I would have loved to be able to return to Washington just to attend this 3-hour rally. Not possible. So someone organized a mini-rally in Paris at a pub, The Thistle and I went. I hoped that Anne would be able to join me but she was helping a friend move and they finished up too late to make it. I got there fairly early and was even able to sit down and talk to some people. I saw John, but I think he left early on and then I found Michele as I was leaving. And I think I recognized a few other AARO faces.
My seat turned out to be badly situated in a back corner where I couldn't really see the main screen or either of the two smaller screens, so I ended up heading for the middle of the room (it's a small pub), where I had to stand. I did have a good view of the screen, though. Adrian Leeds, an American who's been living in Paris for quite some years now, running a real estate business and whom I keep running into here and there, was present and I took a picture of her that she might use in her newsletter. The 40-minute music intro was a bit boring; I guess if I had known the music or could at least hear what they were singing, I wouldn't have minded so much, but the bar was loud.
It was fine once they really got started. Most of the crowd seemed young, but not all. I was not the only one nostalgic when Yusuf (formerly, Cat Stevens) started singing "Peace Train". The program was really a very long sketch. Sometimes, it seemed too long, but for the most part, it was fun. Then, at the end, when Jon Stewart became serious, it was best. I'm glad I went.
Now, to bed. And tomorrow we get to sleep later. I hate rolling back to standard time, except for that one morning when we can sleep in.
Monday -- someone kindly recorded the final speech and put it up on youtube. Here it is:
and there was an excellent commentary on CNN that Anita found and put up on facebook:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/31/avlon.rally.sanity/index.html?iref=allsearch
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
What a wonderful weekend! Thank you, Anita, for being such a wonderful hostess and thank you, everyone who came, even if it was just to drop in for a few hours. Thank you Joshua and Joan for hosting Erica and me for an extra night.
The pictures are on Picasa. I gave the link to the email group and I'll post the less personal ones to the public album. If you want the link to the get-together pictures, let me know.
I want to go back to Barnegat Light. I want to treat the family to a bit of vacation there again. It hasn't changed much. Of course October is not a busy month on the beach, but we had beautiful weather. There were even people in the water. We were able to walk on the beach; it was quite warm. There's a bit of woodland up at the tip next to the lighthouse. I don't remember this from before. It's totally unexpected, this bit of woods between dunes. Erica came prepared for some bird watching, but although we could hear some interesting chirps, I had trouble finding the birds. The regular sea birds were hanging around and we saw a mockingbird when we stopped at the Island Store. Seeing the Island Store, the grocery store, the deli, and the diner made me very nostalgic for the place.
I now have a job of trying to remember all the authors people spoke of that I want to read, the specific books, the places to see.
And now, I'm at the Philly airport (yes, I drove down from Philly to DC to catch my flight --- to Philly to connect to the flight to Paris!).
The pictures are on Picasa. I gave the link to the email group and I'll post the less personal ones to the public album. If you want the link to the get-together pictures, let me know.
I want to go back to Barnegat Light. I want to treat the family to a bit of vacation there again. It hasn't changed much. Of course October is not a busy month on the beach, but we had beautiful weather. There were even people in the water. We were able to walk on the beach; it was quite warm. There's a bit of woodland up at the tip next to the lighthouse. I don't remember this from before. It's totally unexpected, this bit of woods between dunes. Erica came prepared for some bird watching, but although we could hear some interesting chirps, I had trouble finding the birds. The regular sea birds were hanging around and we saw a mockingbird when we stopped at the Island Store. Seeing the Island Store, the grocery store, the deli, and the diner made me very nostalgic for the place.
I now have a job of trying to remember all the authors people spoke of that I want to read, the specific books, the places to see.
And now, I'm at the Philly airport (yes, I drove down from Philly to DC to catch my flight --- to Philly to connect to the flight to Paris!).
Friday, October 8, 2010
So far, a wonderful trip
It's so good to just be able to spend some time with Tony and Barbara! I got in a bit late on Tuesday because my connecting flight to Washington was delayed two hours. I tried to use my phone, but it won't work in the US. I'm angry about that because that is the one thing a really insist on when I change phones, that they work in the US. It doesn't work with the US SIM card or the French SIM card, so it's not the card, it's the conversion to the US system. But, that little communication snafu being what it is -- little, I managed to find a pay phone to let them know I'd be late. I was thinking how it was a shame I hadn't just picked up the car in Philly and driven to DC. It would have saved time on the return trip next Tuesday.
