"In his domestic administration my father had this system . . . to keep a journal and insert in it all occurrences of any note . . . A record very pleasant to look at when time begins to efface the memory of events, and very well suited to get us out of perplexity: When was such and such a thing begun? When completed? What retinues came? How long did they stay? Our trips, our absences; marriages; deaths; the receipt of happy or unhappy news . . . An ancient custom, which I think it would be good to revive, each man in each man's home. And I think I am a fool to have neglected it." (Montaigne, Book I, Essay 35 (publ. 1580))
This was quite fun - Kerry and Luis visited 8/14-8/22, and Nicole and POC visited 8/18-8/22. Lots of nice conversation, meals, etc. And some progress on wedding planning for March 2011 in Arizona - including a "VIP Tasting" at Fuego Bistro (caterer) that made for quite a delightful evening. And had a chance to play a bit of basketball in late afternoon/relatively high temperature conditions.
Patricia and I took a road trip with Kerry and Luis during the visit - Grand Canyon, Sedona, Jerome - so we actually made quite an extensive tour of northern AZ. Even hiked down to the 1 1/2 mile house on the Bright Angel Trail - which I always enjoy muchly. Some shopping at the old high school in Jerome (per photo). We also have a few cellphone photos from the hike (but otherwise didn't do much with photos, oh well).
Here we are having reached August 11, which means we have just completed this year's cycle of birthdays. This year's finale included birthday dinners for Patrick on 8/8 (belated due to PJ's recent Chicago trip) and Paul Jr. on 8/10.
There are a number of folks that consistently contribute to making the birthdays big events, but I need to call out Rita Zintak and Jan Zintak. These two NEVER miss a birthday for any of the seven of us - going on 30 years now. I call that impressive, and it is much appreciated. Literally hundreds of birthday cards over the years.
In 2010, a very unusual occurrence on Patricia's birthday: Aunt Rita was a day late. It happened that Patricia was at work on the day that Rita called to wish her a happy birthday. Rita's excellent solution: just sing into the answering machine. We refuse to delete the message, and get a kick out of it every time we go through our messages.
Play the video to understand why this is so great (but turn up the volume, the audio track is unfortunately very low.) At some point we need to find out if Rita can explain for us the source of the, let's call it "unusual," version of the "happy birthday" song that the O'Donnell clan passed along.
Photo was taken in June 1994, during Rita and Jan's visit to Arizona. (Back when you could meet or see off folks at the airport gate.)
Anyway: I felt I needed to record this before it was lost due to phone failure, or whatever.
Hummingbirds seem to love the desert. And the hummingbird count in our backyard has definitely gone up since we replaced the pool with trees and plants.
This photo was taken earlier this year - in the morning - I was sitting at the desk in my upstairs office when the hummingbird's beak was caught in the screen. That's where the camera on my phone came in handy (if very low quality).
A slight tap on the window and my friend was sufficiently inspired (or terrorized) to escape.
I chatted with my mom and dad on the phone for maybe an hour last evening.
The conversation probably should be considered an entirely routine event, but it struck me that I (and siblings) are pretty lucky to be able to have these phone chats with our parents after all these years. Who are we kidding, we all are getting older (especially them). I know Patricia would have enjoyed a chance to chat with her dad from time to time in the last 25 years, and plenty others are in the same boat.
50+ years of conversations with one's parents make the flow pretty easy, and essentially irreplaceable. We of course touched on the weather at some point, and it was remarked that St. Joe has had several nice rains after the 4th of July. How else could I respond? - I of course remarked that I'm sure no one would turn down any rain after the 4th. Everyone knows the context of that pretty much automatic, decades-old rejoinder, and the conversation proceeds.
Then there was a discussion about computer viruses, which led to recounting the story of some old lady in Algona who recently was nearly scammed into sending money to the scammer via Western Union. EMG proceeded to read the entire article out of the Algona paper. Interesting news article. Did it add anything significant to the verbal description already provided? Not really. Did it give me a chance to hear the reading cadences of someone who had now and again read stories to us going back 50 years now? Yes, definitely, so I sat back and enjoyed.
