BurbalDiaries

Daibutsu (the great Buddha)

2012-01-22T06:41:00.001-08:00

This image was cast in 1292; it was housed in a shrine that was washed away in a tidal wave in 1495; since then it has been in the open. Very, very impressive and peaceful to look at.

I kept hearing a song out of Judas Macabbeas in my head (I guess because I'd been playing it during Hanukkah)--

Never bow we down oh never bow we down no never bow we down/
to the rude stock/
or sculptured stone/
but ever worship Israel's God/
ever obedient to his awful nod...

Hase-dera (Kamakura)

2012-01-22T06:38:00.001-08:00

The rows of little images are of Jizo (a bodhisattva, who takes care of children, particularly aborted, stillborn, or miscarried children).

Ginkakuju (Temple of the Silver Pavilion)

2012-01-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

Philosopher's path (Tetsugaku no michi)

2012-01-22T06:11:00.000-08:00

Of course, I'd visualized a very pristine, secluded path. In fact, it goes through a residential area, and there are a lot of shops on the northern end, including one selling Native American tchotchkes from Sedona. I was surprised to see narcissus blooming (it seemed so early). I have no idea what the sign above with the rat & mouse is about.

Nanzen-ji

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

(picture of the Sanmon -- gate-house-- from the www) -- there was a steep flight of steps I didn't have the courage to climb, but the large group of elderly Japanese tourists trundled up them just fine). I couldn't find any pix of the 16th century screens from the abbot's house, which were v. beautiful (but I got pretty chilled walking around shoeless looking at them.)

Kiyomizudera (name means something like Pure water)

2012-01-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

(Picture of the main pavillion from the www -- none of my pix were that clear).

I took a wrong turn and approached Kiyomizudera through a vast cemetary, rather than through the steep cobbled street lined with snack & souvenir shops that most people took. The grounds were full of "families"of weathered stones, each with its bright bib.

Drinking water from the springs is supposed to bring health, longevity, academic success. (I didn't). I did take off my shoes & descend into a (pitch dark) cave where you follow a chain of wooden beads until you come to an ancient stone (lit from above), with the Sanskrit rune for "heart".

Sanjusangendo (Kyoto, next to the Grand Hyatt)

2012-01-22T05:30:00.000-08:00

The name starts with the Japanese for 33, alluding to the 33,033 arms (33/ statue, 1,001 statues) ofKannon. Some of the images date from the 13th century.

Yoji-josuiku (incantations using willow stick) was being held the day I visited, along with Toh-shiya, where 2,000 young people (who came of age the previous week) visit, participating in an archery contest. (photography not permitted inside the sanctuary -- the photo of the images is from the web)

Suitengu (next to hotel)

2012-01-22T05:25:00.000-08:00

Suitengumae is the name of the subway station next to the Royal Park Hotel, where I was staying. It means "before Suitengu", where Suitengu is a shrine people visit in hopes of easy childbirth. Touching this dog is supposed to protect both mother & child.

It was rainy & cold when I visited, but bunches of families were there with their children.

I went there thinking how grateful I was that my children were long since born healthy and I'd seen them grow up, and that they were out dealing with the wide, wide world.

Madison & Northfield - Travelling to Aaron's Graduation

2011-12-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

6/10/2010: V. hot week in Wilmington/Swarthmore. Kept adding to an email entitled “Commencement chaos”—with planes, lodging, etc for Beth, Mom, me, Steve Leon.

Tues stayed till maybe 8:30 there was the regular Tues phone call w/ Japan. Got home maybe 9, ate, packed, & wasn’t asleep till almost midnight so bleary.

6/8 -- S drove me to airport, flights all in order, arrived Madison a bit after 1 PM.

Got car (GPS not available, also, they wouldn’t accept S as a driver), couldn’t figure out how to open trunk till L showed me later, scurried over to campus to meet L for lunch at Indian buffet – he had mtg @ 2:30. Bought maps of Madison, WI, and MN, checked into hotel (Sheraton – free wifi but slow), spent an hour w/ help desk figuring out why the .bat file to map my drives wasn’t running.

Hurried to get Mom – flustered to be driving back & forth across a strange town where I didn’t know the roads (altho I should; it’s my 3^rd trip there). Mom was patiently waiting outside in the heat, her usual composed self.

Mom & I went to the hotel – by then almost 6. We went off & met Leon, who directed us around the campus a bit, and then went w/ us to a fancy restaurant near the Capitol. No sooner had we got in than the thunderstorms ahead of much cooler weather broke – it poured & poured, while we watched happily from inside. L talked abt his clueless roommate – e.g. that dishes won’t dry in the dishrack unless they’re concave-down. L hopes to get his prelim done in the course of the summer.

I had a glass of Prosecco, but nevertheless got L back safely to Chamberlin (where he had work to do) and us back to the hotel, and slept v. comfortably.

Next day (6/9), much cooler. Got up @ 6, walked (bike path by road, Madison is such a nice town) dropped Mom off at Chamberlin, where L gave her a tour of his labs, then she & I went to Whole Foods, bought way more food than two older ladies could possibly eat, and set out for Northfield.

The Madison map had print way too small for Mom to read, but it went better w/ the WI & MN maps (which had bought on prior trips but of course had forgotten to bring, hence the new copies). Mom, of course, not a navigator in the Maurer tradition.

We did the drive in maybe 5 hrs – somewhat chilly but otherwise delicious picnic lunch at the rest stop w/ all the yummy, nutritious food we’d bought @ whole foods. For once I didn’t panic on US 52 (due to the directions of a nice info desk lady in La Crosse), and we made our way to Faribault w/o incident (except for discussions of when/whether I’d get gas). Phoned S to stop in the National desk & see if he could get added as a driver on the rental car. When I did stop for gas in Faribault, couldn’t figure out how to open the gas tank; no lever or button. However, a nice young woman at the cash register showe me you could just push in the little door, and voila, it opens.

Hutchinson house is purplish & pin, & the windows on its little turret are boarded up, so it looks a tad threadbar as you approach, but otherwise v. nice.

FLASH (6/10): A has a girlfriend! I never knew. Her name is Edie (last name not disclosed) & she’s in media studies – v. slight, long brown hair & seems v nice. She joined us for lunch & will join us for dinner.

Continuing w/ 6/9, we had dinner @ Fermentations, which was occupied mostly by families of graduating Carls. I was SO glad to see A & S, and even tho S hadn’t succeeded in getting himself put on the rental car, he said He’d drive us home, so I could drink. Had salad & duck confit & 2 flights (sets of 3 small tasting glasses) of red wine.

A more than usually communicative. Abt his clueless roommate Austin, who couldn’t figure out how to use the toaster oven. Abt how nice the landlord was & how he (the landlord) liked to fix things; wked as a carpenter. Abt his phone interview w/ Acumen & how he thought the work would be interesting. Abot how his lease is ending early, so his landlord can do fixes, and he doesn’t know where he’s going (SF or Madison) or where he’ll stay until he does go. That graduating from college marks the end of being able to be irresponsible.

The waitress was 8.5 months preg.

In Northfield before Aaron's Graduation

2011-12-21T17:49:00.000-08:00

6/10: we came back to Nfield the next day, hung out in Sayles “great space”. Cold grey day, but not rainy except for mist & sprinkles. Much back & forth because the dinner resv A had made (rest called Crave) wasn’t in the Mall of America, but in a more upscale mall nearby, but he hadn’t told me, so Beth & Leon, who were joining us there, didn’t know.

Once A got out of commencement practice, he came over to get us. Meanwhile, S had encountered two Carl parents who had been his students at Swat & were now litigators. They had twin sons, once a Swattie & the other a Carl (we’d met the Swattie at a dinner for J students earlier in the year) and one a carl.

On the way to lunch was when A disclosed Edee’s existence – we met her for lunch. She lives on a horse farm to the west of Minneapolis. Her father’s family has been Carls for generations. Her Mom’s a CIO for a childrens’hosp in Minneapolis. She breeds & trains horses in the summers. A gang of her friends helps her Mom do the work on the farm when she’s away @ school. Invited her to dinner @ Crave. V. nice, v. pretty & well spoken.

(6/10/11 cont’d) Mom, Edee & I started off on tour of campus guided by A, but hadn’t gone far when Ryan’s family, grilling bratwurst, hailed him to come help consume, so we settled there for a while. We toddled onward to the patio where the math/stat reception would be – Mom got to sit down.

S talked a good deal to math faculty, of course. It emerged that none knew A hadn’t gotten into math grad school anywhere.

We went to on to the history reception – Mom sat at a picnic table & read -- & talked to the prof who’d taught A’s freshman seminar – Black slaves, white masters – abt how he saw his role to get freshmen on the right track. Talked to the head of dept who’d had A’s comps course – I had to own I hadn’t read A’s comps paper, even tho he’d sent it to me.

Collected Mom – it was v. chilly day-- & took her back to B&B so she could lie down.

Read Little Bee, which Mom lent me – pretty harrowing.

Drove Mom back to Nfield, we all crammed into A’s car (so I could drink wine & not drive home – S not being a legal driver on our rental car) & hurried off to Crave, where L, Beth, Sofia, and Alex had arrived earlier. We ate vast amts of vg sushi & Alex took me by the hand to a nearby toy store, where I bought him a leggos set for 7-12 yr olds. Sofia v. animated & happy.

A alternately teased Edee abt MN & discussed w/ S where he could get control of his Vanguard accts. Alex consumed some noodles, & was tired, ditto Beth (who’d been called to the hosp till the wee hours of the AM), so she set off w/ him, leaving Leon to bring back Sofia, once she’d had dessert.

Aaron Graduation Ceremony

2011-12-21T17:41:00.000-08:00

6/11/2011: Sat, we breakfasted early --brighter day but still cool -- & made our way to the Bald Spot on campus. Read in the program that A had graduated cum laude. V. pretty Telemann flute & bass sonata playing – I thought it was maybe Mark, but not, tho he was in the commencement band. L arrived – Beth & So stood on some rocks off to the side (Alex stayed w/ Gloria).

2 student speakers – one abt time – her 4 years of 10 week terms and how she’d have to learn to measure time differently. The other, a developing poet, abt seizing time and mindfulness. One honorary degree recipient was v. brief – seemed a little unsteady—the other (a joint music & classics appt) about the importance of playfulness.

They finished – they always do – and the graduates began receiving degrees. Once A had been called (not that I could see the stage that well) I drifted over & talked w/ B & Sofia (who was hungry & bored, eventually left f. Gloria’s) and then hung around the passageway formed by blue mesh, that the faculty would line up in, and the grads would pass through.

A came striding by, then walked around greeting friends – Edee was there & took a pic of us but I didn’t have the presence of mind to take his pic with her – was that Freudian? I pressed her to join us for dinner, but she demurred.

