Democracy

How does the California delegation of Democrats come to a consensus on their platform? How is that delegation formed? After the 2016 election more people asked those questions, which led to more questions and more people getting involved and pushing for change. I don't understand it all, but I tried to learn.

Claremont's state assembly district stretches from Pasadena (population 142,647) to Claremont (36,015) to Rancho Cucamonga (177,452). Historically Pasadena is the host of elections and dominates the ballot, but this year there were a lot of newcomers and the election was held in Claremont.

With only one polling place open for two hours, the line was long.
It was a good chance to catch up with friends!

Different slates had booths and roving candidates trying to educate and influence voters.
There were about forty people running for fourteen spots. Good to see democracy in action. 

Electioneering stopped at the check-in table.
Just beyond this point were people registering voters and helping others
update their information (e.g., address, party affiliation, name change).

Assemblymember Chris Holden, left, and constituents

I have not been able to determine who won, but I have learned a lot from the CA Dem website. If you want to learn more about CA Republicans, you can read more here. This site includes a statement about Assemblymember Maienschein leaving the party. 

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."

What game?

If you look at the Boston Globe website (afternoon of 1/28/19)
you see the top link is to a Superbowl blog.

A screen shot from the LA Times (same date and time) shows not one word about football.
The big picture on the sports page shows Magic Johnson and features a basketball trade.

There were a few interesting things for sale, but I was not tempted.

Rams player made with interlocking blocks

Rams sneakers

Maybe it is just about the food?

I am content with my shirt.

Fifteen

Thanks to my connected sister I learned about dog Quinceañeras, but we did not hold one for the dog we are hosting this year. Instead we took an extra walk to buy dog treats and gave her a bath and trim.

before

after

Glamour shot from March 2012
Photo credit to the late Dorothy Wallace

The backside of the march

A different point of view from the march in Riverside

United we stand.

One of a kind

We owe a thanks to the local historic group for starting a house-of-the-month feature. We thoroughly enjoyed going to the open house and gawking.

Doors

Cork

Wood

Lots of glass

And steps

Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

New meter

I could see the Golden State Water truck parked outside so I wasn't surprised when there was a knock on the door. The person said our old meter was twenty years old and needed replacing and gave me the exact date in 1999. But, wait, 1999 was not twen - oops. Yes it was! As my friend's sign says, time flies whether you are having fun or not!

No animals today hiding today, but the service person said
there have been snakes, a hive, and even a gopher!

Old one on the right 

New one is still analog with a roll-over counter

 The only problem has been the surprise air bubbles in the system after the water was turned back on, but that doesn't last long.

Lucky us!

We are having a lot more rain than last year so the rain barrels are full (I emptied it a bit so there was no water above the screen after I took this picture, but they will be overflowing again soon).

There are also all sorts of mushrooms growing in our yard, which is a good sign since it means the moisture is being held in.

I see a lot of these.

I think I have seen this before.

I have never seen these!

December leftovers

Nice to have a kid taking pottery

Before composting the menorah

Cool sink at IKEA - the central part is a faucet and the parts to the side are a hand dryer!

More pottery, but it broke so we are using it outside

Our Christmas decoration, a gift received in Denmark

GE's Nela Park in Cleveland

Deer next to my parents' house!

Unusual tahini - mixed with cocoa!

Train, part two

Eastbound train, but a nice shot taken in December

Less than twenty-four hours after the Cleveland transportation pictures were taken I was back on the train, heading to Los Angeles.

We had 11am tickets for The Broad, partially because I wanted to see Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room. The first thirty people are taken right away and the next group gets a text when it is their turn, which we were told would be in about thirty-eight minutes. Great! Only eleven minutes later the text arrived. We could have gone in individually but chose to spend our 45 seconds together.

I do my best to find something to appreciate about each work of art (and not just think, "How the heck do they move that from place to place?"), but my favorites are the Jeff Koons pieces that reflect the architecture of the building.

We walked over to Grand Central Market for lunch, 

followed by a short walk to the LA Central Library.

I could have easily enjoyed the library (great building, great gift shop, and lots and lots of books!), but we were there to see 21 Collections in the Getty Gallery . 

It is hard to have a favorite, but I loved that someone had a chunk of different highways (and I am glad not everyone had the same idea for a collection!). The candy wrappers were a calorie-free way to enjoy some childhood sweets.

And then it was time to head home!

If you like LA's Union Station you might enjoy this video!