Once at the DC airport, I picked up the car with its GPS and, having arrived after rush hour, made it speedily to Bethdesda, where a lovely Jumbalaya was waiting for me for dinner. We talked for a little while, but I was tired and went to bed early.
On Wednesday, I showed Tony the wiki. We set up his username and password so that he can now go on and enhance the narrative and correct mine. Just opening one document sets off other memories and I love listening to him. Yesterday, we opened a letter he had written to my parents from Germany, full of events that he still remembers.
We had lunch on Wednesday at Sweetgreen, a salad bar restaurant in Bethesda, the third of a chain created by one of N's friends from Georgetown. Rita told me to look it up, so we went there for lunch. The salads are fresh and tasty and since it was a bit past lunch hour it wasn't crowded. Not empty, either. Aside from the music being too loud, forcing one to speak too loudly to converse, it was good and I'd recommend it. I had a tasty dessert of frozen yogurt with fresh fruit toppings.
From lunch we went into DC to see an exhibit. We couldn't find a parking space close enough to the Renwick, so we went to the Smithsonian and saw the exhibit of Madelaine Albright's pins, "Read my pins". Very, very interesting. It's a huge collection and yet she managed to find or buy yet another pin to fit exactly the message she wanted to get across for each meeting. Of course, she also received quite a few pins as diplomatic gifts. Really, click the link for the exhibit website and take a look. It's fascinating.
By the time we got out, it was rush hour and we crawled to the movies to see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the new Oliver Stone sequel to Wall Street, from 1987. The actors were excellent, but the story was confusing. It does all come together at the end, but it's frustrating to follow. A good movie, but not worth all the hype it's been getting.
Yesterday, Thursday, I went into DC on my own. Tony drove me to the metro station and I got off at Union Station, where I spent a little while just looking around. The station looks beautiful. I don't remember it as so majestic. Of course I guess the building always was, but I just never really looked. They've got quite an upscale shopping center in the station. It was too early, so the shops were not yet open, but I could imagine it well. There's a vast food court downstairs. It's just a short walk to the Russel Bldg. where I stopped to visit Senator Casey's office. I was there as a member of AARO and a constituent from Pennsylvania and was able to meet with his staff person most in tune with tax and financial issues. It was a pleasant meeting and she told me that they are, of course, aware of the unintended effects of tax reporting and banking regulations and welcomed hearing about them personally.... I then went on to the Rayburn Bldg. on the south side of the Capitol, to see someone in Representative Fattah's office and was equally well met. So, I accomplished what I set out to do on the hill.
It was beautiful yesterday, sunny and warm. I walked over to the new Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian, of course. It's a beautiful building of rough sandstone, part of a western landscape. The exhibits are fantastic, but it's too much for a single visit. After an hour, you can't concentrate on what you are seeing or reading. This is definitely a place to come back to over and over. I decided to continue walking and ended up walking all the way over to 17th St. That's the mall, from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, up to the White House (where the helicopter was taking off just as I got to the Ellipsis), then up past the Executive Office Bldgs and to the Renwick. Claire and I had been to the Renwick several years ago to see the craft exhibits. This time, my purpose was to see the Bresler collection of turned wood. It was, indeed, a beautiful collection. Some of the wood bowls looked like porcelain. I don't know how they can do such fine wood turning for such a thin shell. That was my purpose, but I discovered another exhibit going on there now: The Art of Gaman. This is a moving exhibit of art - drawings, paintings, sculptures and craft work - done by the Japanese internees at the detainment camps during WWII. Beautiful work in such a desolate setting.
Then, I continued walking to the nearest metro station and, stupidly, I got off at Bethesda instead of the Medical Centers and walked back to the house. Except, very close to the end of this very long walk, I missed a turn and ended up making a phone call from a retirement/nursing home. When I looked at the letterhead to tell Barbara where I was, it was Carriage Hill, where Nana lived for the last few years of her life and died almost 25 years ago. It did look vaguely familiar to me, and of course Barbara had no trouble finding me to pick me up.