There was a picnic lunch available fr the college, but no tables to eat it at, and no containers to carry food into Sayles – A wanted to continue greeting friends. Eventually, we went to Kurry Kebab & ate too much Indian food. A talked abt the cutoffs for cum laude (distinction in comps & 3.25 GPA). Abt how he lent his car out less now that the alarm was armed (since the battery drained & was jump-started in NO) but he doesn’t want to replace the clicker-opener.

Drove S & Mom back to the B&B to rest & fell asleep myself, tho no good reason to be tired. A said he wanted to nap, too – graduating was draining. In fact, he spent the aft helping load two of his surplus sofas into a friend’s van. Drove back to Gloaria’s, but G not there (she’d gone to the library for movies to amuse Alex while we were @ dinner). Went for short walk w/ Beth, but then started worrying abt getting to dinner resv on time, so drove back to b&b, collected S& Mom (w/ some difficulty – S wanted more time to look over the route), scurried up to Minneapolis to Murray’s, a v. old-fashioned steak place, where we ate huge amts of food and A accumulated a stack of left-over boxes to take home. Sofia v. tired.

And that’s that: days of driving hither & thither & sitting around talking and eating too much & not exercising. A seemed so happy & at ease in this little world, these 4 years. He seems comfortable with a much wider range of humanity than in my day (40 yrs ago): Af-Ams, gay, lesbian, transgender.

Flight home a couple hours late – read the NYT & shuffled around. Home by maybe 8 PM, made scrambled eggs for dinner & collapsed into bed.

to 8/16/2011 -- Borrowdale

2011-08-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

(includes corrections from Steve) I’m sitting in the front room of the Leathes House, which looks out on Borrowdale and the fells beyond. Last week was a blur, trying to wind up at work, coop , weird meals at home as we tried to use up this and that.

Stayed latish at work, came back latish, & made a not v. inspired chicken w/ tomatoes & zucchini. Got up, packed & erranded in AM. Borders is closing. I went in to get some paperbacks to read on the plane. It felt so sad – all the times I’d gone there when L & A were little – all the books I’d bought for them (& me) there. Bought a bunch of kids books for the guys in the shelters.

S claimed my suitcase was > 50 lbs (comment by S: which would generate a fee), but in fact it was 44. V. pissed at him that his preference for window seats landed us in a back row where the seats wouldn’t recline, and landed me in a middle seat WHICH I DID NOT LIKE. Kept muttering “shxx”. I should say, he’d gifted me his US Air miles to try to upgrade, but upgrades not available, in the end the flight was oversold & they had to elicit volunteers to fly to London & then Glasgow.

Glasgow airport small – we were staying in Holiday Express (comment by s: with a 2 pm checkin). They couldn’t give us a room in the morning when we arrived, so we took a but into town & went to the Kelvingrove Museum, part of the University. V. eclectic – couple of rooms of French, couple of rooms of Italians, assorted antiquities, couple of rooms of local artists whom I found forgetable) and a v. massive Dali Christ on the Cross. S looked at the Glasgow boys, thought theirs a good use of Matisse-type colors. S proposed lunch in the downstairs cafe (more expensive, fewer little kids), which was smart (I was still pissed at him). Wound up watching Tango demonstrations, and I just ached w/ fatigue. Finally, we could check in; we promptly fell asleep & woke up maybe 6 pm feeling much better. No airport restaurants to speak of, so we ate in the hotel --- ok curry.

Next day, I persuaded S to switch our rental to an automatic, even tho it almost doubled the cost (he's a wuss in his old age, isn't he). Got down to Borrowdale in abt 3 hrs & ate lunch in Keswick (pronounced Kessick) at an overpriced Indian (but service not slow & food fine). Went out for a couple hours walking starting in back of the hotel -- v. bright day w/ beautiful clouds, and the scenery in Borrowdale just beautiful -- and the intense green of the valley bottome filled w/ sheep byres.

Where we are (Leathes Head), the steep slopes are mostly forrested.

Tues was rainy -- we sent into Keswick & visited the pencil factory (they were invented there -- there are graphite deposits) & Castlerig stone circle -- beautiful view of fields & fells, but pretty steady rain & then walked deown to Friars Craig -- good views of Derwentwater. S saw a pub advertising a lunch special at GPB 3.99 including "mushy peas" for lunch, so insisted we go there (as his BD celebration). Then we walked a couple hours along a RR line converted to a bicycle / pedestrian trail, along the River Greta. V. woodsey, not much in the way of views.

Slight excitement -- S (whose Estonian-based cell phone service couldn't get reception at our hotel) saw a missed phone call # & ID'd it as our neighbor's. I was able to call out on my bberry. She wanted to say, there'd been 5"of rain the other day and did our sump pump work? Much discussion abt did she had a key, but then S called the lady who cleans our house, who came in first to check that the sump pump worked, then (several times) to unstick the float that made it run without stopping.

8/17/2011 - Rosthwaite & Stonethwaite

2011-08-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

Wed, we did a walk through the upper reaches of B orrowdale: Rosthwaite & Stonethwaite. It was supposed to be a 9 mile walk, approx time 4 hrs, but we did maybe 7 miles of it in 5, isn't that sad? Only a little section was difficult -- just rocky trail. (from the book's description, I was afraid it involved yards & yards of scrambling, but even for timorous me, the distance involved was short). S led, of course -- there was one section where the guidebook said"soon leave this (public footpath) by striking left across Combe Gill for Stonethwaite -- the path is not quite as shown on maps, nor is it a right of way, but its use is permitted". The Seathwaite section was crowded with campers & walkers (to climb Scafell), but otherwise v. peaceful, just us & the Herdwick sheep. Lovely, bright day.

S wanted to drive over Honnister pass to Buttermere --the next mere -- so we got some coffee & set off. I found the drive pretty terrifying -- the roads aren't wide enough for 2 cars to pass abreast, and there were 25% (not an exaggeration) grades.

My bb just ran out of juice & died -- sort of distressing but I shouldn't be checking email anyway, should I? S isn't checking HIS email now, is he??

Continuing w/ the roads, many are not only single laned, but lined on each side w/ stone walls, so the car has maybe 6" clearance.

Thurs, 8/18/2011 - Keswick to Winchcombe

2011-08-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

We bad farewell to the Lake District -- Grasmere & Dove cottage would have meant a few more hours'drive & I was nervous enough about my stint of driving on the M6, so I lugged The Oxford Book of English Verse along for nothing, didn't I?

It was about 5 hrs drive down to here -- through pretty grimy Midlands (Lancaster, Birmingham) but these rolling hills & fields are lovely. The house we're staying in is lovely, too, built in the 18th cent, all filled w/ antiques & pictures of a VERY handsome family. Lovely picture of two blond daughters, barefoot, in sleveless black dresses, standing on the grass.

They own some 600 acres and of course the line is they take in B&B guests only out of generosity to share this loveliness w/ them, but it can't be much fun, can it, to have strangers tramping dirt into your lovely home week in & week out? And, I mean, it's not that much money, is it -- total revenue is maybe GBP 400/night or so (max, and there are exps), and I as overpaid dweeb earn roughly that. Of course, I don't live in lovely country-side, do I. I guess that's the point.

The bookstore in town is going out of business. S spent some GBP 20 on maps there, a shocking sum for him, and then spent a further 10.

My bberry revived when I charged it w/o the transformer, and now it's its peppy little self. (altho radio transmission briefly off after I took out the battery).

However, we still have communications constraints, because:
1) S's Estonian-based cell phone doesn't get good reception, so when he calls the states, people can't understand what he says.
2) I can't figure out how to dial UK numbers -- the prefixes we could think of didn't work.
3) I can't figure out how to set up my voicemail box.
The upshot is, S can call me, but I can't call him. Steve thinks I'm technologically inept. I think if he had some normal cell phone I could just return a missed call.

Fri, 8/19/2011 - Winchcombe, Belas Knap, Sudeley Castle

2011-08-27T10:31:00.000-07:00

Funny to hear sheep baa-ing as we wake & go to sleep. Keep hearing "sheep may safely graze" the Bach cantata tune, in my head. (posted a link to a rendition in the left hand side of the blog). We walked into Winchcombe today & then to Belas Knap -- a Neolithic barrow that held some 38 individuals -- way up on the Cotswold escarpment. The altitude gain was 700' (so paltry, but it made me huff & puff). Lovely views across the valley -- Sudeley castle & St Peter's in the village.

Belas Knap looks roughly like 1/2 pear, where the pear is 40-50'long and up to 20'high. One guidebook said -- 15,000 man-hours, v. fine dry laid stone, so demonstrated advanced organization. I keep thinking, what would possess people to build such a thing? Someone's ego trip.

Sudeley castle v. damaged in civil wars & largely rebuilt by Victorian textile tycoons. The lovely little church of St. Mary's is almost entirely a Victorian reconstruction (I learned after reverently photographing the effigy of Catherine Parr). Poor lady only lived a bit over a year after marrying Semour -- died of purpureal fever at 36.

The exhibits weren't that substantive -- mostly costumes from a TV version of the 6 wives of Henry VIII -- so largely Philippa Gregory land. Gardens v. pretty - I only spent an hour in the whole place, and 15 min was getting & drinking a pot of tea, since S stayed outside.

We trudged back to the house (so maybe 8 miles total that day) and scurried into Winchcombe to pick up laundry. Dinner at the Indian restaurant, followed by S investigating the coop supermarket to compare prices with the US.

Sat 8/20/2011 - Broadway, Chipping Campden, Cirencester

2011-08-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

We drove over to Broadway -- pretty, but it didn't really grab me, and then to Chipping Campden, which is really lovely - buildings of all eras -- 14th - 19th cent, all in the same honey-colored limestone.

Church of St. James v. nice - chapel with 17th cent effigies of worthy couples w/ incredible neck ruffs carved in marble. Couldn't find the floor bronzes in the chancel that were described. V. comfortable looking church. We ate lunch in a 14th century pub -- I had a little of S's hard cider.

By the time we'd wandered around, it was well after 3 & I wanted to see the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Cirencester -- S kept threatening I should drive but good thing I didn't, since we had to scurry to get to the church by 4:30. V. handsome 17th cent floor stones, all specifying profession: soap boiler, or printer or clothier. Also 14th cent bronzes in the altar of one of the chapels.

8/21/2011 - Hailes Abbey

2011-08-27T07:29:00.001-07:00

Two mysteries I'm leaving on the shelf of the guest room (but the authors were decent):

PL Gaus - Clouds w/o rain

Rebecca Tope - A Cotswold Killing (she didn't tie up all her ends, though).

Steve's green jacket is disintegrating day by day (and is terribly smelly). The hood is coming apart from the body & the back is flaking off.

Lovely, clear day. We started out for Hailes Abbey -- dismantled in the Dissolution -- took longer than we'd thought to go through the interpretive material. We didn't start walking till maybe 11:30, and the walk took till maybe 2:30. Great views across the Vale of Evesham.

