Clippings

Huh, so the school year started...

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:34:00 +0000

Yep, I have been inundated by a very challenging school year. My blogging has dropped off considerably. Here is a month plus of photos.

Harvard Common has a very cool new playground.

Rose explored the kitchen drawers when my parents were visiting.
Fall was beautiful this year. The tree in front has these amazing multi-colored, Rorschach styled leaves.

Rose is amazing.
Snow is not.
Rose likes to read and tear up catalogs.

Mind Stretch

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:30:00 +0000

The beginning of this year has been quite a mind stretch. I have not had to dig this deep into my teaching skills and rethink my basic approach for quite some time. This intense focus has kept me from things like blog posting and such. Here is a sampling of the last month.

The Autumn season brings lots of fairs and child centered events to the parks nearby. This is Rose enjoying walking near the big fire truck at one such fair.
Rose is showing off her one-handed drinking skilz.
Rose is happily playing with a comb after her first haircut. She no longer has hair poking in her eyes all of the time.
Snow! This is the second snowfall of the year, and some of the gloppy, wet stuff is sticking. It is heading into the night, so temps might drop enough for some significant shoveling in the morning. I really hope not.

I had quite the scare on Friday. Sudden sharp chest pain on the right side had me worried. After visiting the doctor and the hospital for various tests, I come away from the experience believing it to be a rib cage muscle pull. Not fun, but not too serious either. Anyway, I am feeling much better at this time.

The Year Ends as the Year Begins

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 23:33:00 +0000

In the ongoing attempt to reclaim space and get rid of stuff, I went through college binders and copy packets. I really don't think I'll be reading the articles from my Schools in American Cities course taken in '91. Along with those, many other papers filled the recycle bin to overflowing and cleared up much shelf space.
This moth alighted on the screen outside the dining room. Rose and I watched it for a while. The fabulous colors don't really show up in this photo.
Siamese Pin.
My room before school started.
Rose showing off her gangsta in pajamas look.
I drew two circles in green; Rose did the rest. Crayons are fun!

We have just returned from Philly and celebrating Rosh Hashana with Reena's family. It is the New Year in the Jewish calendar. Interestingly enough, it coincides pretty well with the new year in the academic world as well.

The crops are being brought in, some places are near or past their first frost, so the agricultural year is winding down in the Northern Latitudes.

I am finding my way in this new year. I only have four students this year, and I have not adjusted quite right to the classroom management needed for a small group. Another growth opportunity. I am looking forward to this year, but a lot of work has to be crammed in at the beginning to get them ready for a secondary school entrance test and for next schools applications.

Rose continues to be amazing and a wonder. She learns new things daily and delights in sharing them with us.

One of my great joys in childhood was taking apart anything electronic. I loved making the gears into tops.

The many distractions of life

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:11:00 +0000

Sugar Hill is my all-time favorite contra dance weekend. It is a time of friends. Here are Joe and Ben. Joe was one of the first people to welcome me upon my return to St. Louis after living in Philly. He and I have held a great and wonderful friendship from that time on. Ben is a new friend in my life, and my life is richer for it. Sugar Hill is about maintaining and growing established friendships and being open to new ones forming.
Sugar Hill is dancing. The hall is one of my favorites with its arched wood ceiling, large enough but not too large space, nice acoustics, and nature views just off the porch. The kitchen is to the left in this image, and I spent Saturday evening in there preparing the annual meal of burritos.

This image of David captures the feel of the dance. Details in focus as the world blurs around you. David is also a must dance partner. He plays, calls, and does just about everything else including sound. David also makes it easy for me to get to the dance. I flew into Indy and he gave me a ride to Bloomington. One of the wonderful people that make me want to return every year.This picture does not do the place justice. This building is actually one that is hardly used, but it gives an idea of the architecture of the few buildings we occupy. Camping is another reason I go each year. I did not take my camera to the lake, and it was too cold to swim much this year, anyway. I did, however, make my pilgrimage to the other side by canoe to comb the fossil beach for treasures of crinoids and geodes.
Back to reality, and my classroom. It is in much better shape. All that is in my room is my own, and not much is not in my room that should be there. I am getting organized and ready with physical space for the year. Curriculum, however, needs much attention.
I moved the white board and screen so that they were anchored to studs. The space beneath the screan will be where the smart board is installed w

Rose does new things daily. She has clearly taken the "Bye bye" from her current care provider along with blown kisses into her vocabulary. A quick one can be heard on this video, though she is much clearer when walking around the room waving bye and blowing kisses.

This morning, Rose really took a liking to the blanket Uncle John gave us for our wedding.

