Friday, March 1, 2024

Autographs — Justin Torres


Justin Torres spoke at Occidental this evening. I haven't read the book yet, but given the subject matter and the appearance of many of the pages (see below), I'm surprised and impressed that it won the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction

(Index to autographs) 

Monday, February 26, 2024

Mérida — Jan/Feb 2024


Victor with his mother


Queso Relleno Yucateco made by Victor's sister

We go to Mérida so often that I don't usually blog about it, but here are a few photos from our recent visit.

One of the highlights was Parque De La Planchaopened in November 2023, built at a what used to be a railway station. Over fifty acres, it includes covered walkways, bicycle paths, a large amphitheater, an auditorium, a wading pool, a lake, an outdoor gym, a multipurpose sports field, a large food court, the Railway Museum, children's play areas, a skating rink. Click here for a photo album.

A few photos in Progreso:




And two more photos:


In one store in downtown Mérida 


At a Miró exhibit in downtown Mérida


Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Fortune


Very young Rodney

I've been meaning to write about this for a very long time. The final impetus was Fiona Hill's There Is Nothing For You Here. In particular, her descriptions of what Thatcherism and Reaganism wrought. 

In short: I think the long-lived idea that your children will live better than you did is dead. I am part of the luckiest demographic, and now things are getting worse.

Sure, old-timers often complain the current generation is going to hell, but that's not what I'm talking about. 

I think it's the world, not the people, that's going to hell. There are many serious issues that were not a concern when I was growing up. Global issues such as climate change, overpopulation, energy crises, plus U.S. economic issues such as drastic inequality, housing costs, cost of living,  lifelong student debt.

For a white middle class kid, growing up in the 1950s and 1960s was the best. World wars and polio were behind us. The biggest life-threatening external event for a boy born in 1950 would be the Vietnam War, and I dodged that with a sufficiently high draft lottery number. 

In addition to my lucky demographic, I had a fortunate personal upbringing. A classic idyllic childhood. An intact family, a stay-at-home mom, a perfectly normal education, the usual family vacations and childhood activities such as scouting. As a first child, my parents gave me more opportunities than even my brothers, such as music lessons, symphony subscriptions, and summer camp.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

SLO and Hearst Castle — December 2023

 

At Apple Farm Inn

Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

We went on this short 3-day tour of San Luis Obispo and Hearst Castle. I was worried about the December weather, but it was fine — mild temperatures and no rain! I had visited Hearst Castle once before, in 1975, but Victor had never been there.

Our first group meal was lunch at Pea Soup Andersen's in Buellton. I love pea soup, and hadn't been there in decades. We next visited the Madonna Inn, with its over-the-top pink decor and stone sinks in the men's restroom (see the photos).

After checking in at our SLO inn, we stopped at the weekly evening downtown farmers' market, including the large Tom's Toys store and nearby holiday lights in Mission Plaza.

The next day began with animal viewing at Giving Tree Family Farm and then on to the Point San Luis Lighthouse. The lighthouse tour was fine, but Victor had an unfortunate incident with Pam, the woman who runs the tours and the volunteer docents. As we were all returning to the bus before lunch, I went to the bus while Victor stopped at the men's room, so he was then approaching the bus alone. Pam stood in his way, and as he tried to go around her, she moved to block him. He said he was on the tour, and she didn't believe him. He pointed to his tour name badge, but she was unimpressed. She even made a cutthroat gesture. The bus driver saw all this, and came out of the bus and vouched for Victor being a member of the tour group. (And even then, when the bus driver was approaching, Pam made another assumption and asked him, "Is he a friend of yours?")

After a brief afternoon rest at the inn, we went on a Holiday Twilight Tour of Hearst Castle. 

The last day was our return trip. In Lompoc, the group had a tour of La Purísima Mission State Historic Park, but I'm not interested in missions, so Victor and I skipped the tour and stayed in the Visitor Center. Afterwards, we saw more animals and had lunch with wine tasting at Vega Vineyard

Friday, December 8, 2023

Thoughts I dare not ponder

 


As I've always said, I decided in high school that my goal in life was to retire. And in retirement I wanted to read, write, and travel. After I retired, that shifted to read, travel, and exercise.

But lately, I've begun to think that the "why" is no longer self-evident. 

To what end? To what purpose? What's the point?

Yes, of course, increasing thoughts of mortality are part of this. So I quickly labeled these "thoughts I dare not ponder".


About those retirement activities:


 - Reading 

I have always been a print media junkie (including online print). 

I love news, information, learning. I'm even rather competive about it. (See here.) 

There are still tons of books on my reading list, and I still add more, but now I sometimes wonder why.

It's no longer self-evident. 