8/22/2011 - Call to A

2011-08-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

He's signed a lease starting Sept 1 on a house, so for the mean time he stays w/ Claire, whose parents are divorced. He mirrors where Claire's sister goes (i.e. when she goes to one parent, he goes to the other & uses her bed). He's friends w/ Claire's Dad. Spent most of the weekend hanging out w/ people from work (predominantly 22-23 yr olds). He was asked to tell his manager if he was going to be getting into the office later than 11 AM (so worktimes v. flexible).

8/22-23/2011 (Mon & Tues) Oxford & London

2011-08-27T04:07:00.000-07:00

We left the Cotswolds about 10 AM yesterday -- S drove maybe an hour to Oxford, parked in a park & ride, whence we took the bus into Oxford. Ashmolean (alas) closed Mondays. Went through Balliol (Id forgotten that Peter Wimsey was among the alums) -- mostly Victorian. S v. interested because it was the model for Princeton's grad college. The portraits of dignitaries in Hall included Baruch Blumberg (I hadn't known). Incredibly lush flower beds (I've really never seen the like). Included banana-looking things (winters must be v. mild).

[S said at some point he worries I dress too frumpily for work. (this from someone who's spent 30+ years teaching in math T shirts). I worry maybe he has a point.]

We also went to Magdalen -- v. lovely cloisters lined w/ hydrangeas. Then we went back to the car -- S drove us to Heathrow -- one wrong turn, and a scramble to get to a gas station & top up the car (I wound up directing S at one point when he had to back out of a non-functioning bay). Great relief to S to deliver the car unscathed.

Then bus to but-to-airport, 2 hr van ride into London. The hotel we're in is near Harrod's, but you'd never guess -- it's on a v. quiet, short, dead end-street. Our room's one window looks out on an air-shart, but the room has air conditioning, is relatively large, and has a huge bathroom. Drinks & afternoon tea are free, too.

We went to a Thai place around the corner; S upset abt the cost & abt swallowing a hot pepper.

I agonized a certain amt over the GBP 14 for the room service breakfast (no DR), but the breakfast was nice. S went to MacDonalds, a block or two away.

This morning (rainy) he walked some 25 min to do laundry. I went to Westminster Abbey (had never been), leaving 9:30 by tube to use the reduced-price day pass. Waited in a long, soggy line (BUT, I saw the gargoyles in action -- that's worth something isn't it?) Inside was wall-to-wall tourists, shuffling damply through. I shuffled along w/ the masses, didn't take the audio tour, but gleaned what I could from Fodors, the pamphlet, and reading the eulogies on the monuments. The floor-stones included one marking an 18th century plumber of Westminster, but maybe that meant lead gutters instead of sewage? We'll never know.

Afterward, I made my way to the National Gallery -- along w/ every other tourist in London, admission being free. 13th-15th cent is on the top floor of a new addition -- had lunch in their nice dining room in the same addition, then S came over, and we went through the 16th-20th centuries together. He's much more observant & appreciative than I am, e.g. Claude, a 16th cent French landscapist -- I tend to look at paintings & label them -- that's a Turner, or a Monet. Found a Hogarth I'd remembered from a child's book about art I'd had years ago --a v. quick, vivid painting of a smiling shrimp-girl. Two Monets I especially liked - one of trees, one of a seashore - done w/ an uncharacteristic amount of detail, in beiges & whites. The rooms were VERY crowded -- especially the impressionists at the end.

We had coffee / tea in the cafe, made our way back to the hotel. I had my by-now-customary couple of glasses of the nice red wine they serve here -- Bergerac - Chateau des Peyroulets. Went to an Indian place S had seen in the neighborhood where he did the laundry, which was fine -- I mostly didn't want him to grump about the price of dinner. We took the tube there & back -- on the return trip we wound up going down 87 spiral stairs by mistake (at the bottom, but not the top was a sign not to use the stairs except in an emergency).

Did I say that all my resolutions to wear city-type clothes & sandals have come to naught? I can't do museums in anything but running shoes. So there I am in my crops, running shoes, and mesh shirt, surrounded by all these svelte young things in black tights & short skirts & high heels.

8/24/2011 (penultimate day)

2011-08-27T02:51:00.000-07:00

OMG this is the penultimate day of vac. S & I separated -- he to Hyde Park and the transportation museum, I to Hampton Court, some 20 mi outside London.

He was VERY happy there. There were hoards of kids pretending to drive the vehicles. Did I notice why the London subways were so deep, instead of cut & cover like NY? Well, London built trains to the suburbs before NYC, but by an act of Parliament couldn't build through the middle of town (which is why there are so many different train stations in a ring). But how to get people from the trains to wk??? At first there were horse-pulled trams. Then, around 1865 -- so 30-35 yrs before NYC--but steam-powered, because electric motors weren't powerful enough to pull trains till around 1900. The Circle Line was cut & cover, but the others were far deeper, w/ ventilation holes every so often to vent the smoke & heat (but see next post -- I think S hadn't seen all the Tube exhibit at this point).

I had a lovely day at Hampton Court -- caught the 9:06 out of Waterloo station. The ticket machine gave me 6 (count them, SIX) ticket stubs for a round trip & I had to ask the guard which to use to get through the barrier. Half the palace is Tûdor -- there were audio tours for the Tudor kitchen (which fed some 1,000) and the Henry VIII state apts (huge banqueting hall), and Henry as a young man (I thought he had red hair? but the video -- maybe from the TV show? showed a v. virile handsome dark haired man).

Went to the cafe for lunch (by then, the Henry VIII section was getting crowded -- the one thing I've learned besides arrive early in the day is to go to lunch early -- by the time I'd finished eating, the line was out the door). Had to relinquish audio on the way to the cafe, so after lunch toured the Christopher Wren part of the palace w/o. Was pretty well palaced out by then. HUGE rooms w/ 30'ceilings -- had to have been drafty in winter. Enourmous portraits mounted 10' up on the wall. Outside were massive cone-shaped yews (?) and a grape vine planted 1768 & still producing (the grapes -- prettily packaged -- were on sale in the garden store, so of course I had to buy some at maybe GBP 8 / lb?). I think it was Trollope's Small House at Allingham ? where a decision to mend the chimney in the small house's grape house signified a turn in sentiment by a noble patron. (OMG I just checked on my bb & was right-- it's so reassuring sometimes to be able to remember something).

So many things to check when I get home. Like, who was Lady Jane Grey and why was she executed? I had her mixed up w/ Jane Seymour, the mother of Edward. Oh, OK, I could find that searching on my bb too. She reigned 9 days, after the death of Edward & before Mary I.

Stung by S's characterization of my clothes as "frumpy", I dressed up for dinner last night in an outfit I'd bought for London, and we went to a French place Fodor's liked nearby. S had the prix fixe; I couldn't resist the lamb (so not prixe fixe), S sort of shell-shocked by the price, but it was VERY nice. Aren't these thrilling chronicles?

8/25-26/2011 (Thurs -- our last day in London & trip home)

2011-08-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our last day. Rain in the AM, and we went to the Tate Britain in Pimlico. I liked the old stuff best, of course, the Cholmodeley Ladies (born on the same day, married on the same day & gave birth to sons on the same day), a Geo Stubbs of reapers, the Constables & the early Turners.

Then we split -- S to stay another hour in the Tate & return to the Transport Museum, I to go to Liberty of London to buy stuff, then to the National Portrait Gallery. Ate lunch in the restaurant -- which had an incredible view over Trafalgar square & London's rooftops. I should have taken a picture.

I liked the Tudor era portraits best, of course -- my attention faded after that, except that I needed to see Ms. Austen before I left. The only confirmed portrait of her is a tiny little thing, maybe 5"square? a sketch by her sister Cassandra with a funny ambiguous quote by her niece. 'there is a look which I recognise as hers', her niece wrote, 'though the general resemblance is not strong, yet as it represents a pleasing countenance it is so far a truth.'

Lovely, clear weather by the time I emerged -- a more ambitious soul would have walked back instead of taking the tube.

We're headed back to the Thai we ate at the first night -- its prices don't seem as horrendous now to S.

More from the transportation Mus - the lines after the Circle Line were deep because Brunel (pic in the national portrait gallery) had figured out how to tunnel -- the clays under London lent themselves to deep tunnelling, the elevator & electric motor had been invented by roughly 1980, so it was feasible to get people down that deep. Nonetheless, it took US financing to complete the first tunnels.

Then we (heatedly) discussed how we'd communicate if/when he was in Berlin. I keep thinking a normal phone (that he carried & left turned on) would be easier to deal with than the Estonian service he has, i.e. when he calls, my bberry on a normal phone, shouldn't I be able to reply?

Anyway, we got to the airport v. early the next day (crowds had been forecast) -- I finished David Starkey's Henry: Virtuous Prince (a bio of the early life of Henry VIII), and then read an Agatha Raisin (a mystery featuring a dumpy 50-0dd yr old who settles in the Cotswolds) and the newest Dona Leon, & also watched 27 dresses (a chick-flick whose heroine accumulates 27 bridesmaids dresses), and now we're home.

The sump pump is acting up, our water heater's got a crack, my Prius won't get out of park (so I had to walk my groceries home from the coop), but it was still a lovely, lovely trip.

Holiday Colloquium - Equation editor

2010-12-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

2010-12-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Thoughts on Spain

2010-10-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

I was so glad the bits of Spanish I knew came bubbling back up -- the last time I'd used it was maybe 2006? when I used to go to Latin America's budget meetings, before I worked on Brazil & was trying to learn Portuguese. Steve commented that people talking to me didn't seem to slow down (conversing in German with him, they did).

I was so glad Steve loves figuring out train & bus schedules -- all our transportation went smoothly & it's not easy navigating on strange systems in a strange town.

Maybe the Dogs of God wasn't ideal reading material? Maybe I was projecting onto the Spanish Baroque and the 16th & 17th centuries had more artistic richness than I gave them credit for? Even if they hadn't expelled the Jews from Spain, Spain's rule of its American colonies was brutal. I kept thinking of Fray Oviedo whose Historial General y Natural de los Indios (1535--I read him when I was doing my dissertation research) chronicles the first years of Spanish rule of Central America (even before epidemics killed millions):

neither paper nor time suffice to tell entirely what the captains did to destroy the Indians and to rob them and lay waste the land, if all was told as it happened, but...in this land of Castilla del Oro, there were two million Indians -- they were uncountable--and it is necessary that it be said how such a number of people ended in so little time.

(that quote from Oviedo is one of the few things I remember from my diss)

I think that even in those days for that time, this was an unusually brutal society, and in the places we visited, I just didn't see much awareness of history (I guess I should come out and say--remorse). But maybe a tourist to the US, who did nothing but visit the Smithsonian and the NY Mus of Nat Hist would think the same?