We ended the day with lots of reminiscing and looking at pictures after talking a while with Terry and then Jon and Tobi. Tony took down their wedding album so I could see it. My mother was going on 32 when Tony and Barbara got married. She was stunningly beautiful and had such a gorgeous smile. Anne looks so much like her! I've always thought that that's who she takes after, but seeing those pictures makes it obvious.
Once at the DC airport, I picked up the car with its GPS and, having arrived after rush hour, made it speedily to Bethdesda, where a lovely Jumbalaya was waiting for me for dinner. We talked for a little while, but I was tired and went to bed early.
On Wednesday, I showed Tony the wiki. We set up his username and password so that he can now go on and enhance the narrative and correct mine. Just opening one document sets off other memories and I love listening to him. Yesterday, we opened a letter he had written to my parents from Germany, full of events that he still remembers.
We had lunch on Wednesday at Sweetgreen, a salad bar restaurant in Bethesda, the third of a chain created by one of N's friends from Georgetown. Rita told me to look it up, so we went there for lunch. The salads are fresh and tasty and since it was a bit past lunch hour it wasn't crowded. Not empty, either. Aside from the music being too loud, forcing one to speak too loudly to converse, it was good and I'd recommend it. I had a tasty dessert of frozen yogurt with fresh fruit toppings.
From lunch we went into DC to see an exhibit. We couldn't find a parking space close enough to the Renwick, so we went to the Smithsonian and saw the exhibit of Madelaine Albright's pins, "Read my pins". Very, very interesting. It's a huge collection and yet she managed to find or buy yet another pin to fit exactly the message she wanted to get across for each meeting. Of course, she also received quite a few pins as diplomatic gifts. Really, click the link for the exhibit website and take a look. It's fascinating.
By the time we got out, it was rush hour and we crawled to the movies to see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the new Oliver Stone sequel to Wall Street, from 1987. The actors were excellent, but the story was confusing. It does all come together at the end, but it's frustrating to follow. A good movie, but not worth all the hype it's been getting.
Yesterday, Thursday, I went into DC on my own. Tony drove me to the metro station and I got off at Union Station, where I spent a little while just looking around. The station looks beautiful. I don't remember it as so majestic. Of course I guess the building always was, but I just never really looked. They've got quite an upscale shopping center in the station. It was too early, so the shops were not yet open, but I could imagine it well. There's a vast food court downstairs. It's just a short walk to the Russel Bldg. where I stopped to visit Senator Casey's office. I was there as a member of AARO and a constituent from Pennsylvania and was able to meet with his staff person most in tune with tax and financial issues. It was a pleasant meeting and she told me that they are, of course, aware of the unintended effects of tax reporting and banking regulations and welcomed hearing about them personally.... I then went on to the Rayburn Bldg. on the south side of the Capitol, to see someone in Representative Fattah's office and was equally well met. So, I accomplished what I set out to do on the hill.
It was beautiful yesterday, sunny and warm. I walked over to the new Museum of the American Indian, part of the Smithsonian, of course. It's a beautiful building of rough sandstone, part of a western landscape. The exhibits are fantastic, but it's too much for a single visit. After an hour, you can't concentrate on what you are seeing or reading. This is definitely a place to come back to over and over. I decided to continue walking and ended up walking all the way over to 17th St. That's the mall, from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, up to the White House (where the helicopter was taking off just as I got to the Ellipsis), then up past the Executive Office Bldgs and to the Renwick. Claire and I had been to the Renwick several years ago to see the craft exhibits. This time, my purpose was to see the Bresler collection of turned wood. It was, indeed, a beautiful collection. Some of the wood bowls looked like porcelain. I don't know how they can do such fine wood turning for such a thin shell. That was my purpose, but I discovered another exhibit going on there now: The Art of Gaman. This is a moving exhibit of art - drawings, paintings, sculptures and craft work - done by the Japanese internees at the detainment camps during WWII. Beautiful work in such a desolate setting.
Then, I continued walking to the nearest metro station and, stupidly, I got off at Bethesda instead of the Medical Centers and walked back to the house. Except, very close to the end of this very long walk, I missed a turn and ended up making a phone call from a retirement/nursing home. When I looked at the letterhead to tell Barbara where I was, it was Carriage Hill, where Nana lived for the last few years of her life and died almost 25 years ago. It did look vaguely familiar to me, and of course Barbara had no trouble finding me to pick me up.
