I thought I was going to be writing about something else today, but something magical has occurred on the patio and I want to share it with you. Admittedly, two weeks into our six-week patio kitchen adventure, there are moments that feel inconvenient, but I am surprised to say (at least at this moment) that most of the time we feel like we’re on vacation. We linger over candlelit dinners at the long table. Early in the morning, we watch bees visit the kumquat tree to collect pollen from its blooms. Hummingbirds zip past on their way to the fountain in the front yard. Mourning doves coo on the…
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Kitchen Re-do Leads to a Patio Adventure
We are in the midst of refreshing our 1947 kitchen with new cabinets, counter and floor. Although a few updates had been made over the years, we knew we were finally ready to expand our cabinet space (freeing up limited counter space). The new cabinets will allow us to retrieve things easily (no more getting on the floor on hands and knees to reach the bowl in the back of the cupboard on the bottom shelf). For the most part, though, our new kitchen will be much like our old kitchen, which we have loved for 19 years. In the process of preparing for the project, I checked out from…
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Art and Detecting Come Together
A recent article in The New York Times caught my eye. It was about Amy E. Herman, an expert in visual perception, who has written a book titled Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life. She teaches medical students, business executives, and those who work in local and federal law enforcement how to use art as a tool for critical inquiry: What am I seeing here? How do I attach a narrative to it? Her goal is to teach people how to notice details they might otherwise miss. Because I used to take my film students to the art museum to do something similar, I was totally intrigued by the reactions of a…
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Siddhartha’s River and Our River
One of the best things about tutoring an inquisitive ninth grader in the humanities – literature and history, writing and global studies – is that I have the opportunity to revisit stories I have read in the distant past, when I was a different person. Doesn’t the passage of time change us at least a little (or maybe even immensely)? Reading stories a second time makes me notice and appreciate the way I have changed. Thus, I found myself re-reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (Hilda Rosner’s translation). The first time I read it I was 19. I was on a plane. When I reached the last page, I remember looking…
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Vinnie Ream’s Lincoln Statue
Note from Pamela: When Malena, with whom I have the pleasure of exploring all subjects related to the humanities, and I were delving into the years after the American Civil War, we read a marvelous picture book about a young girl who met President Abraham Lincoln and ended up sculpting his bust. Her name was Vinnie Ream. Her story led Malena to investigate statues of President Lincoln. This post is the third and final post of three Lincoln statues Malena chose to research. ************* Vinnie Ream’s Lincoln Statue by Malena Ani Vinnie Ream was born on September 25, 1847 near Madison, Wisconsin. Her mother was Lavinia Ream and her father…
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Everyone’s Lincoln
Note from Pamela: This guest post is by Malena Ani, the 9th grade student with whom I have the pleasure twice a week to explore all topics related to the humanities. This is the second of three posts about sculptors who had the chance to demonstrate their love for Abraham Lincoln in statues they created. Due to Malena’s research, I now know the story behind the hands of this awe-inspiring statue. My resident cinematographer — Professor William McDonald — appreciated the story behind the lighting of the statue (the first version mortified Daniel Chester French). When Bill and I lived in Washington D.C. we used to visit the Lincoln Memorial…
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Eavesdropping on a Conversation with Ursula K. Le Guin
It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end. On a cold and windy Sunday afternoon, Bill and I settled into our seats in UCLA’s Royce Hall to listen to Ursula Le Guin in conversation with Meryl Friedman from UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance. It felt something like participatory eavesdropping (where one does not have to pretend in any way not to be eavesdropping). It was also a 90-minute dose of inspiration. I want to share with you a few notes I jotted down. And I will share this with you: I have carried around Ursula Le…
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Kilt + Kimono = A Love Story
On my birthday, I finally opened the package that had landed on our doorstep a week earlier. It had travelled many miles across sea and land. Wrapped so meticulously in its brown paper, I hadn’t wanted to open it right away! I placed it on a table where I could see it each time I walked by for a few days. And then it was my birthday and time to open it. Included in the package’s contents was the delightful “Wee Kimono Magnet” (see photo above) made from folded paper. And this note: I know you love Japan, I know you admire brave women and I know you love stories. So, here’s…
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Whistler’s First Lesson: Manage Your Palette
If you cannot manage your palette, how are you going to manage your canvas? In Glasgow, Scotland, we visited the University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Art Gallery and discovered a treasure trove: The Whistler Collection. Upon James McNeill Whistler’s death in 1903 (b. 1834), most of his work went to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), who had been Whistler’s companion and assistant since the death of Whistler’s wife Beatrix (1857-1896). The Whistler Collection includes the contents of his house and studio at the time of his death, including unfinished work and artist’s materials. Rosalind Philip outlived Whistler by 55 years. During those years, she devoted herself to safeguarding Whistler’s reputation. Eventually,…
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An Unexpected Journey: Breast Cancer
I received a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer six years ago, two weeks before I was due to go on a much anticipated 2 1/2 week trip with William and Natalie. I am so glad my surgeon realized that I not only wanted to still go on the trip, but that I needed to go. She realized I needed to feel emotionally prepared and at peace about having surgery. It also didn’t hurt that I had found a medical reason in my research (revealed below) that made sense to her. I thought back to those emotional weeks in my life while reading an article in the New York Times this…