Rose walking and school

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:13:00 +0000

Rose plays with the shadows of late afternoon.
My class library spread out and ready to divide between fifth and sixth grades.

I continue to chip away at the work needed to turn my room into a functional classroom. I also have devoted time to getting my curriculum together. Next week will be crunch time for those pursuits leaving me less time to get things around the house finished. I, however, only have one bookshelf to construct, two to mount, and a computer to relocate to finish the livingroom shelving.

I installed magnetic childproof (we'll see) latches on one set of doors on the shelves in the livingroom. We will see how Rose interacts with them! I hope they hold up to the abuse because they are by far the most elegant of the solutions out there.

Rose continues to walk and be excited by her newfound ability. She also enjoys playing with Reena's flip flops and my slippers.

more productivity

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:26:00 +0000

The cabinets arrived and were stored in the kitchen. Unfortunately, we found that the corner cabinet, closest in the image, was damaged and had to be returned. The others, however, are in place, and only the floor cabinet is awaiting its top.
Here is the floor cabinet. There is a perfect space to store the step stool next to it.
I put together Reena's rolling file cabinet first of all of the many boxes of things to put together.
I am bartering some work with Mike. This is the piece that is missing from one of his windows. Finding who manufactures it has been entertaining. I have sent them an email with photos to see if we can get a replacement part.
I have husked the dvds and put them in binders. The empty casings will supply my yearly dvd school project for years to come.
Here are some binders of dvds in the new shelf. The doors will get a baby proofing system soon, and then the pillows will not need to be stacked against them.
I finished this bookshelf yesterday. It is mounted to the wall, cut to fit around the archway molding, and has a height extension on it.
Now off to shower and to school where I am cleaning out a very filthy room. I love the space, but I have to get it ready just to think about how I am going to use this new room.

Many Days of Productivity

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 14:54:00 +0000

This last week has seen a great deal of productivity around and in the house. We have painting and work being done to the exterior. The ladder in the photo below belongs to that job. The lined up branches and chipper belong to the company that came to remove two trees from the back yard and trim the front tree back from the house. We now have a back yard!

This is how the back yard looks with the massive tree mostly cut down. It is amazing how much light and how much more yard we now have. We will think about how to design the yard in terms of lawn space and garden, but it is nice to have these options!I also went in to school to do some work. This will be my classroom next year. Afterschool stuff and a computer lab are in there now, so some heavy lifting will ensue before I can make the space mine. I am happy about the location, and it will be the first time in the new building that I control my own thermostat! I will also be getting a smart board theoretically. yay.
This is the china cabinet we purchased from a lovely couple off of Craig's List. It fits our dining room perfectly.
Here it is loaded with Reena's grandparents' china and some of our own odds and ends. So starts the reorganization of the basement project!
Many friends have visited this week, and Reena's blog has much more on that. Anna Maria stayed the night and had a great day hanging out with Rose and us.

Burgeoning Artist

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:57:00 +0000

Rose seems to be a Pointillist.

A Day Away

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Reena's father came for a visit, so we promptly left Rose with him and drove up to New Hampshire for a day of craft fair and friends. It is wonderful to have these moments away from Rose as they recharge us for the many wonderful hours we are with her.

The view from the cabin in which we stayed.After a full day of seeing crafts and getting a few for Rose, we ate a very nice dinner at a restaurant in a nearby town and then watched Ghostbusters before heading to bed.

Moving to the Music

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:04:00 +0000

Today Rose was a bit cranky. To distract her, after putting on the proffered hat, I let the music roll. She particularly liked dancing to Creedance Clearwater Revival.

Hull of a good time

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Today, my writing group met in Hull, a beachfront community south of Boston. One of the members has a house there, and we spent the day writing, sharing writing, eating, and strolling around. It was amazingly nourishing for my soul.

Yesterday I took pictures of Rose playing with the toy that Tory the amazing librarian at my school gave to us at the end of the school year.

Pictures, both moving and still, of road trip

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I haven't taken a road trip for some time, so it was wonderful to hop in the car and head out. I enjoy solitude, scenery, and the cumulative experience of a trip.

I awoke early on my day of departure in order to get to Chicago in one day. The moon shone through the open window in my shower as the birds swung into full dawn chorus. The sky slowly illuminated the world, and the beginnings of pink fuzz peaked from the buds on the mimosa tree in our back yard.

After a hasty breakfast, I packed my last gear in the car and plugged in the iPod. "You Can Get It If You Really Want" by Jimmy Cliff greeted me, and I took that as a sign of good things to come.

