Hollywood

 

Not really Hollywood, but it was fun to see something being filmed here.

There were a lot of people involved.

One task was making the city look like Austin.

The prop person had fake license plates from the right era.

It turns out they did not want us to take pictures, but if it is online then it is ok to post to my six viewers.

I was not interested in seeing another shoot, but later I heard a rumor that Travis Kelce had been in town.  Sorry I missed seeing someone from my high school.

One in a Continuing Series

 At least I got a blog post out of it!

I went back to the Red Cross to donate platelets and passed the iron test. I thought I would watch a documentary but the streaming site was not working.

I chose this movie because everyone had told me I should
see it and enjoy all the great Philadelphia scenes.

After the movie ended I asked about the one scene I have seen online, the one where Rocky is running with the whole neighborhood of kids. Turns out that was in Rocky II, but not only was that not this movie, this was not the first one!! Oh no! It has Rocky in the title and no number (like Rocky II, III, and IV, AND V), 

from the first Rocky trailer

it has him in black and white on the museum steps, but I watched the whole movie and it was the wrong one. As I watched it I thought it was odd to see that some restaurant opened in 1995 because I thought the first Rocky movie was older than that, but I figured time is strange and I never can tell how long ago things really happened. Do I have to go back and watch the first one and see yet another fight scene? Ugh. 

At least I got a blog post out of it.

Not Very Exciting

What has been going on?

Last week I donated platelets while watching this move.

We were going to watch a movie at home on Friday but instead went to sleep before 9pm.

Long week!

We went to a Jewish Bat Mitzvah (including prayers in Hebrew) and a Presbyterian memorial service (including scripture readings in French and Thai).

On Saturday evening we all went to a new-to-us movie theater and saw Ford v. Ferrari
It does not pass the Bechdel Test, but it was entertaining.

On Sunday I did something I have not done in years, maybe decades.
I bought running shoes that were not Brooks. I hate getting new
shoes and wondering if I made the right choice, but I hope they work out.

On Monday I went to Huntington Gardens with a friend.

Stay tuned for the blog post about updated internet service,
to be written when my blood pressure returns to normal.

The rest of the week was work and meetings for me, finals for A., and a conference for D.

The other big event happened here. We went to the DMV without
an appointment and now we have a permitted driver in the family.

Some Days are Like That

Just one good thing after another!

• It was a nice temperature for a ride to the pool and I had a good lanemate that pushed me to swim a little harder.
• I was given some stationery and wrote a letter on paper.
• The wait to have my blood drawn was short.
• I remembered to take my coupon and own coffee mug when I went out to breakfast with A.
• (A little bad thing because even good days are like that - I washed the blanket the dog slept on with all our other clothing. I thought if i put the blanket in the dryer first all the hair would get fluffed off but I was wrong. I was hoping if I hung the laundry outside the hair would be blown off. Now I am hoping no one else will notice, which is most likely. Shh, don't tell.)
• The newspaper had two swimming articles.

Someone had an unused steel cup just like the one
I had lost and happily gave it to me, apologizing that
it had a Subaru logo. When I went to pick
it up she had wrapped it beautifully.

In addition to receiving stationery and a cup, someone else had a free pile I decided to check out. I am happy to say there was nothing I wanted, but as I was leaving I found a new-to-me little library. I remembered that I had an emergency stash of books with the grocery bags. That book found a good home and I found a book that our book club is reading later this year.

• Lab results came in and they were great.
• And to top it all off, I learned that Tom Hanks is playing Mr. Rogers in a movie coming out at Thanksgiving time. I love this quote from the Washington Post.

• Fans rushed to places not often associated with dealing positively with feelings: online comments sections. Their consensus? This is the purest, most perfect thing ever. Give it all the Oscars now.

A full weekend

It started with a ride and a visit to three new libraries.

Next up was a World Cup game with a
few kind words and a cake at halftime.

On Saturday we took a picnic to the Hollywood Bowl

where we watched a Harry Potter movie accompanied by
the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra playing the live score.

We headed to LA on Sunday for CicLAvia.

Four dogs seemed to be enjoying their ride.

We went off the route a couple times to check out the old houses.

Summer

The weather has been great and the pace of life has been great, too! The World Cup is over so we have time to do other things.

Time for a two-sided jigsaw puzzle. The other side has political stamps.

Time for a picnic and Shakespeare under the stars.

Two of us tried a group ukulele lesson.
The person who plays the cello picked it up very quickly!

photos from Getty Images
And two movies!

Not shown - swimming, cycling, and watching the Tour de France.  Also not shown, summer homework and summer research. Wish you were here!

Weekend

Time goes by.

You can probably guess which family member helped break the record
(and had helped set the previous record). Can you say, "Target audience"?

A lot of the time was spent at Mudd for alumni weekend.

Lots of things sponsored by this company,
which also gave mints in the shape of their logo.

Despite the pies, oiled watermelons, and other games some alums decided to move on.

We had a great walk in the botanic garden,
including checking out the bees, owl pellets, and turtles. 

We finished with dinner out, fond farewells, and a family meeting before getting ready for the week ahead. A. has one more triad (each semester is divided in thirds) and D. has a couple more classes before reading days and finals. Time really does go by!

Weekend events

I skipped the first weekend event, and A. probably enjoyed it more than D. (although D. appreciated the Elton John performance more).

Hurray for prepaid tickets

Next up we had two TEA fellows over for lunch, one from Argentina and one from Estonia. It was great to hear about life in their home country and to answer questions about ours ("Do people really wear their outdoor shoes inside the house?").

Our mail carrier was the kind of person who would wish you happy birthday if a lot of cards arrived or would ask about the trip if the mail had been on hold. I knew retirement would happen some day, but I was sad that it happened already. His wife was also a carrier and the retirement community on her route had a big party for them, which was written up in the local paper. Our neighborhood couldn't top that, but we did have a nice event this weekend.

Mail bin as balloon holder

I love the Mr. ZIP party favors, but I am not sure what I'll do with mine.
Not shown - garland made with airmail envelopes.

The big event today was a reunion of the international students and the families that hosted them before the dorms opened. Ours was doing homework (after visiting Joshua Tree on Friday and Hollywood yesterday), but I enjoyed talking to other students and families. I made D.'s favorite artichoke dip that is good for potlucks, but you might not want to have around the house. Good thing I didn't leave early because I won the drawing for Claremont Cash!

We had a neighbor over for leftover night (she shared hers and we shared ours - delicious), encouraged by this post about casual dinner parties.

Time for family reading and getting ready for the week ahead.