Alumni weekend

When there are enormous tents on campus, balloons and banners, 

and lots of people with college swag you know it is reunion weekend.

The biggest bonus is seeing former Hebrew teachers and babysitters (or students, if you are D.). We also stopped by Mudd and ran into people who weren't D.'s year, but they were connected in other ways.

Another bonus this year was going to the used athletic gear sale (no swimsuits, no surprise).

I got a swim bag and A. got two jackets, one from volleyball and one from soccer.

It is hard for me to imagine going back to my alma mater (the class size was about 4000), but maybe if they had a dorm reunion I would go.  But not to the actual dorm, which no longer exists.

Democracy

I have some vague memory of checking a box on a form that asked if I would like to work at a polling place.  When the call came from the L.A. County Registrar asking if I were available to work as an inspector for the primary I suggested calling back if they were desperate.  I was told that they're desperate.

The first batch of information came today.

How intimidating can it be if it includes a crossword puzzle?
I wonder if they have someone who evaluates each puzzle like this guy does?

Creative advertising?

Is this an advertisement?  It seems that it was freshly installed and it doesn't have anything related to the city on it.  It is effective since it got my attention and got me to blog about it.

p.s. Thanks to the magic of social media I learned the following from an alert reader:

Cities that earn the Playful City USA designation receive access to the following benefits:

Two Playful City USA highway road signs
Marketing activation kit that includes press releases, a social media plan, and marketing materials to support national recognition and increase awareness
Webinars and networking events for city leaders to share and learn about innovative solutions for play
Exclusive access to Policy Map, an online tool that enables cities to leverage up-to-date city data that can be used in combination with KaBOOM! playspace mapping data
Access to grants offered by KaBOOM! that support increasing opportunities for play
Increased stature and competitive advantage for state and national grant opportunities

Things that amaze us

A. was so impressed that he said I had to write a post about it.  I have a before picture and an after, but you'll have to image the mess between the two.

before the guests arrived

the next morning - A. came down and was amazed that every single dish was clean

Earth Day

How to celebrate Earth Day?  I know it was Friday, but we observed it on Saturday.  I hung the laundry outside and cycled to the city's Earth Day event (and used the bicycle valet, but I think it would have been more convenient just to park it on the bike rack, but I wanted to be supportive).  I also did something that is probably not so Earth-friendly.

Earth Day hat
with the best recycling project in the background - buying used books!

Not so long ago I was so excited to get a new compost bin since the one we got when we moved here was falling apart.  I knew this one would be great because it rotated and was impermeable to rodents.  But it wasn't great!  It was too hard to rotate, too small, too smelly, and was filled with some sort of creepy larvae.  So I bought a new one, which is not great for the world since we should be lowering our consumption.  I hope if I give the old one to a friend it counts as recycling!

the new container with what is left of the old container

it is ready for its new home

These stickers (and more) are on the ground by the compost bins, which make wonder
(a) why didn't the person who ate the fruit or vegetable throwaway the sticker? and
(b) if it made it to the compost bin, how did it get out of the bin (do the worms spit them out)? 

Renewable resource

It is sad to lose a tree, but the good news is that they can be replaced.

Last October this tree had a large orange X and was later removed.

Not long ago its smaller replacement was planted.

looking south
About a week ago I noticed this area was looking different.
Harvey Mudd's Liquidambar mall was gone.  Only the mall was left.

looking north

A before picture of the internet (looking north).

I found this view from 1956 on the library website.

On a positive note, a tree I love is still in the vacant lot near our house.

Needs and Wants

I didn't even know I wanted a 12" tempered glass lid for my cast iron skillet until I saw a brief mention of it in a cooking magazine.  At that moment I knew my life would be complete if I had one.  Sometimes I had to use my stainless steel skillet because it had a great lid even when I would have preferred my cast iron skillet.  Sometimes I used a wok lid even though it didn't fit and would fall with an enormous clatter.  This was the perfect solution and I found it on sale and had a coupon.

