Saturday, October 5, 2024
Oregon — Sept/Oct 2024
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
New England — Sept. 2024
There are three photo albums. First, an album of overall trip photos (view the photos individually to see the captions). Second, an album of fall foliage. (There was plenty of color, but not entire landscapes.) And third, a specialized album relating to one museum (see below).
We took a tour that visited all six New England states. The weather stayed mild and, contrary to early forecasts, almost entirely rain-free. Our tour guide, from Rhode Island, had a marked accent. When she spoke of "potty boats," I had to laugh.
The first day, we quickly toured Boston, including stops at Old North Church and Faneuil Hall. We visited Lexington, and Plymouth, where we stopped at Plymouth Rock, Mayflower II, and the Monument to the Forefathers. The next two nights were at Hyannis on Cape Cod. After a stop at the JFK Memorial, we ferried to Martha’s Vineyard.
In Newport, RI, we cruised by many mansions, and toured one, the Vanderbilts' Breakers. In Connecticut, we went to the Mystic Seaport Museum. The next day, in the Massachusetts Berkshires, we stopped at the Norman Rockwell Museum. I do remember and appreciate Rockwell's work, but I was surprised and delighted by their current special exhibit: The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine. My third photo album for this trip is about that exhibit. Yes, it includes some Norman Rockwell, too. After that, a quick stop at the Bennington Battle Monument in Vermont.
The next day began at the Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, Vermont and continued to Montpelier. Our final full day was in Maine: Portland, Kennebunkport, and Ogunquit, including a lobster dinner. (I had an almost identical lobster dinner in Maine in 2015. See the photo.)
Monday, July 29, 2024
I hate time jumps
Other than science fiction, I don't read many novels. But it seems to me that more and more novels do a lot of time jumps, both backward and forward. I just find it confusing. If I like the story, I just want the straight-forward story, damn it. I guess I'm in the minority, but I hate time jumps.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
London and Paris — June 2024
Link to more photos. As always, view the photos individually to see the captions.
We took this short trip to London and Paris. The only time I had visited was in 1975, and Victor had never been. The temperatures were mild, but there was a bit of rain in both cities.
In London, we stayed at a hotel right by Marble Arch, but it was completely covered, undergoing restoration (click to enlarge):
Our first full day we had Tootbus tickets, but with three routes, only connecting at certain points, it took time to figure out what to do. My main goal was the British Museum, my favorite museum from my 1975 trip. I decided we could also go to the changing of the horse guards (much much less crowded than the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace) and Harry Potter's Platform 9 3⁄4 (click here for the 3-minute video clip) at King's Cross railway station. We did those, and also took photos of many other sites when the bus stopped. The museum, along with most other places, had many more visitors than I remembered from 1975, and, of course, all the previously unheard of, but now ubiquitous, annoying and time-consuming security checks.
The next day, we had a bus tour of Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford and the Cotswolds. The following day was open; because of my interest in Alan Turing and computers, we went to Bletchley Park, which I had not seen before.
We then took the train to Paris, via the Chunnel. Our first full day in Paris was open. Because I had visited the Louvre and the Rodin Museum in 1975, and because one of its current exhibitions was "Comics, 1964 – 2024," we went to the Pompidou Centre. It was a bit exhausting, and the comics exhibition had little I hadn't seen or read before, but there was still plenty to enjoy.Our last two days were busy: a cruise on the Seine, a visit to the third level of the Eiffel Tower, and a Paris City bus tour on one day, and a trip to the palace and gardens of Versailles the next. I had not been to Versailles before.
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Pismo Beach — April/May 2024
We took this short trip to Pismo Beach and nearby sites. Happily, the weather was mild and it didn't rain. The trip began with a ride to San Luis Obispo aboard Amtrak's Coast Starlight train.
Here's the view from our Pismo Beach hotel room:
More photos:
- Frank Lloyd Wright building in San Luis Obispo
In Paso Robles the next day, we visited an olive farm and Sculpterra winery and sculpture garden. (Photo album of the sculptures)
The following day we were at a Clydesdale horse ranch, including lunch in a barn with several of the horses. After lunch, we went on a short Morro Bay cruise. In the evening, we returned to the weekly evening downtown farmers' market in San Luis Obispo that we had visited in December. This time, I made a point of stopping at the doctor's office designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (Photo album of this building)
We stopped at a luffa farm on the way home.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Autographs — John Scalzi
Today at the LATimes Festival of Books.
Click here for two photos from the event:
- John Scalzi and panel
- Barbara McQuaid
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.
Monday, February 26, 2024
Mérida — Jan/Feb 2024
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 Plancha, opened 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:
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Fortune
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
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 PurÃsima 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.