Getting smart

I read the review of the new Get Smart movie and cried. Not because the review was so awful (which it was) but I can't read the words "Cone of Silence" without thinking about my dad and how hard we'd laugh every time the cone was employed on the original series. A legacy can be many things but one of the most important and most satisfying is a legacy of shared laughter. That was my dad's best gift ever.

Need I say more?

Eva tells her story

Eva Brown will be with Paul White at West Valley Leadership Academy tomorrow for a press conference, trying to help save the school from being closed down. She's an author and educator and Holocaust survivor. How many alternative schools have someone of her stature as one of their supporters? Her story of forgiveness is one that I can never forget. Here's a sample of Eva...

Wherein we finally figure out how to walk two dogs with one leash

In training for the Iditarod...

Save West Valley!

I wanted to have a way for all the articles and letters and misc. regarding the fight to save West Valley Leadership Academy to be gathered in one place. So... why not a blog? I am happy to report that much of the latest information is at the following address:
Click here for link to WVLAnews.

What I HAVE to do today

There are certain angels in the world that take on the jobs the rest of us can't or refuse to do or even look at. Paul White is one of those people. Every day, every waking moment of his life, is dedicated to helping teenage kids get off drugs and alcohol, out of gangs, and into the classroom and workforce. He is a powerhouse of a man and sets standards for his school, West Valley Leadership Academy, that no other school can match. So, what's the bureaucracy of L.A. County to do with him? Close his school by the end of June. Are they kidding? 

Today the front page of the Daily News had an article on the closing of the school, and I suspect that with the efforts of the friends of WVLA more articles are in the works. Paul paid a visit to the school to which he's being transferred and found it filthy, filled with gang grafitti, the "discipline aide" was wearing a do-rag which he removed when he saw Paul, topped off with evidence of previous fights and riots. Sure, let's keep the dysfunctional dangerous school and close down the clean, safe, and wildly inspirational one.

We're in a fight for good and we know that good will win. We don't always know how or when. But good will win.

Click here for a link to the Daily News article.

And here's an Early Show piece about Paul and the school.

Paul White "Heroes Among Us"

Why I might not get anything done today

I can't stop watching this...

Another visit from the UPS guy.... more of the graduate's stuff

This just in.....  art!

And I'm including the following because it's on the porch with the boxes and it makes me happy.

Claire's home... and so's her stuff!!

Rob idea of fun in London

The two emails I've gotten from Rob during his latest London adventure have both amused me beyond words. The first is about his walk through Hyde Park where he saw this sign:

And ten feet away he saw THIS:

Later, he saw this sign:

Looking at it more closely he saw THIS.

Today he and Dan the faithful employee had a bit of extra time and went to the Comet Miniatures store in Chelsea. There they chatted up the shopkeepers who were only mildly scary, reminding them of Comic Book Guy in the Simpsons. The shopkeepers couldn't understand why Dan and Rob weren't aware that the Vatican controls over 60% of all the movies made in Hollywood. Who knew? They also told Dan and Rob about the aliens being held at Area 51. Dan didn't have the heart to tell him that he'd been to Area 51 and was in the business of designing spy satellites so he's no slouch in the government secrecy department and that there definitely were no aliens being held hostage there. Here's the guys (left) and Dan (right).


The following is what Rob wants for our living room. It's a two and a half feet tall miniature rocket from the Thunderbirds series. I think that if you're going to call something a miniature, then it should actually be... well... small. Verdict on rocket? Hummel living room - NO.  Dalsa office - SURE!

Whereby Rob scolds film archivists...

Rob was the keynote speaker at the "Reel Thing XX" conference on Saturday. The title of his talk was, "Film Grain - Digital Restoration's 'Get out of Jail Free' Card." Sadly, despite numerous efforts on his part to explain, I remain in the dark regarding film grain and restoration. Happily, however, the Hollywood Reporter understands him, and quoted him as he was heard uttering the phrase "shame on you" to the beleaguered film archivists.  Click here for the link.

Pilgrimage to Boston

The day after graduation we drove up to Boston. We had planned on going to The Mother Church that day and had been reminded before we left California that we'd be there the day before the Annual Meeting, which meant that there would be lots of people and some special activities. I'm not sure how it happened but after dropping sister Nancy off at Logan Airport, we ended up going to two services - one formal one in the big edifice, and one informal one in the original (small) edifice, followed by a hymn sing. 

We were joined at the last two events by the Thurman family - Jim, Gaelynn, and daughter Lynn. Jim is Rob's friend from Principia radio station days. His radio show was called "Thurman on the Mount" which always makes me smile. Here's Gaelynn, Jim, and I at the hymn sing. We were test driving some new hymns that are being compiled into a supplement to the main hymnal. Thumbs up on the new hymns!

Here's Claire, Lynn, and Emily. Claire and Lynn are sharing Mary Baker Eddy's seat. Next to them was Richard Bergenheim (the bald fellow in the photo above) who is the new President of The Mother Church though we didn't know who he was when we were singing together.

And here were are enjoying what my dad used to affectionately call the "post-church fervor." 

It may seem like too much church for one day, but somehow, coming on the heels of all the gratitude that kept washing over us for Claire's college experience, it felt just right. Sometimes it's not a bad idea to get yourself over onto that holy ground of thanks and stay there for longer than you think you can possibly handle.

Arriving and Departing... and tales of graduation with corsets... and nudity!