The rolling hills/mountains of Western Massachusetts are covered by woods, and the mist rising from the valleys created a very beautiful send-off from the East Coast. As I came down from the mountains and onto the plains of New York, I noticed that drivers suddenly understood the rules and customs of the road much better. The right lane was used for driving and the left for passing. Amazingly, with only two lanes, the same volume of traffic that had been snarled with three lanes in Mass was moving smoothly in New York. This trend continued throughout my trip except for in Chicago where people drive like maniacs. Friends who only know East Coast driving wonder why I like to drive for 17 hours in a day, but in the Midwest, it is a peaceful endeavor.

I arrived in Chicago late, dealt with the crazy traffic there, and ended up at Sarah's house. This is soon to not be her house anymore as she is moving to Philly where I will be able to visit her and her family much more often. We chatted about childhood memories til late, and in the morning, I headed to Wrigley Field for the first ballgame of the trip.

I did something I rarely do--I left the game early. The Cards were on their way to a poorly played loss, and I had hours of driving to get me to St. Louis. As the sun set, the farmland in Illinois was lit up and contrasted by the cloudy sky. I whizzed past silos and farm houses that each could be a postcard of the Heartland. I had forgotten how much sky there is out on the Plains.

I arrived in St. Louis and made my way, like the swallows of San Juan Capistrano, to the place of my childhood. The old street signs, lit from within, glowed their welcome as I turned onto my home street.

In the following days, I enjoyed the activities surrounding the All Star Game. This game was the impetus to schedule the trip home at this time. I left Boston without a ticket, but wanted to be around as the city filled with fans and possibly get a ticket for the main event as well.

The highly promoted Fan Fest was somewhat disappointing. I think if I was a kid and had one of the armbands that let one cut to the front of the line, it would have been marvelous. As a single adults, there were hour long lines for the few batting and pitching activities, a few exhibits from the Hall of Fame and the Negro Leagues, and lots of things to buy. I bought a pin. Hmm.

The thing that made my day worth it was meeting Jackie Robinson's daughter who was giving away free, advanced copies of her new book about her father's courage both as a baseball player integrating the majors and as a parent who overcame his fear of water to test a frozen pond for his childrens' safety. Really nice book, and she was gracious and friendly. Rose has another book waiting for her when she is a bit older.
On my way to the Metro Station, I passed many lions decorated in the manner of the Cow Project (which Seattle did in pigs). University City is decorated with lions, so this was a natural choice. This one, located in front of the library in which I spent much of my youth, is titled "Reading Between the Lions" and is covered with pages from books.
Many of the older building is St. Louis are decorated either with paingings that look like architecture or with ornate terra cotta tiles. I enjoyed walking around down town looking at buildings on the day of the game while I waited for the ticket prices to drop and for the parade to start.
I also discovered the new sculpture garden in the middle of the city. It is a neat space. The limestone wall represents the river bluffs on the Illinois side of the Mississippi which is represented by quite a few water features. Kids were running around in an area in which jets of water spurted from the ground at random and timed intervals.
My walk down town inevitably took me by the arch. Unique is an overused word, but is applies to this structure. There are several needle-like buildings, many tall buildings, but there are no other grand, man-made arches like this one. Pictures don't do it justice.
As I wandered downtown and back in the U. City Loop, I saw the many things that were familiar, but St. Louis is surging and much is being remade or newly made. I came across this statue of Lewis and Clark amongst the granite cobblestones at the foot of the Eads Bridge. The statue must get covered each time the water rises.
This is a view of the arch through one of the stone arches of Eads Bridge.
This arch celebrates the World Championships of the Cardinals through their history.The parade finally happened. This car carried Albert Pujols who is a fan favorite in St. Louis.
These fine folks at Stub Hub helped me secure a ticket within my budget at the last moment. I rushed over to the stadium and got in to see the whole event. I am really grateful to them for their patience while I waited for a few hours and their quick work at the end. They really made the afternoon pleasant.
I was thrilled to see the President and the televized message from the living presidents about service to our country. Obama's first pitch looked good, and the game was a good one. However, the experience went way beyond being a baseball game.

My crazily expensive meal.
This is a bottle I used to play with as a child. Reena and Rose flew in the day after the All Star Game, and then it was about Rose and my parents spending time together. Mom pulled out many old toys, and Rose had a blast. She learned to put a cylindrical piece in a toy mailbox and sampled many new foods. Much joy was had by all.

I also was fortunate to hang out with many friends and even to go contra dancing. For some reason, I was not into taking pictures during the baby and friends times. Reena has some photos that she may put on her blog. Suffice to say, it was wonderful to catch up with friends and spend time in a community that is warm and welcoming.