I have not idea what made me think to measure my skillet, but I didn't even need to since the size was stamped on the bottom.  Tragedy!  The person at Lodge encouraged me to give it a try so I took my skillet with me to the store.  The lid did not fit.  It sat on top, but I could easily imagine it also clattering to the floor.

Should I buy it anyway?  Should I buy a new 12" skillet, which was on sale and was a perfect fit with the lid?  Should I continue to muddle through?  I came home and looked for 11 3/4" lids that were not cast iron and not $225 (who pays that for a lid?).

Finally I shared my dilemma with D. and he went straight to our camping gear and found two potential lids.

It is not as beautiful as the glass lid, but it is significantly better than what I had been using.  I am content again.  Except for the perfect glass shade to replace one that broke.  If I had that then I would be content.

'Tis the season

This spring's roses have been the most beautiful ever.  I have thoroughly enjoyed them, but I wanted something a little simpler today so I squeezed in a quick visit to the local botanic garden.

Visiting was my good thing of the day!

Leftovers

I took a lot of pictures during our trip, but I am posting only eight!

outside University of Oklahoma's Jacobson Hall

one of several duck sculptures at parks in Norman, OK

“No one hates rubber duckies,” said the artist.
Unfortunately they do get stolen.

Lehr und Kunst
literally Education and Art
but in 1888 it was suggested to be, "Learning and Skilled Art"

origami at the MIT museum

my favorite kind of art

water!

So different

I don't think it is superior parenting.  Maybe it is because we use peanut butter that needs stirring?  For some reason my kids have never figured out to fight over who gets to be the first to mess up the mayonnaise or similar food.

I get to do it each time, but it has lost a teeny tiny bit of the fun if I am not able to elbow anyone out of the way in the process.


p.s.  Oops - I see I wrote about this already.  Maybe it is time for this blog to take a break.

Mascot

So many schools have aggressive animals as their mascots.  There are plenty of exceptions, like the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs and University of Maryland Terrapins.

And WPI has Gompei the Goat.

photo op with Gompei

Gompei and snow

keychains with goats

standard ties, bow ties, and scarves with goats

Why a goat?  Why Gompei?

The short version (from the WPI website)

Gompei the Goat...it all dates back to the class mascot of 1893: a goat! A japanese student, Gompei Kuwada, was selected as the original goat keeper—simply because his initials fit the title. The traditions continue today with the Goat's Head Rivalry and other events.

The long (and less pleasant version, from here)

Who is Gompei?
In 1891, the sophomore class gifted a black goat to WPI. A Japanese student, Gompei Kuwada, was elected to take care of the goat because his initials, G. K., also stood for Goat Keeper. Overtime, the animal became very difficult to maintain, and the goat was eventually beheaded and its head was mounted. The actual Goat's Head, also known as Gompei's Head, was eventually replaced with a bronze replica for preservation.
Starting with the Class of 1928, a competition between the freshman and sophomore classes was organized. The classes could earn points through events, such as sports and the tech carnival, and the Goat's Head was present to the class with the most points. Once a year, the winning class was obliged to show the head publicly to allow the other class to steal it back. Some of the notable "showings" include hanging the head from a helicopter during a football game and dropping the head from a bridge into a moving convertible. The competition was canceled for some time because of its violent nature; however, it has resumed recently with a new set of rules. 

On the other hand

Most area papers cater to its readers, as does the Oklahoma City paper.

Here is the day's front page prayer.

In addition to Dear Abby they have Dear Dr. Graham.

 But this was not the same.

The L.A. Times lists the conference of the L.A. teams first.

The N.Y. Times lists the conference or division of the N.Y. teams first.

I was surprised to see that the OKC paper lists the Eastern Conference first.

I don't think there is a deep meaning to it all, but it is fun to read the local paper and learn a little something.

It's a small world

Norman, Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Memorial Union
watching two soccer games
(Barcelona v. Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich v. Benfica)

Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Rubin Campus Center
watching two soccer games
(PSG v. Man City and Wolfsburg v. Real Madrid)