Bible Trivia I

Here are some interesting verses from the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecc. 1:9 "That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun." People often quote the end of this verse without knowing it's from the Bible. Solomon certainly was a wise man.

Ecc. 10:1 "Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor. So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor." We used to quote the first half of this verse when I worked as a fruit fly trapper. The entire verse would be good for the current presidential candidates to remember.

And here's the verse that best fits my current profession:
Ecc. 12:12 "And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh." That was 3000 years ago. What would Solomon say if he walked into some of our modern libraries and bookstores?

There's lots more wisdom in this seldom-read book. I once did a devotion on our modern tendency to accumulate stuff, using verses from all over Ecclesiastes.

I'm taking a week off work, starting tomorrow. I had intended to have the whole week planned out, so that I don't waste any of this precious time, but so far I only have a few plans (not by my choice, either). I guess it will be just serendipity. I've got errands tomorrow, class Tuesday night, breakfast with Jacob on Wednesday after his court appointment, then get two new tires, and I don't know after that. I have some major cleaning I want to do, I want to make two or more woven lanyards for work, Rachel and I want to do some woodworking, and we want to go somewhere on Friday since we both have the day off. I guess I'll be busy enough, seeing it all written down. And I'd like to go for some long walks. Maybe I need two weeks! At least the weather is supposed to be nice.

Strange fact of the day

I frequently suffer from writer's block, which results in complaints from Rachel, who says I don't post enough. So, I came up with the idea of posting any strange facts I come across in my job as a reference "librarian" (I'm not really a librarian, just an assistant, but the patrons don't realize that.)

Anyway, here's the strange fact of the day:

Jim Jones,who founded the People's Temple and led over 900 of his followers to their death at his compound in Guyana in 1978, once earned money by selling pet monkeys door-to-door. I can't believe anyone would buy a live monkey from a door-to-door salesman. I read that he had quite an ability to manipulate people - maybe that's how he did it.

Pretty strange, don't you think? You have to admit it's more entertaining than "cute Joseph quote of the day."

Crazy patron!!!

We occasionally get weirdos in the library (okay, frequently), but they're generally quiet and harmless. Yesterday, however, we had a real lulu. She (I'll call her Crazy Lady - CL for short)looked pretty normal, but as soon as she opened her mouth, we knew that was not the case.

Here's a rough idea of the conversation that followed:
CL came up to the reference desk where Eva was working.
EW: May I help you?
CL: I need a book on paralegals. (she pronounced it pah-ra-legal)
EW: What was that?
CL: PAH-RAH-LE-GAL
EW: Okay, I'll look that up for you. If we don't have it here, would you like me to order it from another library for you?
CL: I don't have a library card. I used to.
EW: I could look you up -
CL: In North Carolina.
EW: Oh, so you're not from around here?
CL: Oh, I'm from here - from this planet. What planet are you from? (to me) Maybe you have a decent brain in your head.

I looked at the computer screen and noted the call number of the book Eva had just looked up, and took CL over to the shelf where the book was located.
CL: That woman was terrible!
Me: I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
CL: Oh, but she was!
Me: She found the book for you, didn't she?
I handed her the book, and walked away. I did not want to have a conversation with that woman!

A few minutes later, she called me over to the table where she was sitting.
CL: Do you have a private study room here?
Me: No, I'm sorry, but we're hoping to in the new building we're moving to in April.
CL: Because you're sending me to a strange and secret place.
Me: No, we don't do that here.
CL: Do what?
Me: Send people to strange and secret places.
CL: Oh, yes you are - to Guantanamo Bay, I'm sure!
I thought for a moment - yeah, that would be nice - but said, "No, I don't think so."

About 20 minutes later, she came to the desk again.
CL: Please. For. The. Ladies.
Me: Huh?
CL: PLEASE. FOR. THE. LADIES!
Me: Uhh, did you need to use the restroom?
CL: Yes! (looking at me as if I were the crazy one)
Me: The restrooms are upstairs. You'll have to get the key at the desk up there.
CL: Oh those ladies are wayyy too busy with all those kids up there! They won't be able to help me!
Me: The key is hanging on the front of the desk - you can just pick it up.
CL: (sounding exasperated) But I don't know where the bathrooms are!
Me: (pointing) They're along the wall on that side.
She stomped off, making loud frustrated noises. The patron that Eva was helping at the time said,"Wow! I thought you guys had an easy job, but not if you have to deal with people like that!

