San Francisco in the new year

Sage and I headed up to "Frisco" (as he calls it) to catch a bluegrass show and visit becca and alex and bruno and the fig. We arrived at SFO around 7pm to find our cheap sub-compact rental car was a Prius! It was awesome, except we had no idea how to start the thing. After pressing every button on the dash that seemed intuitive to a 20th century driver, we had to get some assistance. With the unsettled feeling of being 16 again, we pulled our space mobile out of the airport garage and hit the road. Hot Buttered Rum was playing at the Fillmore around 10pm so we had a couple hours to share Cancun burritos with B & A. The place was loud with mexican polka and we were surrounded by the standard SF hipster crowd, all of which gave sage his first realization that we were not in Kansas (SD) anymore. HBR was amazing! Those guys love playing together and it is so much fun to watch. They played a few Talking Heads songs which were great. We were both psyched and despite having woken up early and having full days of work and travel we were able to make it almost to the end of the show. Then we got back in our jetson mobile, ambled through the castro and back to bernal heights by 1:30am.

The next day becca took us for a northern tour through Muir Woods, where we had a lengthy discussion about Werner Hertzog and retaining walls, and then out to the Pine Cone diner in Point Reyes. We discovered two things: 1) that a BLT with avocado is called a BLAT and 2) that ice cream places are closed throughout the region during the month of January.

That night B & A took us to a great 6 table cajun joint in ocean beach where we dined on scallops and hanger steak. Back in BH we got a personalized slide show of their trips to machu picchu (where we are enticed to go in Sept.) and egypt, not to mention almost every food item they had consumed since the summer of 2005. It was spectacularly gooey photography and gave sage an ounce of appreciation for why we are all crazy about food. They also let us in on their new super mario bros. obsession.

The next day we hopped in the space jet and headed to Alcatraz. Luckily, Sage was able to complete his SF tourist wardrobe in the gift shop at the dock on the Embarcadero. (what you cannot see is another alcatraz tee under the sweatshirt.)

Alcatraz was cool. By far, the best audio tour I have ever done. We were immersed in a dark world of antiquated prison life, narrated by both ex guards and ex inmates. Surprisingly they downplayed their most famous guest, Al Capone and focused more on the siege and other escape attempts.

Sage gave his best hardened criminal face. Pretty convincing. We all tried to figure out which criminal we were. Becca and I were the ones who would sit and wait for release, biding our time knitting and reading. Sage was sure he was the escapist type and, while he admitted he would also spend a good deal of time knitting, would be sizing up possible escape routes and fashioning spoons into concrete shovels.

This was the dingy view of the city from the cell block hallway. It is so close that the inmates could hear the voices of people partying on New Years when the wind was right...creepy.

It was a relief getting back to shore and freedom. Those walls have seen way too much for it not to affect visitors. One more mission burrito later (this time from El Farolito), then we said goodbye and pointed our ship back to the airport. It was the perfect weekend getaway and we will certainly be doing it again soon!

Holiday Photos

At the parent's request for some recent photos we headed to the beach near our house to take a shoot...Here is what we got. The funny thing is that we wanted to have the ocean in the backdrop but since it has been raining here pretty hard the last week, the first 400 feet of ocean is brown. Don't think it is entirely noticeable in these though. It certainly did not stop the surfers that day!

recent pilgrimages

I wanted to add some recent pics from my travels in CA. Last month I went up to san fran to stay with becca and alex and see my brother who was back from india interviewing for jobs in anticipation of his westward re-location. We got to check out the new national academy of sciences museum in the park which has a rain forest, a coral reef and an albino alligator (among many other things). All pics were taken by scott. Aside from being $25 a ticket and jammed packed, it was a great museum.