Part of the title of this post is due to my recent revelation to family members that I have a hard time negotiating airport driving due to my inability to remember if I (or whomever I may be dropping off or picking up) am in fact arriving or departing. This is completely due to my tendency to over-think things, but I'm aware of a similar conundrum with someone who recently told me that she has a difficult time distinguishing between right and left. I've since forgotten who told me of their plight but I'm strangely comforted by it.

Also I'm feeling nostalgic for thoughts about my first arrival with Claire in the town of Providence and how I'm really not ready to depart for good...  

On that note, this last trip to Providence, coming on the heels of another recent trip to the same city, combined with multiple flights for Emily, a lot of hotel rooms, rental cars, a return flight for Claire-the-graduate, an upcoming trip to London for Rob, to Gettysburg for me, followed by a drive to Colorado with some flights booked on Expedia, some on AmEx, some with United miles, has proven somewhat disorienting. I guess I'm amazed and grateful that somehow we Hummels make it to where we're supposed to be and and that sister Nancy was brave enough to join us on the graduation adventure.

The weather.com prediction for graduation day was pretty consistent - 80% chance of thundershowers starting in the morning. Seeing that we were going to be seated outside from 8:30 am for the next 4 1/2 hours, it was unclear whether we would be huddled under the bright blue ponchos (seen in above photo) thoughtfully provided by sister Nancy or baking in the hot sun (like the previous day). The night before, we drowned our concerns in good food and WaterFire.

(Note to sister Nancy - You were right about the straws!)

We were excited to show sister Nancy the wonders of WaterFire - described as "the most popular work of art created in the capital city's 371 year old history." A hundred wire baskets are staked down the middle of the river and filled with wood and then lit by people dressed in black in boats dressed in black. It's really glorious and indescribable. The city broadcasts music throughout the town and people come from miles and miles away to do nothing but walk up and down the river and oooh and aaah. It is about as low-tech as can be, but the combination of the fire, with the heat and crackly sounds and sparks flying, and the water with its reflections and ripples is pure magic and I never get tired of it.

Claire's dorm is the best dorm I can imagine. It's an old bank building and somehow she and her friends have been able to keep the same room for the last three years. It's right across the river from the Illustration building where she has many of her classes, and it looks right down on WaterFire. 

Graduation day started off sunny and then the clouds rolled in but with our fashionable bright blue ponchos tucked in our bags, we weren't too concerned for ourselves. We were, however, very concerned for the graduates. RISD graduates are encouraged to transform their caps and gowns into "visual statements and wearable art" most of which involved a fair amount of materials that would not do well when doused by rain. There proved one exception to this rule, but more about her later.

I was excited that YoYo Ma, Ed Ruscha, and Walter Lorraine were getting honorary degrees. Walter Lorraine is one of the great children's book editors and worked on many of my favorites including George and Martha, which I can't think of without picturing Martha, a hippo, in her bathtub telling George, also a hippo, who's peeping in, "We're friends but there's such a thing as privacy!"

Two of my favorite children's book authors (both RISD grads) were there to honor Mr. Lorraine - David Macaulay and Chris Van Allsburg. This is the closest I got to them which is a good thing because there would have been a fair amount of grovelling involved.

The commencement speech was by Laurie Anderson (below) who, among many other accomplishments, was the first (and last) artist-in-residence for NASA. She said she particularly enjoyed the NASA timelines. One example was the "greening of Mars" timeline which was approximately 10,000 years in length. She said she thought that turning our attention toward the greening of Mars was a good idea "since we know so much about taking care of our own planet." That line continues to amuse me...  

Here are some samples of the attire of the day. In past years there had been some nudity involved so sister Nancy and Emily and I were on alert. 

It took us a while to figure out what this next fellow's outfit was about. At first it looked like an oversized stovepipe hat but then we noticed his mortarboard around his neck and realized that he had his gown upside down as if he'd simply gotten mixed up as to whether the cap went over his head and the gown under or vice versa. It was wonderful... (click on photo to enlarge)

Claire's friend Kate made a headress and corset out of her gown.

As for the promised nudity, sister Nancy, Em, and I were anticipating that of the male variety. Imagine our surprise when a girl appeared on stage wearing only a clear raincoat. Wise choice considering predicted weather conditions.  (Click on photo below if you dare!)

 

And finally the lovely-and-fortunately-not-nude Claire Bear herself wearing her famed corset along with a blouse she'd made and a skirt made out of her gown material (and some of Kate's leftovers). She graduated with honors and also with an award which was handed out at a ceremony we all forgot to attend.

Note that since you've seen no evidence of bright blue ponchos, let it be said that the weather completely cooperated and we did not feel even a drop of rain. Amazing.

Claire's former Sunday School teacher, Don, was the leader of the band that played during the ceremony. They kept changing up Pomp and Circumstance so that one minute it would be normal, and the next it would be jazz, and the next reggae, etc. Very cool.

Nick Jainschigg, head of the Illustration Department, handed Claire her diploma. We went out to dinner with he and his wife the night before and he told us he would have some pretty wild shoes on. His are on the left.  Kate's boyfriend Andrew's (in the kilt) are on the right.

Kate, Claire, Kelly, and Beth. Friends since the first day of orientation.

Nick Jainschigg and happy Claire.

The day ended with the introduction of sister Nancy to the "Man Wall." She was, of course, mesmerized like the rest of us. But, oddly enough, we never could locate George Clooney....