A little while later, one of the managers came downstairs and said they had to ask her to leave - she had told some kids that if she had a knife, she would use it on them. Fortunately, she left without a fuss, after telling the manager she was not schizophrenic. Eva and I were greatly relieved that she was gone. What a twilight zone moment!

Music, music, music

There's always lots of musical stuff going on in our lives. Last month, the Master Arts Chorale performed with 3 groups from Biola. It's always interesting to hear how other choirs interpret music. Right now, we're rehearsing for our December 8th concert. The main piece we're doing is Morten Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna, which is really challenging. All the parts have to sing out of their ranges. I sing alto, and we're singing from the F below the staff to the G above. Most of us don't mind that low F, but the G is a killer.

Jacob sent in an application (complete with photos and demo CD) for the LA Opera, but was rejected with a one-sentence email. How disappointing! But tomorrow he's auditioning for the Palm Springs Opera. He had completely forgotten that he applied for the audition, since he sent it in several months ago, and just found out about it this week. First place is $5000, so I really hope he wins. At least he'll get to sing for them - LA didn't even give him a chance.

Joseph has been learning to identify composers - he likes (ugh!) Radiohead best, whic he calls "Roadahead," as well as Verdi, Bach, Charles Ives, and a few others. The other day, I was sitting in my room when Joseph came toddling in. I asked him what kind of music was playing, expecting him to say something like "happy music" or "people singing," but instead he said, "Rachmaninoff!" Jacob was playing the Rachmaninoff Vespers, which we've sung parts of in concert. I can't wait until he starts singing with us.

Fall is here ...

... but it sure doesn't feel like it yet. The Santa Ana winds are keeping the temperatures up in the 90's in the daytime. We bought 2 cords of eucalyptus firewood, but have only been able to use the woodstove a couple of times so far this season. I like warm weather as a rule, but I'm looking forward to sitting in front of the fire with a cup of tea and a knitting project. Or, as is usually the case, a grandson in my lap with a pile of picture books - "Read it, Grandma!"

Joseph is growing up so fast. He talks all the time, and we can actually understand most of what he says. He tries hard to say the words correctly, and eventually corrects himself if he learns something wrong at first. People's names are very important to him - he wants to learn and remember the names of everyone he meets. Unfortunately, if he doesn't know someone's name, he points at them and says, "What's that?" very emphatically. I guess he can get away with it now since he's only 2, but I sure hope he learns to ask more politely soon.

Last weekend, I went to the CLA (California Library Association) conference in Long Beach. I had only intended to stay until 6 or 7, but I ended up going to dinner with three colleagues and we talked for a long time after dinner. I gave one of them a ride home (she lives in Victorville), and I didn't get home until after 11:30 that night. It was worth it, though. I ran into a lot of old friends, and learned a lot about some of the databases we currently use at the library. I also found something I wish we had - AquaBrowser. This is a really cool adjunct to the library's public catalog. You can try a demo of it from their website. The vendor at the conference had me thoroughly convinced that we need this for our library system, but as I am a lowly library assistant, second from the bottom of the food chain, there's not much I can do. I did talk with my branch manager when I got back - he's used it before, and knows what a valuable tool it can be. Also, he said that Riverside County, which we are affiliated with, may be getting it. If they get it, we'll have to have it too so that we can keep up.

Another booth that I spent a lot of time at was the Big Cozy Books booth. I'd like to have them build a toybox-sized bench for the bus to replace the junky toybox we have now. The hard part will be talking the bosses into spending the $450 or so that it will cost. It would look cool, though, and it would last forever, unlike the $75 piece of crap we have in there. If I was rich and had the room, I'd buy a bunch of their stuff for home. I love the big pink eraser.

I haven't gotten my Kamaka back from Marc yet, but I did meet another ukulele player and collector. He's a 5th grade teacher at one of the schools here in Fontana, and has about 55 ukes in his collection. He goes by the name Diesel on the Flea Market Music site. When I visit his school with the bookmobile at the end of the month, I'm going to bring a few of my nicer ukes to show him, since he let me play his 1927 Harmony soprano (in mint condition).