We had enjoyed the Carole King - James Taylor concert in Arizona (described here) much more than expected, and had the idea to catch the last concert of their tour in Anaheim on July 20. A summary of the Anaheim concert is linked here - much enjoyed.
The next step was to build a bit of a road trip around the July 20th concert. We had enjoyed Laguna Beach during this visit a few years ago. Ended up taking a room at the Pacific Edge Hotel - an older property that has gone through some remodeling (and re-branding). It's now in good shape, with primary attraction being its location right on the water, and right in the heart of Laguna Beach. (Parked the car and didn't go near it again until time to drive to the concert.) So off we went. Easy road trip on July 18; some slow-downs in the LA/metro area and in particular getting into Laguna Beach itself, but not bad.
After owning a vehicle with GPS for two years, we finally used it. What a nice technology. The voice commands are entertaining - "she" is polite, yet firm . . . maybe a bit bossy.
Checked in - and liked the room a lot. From the room, the ocean was almost overwhelming for we desert types. At high tide the water came up under the patio.
Top picture gives a sense of how it appears when you first open the door and step in; second picture gives a sense of the patio. (We spent lots of time sitting there and just watching. Virtually no TV for four full days!) Third picture is the beach we stepped down to via just one flight of stairs.
Laguna Beach is small, pretty crowded on the weekends in summer. But all in all I enjoyed being around. We didn't have a ton of time, but focused per usual on walking the area and finding good things to eat and drink. Concentrated our latter efforts in just two places: dinner twice at "230 Forest" and lunch three times at "Nick's." Scallops; short rib sliders; roast chicken; plenty of interesting beers; etc. At 230 Forest the couple sitting beside us featured the pianist (this fellow) for some guy named Luis Miguel, it was interesting.
Weather was unseasonably cool and generally cloudy/hazy - i.e. perfect for visitors from Phoenix.
Return trip was fine; stopped at the outlet mall in Palm Springs (which is quite the outlet mall) and actually found a few things that we had been looking for. Back into Phoenix at 9:30 and dinner at Delux. Concert summarized here.
For no particular reason, I've started posting "old days" stuff over at a companion website. Click "PMG look-back" (in the box below the picture at right) to visit the site.
For those that drove and walked around the Country Club Plaza area (June 10-11, 2010) looking for our 1981 apartment (photo shows its 1981 appearance): below is a map that shows its location.
During our travels, we needed to go one block further west to find the address. Per this "streetview" - I think it's the building on the east side of the street (not the new construction on the west side of the street). Not sure.
Patricia and I had a very fun trip recently. Impetus for travel was the Thomas Stern - Amy Probst wedding in Lawrence, Kansas. We scheduled an extra day in Kansas City - after all, it was just 29 years since I had been a summer law clerk there, so time for a return visit.
Stuff that happened:
1. June 10 - PJ and I walked around the Country Club Plaza after checking in. Still a pleasant walk, but the place does feel quite a bit more like a standard shopping mall with national retailers prevailing. Had a fun lunch at Blanc burger.
2. Kerry flew into town and met us at hotel; followed by more walking and refreshments at reVerse.
3. Where Mike Hough (ND '80) met us; we repaired to O'Dowd's at his behest; Jill met us there. Fun. Onto barbecue dinner at JackStack down by Union Station. This was a fun evening.
4. June 11 - Nicole and Patrick flew in; we traveled to Lawrence. Checked into the Eldridge Hotel - a fine old establishment. We were told it burned down twice (including once at the hands of Quantrill's Raiders). So that was neat. Walked the main drag a bit while trying not to suffocate in high heat and humidity.
5. Rehearsal dinner in Eldridge lower level; moved to the hotel bar; moved to 715 (a restaurant) for pizza etc. Had fun yakking with the proprietor about food etc.
6. June 12 - Rainy, so our plans to walk the University of Kansas campus fell through. Wedding ceremony; gathering at hotel (lots of fine Iowa types); reception (where a never-ending "brother" joke provided entertainment); back to 715; very enjoyable.