But in terms of Steve and me, it was a good time. We're good travel companions, and enjoy talking back and forth about new impressions. I hope we have many more years to travel together.

Oct 16-17 Cordoba & Madrid again

2010-10-23T12:24:00.001-07:00

10/16/2010: Went yest by bus to Granada, which meant a hasty breakfast (amazing buffet) and walking fast through the dark to the bus station where we were ½ hr early. 2.5 hrs by bus to Granada – only garden tickets were available by the time we got there & S didn’t want those.

We were able to get into the Carlos V palace for free, starting 2 PM (S kept pressing me to ask the guard in Spanish, and he was right), so we did, & saw an exhib on Matisse at the Alhambre, also lots of Spanish Baroque religious art, which was hard to look at. S did not want to go to the Capilla Real, which had Isabella & Ferdinand’s body, also Joanna the Mad, who took the body of her husband, Felipe the Handsome, with her wherever she went, and opened the coffin each night to kiss his embalmed face. Can you IMAGINE???

Then , we went down a steep path & up a steeper street (hill of Albaizin), until we got to St. Nicholas’ square, which had beautiful views.

Some confusion at the bus station over which bus went to Cordoba, and the bus driver wasn’t so great – stopped v suddenly at one pt to avoid a car stopped for a red light. It seemed like a long way home. But we got to Cordoba & had (I thought) a nice supper at the hotel (S trying not to be cross because it was expensive) [vg lamb shoulder] & went to bed & slept & slept.

Biggest bed I’d ever seen – somewhere beyond king. You could sleep utterly unconscious of the other person. In fact, you needed to travel a vast expanse to find the other person.

Today, we slept late, ate vast amts of breakfast, went to the Alcazar, Roman Bridge & Museo de Bellas Artes (I’ve pretty much had it w/ Spanish Baroque painting, and kept projecting onto the scenes the animus I’ve been feeling toward the Inquisition & Ferd & Is). But certainly the people we’ve met have been delightful & obliging, and it has been ½ a millennium since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. England expelled its Jews, too, and I feel no special animus against them.

We stopped for lunch at an outdoor café—the recommended restaurant being full. S happy because it was tasty & cheap. We called a restaurant in Madrid & I made a resv all by myself in Spanish – I was quite proud. Didn’t succeed in doing much of anything after lunch – the museum we tried was closed. Walked around. S naviagated to the Christa de los Faroles (Christ of the lanterns) in the Plaza de los Dolores, which is (according to Fodors) where you feel most deeply the city’s languid pace, but, quoth S, how can you feel the city’s languid pace in a square with noplace to sit??

We took the train back to Madrid & here we are, in a 2 story suite w/ 2 bathrooms (one w/ a jazuzzi) and 4, count them, 4 sinks. Also 2 genuine Roman mosaics. All for the princely sum of €175. Went to a local Italian rest & had a nice dinner (lots of veggies), but the people around us were smoking. Headed to the airport & home the next day, and here we are.

Read Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors and a terrible, implausible mystery by John Dunning (the Bookman's Promise).

Thurs, Oct 14th, Cordoba

2010-10-23T11:48:00.001-07:00

10/15/2010: Cordoba – we got up early yest & got to the train w/o incident – weather kind of grey & misty, so not much in the way of views. Got bus tickets w/o problem, took taxi to hotel, rm not ready so went off to the mosque-turned-cathedral – a forest of red & white arches, v. distinctive, v beautiful.

Found a recommended restaurant (by Fodors & hotel), had vg tuna/anchovy salad, went to Safared house, which had v detailed & bitter account of the Inquisition that I translated aloud to S (other American tourists listening, too), also v. long list of eminent conversos & descendents of conversos. (Part of the Inquisition was blood-purity laws, so anyone with even part Jewish blood couldn’t hold office).

The synagogue was v touching – small, w/ wall decorations that had been hidden behind other paneling. I took picture after picture of the walls & Hebrew writing.

Came back & got our room, which has a HUGE bathroom (but the tub v. slippery & no grab bar). Realized we’d neglected to get an online resv for the Alhambra—which we should have done weeks ago—they’re hard to get. The lady at the desk tried to help us, but none were available. We decided to go anyway, and see if we could get two of the tickets reserved for walkups. The guidebook said you could visit the Carlos V palace separately. Then went to the archaeology mus – some parts v touching, eg Roman burial stones often include STTL – sit terra tibi leva – that the ground over you be light.

A little priapic figure that S missed. Lots of Moorish capitals, and two Jewish gravestones, one pretty legible; the other worn to where I couldn’t make out a letter or a word. Letters opened toward the right instead of the left. I finally realized that if you looked at it upside down, you could at least make out a letter here & there. Communicated my thought to the front desk, where it caused much consternation. A volunteer curator arrived, who said we’d need to talk to the day curator.

Wednesday, Oct 13th - Madrid

2010-10-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

Wed morning was much more leisurely. We found a Laundromat, S did laundry, I caught up on writing this, and we set out for the modern art museum, which is in a huge old bldg. w/ a courtyard. We spent quite a while in a temp exhib w/ extremely pretentious text on placards – for example, a cubist looking nude with the hair of the Maja had explanations about the political ties between Spain & the US in the ‘50’s and how the watched became the watcher. Much more in this vein in every room. We watched a tape of a man in whiteface handling a huge white rectangle, and a nude lady (but not in the Maja pose) looked on.

We looked at a room w/ two huge, weathered slabs of iron, where the text told us how the artist was trying to eliminate his role as intermediary (but then wtf was the point of his existing?) Then, S motioned me into the hall, saying I’d need to reconsider my views on Ely. The (huge) hall was full of tires – maybe 60’ of tires piled 6’ high. No name, no explanation, just 60’ of tires 6’ high. I took a bunch of pictures.

For lunch, S insisted we go to a place that had a €9 plato del dia, but it really wasn’t that gd (S had ordered chicken, which was random bony chunks, and I ordered hake but it had shellfish on top, so S let me have his chicken) & I remonstrated at length that more expensive lunches should be permissible. In the afternoon, which is to say about 3 PM, we got to the more representational parts of the museum: Picasso, Miro. Nevertheless, I tired by around 5, & headed back to the hotel room to try out Jess’ “Stay fit anywhere” workout.

S got back maybe 7:30 & I persuaded him we should eat at the Finca de Suzana, which was nearby & supposed to be cheap, for good food. I liked my gazpacho & duck breast; S burned his hand because I forgot to translate the “quema” the waiter muttered.

So far the only books I’ve read this week were Mennonite in a little black dress (cute, but I still don’t understand the title), & Jane & the Madness of Lord Byron.

Tuesday, Oct 12th - Segovia

2010-10-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

I felt much better in the AM (albeit hung over), but S complained he couldn’t eat enough of the €21 breakfast for it to be worthwhile. We took the subway to the northern train station & set off for Segovia (which has an incredible Roman aqueduct). Took many, many pictures of the incredible Roman aqueduct. Found one museum of local art open – it had v backhanded praise for one featured 18th century artist – about his longevity & relentless pursuit of detail.

The old Jewish quarter had a reconstructed church that had once been a synagogue, with an account at the back of how it had been seized around 1410 after some Jews bought a consecrated Host and tried to burn it, then confessed under torture to having tried to poison the king. They were dragged through the city & dismembered. The placard was at some pains to say that the accuracy of the accusations (or lack thereof) couldn’t be verified.

I got v. indignant & vented some in Spanish to a docent at the nearby “Center for Jewish Learning”, which had a video of a service at a synagogue & various ritual objects w/ explanations. She said one had to allow for how long Spain was closed to the rest of the world – divorce had only been allowed for 20 yrs.

The main drama of the day – the admissions lady at the cathedral glanced up at me & Steve and said “2 seniors”. I was DEVASTATED. S wanted me to explain in Spanish that we weren’t EU citizens. The cathedral was made of a golden local limestone – much less ornate than Toledo’s (a good thing), with a beautiful Gothic cloister.

Anyway, we ate lunch after seeing the cathedral, but were out of luck in that the Provincial Museum didn’t reopen after lunch (it being a holiday). The Alcazar was mostly a reconstruction after a 19th century fire – but v. impressive, with the deepest moat I’d ever seen. It does look v. Disney-ish, with its turrets & crenelated tower.

Came back to Madrid, took a different subway back to the hotel & stopped by a tapas place the hotel desk & Fodors had both recommended (the place had been jammed every other time we went by). I was uncertain at first how to order, but we were eventually settled at a table w/ a tuna salad, vg bread, a huge plate of canapés, with beer for S and wine for me. I was so happy and everything tasted so good.

Monday, Oct 10th - Toledo

2010-10-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

Got up early to head to Toledo – ½ hour by fast train (the train station is ½ hr from us). Grey day, and Toledo is up on a hill of grey rock. Unfortunately, the Transito synagogue was closed, and also the Sephardic museum, because it was Monday. An older synagogue has been made into a church – Sta Maria La Blanca, and was full of an art exhibit by a group that foresaw a union between the Jews & the Catholic Church.

Many twisty, steep, narrow streets, and countless stores selling marzipan, a regional specialty. Cathedral had huge numbers of El Greco’s, but the Romanesque cloister was closed for renovation. Steve esp liked a tiny mosque at one end of town that had been a tiny Romanesque church (or was it vice versa), located over a Roman road & a Roman sewer.

There was a provincial museum with huge tapestries depicting Spanish conquests in Africa (and benches to sit on from which to admire them). Also, a huge exhibit of historic ceramics. But, of course, no modern reproductions to buy. What a pity, said I, here I’m all primed to spend $$ and nothing to spend it on. There were lots of ceramics for sale in the stores round about, but they all looked identical. I asked the admissions guy what a lovely collection and what a pity there are no reproductions (I’d wked out the Spanish beforehand). He suggested a store on the other side of town—we went over there, but it wasn’t the style I’d liked. (of course, could I remember the names of the styles I’d liked? No).

S wanted to head down to the river, to a couple of bridges, so we headed there last – down three escalators, part of garages built into the hillside like Assisi. I was quite tired & footsore by then; we’d been walking all day. Got to say, my Merrill clogs v. comfortable. Then we walked to the train station, where we bought tickets for Segovia, the next day. S wanted tickets for 11:15, but the man at the ticket counter said that train hadn’t existed for a year. S being v. emphatic, the man was getting offended, and I was trying to translate, and getting more and more cross at S. Afterward, I said he was possessed by the shades of Ely, an accusation I rarely trot out.

Then we walked from the Madrid train station back to the hotel. I was cross & tired and complaining that S walked too fast, etc. Our marriage was on the rocks.

However, we went to an excellent restaurant around the corner (La Ancha), and split a bottle of wine, and our marriage picked itself off the ground & shook itself off. S kept chuckling as my mood improved w/ the wine, and saying that after 28 years of marriage, he knew his little wife; she always perked up with wine.

