation days a couple of Fridays ago to dig in the back yard. It rained so instead of digging I stayed indoors except for a couple of strolls outside when the rain slowed. I finally got to see the new driveway in action during a rain.
We don't have a large lake any more! There is a little lake upstream but that will fill in after a few more storms.
Mission accomplished!
I took one of my use-or-lose vacation days a couple of Fridays ago to dig in the back yard. It rained so instead of digging I stayed indoors except for a couple of strolls outside when the rain slowed. I finally got to see the new driveway in action during a rain.
We don't have a large lake any more! There is a little lake upstream but that will fill in after a few more storms.Mission accomplished!
Update: Mush!
Last weekend I harvested another batch of mushrooms and Jerry put them on our pizzas. I didn't notice a lot of mushroom flavor on Saturday but today the flavor came through when we had our leftovers. Maybe sitting in the refrigerator for a couple of days brings out the flavor or maybe not being so hot is the key. Anyway, the mushrooms taste good!
According to the instructions, these have gotten too mature. They say that once the caps get concave like these they're too far along. At the bottom of the picture there are a couple of mushrooms peaking over the top of the bucket that are about to turn the edges of their caps up and become too mature. They're about the size of nickels. I don't think that they're big enough to harvest.
The harvest:
I just wish they would produce as well as the picture on the cover of the instructions show. I was hoping that we'd get to use the dehydrator on what we couldn't keep up with. Maybe they'll surprise me yet.
According to the instructions, these have gotten too mature. They say that once the caps get concave like these they're too far along. At the bottom of the picture there are a couple of mushrooms peaking over the top of the bucket that are about to turn the edges of their caps up and become too mature. They're about the size of nickels. I don't think that they're big enough to harvest.
The harvest:
I just wish they would produce as well as the picture on the cover of the instructions show. I was hoping that we'd get to use the dehydrator on what we couldn't keep up with. Maybe they'll surprise me yet.
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