This past weekend sage and i finally made it up to burbank to see jake and jen. very serious drive up. we were there almost exactly 24 hours. We lunched at an ok mexican place and then accompanied our hosts to an amazing cactus nursery across the street. it was "mind-bending" as jen likes to say these days. sage called it the raibow garden. he bought me 4 little guys that I have now set up in our kitchen. There were rare cacti there being sold for around $10,000. it was quite a sight! Sage fell in love with the stone plant (Lithops) which feels like puppy paws (when you rub your face around in them, as he discovered). I just found a nursery near SD that may have Lithops too so we are going to take another vegetation field trip soon! On Sunday we hit up the Getty, something I have been meaning to do for years. I was NOT disappointed by the landscape architecture at this place. so much thought went into designing it. incredible. tragically I forgot the camera in the car so no photos there.

The boys with our cacti...

and a few gratuitous dog molestation photos...sorry jake and jen.

had to put this one in of what has been going on at our house lately... I am just grateful that it sounds better than when he plays his actual violin.

now back in ocean beach where the damp cold has set in. we are literally using 2 comforters on the bed these days. summer is over. i got the gas fireplace set up after kicking it a few times and so now we have heat....in one of our rooms anyway. looking forward to our first OB turkey dinner in a few days! wishing you all a little roast bird in your week.

latest request

Today before I started my lecture, a student pulled me aside and said that since there is so much material in the course and the lectures are so "dry and bland", it would be really helpful to the students who are more visual learners if I could post instructional movies that went over the material instead of just relying on power point slides with pictures and short video clips (which I guess are not considered visual anymore). huh?

but what about the poor students who hate to read?

My first exam is coming up in the class I am teaching about all the living things in the ocean. Lately I have been getting a ton of complaints about what I am doing wrong, generally masked by statements of how great of a teacher I am and how much they are learning. Granted I did open myself up for this by asking for feedback on why the quiz score average had decreased by 2 points last week. This is one example sent this afternoon (emphasis is mine):

Okay, in terms of how much material there is to cover in class; it's just fine, but you could do a bit more for everyone by slowing down. It's not that the material is confusing, or what you are saying is confusing, it's just that all you have to do is read what is already written down on your power point lecture, where as we are listening and copying down the slide of notes. I abbriviate and don't write every single word. But, I do see most people struggling to write down everything, and combined with the speed at which you are reading it off, it becomes this mix of "confusion" for most of the students.

the student goes on to suggest a new lecture strategy:
when you come to a new slide; instead of reading it right away, give a 30 to 45 second gap to allow us to get a head start on writing down the material, and then slowly ease into it. for each point after that give a 10 second head start. This way we can take down what's important, and then pay more attention to what your saying.

and then how reading should be assigned:
Now, as far as the reading goes, for the first 2 weeks I read everything, but as it didn't start showing up on the quizes I saw no need. There is a whole lot of reading, and you've got to figure that most people hate to read. So maybe there is just specific areas that you want us to learn, like stuff the will be on tests and quizes and the final, because that weeds out all the other useless material and it knocks the reading down to seem more attainable.

...and the quizzes, let's not forget how unfair quizzes are:
As far as the quizes go. The first 2 were easy, I think I got an 8 and a 9 (out of 10), the last one I got a 5. (Could that be from not reading? maybe, but I also didn't study).

But this student is learning more than ever and truly is sympathetic to my role:
I hope this helps you out with getting an understanding from a students perspective. I know it must be hard being a teacher though, so know that you really are doing a wonderful job. i've learned alot more than I'd ever known about Marine Biology. Good luck with the rest of the semester. see you in class.

With such helpful feedback I have decided to start giving them the 40 question multiple choice exams a few days before I test them, same version. Then I do not even have to cause confusion with my talking/power point lecture business! I can just give them all the questions, have them look up the answers and memorize each multiple choice so the exam is a breeze! I mean, we really should be thinking about those poor students who are going nearsighted from all that useless reading...not to mention my voice from all this meaningless chatter.

Yeah, I think I have a plan there.

Look who's an OBcian now!