Sunday, Oct 9th - El Prado

2010-10-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Sleeping till 8:30 was a problem because our tickets at the Prado were for 9 AM. However, the admission people didn’t object when we showed up ½ hour late. We started with Velasquez & Las Meninas (jammed w/ Asian tourists – I assumed they were Japanese but S said maybe Chinese & sure enough, when I listened to one guide, he did sound Chinese.) Velasquez also painted the dwarfs who were part of the court.

We worked through many, many Goyas – I’d never seen many of his paintings (because they’re mostly at the Prado?), the 2nd & 3rd of May, the Maja (I kept teasing S that he only liked her body). I esp liked the dowager duchess of Gorgenza (?), in the same room as the Majas, because her eyes showed character. Made me realize how hard it is to remember paintings.

There was a room of Hieronymous Bosch – because Felipe II liked Bosch, said S, but not that much of other Flemish artists. It took a while to realize the collection was mostly what the Spanish Royal Family had accumulated; it wasn’t supposed to be art of the world.

That said, there were some beautiful Romanesque frescoes that had been added to get closer to Art of Spain. We came out for a break around 2 PM (since our hotel is so close). V aware how old we were getting, with backs & feet that got sore. V. aware how glad we were to find benches.

El Greco & most of the Baroque don’t do that much for me – not sure why.

V. difficult to find things in the big (heavy) Prado guide – which was organized by painter, not room. For example, Goya was spread out among many rooms on 2 floors, with his latest paintings (the black paintings), including the ½ submerged dog (el perro semi-humido) on the first floor. Some rooms had the interpretive placards translated to English, some didn’t. So S and I were continually passing back and for the the guidebook, and hunting by places. Also, the guidebook was organized by: All Spanish painting, more or less chronological by artist, and then Italian, then French, etc.

Beautiful Fra Angelico annunciation.

Ate dinner at an expensive place heavy on marine creepy-crawlies, where the service was slow. S got v. cross.

Did I narrate the saga of the safe? S couldn’t enter the code. The maint guy said it was the batteries & another guy changed the code. I was going to the gym & tried entering a new code but got messed up by the lack of 0, and it wouldn’t open when I tried and said I was blocked. By then, the guy with the mastercode had left. HOWEVER, S correctly surmised that my code had never “taken” and that the original 1234 code would open the safe.

Swarthmore 10/8/2010 - Madrid 10/9/2010

2010-10-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

Took Friday off. Finished my thankyou notes to the patrons of the soc act brunch, returned my library books, bought sound-cancelling earphones, a charger for my ipod & 3 mysteries & a paperback history of religious conflict in Spain, visited the 3 shelters to talk about the coop (but only one of the 3 directors was there), dropped the car off at the collision place to get its dent repaired, and off we went to the airport.

S had found a remote parking lot that charged $7/day and was jammed (Wally Park, where I’d parked when I last travelled, charged twice as much & had many empty spaces). Flight was on time. I read Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (v cute) and must have slept some. We arrived – Madrid’s airport had us go up hill and down dale to get to immigration, but we had little baggage. We got to the hotel by maybe 9 AM – pouring rain—went out for coffee @ a nearby Starbucks, went for a walk (and got soaked by passing taxis running through puddles), but fortunately by then a room was available so we settled in and napped till 2 PM.

Had lunch – a VERY leisurely lunch—at the hotel. Quite nice and the quoted price -- € 32—included everything: wine, coffee, the cute little appetizers and post-dessert sweets, so S not unduly annoyed. By the time we finished it was 4:30 but nevertheless we set out for Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. I of course had plenty of time to go through the museum—Fodors quotes critics who say it has the minor works of major artists and the major works of minor artists. Steve, of course, found all sorts of paintings I’d missed – Hoppers & Bierstads and thought it might be the best collection of American painters in Europe.

We wanted something light for dinner – got 2 recommendations for tapas, but those places were jammed so we ate in a Cuban restaurant, came home & fell asleep till 8:30 AM (S slept through his alarm).

Eli Manos

2010-01-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

He was such a generous, open, outgoing person, like his father-in-law, great-uncle Bernie (who had also been on Harvard's football team).

MANOS ELI MANOS, Cleveland lawyer Eli Manos died in his sleep in the morning of Nov. 21, 2009. Born to Greek immigrants in 1931, Eli grew up in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood and remained active in the local Greek community throughout his life. A graduate of Lincoln High School (1949) and College at Harvard University (1953), he excelled in both football and academics. He married Kathy Greenman, of Woodmere, NY., in 1955. Eli served in the United States Army and afterward attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1958. He began his law career with the Ohio Attorney General, before joining the law firm that would later bear his name, Mansour, Gavin, Gerlack and Manos. Eli and Kathy resided in the Cleveland neighborhood of Shaker Square. Brother to former United Stated Federal Court Judge John M. Manos, Eli is survived by his wife, Kathy; sons Michael (wife Diane and daughter Grace) of Larchmont, NY., Peter (wife Sandra and sons, Sean, Nicolas and Eli); daughter Phyllis Petteys (husband Mark and son, Guthrie) of Forest Grove, OR., and daughter, Linda Peltomaa (husband Vern and daughter, Aja) of Columbus, OH

Annual 2009 pictures: my huge, hairy darlings

2010-01-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

(the minute we finished taking group pictures, Leon, Aaron and Steve each returned to his computer & his lair)

Pictures from Poland

2009-06-28T18:51:00.001-07:00

Leon and cousins (from left to right, Jeff, Helen [Jeff's wife], Caroline, Leon, Becka, Ben, around the grave of Jacob Maurer, a cousin of their grandfather.

From MathPath: Winston W, now a counselor

2009-06-28T18:48:00.001-07:00

Here's a picture of a particularly small camper from MathPath's summer at Spearfish, SD, 5 or so years ago (MathPath being the summer camp for middle school students that Steve works so hard to keep going). So small, in fact, that he fit inside a storage carton. Winston's now a rising sophomore at Harvard, and back at MathPath as a counselor.

L'dor vador (from generation to generation).

Mom's 85th at Mohonk

2009-01-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures from Mom's 85th, which we celebrated three months late at Mohonk. So, Alex, and Aaron in the picnic grove, Views off the trails, Mom, Freddy & Mimi.

Wikipedia: the tutor of our childrens' youth

2009-01-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

L&A both spend immense amts of time on Wikipedia, following links from place to place. Leon put up an article on Samuel Morey (an inventor from Orford, NH) a couple of years ago.

I find it most useful for understanding kids' references, e.g. to South Park (and underwear gnomes). For example, click here for a summary of the episode

Travel Diary: Fran & Steve in Italy

2009-01-01T13:12:00.000-08:00

Transcribed From Travel Diary 4/27/08: Wked late the 25th – S away at dinner at St. Joe’s-- trying to wrap up things in an orderly way before leaving. Got home maybe 9 PM, cooked chicken, sort of did Shabbat w/ S. Got up, paid bills, paid Jt for Q1, packed, scurried out for ipod charger, Bose on-the-ear- earphones (maybe a mistake – they cost $40 more, and didn’t have the astounding sound I remembered.)

Walked – the dogwoods & azaeleas are all abloom and are just lovely. Walked down Riverview savoring peoples’ tulips & wood hyacinths. Barclays came & got us and we waited around Phila (both a tad cross & snappy)– I must be getting old – the plane (US Air) was on time & didn’t lose our bags, but trying to find a comfortable way to sit gets more an more difficult. The seats only recline about 2” – we should have been in hog heaven since I scurried over to an empty aisle seat next to an empty seat. I just hate the hours between when dinner ends and it begins to get light. OK – but it ended – these flights always do, and we did get our bags (I was afraid US Air would lose them as they did 5 yrs ago on the way to Wales) & wended our way to the car rental place (a feat). And we started S on the auto strada, in our little manual Hundai.

I dozed – the car seat being more comfortable than the plane seats had been and we had lunch at a rest stop on the highway (AutoGrill), where the food was nice and fresh (!): crusty bread, nice big salad w/ anchovies & fresh mozz. I perked up. S cross he couldn’t find bottled Starbucks, but there was a coffee bar where where you get 2T of fresh-made expresso.

We continued South. Directions not all that clear (not all exits have #s), and we chose wrong between the A3 & A30 (although directions had been clear we wanted A3) but we recouped. Headed through Naples, around the bay and to CastleMarre, climbing up & up. Lots of garbage piles (although the garbage strike is over in central Naples, the outlying areas still a mess). We climbed & climbed, w/ occasional squabbles as to which was the right road, whether I was an adequate navigator, catching more and more views of the bay and the cliffs around it.

The road went up, up, up, getting narrower & narrower. We stopped seeing garbage piles. We’re a bit south of Castellamarre, on the Amalfi Penninsula, in a 16th century monastary that was bought by the Guisso’s in the 18th century (bankers from Genoa). Incredible views of the bay & cliffs & mts. V. blue and sunny and cool.

4/28/08: After writing yesterday, we went to dinner at the big house (a 16th cent monastary disbanded by Napoleon & sold to the Guisso in the early 1800’s by the King of Naples) in the old monastery kitchen, w/ beautiful ceramic tiles. Herminia does translation for NATO and her friend Rose cooked: gnocchi w/ tomato sauce & wine & olive oil from their own trees and vines here. Zucchinis & spinach grown locally & lemons from the tree by our little house, and some kind of meat loaf (didn’t ask the contents), and then local oranges & Myrtillo (made by the farmers’ wives).

Villa Guisso used to be just a picnic site – then in 2002 a bunch of the women in the family thought of opening it for agriturismo (gets subsidies from the govt, to remodel old farmhouses for tourism). Takes a lot of effort to run – they served dinner for 18 the weekend before last, and then had to get & go to their day jobs on Monday.

Got up, walked around in the olive groves looking at the light and the views, breakfasted in the monastary kitchen & (eventually) headed off for Pompeii – got there about 11. Bought sandwiches & oranges & headed in.

Vast place – huge crowds in the parts nearest the entrance. The excavations are old—the plaster casts (of victims) themselves are crumbling & dusty & broken in places. The excavations probably lay open for decades & a lot of the best stuff is in the National Mus of Archael. The city seems vast & v. planned – streets & avenues v. straight and Vesuvius is farther off than one would think. We ate in picnic area – good sandwich and surprisingly sweet, juicy blood lranges that the stand-owner threw in for free.

Surprising dearth of restrooms, given the size & # of visitors – you can’t leave & return, so was sort of footsore, bursting & dehydrated when we left, but was much happier after peeing, drinking a bottle of H2O & having a coffee (the simple pleasures of life). Lots of the walls had been stabilized, also there’d probably been a lot of theft (site probably open for 100 years & is huge), so most of what you see is the structure of the town. Good audio guide, but 0 interpretive material on the site, so strangely empty.