Back and taking it in stride

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Well, Rose is taking it in stride. She did some real walking this evening. First she took a few hesitant steps while holding her sippy cup. Then Reena came in and she walked between the two of us a few times. It was really unaided walking!

I, on the other hand, feel like I need aid walking or anything else. Just put Rose to bed, and I was going to download pictures and video from the trip. Not going to happen tonight. After two days of driving, I'm taking it easy tonight and will do it hopefully tomorrow.

On the Road Again

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:41:00 +0000

I am on the road. Many pictures and stories to follow.

Crazy Bird!

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:50:00 +0000

This sparrow was gallantly fighting off its reflection in the Lincoln parked outside our house. Look just in front of the tire.

Physical

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:18:00 +0000

Today I trimmed the hedges, played tennis, and went to the contra at Concord. Lots of physical activity.

The hedges had grown to take up quite a bit of the sidewalk. Last year, I did a big clearing of old, dead wood and a bit of a trimming back. Having looked up when to prune, I decided that it was too late in the season for a drastic cutting, but I did clear them from the sidewalk so our and other strollers can get through.

Dan came over (not me, obviously) and we headed to the tennis courts at the bottom of the street. After about 45 minutes of that, we were both happily warmed up, and it was time for Deana to head out. I went home, took care of Rose, and made a card for Reena. It is our anniversary.

In the evening, I went contra dancing. I have gone to the Concord Thursday night dance a number of times. It is held at the Scouthouse which is famous enough in contra to have a dance named after it. So far, the four or so times I have been, I have not been impressed with dance etiquette in Boston. People say they are sitting out and then are up in the line with someone else, and they book ahead. In other parts of the country, these behaviors are frowned upon, but I guess it is accepted enough here to make it ok. I still love to dance, and I do have a few good dances when I go to Concord, but I am repulsed by the negatives. I am so glad that I will be at Sugar Hill at the end of the year. Great dancing and great company to be had at my favorite dance weekend.

Busynot

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:19:00 +0000

This was one of those busynot days. It seemed very busy, but it really was not. Reena got up early to leave for her conference. I woke up, and waited for Rose to get up. She awoke late, around 9:00, and so I just was sitting spinning my wheels because she usually doesn't sleep past 8:00. Then the washing machine repairman came. He installed a new control board in the machine. I thought that maybe I could do this, and having seen it done, I certainly could have. I looked online before we called a repairman for the job. Various posts pointed to a shot control board. This part is listed at Repair Clinic at $145.80. The end cost of having a service call to do it was $280, so it doubled the expense. However, I hope it was done correctly which is more than I was sure I would do. Now, I know much more about washer architecture.

The cleaners came after that. Yay! The house is no longer swarming with dust animals (bunnies to T-rexes).

Then Diana came again to give me time to get work done. Rose slept through two of the three hours she was here. I worked on a database for recordkeeping next year, but I hit the same wall as always--designing forms and reports. I called Mike later in the evening, and he offered to help me. again, yay!

Reena and I went to Home Depot to order some kitchen cabinets to match the ones already in the kitchen. The style is discontinued in the store, but they still support it through special orders. We decided it was time to order what we wanted before they stop carrying this line altogether.

Reena dropped me at home, and I fed Rose and put her to bed.

busy day but not really.

Composter

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:25:00 +0000

Diana came over to watch Rose for part of the day as Reena is off at a conference all week during the day. I took that time to work on putting together the composter that has sat in the hallway in its battered package for months. Here is a photojournal of the process. This composter has two chambers which allows one to complete the composting cycle while the other is being filled. There was one screw missing, so I had to go to the hardware store to get a replacement.

Today, it rained. I sat on the back poarch during Rose's morning nap and read.

Big Boom

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:58:00 +0000

Reena had a gig at the Danvers Family Festival (originally scheduled for Friday, but due to rain held on Sunday the 5th). Her group was the last to perform before the fireworks, but there were 20 minutes of announcements and other local flavor before the lightshow began. While it was still light out, Noam held the bottle while Rose pounded milk. The Similar Jones friends and family section cheered loudly for them, but we had to sit far back because the volume at the stage was too much for Rose. She jumped into my arms when the band before Reena's got started.
Here, Rose is showing off her coordination--playing with beads around her neck while standing independently. The standing on her own is a new thing.

The fireworks were fun and amusing. The cd soundtrack started skipping, and had to be restarted a few times. There were odd pauses in the show, the explosions stopped, and people chuckled around us as everyone wondered if that was the end.