Well, I should probably head for home now. I'm sitting in a Panera Bread bakery, eating a crumbly scone, drinking tea, and enjoying the free wifi. The rest of the family, including Kevin and Cheryl, are visiting Brian's mom to celebrate the October and November birthdays. I had to work today, so was left out of the festivities. I'm enjoying the free time, though, and everyone sang happy birthday to me over the phone.

It's been a busy summer

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. All summer long, we took the bookmobile out to parks in the evenings. Now that school has started, we're doing school visits in the mornings. I've gone from working 12-9 shifts to working 7-4 some days.

Jacob and Rachel have both posted extensively on the flash floods we had over Labor Day weekend, so go check out their blogs to see some pictures and even a video. Also, Jacob posted a cute picture of Joseph in his pirate outfit in August.

Brian bought me a couple of 1950's soprano ukuleles a few months ago - a Martin style "O" and a Kamaka pineapple. Both of them are in well-used condition, so he got them at a fraction of the price of the same ukes in mint condition. I'm having the Kamaka restored right now by Marc Donner - it should be done soon. I'll probably leave the Martin as-is. It's amazing to me how much more sound these old instruments put out, as compared to a newer, cheaper, and heavier one. My Oscar Schmidt concert uke sounds muted next to the Martin, even though it's much bigger.

What a Week!

I'm still recuperating from the three events we participated in with the bookmobile last week. Each event was exponentially more intense than the last. On Tuesday, we spent a few hours cleaning the bus for the ribbon-cutting ceremony that was held in the evening. The ceremony itself was short but very busy - about 150 kids and a few adults waited in line for a brief tour of the bus, then went inside to watch the magic show while we sat in the bus. A couple of families visited during the show, but otherwise it was pretty boring.

Thursday was spent at a local elementary school, which we had visited about a month ago. This time, we were there to see the kids who were off track last time. Ten classes came out to see the bus, one class at a time for 30 minutes each. We had a craft outside and storytime inside, and each kid got to participate in both. Jorge and Sonia, our new part-time helpers were there this time, and they were a huge help.

On Saturday, we set up at the Fontana Health and Safety Fair, which I have taken the bus to every year. Unfortunately, Jorge and Sonia were drafted into helping at another major event, so it was just me and Eva. The crowd was bigger than ever, and there was no time after it started that we had less than 6 kids in the bus. I didn't actually count them, but based on last year's figures and the crowd this year, I estimated about 1300 visitors in 5 hours. We nearly lost several puppets - a woman and her kids took them off the bus. I got them all back, and all she could say was, "Well, I didn't know!" and "You should thank the kids, at least they brought them back." People never cease to amaze me. Other than that, all went well.

New bookmobile pictures

I know I promised to post pictures of the "new and improved" bookmobile, and here they are! What do you think?

I've been pretty busy with this new job. Last weekend we took it out for Fontana Days. I drove it in the parade Saturday morning, then parked it at Veteran's Park, where the carnival was being held. We parked right next to the City of Fontana's Mobile Rec Unit, and one of their guys helped us with the awning, since ours is just like theirs. He made it look so easy.

Several staff members from the other two Fontana branches came to help out, and our branch manager dressed up as the Cat in the Hat for the parade. We had a simple craft for the kids to do, and our Youth Services manager held storytimes at a booth nearby.

We left the bus at the park overnight, and returned late on Sunday morning. We had help from the other branches at first, but they left by 2:00. I sent Eva home at 8:00, because I thought I'd be able to pack up and leave soon after that, but I didn't get the bus back to the yard until 9:45. It was a long day, but not that difficult.

Our next event will be the county employees picnic on Saturday. That should be a relatively easy day, compared with the Fontana Days carnival or the Health and Safety Fair coming up on the 23rd. And, we've hired two new helpers who will come with us to all our big events! That will make life much easier. The only problem with Saturday is that I'll miss our dress rehearsal for the concert that evening.

Last Day at Apple Valley

Today is my last day at the Apple Valley Library - on Monday I start full-time in Fontana. It should be interesting getting used to a new library. Even though they're both branches of the same county library system, they have different ways of doing things. I'm looking forward to developing a new program for the bookmobile, which is right now getting a facelift. I'll post pictures of it when it's done.