Similarly, I check the news repeatedly. But what if I stopped?


 - Travel

There are tons of places I've never been, but I've hit the top places on my list. (See here.)

TSA, airlines, and my aging body make the journeys (not the destinations) increasingly unpleasant.

And to what end?


 - Exercise

In my first year of retirement, I lost more than 50 pounds, and I kept it off for years, but lately, I've began to put some back on. 

Arthritis slows me down and makes hills and long walks ever more difficult. 

Diabetes is ever-present. 

Dietary self-restraint in the face of mortality: Why?

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Just what are homophobes afraid of?


The LATimes ran a lengthy profile of school board book banning activist Sonja Shaw. I dashed off a quick letter about what it seems such folks are afraid of, and why that's pretty stupid. I wrote:

Sonja Shaw says she is fighting policies that "pervert children." She should think back to her own teenage years. If she had been taught that gay people exist, would that have made her a lesbian?

For my first sentence, I quoted a phrase about what's she's afraid of, but I should have left that out, because in context, it sounds like I agree that being lesbian is a perversion. 

I usually wait at least a couple of hours after drafting a letter to re-read it later and maybe revise it. I did not do that this time, but I should have. Shortly after I sent it, I wished I could re-write it.

The Times printed no letters about the article. 


Friday, November 24, 2023

My favorite place

When discussing travels recently, someone asked what was my favorite place. I said, "It depends."

For nature, Costa Rica. For wildlife, Katmai. For history, London. For communism, the Soviet Union. Etc.

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Spain — Oct/Nov 2023

 

Victor and Rodney with the royal palace of Madrid in the background

Link to more photos. There are three photo albums in all: Below are links to separate photo albums for the Alhambra and the Picasso Museum. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.

We took this tour of Spain. It went well, although it was colder than I expected, and we could not visit Gaudi's Parc Güell which was high on my wishlist (see below).

In Madrid, I was impressed by the underground highway that goes for miles. I was surprised by graffiti worse than L.A. I was somewhat disappointed by the Prado Museum, since I'm not much into classical paintings. It also remains behind the times with a "no photos" policy, and I found no water, and you couldn't leave and re-enter.

We toured the mosque-turned-cathedral of Cordoba, and the huge cathedral of Seville. By this time, I was no longer surprised by the new-to-me urinals we were seeing in every hotel. (See the photos.)

In Grenada, the highlight was the Alhambra, of course. As expected, I loved all the elaborate geometric decoration. Link to a photo album solely of the Alhambra. Similarly, in Valencia, I liked the City of Arts and Sciences designed by Santiago Calatrava.

Our last stop was Barcelona. We began with a city tour, including some architecture by Gaudi and others. With free time the next day, I wanted to visit Parc Güell, but I discovered that you need reservations and purchased tickets and it was all sold out for the day. I never thought that a public park would need tickets. If only I had known, I could easily have bought the tickets long ahead of time. Sigh. The other major sight I wanted to see that day was the Picasso Museum. That went well. Link to a photo album solely of the Picasso Museum.

Long flights, even in cramped economy seats, never used to bother me much, but now they are not very enjoyable.  Our return flight from Paris to L.A. was more than eleven and a half hours. I got up and walked and stretched a bit three times, but it was increasingly uncomfortable.

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Putting it all together: Visa for Victor

The longest story in this blog is about getting a visa for Victor to come to the U.S. 

But when I want to send the story to someone, by clicking on the "Visa for Victor" label, the posts are in reverse chronological order.

So I have now put them in proper order in a new blog. Much better.

Friday, September 15, 2023

Scared little boy Donnie Trump

 


I have a nickname for Donald Trump like the ones he pins on others, one he's guaranteed to hate: 

Scared little boy Donnie Trump

He's scared of the truth, so he lies all the time. And now he's desperately scared of getting caught, too.

He boasts about being a great leader, but when he leaves the room, many consider him a dangerous buffoon and simply ignore his commands.

He acts like a little boy, including the name-calling. 

Last month, his niece said,  “Donald is and always has been a frightened little boy deep down.” I completely agree.

Scared little boy Donnie Trump

I sent a shorter version of this to the LATimes early this week. They did not publish it. 

As I was revising it, I thought I might send it to another paper and maybe also to Mary Trump. (I did neither.) It was only when I was looking for how to contact her that I came across her recent quote

And only while looking for a cartoon of Trump as a little boy to put at the top of this post did I come across this quote from Liza Donelly: "I began to draw Donald Trump in shorts. Simply because he acts like a schoolyard bully."

And then this (from 2017!): "Is it time for cartoonists to stop portraying Trump as a baby?" Oh, dear, I guess I'm really way behind the times.