Anyway, S got us to the Auchan Pompeii, where found soap, shampoo & artificial sweetener – I was pleased I manage to ask a saleslady where that was (also managed to read the sign that distinguished between free & paid parking). Came back, ate in a nearby rest – La Chiana – except I hadn’t read the map will and we missed the turn and headed up an impossibly narrow road and S had to turn around & retrace steps. Not great, but edible dinner for 50 euro, so about $75. At one point, S pulled a coffee bean from his tira misu out of his mouth asking what IS this thing, and I put it in my mouth & crunched it (w/o any hesitation) and said “a coffee bean”. Gross?

4/29/08: No hot water this morning in our house, so bathing was kind of miserable, but I cheered up with coffee & bread & cheese and the good local oranges. To Paestum today – best preserved Greek temples in Europe. S had remembered visiting in the evening. V. visually impressive: much more than Pompeii. I chouldn’t stop looking at the huge masses of Doric columns, a little squat looking.

S had me drive on the way there, on the Autostrada – was nervous. Italians swoop in from every side (S joked that he’s the only driver in all of Italy who signals before changing lanes – he may be right. But I got us there & S got to look at scenery & (he later told me) figure out how he wanted to come home.) I don’t navigate well, quoth he—don’t keep track of turns in the roads and where the RR tracks are. I navigate perfectly fine in the US, where maps show names of roads and intersections are labelled w/ Road names. But, I acknowledge, I fall far short of Maurer standards (but who measures up? Does L?)

I kept thinking how short my life was compared to these – felt (momentarily) freed from all my angst and anger abt work. Kept thinking – Eliz Gilchrest can devote pages of joy to a pizza in Eat, Pray, Love, can’t I summon up joy for these ancient shrines?

We had a nice lunch in the fancy, overpriced rest. (Neptune) that overlooks the site and the temples conveyed a kind of peace. 2,500 yrs, and they’re still there. Probably the oldest thing I’ve ever seen. So huge, one out of a white travertine, one of a warmer, browner travertine. V. spare, but the texture of the rock gave all kinds of interest. I took 1000s of pix from all kinds of angles.

We listened to an english tour gide (in a purple shirt, w a purple sweater tied around his shoulders. Eliz Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love (Italy, India & Indonesia) spends 2 pp on her ecstacy eating pizza to Pizzera da Michele (naples – address is in Fodors) – she goes on & on. I thought, shouldn’t , a middle-aged Mom of 2 draw similar joy from these three three amazing temples. And, I am happy; my angst & anger at work seem far far away (I wrote that before, didn’t I). Vg museum – I hadn’t expected much but was v. impressed. These have Lucaniaen tomb pantings (these fold came inbetween the greeks and romans), with an odd energy. (e.g. Tomb of the Diver).

Long, long set of exhibit posters in Italian I kept trying to decipher: My Athenian guest, hast thou never met a happy man? Was S’s and my joint effort. It annoyed me so not to be able to make it out, but words swam into focus (uomo = homo = man, mai = never, hai = 2nd pers sing of have). Am in this fog of cognates: ieri = hier = yesterday. Oggi = hoje = today. Bisogno = besoin = need.

Roads are SO scary as they climb up & down the mtside. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a kid learning to drive, here. La Chiana closed on tues, but (thank heavens) they fed us here, w lots of their nice white wine. S & I finished a whole pitcher between us.

4/30/08: To Naples, to the Archeol Mus, didn’t get there till noon (by the time we got to Vico, found the laundry – S gravely disappointed in my lack of navigational skill. Then scurried to try to find the train station & figure out where to park. The ticket reader for day tickets didn’t work. Anyway, the CircumVesuvianse got us there, and there are wonderful things. All the frescoes & mosics & silver & bronze cookware from Pompeii. Sappho & Flora & Alexandre fighting Darius – all great old pictures we only know from Roman copies.

S wanted to sit & plan , but I got him to agree to split, so I got into the Roman/Greek exhib from Naples area (tombs w/ figures leave-taking) & the Secret Cabinet (erotic) before they closed for lack of staff. S worried abt getting back in time fto pick up laundry (tomorrow being May Day), so first I persuaded him to walk back but then he nixed waiting till the Duomo opened at 4:30 so we scurried thr grimy, crowded alleys – too narrow to call them streets—till we got back to the train station. We found the laundry still open – checked email at an internet café, came back & ate at the B&B.

5/2/08: yest, got up early & drove out to Ravello – on Giovanna’s advice we left @ 8:30, got there by maybe 10:30(?) went to see the Duomo (v. nice pulpits, w/ mosaics of Jonah and the whale – bronze doors were being restored). Air v. fresh & cool & everything in bloom. We walked around to old churches, saw Villa Rufolo (where the Ravello festival is held every year). Sat happily below the cloister listening to a Romantic sounding violin & piano sonata (Schumann?) and watching reflections from a movile on the stone walls. Had lunch, went to Villa Combrone – gardens full of wisteria and a plaque in Italian on the wall saying, as far as I could make out, that here, in the spring of 1938, Greta Garbo left the clamour of Hollywood (these words per S – I thought she’d left a guy named Clayton Hollywood) and found a scret happiness with Leopold Stowkowski. (Like Washington slept here? Can you imagine).

Anyway, by that time I was feeling a bit creaky and tired from walking around – S had brought his walk book & figured out a 40 min stroll from the beginning & end of two hikes. It was a lot of down & up steps, but pretty views, all through these dense, terraced & fenced plots of olives, lemons, & oranges.

In the middle of the walk was an old, toothless man sitting in the sun and saying “Che bella vista”. And it was.

OK, so I had a coffee (S had said I should drive home & bargained him into driving down the hairpin turns to the main coast road (which turned out to be an hour of stop & go to 10k…AND it turned out that the narrow stretch I was scared of only goes 1 way at a time in the afternoon. On the stop & start to Amalfi, I vomited a few times out the door, for no reason. I wanted to see the Duomo in Amalfi & S indulgently drove around while I looked. Outside & mosaic portal were lovely. Inside, all Baroque & I didn’t venture out into the cloister Fodors’ said was so lovely (the “Cloister of Paradise”) but scurried down the huge, wide steps, back to S and the car.

And drove back to Sorrento – all hairpin turns & tunnels and road narrowed by illegally parked cars everywhere & motor scooters darting to the left & right & cutting you off at every opportunity. Oh, and S giving helpful advice on when to be in what gear. I finally told him if he couldn’t manage a tactful & supportive tone to confine himself to gently patting my arm to give encouragement.

OK, so we drove & drove, traffic mercifully light except going through Pasitano to Sorrento (Giovanna said a pity to miss). Couldn’t find public parking & drove this way & that (S annoyed because didn’t have a detailed map, felt unprepared) but we finally did find a place & parked, or rather, the old man who ran the parking lot laughingly backed the car into a space w/ S’s direction – I was too tired.

So we walked & walked into Sorrento & down to the Marina where the “down home” Da Emilia is located. We came along w/ a group of 4 Americans (it was down a long, dar, winding street/alley) also looking for the same place, and a couple other Americans also waiting. Place full and staff / owners hurrying back & forth. I worked out a polite question from the phrasebook: “Good evening, sir, we have no reservation (tavola prenotada), e posivel…” and the owner said, sure, where did I want to sit & I said, “Qualquer” (wherever in Spanish – should have been qualunque) – he corrected me “Dov é” and put us at what is usually a service table.

I had grilled fish & salad; S had pasta & salad, the owner laughed when he gave us the bill & shook may hand & said “Troppo gente” (too many people). S worked w/ tapes & says his pronunciation is better than mine and why do I always butt into his speaking but I do think I catch more of what’s said.

Anyway, it took less than an hour to get back to the B&B and this morning we lazed, packed, Giovanna gave us a tour of the attic of the monastery – where she’s made displays of travel trunks, childrens’ toys, (incl a toy set of the implements of the mass, so kids would learn the names), cradles, her grandfather’s grandmother’s dress from Paris, bought on her honeymoon – she only wore it once because when she wore it in Naples, her Grandfether’s Grandfather left the party in a huff because everyone was looking at her.

She didn’t let S pay for the 2 extra meals we had at the house because of the water/heat problem. S made me drive to the firsty service area on the Autostrada, So I crept down the mountain in 2nd gear. He joked he wasn’t scared a bit because I was going so slowly. And NOW if you please, we’re near Taranta (the arch of the foot if Italy is a boot) on a huge farm (vast orange orchards) on the Tenuta of the Visconti de Modrone.

We’re in the top floor of a restaurante buliding, once a stables – 2 BR & a bath (2nd BR not occupied). The booklet shows

Maria Xenia Doria – v. pretty & ash blonde, with her son Humberto (aged 7 or so)
An older woman w/ dogs (Duchess Xenia)
And a less glamourous blond woman w/ a young man.

The text mentions: Duke & Duchess Marcello & Xzenia Visconti di Modrone
Their daughter, Marina Doria
And Maria Xenia Doria, current manager.

But, who is who? I’m all atwitter.

(Part 2): Maria Xenia came up to say hi, & 2 of the pix must be of her (one from long ago). We talked abt the farming she does (EU ag subsidies are 2nd only to the US, aren’t they) & agriturismo (there are govt subsidies to restore old farm bldgs). Her grandfather had 10k ha before land reform & 105 ha after. (G-d forgive me; I murmured “that must have been hard”). She also does weddings & rescues & finds homes for abandoned dogs (she loves dogs).

Dinner table & in car from S: that Pythagoros set up his school of philosophy in Crotone – he borrowed from Jews (they only ate meat that could be sacrificed). And then Pythag fled w/ his disciples to Metapontum. S interest in 1st Punic war because it shows how pointless war is. About 80k died at Canae in 1 day. I know how what was the bloodiest US battle (Antietam, 5k); 6k died at Normandy. 25 k at Gettysburg, but that was 3 days.

He visited Gottengen when in Germany, out of reverence for the center it’d been before the Nazis threw out the Jewish mathemeticians.

5/3/08: (Did I say that dinner main course was pork? S ate mine. Not a loss that much, I ate dessert (a marmelade tart) w/ a clear conscience. We got up early next AM for Crotone – where Pythagoras lived and where Hannibal embarked for Carthage. Long drive down through beach towns. S excitedly reading to me from the Blue Guide about history and Frederick II who he somehow felt had confronted Martin Luther (but how could he; it was 300 yrs too soon); interesting, but hard to follow. Hard to find a place to have lunch in Crotone (though G-d handed us a parking place near the Piazza Pitagora). Cape Colonna – outside town – was pretty & grassy, with a column for a Temple of Hera, & S had all these passages from Livy and another historian he wanted to read.

Hannibal was boxed into southern Italy at the end for 15 years, and the Hannae got the Carthag govt to recall him – he cried. A Roman general killed H’s brother, cut off the brother’s head, and threw it at H’s feet. Can you imagine?? Livy was more pro-Roman than Polybius. Hannibal & Scipio, his nemesis, met as old men & talked about who were the world’s best generals. Drove into town in search of the museum – next to a nice castle. Well done National Mus – but few of the placards had English.