We ended the day with lots of reminiscing and looking at pictures after talking a while with Terry and then Jon and Tobi. Tony took down their wedding album so I could see it. My mother was going on 32 when Tony and Barbara got married. She was stunningly beautiful and had such a gorgeous smile. Anne looks so much like her! I've always thought that that's who she takes after, but seeing those pictures makes it obvious.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Just about to go
I'm leaving tomorrow for a solo trip to the States. Paul is staying behind -- to take care of the cat. Emma is off to the south for a week at university. Anyway, I'm in the midst of packing and also want to go to my painting class this morning, so will not write for long.
It's rainy today, but I've checked the weather for DC and Long Beach Island, where I'll be, and it looks good. Warm and sunny.
Yesterday evening, Anne treated me to an invitation to the avant-première of "The Social Network". For all the talk, Zuckerberg does not come off as a bad guy really, just a guy so immersed in what he was doing that he got carried away with it. Parker, on the other hand, comes off as someone really out with an agenda. No matter; it's a good movie. I'm glad Candace recommended it back when she was doing the dubbing production. And I very happy that Anne included me in her invitation and that the director of the movie theater invited her. What struck me as we were waiting was that the crowd outside was not immense and they were all there for Justin Timberlake, not for anyone else. It was a very calm and relaxed red carpet walk for all.
Last Tuesday, Anne met me at the American Library for the movie night with Judith Merians. The session was dedicated to "To Kill a Mockingbird" -- what makes a classic (book and movie). Of course they are both classics. She cited all the awards. Also the constant high rankings of both book and movie. She also cited the student of a friend of hers who said that a classic is "the truth, no matter what". That's a good definition. It was good to have the story dissected and to see (again) how forceful the scenes are without special effects, dramatic close-ups and other common tricks.
Claire has been by on business trips. Week before last she came with Aurelia and we babysat while she was off working. This week, she came on her own and spent the night with Anne. It was a quick trip and she flew back before we got to see her. It's nice to have her drop in like that.
That picture of the stars on stage was taken with my new camera. The "old" one (just 2 years old!) has been eating up batteries. I think the batteries are really ok; it's the connection that's faulty. Anyway, I hope this new camera lasts longer. I liked the pictures the Kodak took; they were good enough for my needs. Of course this new Sony uses up more pixels and even takes 3D pictures and movies. That's not what made me take this one; it was the panoramic pictures (which I could do with the Kodak and which I do use) and the rapid-fire pictures, which I wanted because we've discovered it might come in handy to catch Aurelia in action and in focus.
I also got a new netbook. I'm a gadgetaphone! Emma's been using the old one and it's reached its capacity.
Really must get ready to go, so that's it for now. Next news next week after seeing T & B in Washington and my Swelver friends on Long Beach Island.
It's rainy today, but I've checked the weather for DC and Long Beach Island, where I'll be, and it looks good. Warm and sunny.
Last Tuesday, Anne met me at the American Library for the movie night with Judith Merians. The session was dedicated to "To Kill a Mockingbird" -- what makes a classic (book and movie). Of course they are both classics. She cited all the awards. Also the constant high rankings of both book and movie. She also cited the student of a friend of hers who said that a classic is "the truth, no matter what". That's a good definition. It was good to have the story dissected and to see (again) how forceful the scenes are without special effects, dramatic close-ups and other common tricks.
Claire has been by on business trips. Week before last she came with Aurelia and we babysat while she was off working. This week, she came on her own and spent the night with Anne. It was a quick trip and she flew back before we got to see her. It's nice to have her drop in like that.
That picture of the stars on stage was taken with my new camera. The "old" one (just 2 years old!) has been eating up batteries. I think the batteries are really ok; it's the connection that's faulty. Anyway, I hope this new camera lasts longer. I liked the pictures the Kodak took; they were good enough for my needs. Of course this new Sony uses up more pixels and even takes 3D pictures and movies. That's not what made me take this one; it was the panoramic pictures (which I could do with the Kodak and which I do use) and the rapid-fire pictures, which I wanted because we've discovered it might come in handy to catch Aurelia in action and in focus.
I also got a new netbook. I'm a gadgetaphone! Emma's been using the old one and it's reached its capacity.
Really must get ready to go, so that's it for now. Next news next week after seeing T & B in Washington and my Swelver friends on Long Beach Island.
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