The traffic getting out was a bit crazy, but Rose zonked out. The jerk who cut the line was cancelled out by the very helpful local who gave us good directions to avoid the major traffic jam.

late night doodles

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:35:00 +0000

I finally installed a very unstable version of the program that Tim (mentioned before) uses to create some of his work. Mine, on Windows, crashes when I try to save the image. I can copy and paste into Photoshop, so I keep the work that I do. Took a while to figure that out.

I love the patterns that the block wave filter in Showphoto creates and have enjoyed Tim's work for a while now. Now I get to play with this tool. I think I'll download the mac version which should be much more stable.

Sun, ball, friends, eats

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:34:00 +0000

Independence Day, as all holidays, has lost its meaning. Currently, it is at best an excuse to watch fireworks, cook food, and share time with friends and family. At worst it is another excuse for nationalistic flag waving and mouth-foaming jingoism. I don't think either of these are what the many colonists envisioned when at last the war was over, but the former probably comes closer to the hopes of those many people who took a risk to overthrow their current government for whichever reasons made sense to them.

History books have handed down a neatly packaged mythology of Founding Fathers, Revolutionaries, and historic horse rides. While all of that has a place, the reality of epic change rests on the shoulders of the many rather than the few, for the many have to decide that the great risk is worth it. There will always be rhetoric, leaders, and visions, but the times and the people must move behind them for change to happen.

Right now, we have leaders, rhetoric, and vision in abundance. What we don't have is a motivated populace to make change. People, even in this recession, are still mostly complacent. When public demonstration or action is attempted, it has been corralled in approved zones and hushed up by the media. What will it take before Americans decide it is time for a change?

Until then, we are stuck with the frat boys next door having obnoxiously loud parties in the middle of a quiet, kid-filled residential neighborhood. Independence day is just another excuse to set up drinking games, pee on the fence, and yell from garage roof to patio incoherently.

This is the tail end of a drunken musical interlude from the drunken shouting.

Reena and I went to Alicia and Leslie's annual kickball and cookout. It is about friends, fun, and food, and it doesn't irritate the neighbors. Rose got to hang out with Zach(sp?) who is very close in age to her, and I enjoyed running around kicking and catching the ball. I don't get to play active games all that much, so I love the opportunity to stretch the legs and have some fun.Rose's attention is captured but soon returns to Lesley. Zach looks on. There were a range of young children as well as expectant moms. Very young family friendly event.Alicia chats and comforts her beer during a break in the action.

Suny Days

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:42:00 +0000

Summer is possibly here, now. With months of cool, wet weather, the flowers have been gorgeous, but it has only added to my inability to get yardwork done. The main reason was a very intense end of year. I finally got to hacking up some of the major vegetation that has sprouted up (small trees, etc). I did clear out the rose bushes along the drive and they are happier for it.
All I did for the back yard was whack a path along the walk and trim the anemic rose bush back away from the walk. The yard is a jungle, and I am not ready to wade in and do battle with the creatures within.

In Sync

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:26:00 +0000

I finally synced my phone and got a few pictures and videos off of it that I had meant to share a while ago. During the spring, lots of pollen was floating about. Some ended up in this puddle in the street making wonderful patterns.
I encountered this fabulous moth on the fence of our neighbors' house. It looked like a leaf until I got close, and then its beauty really stood out. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me; the camera in the phone just doesn't do it justice.
This was the first time I took Rose out to the park to use the walking truck there. She loved it and later went twice around the park with this toy. There are an assortment of toys at the park, and they are in various states of disrepair. The park is great, however, and has the usual swings, slides, etc. It also has a water feature that many local parks now include. Ours has three metal clouds that mist water when a button is pushed.

Hat Day

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:07:00 +0000

Rose has taken to bringing articles of clothing to me that she wants me to put on her. Yesterday it was socks. Today it was hats. She went around with the watermelon one, the green one from Charlene, and both blue knit caps at various times.

Another thing we are very happy about is that Rose is holding her own bottle. Probably because we just held if for her, she didn't learn how to before this, but now we just plunk it down in front of her and she has to do the work.

In honor of Tim

noreply@blogger.com (stlbanjo) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:04:00 +0000

Tim has one of the nicest blogs of digital art and writing. Art from Pushing Buttons and Turning Dials is an exploration into the minimalist approach to digital art. I tend to make the overly slick fractals he rails against, but I was playing with a new plugin for Photoshop (Harry's Filters) and found this reminded me of some of Tim's work.
Further fun with filters.
And a last one. All of these from the picture of the corn flower.