Napa starts tonight, good ol' "American Gov't 101." I still enjoy teaching out at Napa, and am forever grateful for the chance they took on an unknown with no experience 12 years ago. I hope I've done them proud. Although it doesn't really pay (with gas prices, having to eat out, etc.), I still get a kick out of working there! The
JC on-line classes started yesterday, 80+ students and a wait list of 40+. Whew! I'm still amazed at how quickly the summer went. Wasn't graduation just yesterday? No, seriously.. just YESTERDAY?
This past weekend saw a great 12 mile hike in
Annadel State Park on Saturday, followed by a swim at the club. No wildlife this time, other than the usual deer, turkeys and lizards (last hike I spotted my first rattlesnake). My goal is to achieve all 40+ miles of trails before my birthday in November. Sunday, with The
Handsome One in rehersals all day, I zipped down to SF to take in the
Frida Kahlo exhibit at SFMOMA, and then the
Ming exhibit at the Asian Art Museum. Frida was amazing - well conceived, well executed. A bit crowded, but that was to be expected. The Ming exhbit, however, left me cold. The feel of the exhibit was cold and overly academic. I did enjoy going up to the main exhibits, however, so that made it worth the extra side trip. Swang by the Castro for a cup of coffee on the way to
Pres a Vi, a great new(ish) eatery at the old Letterman Hospital site. Dinner with friend and triathlon team biker, Bill. Great food, nice atmosphere, prices about what one would expect. Great conversation. A truly kind and gentle man.
Speaking of Handsome's rehersals, he's got a number of performances coming up. The Chautauqua Review athe the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, a Project Applause event titled "
A Night at the Opera," and continuing work with
Zighi Baci and the irrepressible Sherry Crawford. Life's good!
Out of the blue, a woman near Sacramento emailed before vacation asking for background on my great uncle, the man who I consider to be my paternal grandfather. It turns out, after a little research, that we're actually distant cousins. She sent a packet of info that contained a family photo from the late 1800s showing my grandfather as a teenager, posing with his entire family -- a photo I've never seen. Also included were the ship's register from his trans-Atlantic crossing in 1912, his 1930 Census Data (showing my dad and aunt listed as family members), and info on his brothers, sisters and parents. Amazing!