Yes, it is true, I have given up my mainland snobby ways and finally accompanied sage to OB. After 4 weeks of endlessly frustrating house hunting and stress-induced bickering, we have settled into a 400 sq. foot pink beach cottage. By beach, I mean it is a block from the sandstone rocky intertidal of ocean beach just south of the pier. Granted, it wouldn't be OB if you didn't have to descend a piss-covered stairwell to get to it but we are seriously considering parking ourselves at the top (on the cliff) with beach chairs, wine and cheese for the sunsets. We love it! We are just two blocks from Newport, the main drag, but it still feels like a completely residential neighborhood. I wanted to document for you all our transition from mainland to island.

Our Saturday started hung-over after a night of irish-style drinking and lease signing at the Harp with Leslie and Jai.
8am: Convene on the front lawn of 39th st, devise plan for stuff-transport via Uhaul.
8:15am: Kicks off effort with interpretive dance of grocery-shopping/pushing the cart, perhaps the most giddy form of acceptance I have seen of an imminent future of domestic bliss
8:25am: Make a list of stuff we need (the first of many over the next two days) and head out on a brief tour of our favorite b-fast places near the old house. "Restaurant" downtown was closed due to a death in the family so we ended up at Clayton's in Coronado

Back on 39th street, I pack my stuff up while sage pretended to help but really just plays with his guitar and the dogs. He thought donning that pink apron was going to fool me. It goes pretty fast, likely b/c my room on 39th is practically the same size as our new apartment, and soon we are all packed up in the Uhaul and coasting down the highway, towards the coast, belting out some who song.

Enter Narragansett beach cottage: With the help of Leslie and Jai we moved in very fast, navigating around Gary, a friend of the young hip landlord living in the other unit, who was apparently cajoled into doing last minute painting and calking around our place. He was very helpful later that afternoon when we discovered every drain in the place was backed up (due to a year's worth of hair and old pipes). Anyway, he made the calls and got a plumber who, within two days, had replaced most of our pipes. Here are some shots of us getting settled in:

The next day we moved in all sage's stuff, mostly to the garage save six instruments, a bunch of books, music and 4 pictures of music related people and places. We did the requisite trip to Ikea where we randomly ran into Leslie (who let us switch cars with her so we could fit our new couch and two new bookshelves) and then Gary and his lady. We also bought a big palm for the living room. The name of this plant ees Bruce, in case you were wondering. By the end of the day the place was starting to look great...and spacious. And it turns out that sage DOES have a gay side. We had been looking for it. He loves decorating and pretty much took care of every piece of ambiance you see below, except for the kitchen which was my firts time actually putting carolina's blue glass to use! I love the kitchen.

Not only is the place feeling more and more spacious every day, the garden area completely makes up for any shortcomings we might feel in the future. Raj (hip landlord) gave me full reign of the garden area with work bench in between our two units. It used to be covered in bansai trees. The garden patio has a built-in grill and nice lawn furniture and a fireplace. There is also an outdoor shower and these cute fuzzy purple flowers. Anyone know what ees the name of this flower?

It is now Monday afternoon and I have spent a full day working on writing my lecture, very unsuccessfully. This is due to 3 plumbers who were here since 10am. Apparently the 3rd was just a friend of the other one and came just to hang out, always a good choice when the work is being done in a 400 sq ft house while the tenent (me) is home and trying to read about cellular respiration. Maybe he heard we had beer. The two real plumbers were bickering all morning about which pipe or tool to use, then proceeded to pull the entire sink from our wall, spilling water all over our various bathroom items, yet unpacked, and a new rug. I had to vacate the madness for lunch and was delighted to experience OB during the mellow weekday. Walked around and bought some tolerable rolled tacos, made some keys. They were cleaning up when I returned and fighting about whether to use the vacuum or the broom. They settled on the vacuum. As they were leaving, in true CA fashion, the lead plumber gave me his card and told me to call if there were problems with the pipes or if I ever was interested in buying a house. Turns out, he is also a realtor.

So there you have it. We are now officially (gasp!) OBcians. The inscence is burning, the guest bed is ready and our doorstoop is a new shade of bright colonial red so come on over to Narragansett and have a beer!