We started back. I called A at one point, who was watching a quiddich match, but chatted some about classes (v. behind in anth – class is, that is, because teacher was sick for a week). Then S started barking that I was using too much time – there was only 30 Euros. I’d talked 6 min. I got v. mad & wouldn’t talk to him for a stretch – he eventually apologized.

(Much cheaper for people to phone us from the US, and S bought $20 phone card, but it’s an extra 15 digits + it stopped working in mid-trip & gave Leon only voicemail messages in Chinese.)

OK, so we drove back. S had been afraid a resv would box him in, but we did have a list of restaurants, but couldn’t find ones on the list in Policoro. Drove & walked & walked but found nary a place. Finally we found a restaurant that seemed empty (it was maybe 9 PM), except for one family, who banged on a door & rousted out a server, who seated us. He asked, did we want antipasta & I said yes, but no meat, please (thinking veggies) & he brought shrimp, muscles, octopus. Then three > plates, one of which seemed like it had once had fins & scales. (S actually liked the octopus). Then some fried fish. In S Italian restaurants, you apparently sometimes don’t get a menu – they serve what they serve.

4-5 other families (some w/ little kids) cam in so by about 10:30 (when I asked for salad & check), the restaurant was full, and we hadn’t gotten a main course yet. They were just getting going.

We drove back, phoned L (who was amused by my account of the phone fight). His experiments are going ok, and he’s started to write (hopes to get better results, but wisest not to rely on that). A bit over a month till graduation. How odd to think that.

Got up in AM & packed – S crove to Metapontum & also found the remnants of the Apollo Temple. By the time we got to near Trani, the church would be closed, which bothered me because it’s supposed to be v. striking & Romanesque. I fussed & sulked.

We drove to Cannae – stopped at the battlefield (said to be extraordinarily bloody – 50k Roman troops killed in a single day). I bought a booklet – read some, listened to my ipod for a while, looked at wildflowers (lots of poppies) while S looked & thought.

We used the facilities (no water to wash with in the outside bldg we were directed to – I outraged and made the guy at the desk inside the main bldg let me use the staff’s indoor sink – but that didn’t work either, but the professional staff’s sink had a trickle of water).

And then we drove & drove & drove some more – through scenery abt as inspiring as the NJ Turnpike, SE Italy being v. flat. It was the third day of mostly driving & of course I complained.

5/6 (Tues) I had to work out what day it is. Yesterday (5/5) we drove across the Apennines, largely in the rain. Long stretch of 2 lane road. S. disappointed because the B&B host in Abruzzi had suggested a more northerly route than he’d had in mind, and there were no snow-capped peaks (even though we’d seen snow-capped peaks from Lorento Apruntino, where we’d spent the night). It was a long drive in the rain, but we made it over the mts & down into Umbria (by then it was 1 PM or so) and no rest stops along the road, so I finally blundered off the road in suburban Perugia and we went & ate at the first restaurant we found. The people next to us were eating polenta & pork on a board w/ great enjoyment (not on the menu – we asked. They had gd English & were amused at us).

Anyway, I was afraid the B&B would also be in a suburb, but we’re high on a hill in “Il Castello di Montegualandro”, first mentioned around the time of Charlemange. We have a nice apt (formerly a dovecote) w/ a view that goes for miles.

We got in, got settled a min or so & (my urging) headed out (in the rain) to Arezzo to see the frescoes of Piero della Francesca: the Legend fo the True Cross ([Basilico de San Francesco]Fodors quotes an art critic who says the battle scene had the most beautiful morning light in Renaissance painting). Also, pointed out S, a pioneer in perspective.

OK, saw that, wandered around a bit (v. picturesque, steep streets w/ lots of irresistable things to buy [not that I bought anything]), Looked at a couple of churches, headed S to Crotona, where we had reservations in a v. friendly & (I thought) elegant restaurant, full of Americans & Scandinavians. I was v. amused S packed his Italian grammar into his pack to take, but in fact, he ordered better than me, and waitress impressed.

Got up late today-- lovely, clear, cool day--& pottered & checked email & didn’t get out til 11:00. Headed to Assisi & the Basilica of St Francis (lower level built w/in a couple years of his death). Made our way through swarms of returning tour groups & school trips, so our timing was unintentionally good.) Bought a book to follow the frescoes in the upper chapel. S. pointed out how unified the Basilica is compared to usual cathedrals w/ their accretions of chapels & statues & placques. I felt like I’d spent 40 min in another world.

Went off to the Duomo, which didn’t do much for me & St. Chiara (frescoes much more primitive) & headed for Perugia. Saw the money changers hall (filled with pictures of civic virtues) & Duomo (in process of restoration – one picture I liked of a startled-looking Mary) & Umbrian National Gallery, which had an exhibition of Pintorrichios. 90% -- maybe 95% of the pix were Madonna & child. I felt like I’d spent the afternoon eating pastry. The English translations of the explanations often unintentionally literal. I of course thought they should get a US intern to fix them up. (oh, vg Madonna & child by Piero de la Francesca).

Drove all over Touro looking for a grocery store – it turned out we’d driven right by it -- & dashed in as it closed to buy milk & cereal. At at La Tuffa in Ossia – perfectly ok & unassuming. We decided too late to try washing clothes in Star Wash (get it?).

Talked 15 min w/ A: he will room in language house w/ Granger & a kid who needs to cook for self (celiac disease?). Also, plans to drive out w/ L & L will give him car (but not clear he’s allowed to drive it at school). He got 4.5 / 5 on Medieval history, 9/10 on homeworks in Math. Anth class is pitifully behind, but the subst teacher is ok.

5/7/08: Up early to go to Sienna – out by 8:20. Got there w/o incident, parked, drank coffee at the campo (huge square). I wasn’t that impressed by the city – brick, and the buildings don’t make as pleasant streets as in Arezzo or Cortona. Saw Municipal Museum, v. graphic depictions of the effects of good & bad govt. Bought a ridiculous # of magnets.

Duomo really splendid – inside & out—black & white horizontal striped marble. Incredibly intricate floor. Library w/ frescoes of Pintoricchio & trompe l’oeil arches, and perspective so each pictures view was consistent from where you stand. Saw Museo (which has all the most beautiful stuff that was once in the Cathedral) & S climbed to the top of the unfinished wall. (Early 14th century, the town planned to enlarge its cathedral by making the nave the apse, but after the Black Death killed a large part of the town, they had to abandon the plan – leaving what were to be several external walls just standing there – they then got built against.

Had lunch (for once, we found a place Fodor’s recommended). Beside us were 3 middle-aged ladies in a long, intense discussion – clearly something they were v. worked up about. At first I thought family problem, gossip, kids. Their voices gradually got more and more heated. No, they were arguing politics for most of our 2 hour lunch – I could make out left, right, Berlusconi. They got really loud at one point, and one shushed the others, and Steve and I started laughing, and they looked over at us, startled, and we said, we argue about politics too.

V. expressive murals uncovered in the crypt during maintenance – just like the Basilica of St F in Assisi, there was one church built over another – at one point, you realize that what you think of as a crypt is the upper layer of a much older church.

5/9/08: To Orvietto – cathedral built by the town – they had to struggle to pay & couldn’t afford Fra Angelica for the whole Capella Nuova – heaven & hell & Last Judgement, and had to settle for Signorelli instead. Other chapel based on Corpus Christi miracle – a 13th century priest doubted Transubstantiation (you remember transubstantiation vs. con? – Wikipedia has a good article) and found, as he served Mass in a small, nearby church, that the Host bled. Walls of the chapel covered with frescoes of miracles connected with the Host, including a Jewish boy who snuck in w/ Xn friends at Xmas & partook. His Father threw him into a burning furnace, but a beautiful Lady (who was actually the Virgin M) saved him.

That’s all I wrote during vacation – It’s a week after. After Orvietto, we had lunch in Todi (a v. pretty hilltop town) & walked around. Lovely views over the countryside, v. pretty park at the top of the hill. Went to Deruta & I bought abt 300 Euros worth of pottery (2 plates & a bowl) and S went into the museum. I got pretty substantial discounts for paying cash, & had fun chatting with the potters / storekeepers.

Next day, we headed back to Rome via Tuscania – which had a pretty – very bare – Romanesque church and is chock-full of Etruscan sarcophagi. (these zoftig ladies & men in banqueting position). One place we saw 3 of the ladies up on top of a wall. Went to the provincial museum – almost empty.

Got to Airport Mariott ok (S doing skillful navigation) [I got w/ points from my time in the Sao Paulo Renaissance], and ate a v. expensive dinner (and I ate an even more expensive breakfast but S ate up all the food we’d accumulated) & headed for the airport. (where I finally got a good internet connection & learned that AIG had lost another $US 7 billion). Ugh.

To leave, we dropped off our car, schlepped our stuff to Terminal C, got on a bus to auxiliary terminal E, went through screening (one line) and checked our bags & checked in (another line) and THEN went on another shuttle bus back to Terminal C, and THEN found our gate & waited for the flight. Long flight, same horrible seats & I had a kosher lunch again (also pretty awful, not that the regular was better). I read 2 ½ Donna Leons and needlepointed. We got home on time, but our bags took more than an hour (total from when we landed) to emerge, and then we were randomly picked for some agricultural check which I fussed over but which turned out to be nothing. (I had my Deruta plates packed into the 1 Euro reusable bag we’d gotten at the Pompeii Auchan – my hands got sore from holding it).

And then we were home.

Physics Dept - Holiday Colloquia

2009-01-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

Leon's Graduation, June 2008

2009-01-01T10:50:00.001-08:00

I got home late Thurs, got up early Fri & walked (air v. sweet) – we didn’t get off till 9:30 or so (much to S’s displeasure), and totally relied on S for directions, schedules, and when to be where. Drove up listening mostly to Conspiracy of Fools (abt Enron), which did get kind of repetitive. Kept thinking abt reading Goodnight Moon to L, when he was maybe 6 months, and how he’d put his tiny hand on my finger as I pointed to the telephone and the red balloon and the picture of the cow jumping over the moon.

We got to the B&B (Jackson House, outside Woodstock) maybe 4:30 – scurried in to park & join L waiting in line (w/ hundreds of other beaming parents) to greet Pres Wright & join a reception at his house. L relieved that his thesis defense had gone well – the theoreticians hadn’t asked hard questions. I said, maybe the theoreticians were secretly in awe of experimentalists – JJ Thompson (not that I could remember his name at the time), who could devise expts, but (according to his son, was clumsy & it was best to keep him from touching equipment). L started talking abt the Pauli effect – a physicist who jinxed expts.