Returned to Phoenix on June 13 following a brunch.
Everything was delightful, fun trip.
End note #1: we expended a fair amount of energy (and shoe leather) trying to identify our apartment from 1981. More to come on this topic.
End note #2: we discussed with Mike Hough an occurrence during one of our Spring 1982 parties at University Village - we told him to run out for hot dog and hamburger buns. We didn't know he was at the party without a car, and also didn't know that he would execute the directive literally. Photo below shows his return.
Patricia and I celebrated anniversary #30 on May 24.
I can report that a 30-year love affair is a fine thing - the best thing, I'm quite blessed.
Flew to San Francisco (photo along Golden Gate Bridge); lunch along the water in Sausalito (photo of PJ with San Francisco in background); then drove up to Sonoma Valley area. We had a delightful three-day stay at the Gaige House (photo) in Glen Ellen, California. Focused on relaxing, taking walks, finding interesting places to eat, and seeing a few Sonoma wineries. The hotel was a delight - including an evening reception and breakfast that we enjoyed on the patio (photo of PJ) each day. Just the kinds of things we like.
Enjoyed a tasting in the reserve room at Chateau St. Jean (three photos). Walked up to the Benziger winery one afternoon - a beautiful spot (two photos). Just spent a few hours on the Napa side on one of the days, it has gotten busy over there. But enjoyed lunch in Calistoga.
Had such a nice time at dinner on Saturday evening (Saffron, right in Glen Ellen (photo taken the "day after")) that the chef invited us to dinner at his house on Sunday (Saffron being closed that day). We didn't take up the offer. On 5/24, we had a wonderful dinner at Sante' at the Fairmont in Sonoma (lobster (photo); rabbit).
Then two days in San Francisco. Found a couple of our old favorites in Chinatown - Eastern Star Bakery and Oriental Pearl (photo). Walked for miles and miles on one of the days - hotel in Union Square, up Nob Hill (view to the east in photo), down through Chinatown (for a pork roll per usual), up to North Beach (espresso at Italian cafe), Telegraph Hill, Fisherman's Wharf (lunch; photo of PM with Alcatraz in background), then back down along the Embarcadero (where we encountered a Welsh Terrier named "Linus," per photo) with return to hotel. Vietnamese/French food at Le Colonial. Last day: on-and-off rainstorms, which made a perfect opportunity to go to the DeYoung Museum - which was hosting an Impressionist exhibit with an opportunity to show works available because of construction at Musee d'Orsay.
These little trips are delightful. My wife is an excellent traveling companion.
Patricia and I attended the "Troubadour Reunion Tour" in Glendale (Jobing.com Arena) on May 19. Paul Jr. and Nedda also went.
We had previously enjoyed seeing James Taylor in concert back in 2008. We were willing to listen to Carole King - but probably more concerned that she would eat up time better spent listening to JT. In the end, she almost stole the show - tremendous energy. Both were wonderful.
We decided it's highly, highly unlikely that we will ever enjoy a popular music concert as much as this one. Some reasons:
1. They can still perform. Their voices have deteriorated - he's 62 and she's 68 - but they still hit the notes, and probably communicate the music better than ever. Will they tour again? Not likely.
2. By design for this tour, they stuck to songs that are familiar. The performance lasted almost three hours, and they didn't come close to running out of songs that folks know and want to hear more of. Few others would have a catalog of that depth.
3. Just the mere overlap of time won't be duplicated - we liked these folks' music, a lot, going back 40 years. One of many nice things about getting older is that these things resonate in a way that wouldn't happen absent passage of time.
4. The two performers really get along - you can tell they appreciate each other as people, as professionals who helped each other at important career junctures decades ago, as musicians with overlapping and complementary styles etc. Of course the rapport could have been faked. But no one in this audience would have believed it.
5. And the main thing - the music was good. Much of this music will endure, at least to the extent any pop music endures. These folks could write, and they could (and still can) perform.
One of the annoyances of venue events these days is that a big chunk of the audience reflexively wants to be part of the show - scripted shrieking at every pause, ritual standing with arms waving, etc. That was not this audience. Often there was a quietness in the auditorium while folks just sat back and let the music envelope them; at song's end, the applause would start slowly and build and sustain - very unusual. Very non-ritual.
The video clip below is from a performance about a week prior to the one we attended - I include it because it gives a good sense of how this all came across.
For comparison I also include (at bottom) two 1971 videos featuring JT and CK. Last video has same bass player as in 2010 performance, just now has a longer (and whiter) beard.
Lots of rain and relatively cool this spring. PJ and I often hike in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve starting from the 40th street trailhead.
These views were taken April 10, 2010. The flowers were pretty much at prime; the light was working through very light cloud cover. Which was interesting to look at.
Surprisingly, my hiking pal wasn't interested in posing.
I hiked Squaw/Piestewa Peak yesterday and the brittle brush already are fading fast.
Classical music programmers love to build off anniversary dates - this year is the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth, so ASU is one of many places doing a concert series.
That's good news for Patricia and me; we have much enjoyed running down to Katzen Hall. Last night was the third installment, probably the one we enjoyed most.
Things we liked:
1. The short pre-concert lecture is very interesting. Even if I can't remember what the lecturer told us to listen for when the music is actually being played.
2. Baruch Meir performed delightfully.
3. And gave a small talk right after intermission where he named two teachers who had helped him with Chopin and described how each took a different approach (one constantly teaching Chopin's music as poetry and words; the other constantly speaking of it as singing). Then he played the opening passage from one of the works two different ways (one for each teacher's approach).
This is fun stuff. As is late dinner at La Bocca, which was quite excellent on each of our three visits.
The video is Arthur Rubenstein's rendition of Chopin's Berceuse - a simple lullaby that we hadn't heard previously.
We reprised our hike from last February - went to the Spur Cross conservation area and did the Elephant Mountain loop trail. Delightful weather, upper 60s and sunny. About seven miles, a fair amount of climbing, we spent about three and a half hours.
Top photo is from a pass at the high point of the trail; click to enlarge and you can see some Indian ruins atop the ridge.
Second photo is from the same area but looking more to the south.
Third photo is a stand of saguaros a bit farther down the trail.
Last two photos are when we forded Cave Creek at the end of the hike. Heavy recent rain had flooded out the usual passage, so we had to do some rock hopping. It was very pretty, just ahead of sunset.
Went to a restaurant in Cave Creek after - enjoyed the company but the food was very average.
Oops, things got ridiculously busy for quite a stretch here. So I'll cover December in a single post. And rely totally on NMG photos.
Many nice things in the month.
CPG and I had the ASU Choral Union Christmas concert on December 6 - we actually liked the program, had a decent proportion of traditional carols plus portions of Vivaldi's Gloria. Good turnout, very nice event.
Kerry and Luis arrived December 18; Luis back to DC area on 12/22 after a flight confirmation "issue." Nicole arrived December 22, and she and Kerry both departed on 12/27. These visits were delightful as always.
We didn't put up the tree - too much stuff stacked in the living room still. And didn't have much emphasis on gift-giving (using $$ instead). Though I received some Scotch and an Ayn Rand novel, so that 's hard to beat. Richardson's had burned down, which created some uncertainty about our Christmas Eve outing. Ended up going to a sister restaurant - the Rokerij - which we all liked better than Richardson's. Better menu, nicer setting. At least for this kind of meal. That's where the photos were taken.
On December 26, we attended a 3-D IMAX showing of "Avatar" (discussed here). It works, though the glasses are a bit goofy (just look at the picture).
As New Year's Day approached, lots of whining in the media about how tough '09 was, and how desultory the '00s were in general. Didn't feel like it from here.
This was quite fun - Kerry and Luis visited 8/14-8/22, and Nicole and POC visited 8/18-8/22. Lots of nice conversation, meals, etc. And some progress on wedding planning for March 2011 in Arizona - including a "VIP Tasting" at Fuego Bistro (caterer) that made for quite a delightful evening. And had a chance to play a bit of basketball in late afternoon/relatively high temperature conditions.