Pres House is on Frat row (pretty noisey, acc. to L). Pres W is a tall ex-marine – imposing & kindly manner. He & wife greeted each family, and a student aide took that family’s camera, & shot a picture of the family with the pres. The house is gorgeous – incl paintings from the college museum, 12 needlepoint chairs embroidered by the wife of a former pres, and the Wrights’ collection of Han & Tang dynasty chinese figures (an amazing figure on a leaping horse, 1,100 yrs old).

Picked Mom & Sid up at the train & ate dinner at a casual-dining place in Queechee. I kept beaming at L and he kept saying he hasn’t had his picture taken so much in his life. (well, it may have been more than any single day in his infancy, after all, I didn’t have to hold him or diaper him).

Left Mom & Sid at the B&B & scurried in to Class Day, thinking how grateful I was to have lived to this day – sh’hechiyanu -- . Class Day in a cleared hollow in the woods – v. pretty & piney. Valedictorians announced (4.0 avgs) and class orator gave a vg speech (when he arrived in Hanover, on scholarship, from overseas, his father gave him an envelope with cash for the family share of tuition. He left it on his desk, locked in his room, while he went exploring. He found it gone when he returned. He was petrified – he didn’t know anyone in the US. His RA found him in tears, reported the problem – Pres Wright handed him an envelope w/ a check for the amt he’d lost when he matriculated. Whom did he owe? How to pay back?

Then all sorts of prizes were announced – super-students who excelled at their studies and at sports and were presidents of frats & sororities & excelled at good works. They came dashing up, one by one. The class historians gave a skit.

Weather heated up.

I was supposed to meet Jo Albert for coffee after Class Day exercises . We agreed to meet for coffee at the Dirty Cowboy @ 12:30. S, L and I went to meet prof Chernov – whom L had for 5 classes. S had recruited him to come for 2 weeks to MathPath. He was v. complimentary abt L – showed us around the math bldg. Jo & I talked in the Dirty Cowboy – L refused to come & be shown off, since he had a lot to do, incl pack--she’s been at World Bank for 21 yrs now. Robbie left for Brookings.

S and I set off to spring Mom & Sid for lunch– I called L who somewhat disappt’d not to be incl in lunch (S said he should have come & talked to Jo). We had lunch in Woodstock, thendrove back to Hanover for physics dept reception.

Met L’s advisor. Karl Yando’s parents. Dept chair sounded for order, made a short speech about what a pleasure it is to see students mature – you taught them as freshmen & looked at their homework; you taught them as seniors, & listened to their presentations, and were astonished at the change. He gave L the Ast & Physics prize in honor of F. Sears. “Awarded to a graduating senior for significant contributions to the Department and unusual achievement as an undergraduate and for the promise of continued commitment to the study of physics”.

There were maybe 4-5 prizes following, among the 17 majors.

We beamed, had the dept chair re-enact the gift (after the presentations) so we could take pix, received congratulations. Talked to dept chair, other profs & students, and also the dept manager, who was once a submariner, returned to take care of elderly parents.

Went back to B&B, had yummy dinner (I thought) at their restaurant, went to sleep early. Up early (Sid had tickets for handicapped seating, Mom, Sid & I had to be in place by 8:30, so we had to be out by 7:30). We got into place w/ no problem, and annointed selves w/ sunscreen. I scurried off to by NYT & hat. S parked & found a seat in the general section. Rumours of a 4 hour ceremony. (the sun was baking – I was wearing black because that’s the color my nice washable clothes are. How I envied the lithe young things in sundresses).

By the time I returned, Sid had located all mentions of L’s name in program (cum laude, high honors in subject). I settled down to read NYT & wait – we were huddled in the small amt of shade afforded by a camera platform.

The commencement seemed to take forever.

It ended. Leon came striding toward us. We decided to go to Margaritas for lunch & they had room (glory be!). S and L went off for cars, I hung out w/ Mom & Sid and snapped pix of the families – they were so international. A Hawiian undergrad, wreathed in leis to the eyebrows. Senegalese (it looked like to me, or maybe Malian) Dr. Two Japanese – a PhD & an undergrad.. We ate – S recalled the points of the speeches much better than I did. L left for a bike ride (30 + miles in the heat) , Mom, Sid & S napped, I strolled through Woodstock, and bought 4 paperback mysteries.

We rejoined L for late dinner. L didn’t want appetizers – he’d end up like me. I pouted. In the parking lot, I said we looked like shrimp next to him. I was a stout shrimp. A stout, silly shrimp, he replied. A stout silly, sleepy shrimp, I retorted. He patted me on the head.

We headed back, slept, breakfasted. Dropped Mom & Sid at the train a little early, headed in for Leon & to meet his history of sci prof. Nice chat – we went to the coop where I bought way too much food, but forgot plastic forks. L filled up car. Terrible heat, even in NH.

We set out for a rest stop near Brattleboro, but when we stopped, the man in the next car noticed smoke coming from the green Subaru. Great consultation about what it was. We went to Brattleboro, to a brake & muffler place, where they put it up on the rack, but didn’t see much of a leak, and the transmission fluid (it turned out to be differential) seemed normal. They pronounced us good to go. We (Leon & I, in my car, so I could listen to ATC) drove to the Merritt pkway, where I got a no-cal red bull (Starbucks has too much sugar – 30g). Leon tired of ATC and switched to the Subaru w/ S at the top of the Garden State.

I drove down the GS, listening to Joshua bell playing the Brahms Violin concerto – the finale – I guess I was high on the Red Bull – I was so happy. I guess I should stop worrying over whether I was a good enough Mom. I must have been ok, mustn’t I? Got home w/o further incident, bit after 8:30. Got L takeout at Chen Heng.

Map showing Steve & Fran's travels in Italy

2009-01-01T10:22:00.001-08:00

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The Fall of AIG

2009-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Here are links to a series that came out this week in The Washington Post on The Fall of AIG

The Beautiful Machine: the birth of the Financial Products Division
A Crack in the System: Credit Default Swaps
Downgrades and downfall

Here's a profile of Gary Gorton, a finance professor at Yale's School of Management, who worked with the Financial Products group for 12 years, designing risk models for Credit Default Swaps. His paper, "The Panic of 2007" will be published this year in the American Economic Review.

Here's a link to an interview on Fresh Air (NPR) with Michael Greenberger (Former Commodities Futures Trading Commissioner) that aired in late September. Siyi's 9 year old son remarked after hearing it that he finally understood what Credit Default Swaps were.

The Moose (Woody Allen)

2009-01-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

(Recounted by Penni Starer at the November Empty Nester shabbat, inspired by a piece on Moose Hunting on All Things Considered)

The Moose

I shot a moose, once. I was hunting up-state New York, and I shot a moose, and I strap him on to the fender of my car, and I'm driving home along the west side highway, but what I didn't realize was, that the bullet did not penetrate the moose. It just creased the scalp, knocking him unconscious. And I'm driving through the Holland tunnel - the moose woke up. So I'm driving with a live moose on my fender. The moose is signaling for a turn, y'know. There's a law in New York state against driving with a conscious moose on your fender, tuesday, thursday and saturday. And I'm very panicky, and then it hits me: some friends of mine is having a costume party. I'll go, I'll take the moose, I'll ditch him at the party. It wouldn't be my responsibillity.

So I drive up to the party and I knock on the door. The moose is next to me. My host comes to the door. I say "Hello. You know the Solomons". We enter. The moose mingles. Did very well. Scored. Two guys were trying to sell him insurance for an hour and a half. Twelve o'clock comes - they give out prices for the best costume of the night. First price goes to the Burcowiches, a maried couple dressed as a moose. The moose comes in second. The moose is furious. He and the Burcowiches lock antlers in the living room. They knock each other unconscious. Now, I figured, is my chance. I grab the moose, strap him onto my fender, and shoot back to the roads, but - I got the Burcowiches. So I'm driving along with two jewish people on my fender, and there's a law in New York State ... tuesdays, thursdays and especially saturday.

The following morning the Burcowiches wake up in the woods, in a moose suit. Mr. Burcowich is shot, stuffed and mounted - at the New York Athletic Club, and the joke is on them, because it's restricted.

Ruth Kempner Obituary: Houston Chronicle

2009-01-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

(Ruth Kempner, my mother's mother's sister's daughter, who spent some months staying with Mom's & Mimi's family in the 1930's, when her parents wanted to break off an unsuitable relationship, died over the summer. I only met her a few times; only heard her speak publicly at a memorial service for her brother, Marion Jr. She & Harris had two sons, one of whom -- Sandy--died in Vietnam. Harris and Ruth collected Sandy's letters and published them privately -- a couple often get quoted. I wish I'd known her better.)

GALVESTON - A memorial service is scheduled today for Ruth Levy Kempner, the first woman
elected to a governmental post in Galveston and the influential matriarch of one of the
island's oldest and most distinguished families.

Kempner died Monday at the age of 90 in her home. She was instrumental in changing government from the city commission form to the city-manager-run charter government in 1960 and remained a force in Galveston politics until the end, friends and relatives say. Kempner was known for her direct style in politics, tempered by her graciousness and selfless efforts to help those in need.

"One of the pillars has been knocked down," said Jan Coggeshall, elected Galveston's first female mayor in 1984. "She's been a pillar for 60 years." She was mentor to Coggeshall and the current mayor, her niece, Lyda Ann Thomas.

Kempner was born Nov. 26, 1917, in Galveston, the daughter of Marion J. and Alma L. Levy. An early feminist, she graduated from the University of Texas with honors in 1937, "majoring in history and minoring in government at a time when proper young ladies daring enough to demand a college education were at least expected to limit their studies to home economics or education," according to Galveston, a History of the Island, by Gary Cartwright.

In 1939, she married Harris "Bush" Kempner, a Harvard graduate who ran the family cotton interests as his uncle ran the banking business and Harris Kempner's brother ran Imperial Sugar, Cartwright said. Ruth Kempner became head of the local Red Cross chapter and worked tirelessly to care for the injured after a ship carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded in Texas City in 1947, killing hundreds. "She was one of the first people across the causeway to help," said Frances K. Harris, Kempner's friend since they were school girls.

In 1960, Kempner and Harris, then president of the local League of Women Voters, defied incumbent politicians, men's civic clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, the local newspaper and nearly the entire business community by campaigning for a charter government, according to Cartwright. The two women mobilized voter support for a referendum on replacing the commission form of government and its questionable practices, Harris recalled. "She and I spoke with organizations all over the community, including the red-light district and the unions," Harris said.

After the form of government changed, Kempner was elected to the City Council, becoming the first woman to hold an elective office in the city. Dr. Jack Wallace, a friend for nearly 50 years, said Kempner raised money for a mobile mammography unit after discovering how difficult it was to get checked for breast cancer. She realized that a mobile unit was needed to ensure that the poor and uninsured could receive mammograms, Wallace said. "That mobile mammography unit was a reality in a year."

She is survived by her son, Harris L. Kempner Jr. and two grandsons.