Trip to Amador City

This is the first night I've had at home since we got back from our vacation. I tried to post while we were gone, but the wireless internet connection in our room was too weak.

Anyway, we had an uneventful drive up Hwy. 99 last Wednesday, stopping for lunch in Tulare, then took the scenic route up Hwy. 49 all the way to Amador City. We stopped in Angels Camp to stretch our legs - visited a few antique shops and the little music store there, and looked at all the jumping frog plaques on the sidewalk. We got to the Mine House Inn at about 6:15 and checked in - Rose, the proprietor, was very cordial and welcoming. She loaned Brian a book on the history of the local mines, which he devoured over the course of our stay. We put all our stuff in the room, then went to Jose's Mexican restaurant in Jackson and had a great dinner. I realized halfway up that we had forgotten our camera, so we stopped off at Wally World and picked up a 5-megapixel Vivitar for $100.

This is Amador City:


The Mine House Inn was cozy and beautifully decorated:


Here's the view from outside our room:

Thursday was spent sightseeing and shopping (mostly window-shopping) after a huge gourmet breakfast prepared for us by Rose. We were the only guests at the Mine House, so she was able to give us all her attention. We walked into Amador City and looked at the little railroad, which was very elaborate and detailed, then took a tour of the Sutter Mine. We had lunch at Burger King, then walked around Sutter Creek for a while. The library was closed, which was disappointing, but we saw all the antique stores and the cemetery. After our walk, we had dinner at Bellotti's, then headed back to our room.

On Friday, we walked around Amador City after another wonderful breakfast. Brian spent quite a bit of time in the little museum - I was done before he was, so I checked out a couple of stores that I didn't think he'd like. We had lunch at Andrae's bakery, then went shopping in Jackson. I bought a couple of old rolling pins to use as turning blanks - they're made of well-seasoned hard maple, and work up beautifully on the lathe. I showed Brian the little music store, and bought some yarn and beads at the yarn and bead store (go figure!). We went the the Kennedy mine tailing wheels park, and walked around for a while taking pictures. I caught a small tree frog there, which we put in a big plastic cup to take home for the pond. We had a hard time finding a place to eat, and ended up at Mel and Faye's diner, which was crowded and noisy. Brian bought a flashlight at K-Mart so he could look for more frogs, but he couldn't find any.


Saturday was our last day - Brian really wanted to see the Kennedy Mine, so we went there right after breakfast. We ended up being the only ones on the tour (was it our deodorant?), so we had the tour guide to ourselves. Brian had fun learning about the gold mining process and teaching the tour guide about assaying - we must have spent an hour in the assay office. There wasn't enough time to visit Daffodil Hill, so we got some lunch and headed for home.

Okay, just for Rachel

Here's the latest picture I have of Joseph. We were at Master Arts Chorale rehearsal on Tuesday, which Joseph attends with us. Usually, he behaves pretty well, but does tend to be a distraction, especially in the alto section. He loves all the attention from the ladies. This week, however, he fell asleep on the way to the college, and stayed asleep through the whole rehearsal. He ended up rolling under Doc's computer desk, where I got this cute picture of him in a classic pose, fingers in mouth and blankie wrapped around him.

I'll have to get Jacob to take more pictures of him - there are no really recent ones on the computer as far as I can tell.

Brian and I are getting ready to take a short vacation. We'll be staying at the Mine House Inn in Amador City, in the same area Rachel and I traveled to last spring. Hopefully, we'll be able to see the daffodils this year. I'm thinking of bringing my laptop so I can blog while I'm there - if not, I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

I worked two days at the Fontana library this week, Monday and today. On Monday, I spent some time in planning meetings with my new bosses and Eva, my new co-worker. The rest of the day was spent working at the downstairs reference desk. A lot of things are done differently at this library, some of which I like better and some not. I'll just have to get used to it, I guess.

Today the library held their spring carnival. Eva and I spent the morning turning a book cart into a puppet stage, with help from a volunteer and another staff member. The carnival started at 12 noon, and we wore our voices out trying to do a puppet show over the Fontana High School's jazz band, which had to perform inside because of the wind. Duh! It's always windy in Fontana! At least we had help from a guy from the district supervisor's office. The kids weren't interested in being read to by him, but he did a great job with the puppets. The carnival only lasted two hours, but we were glad when it ended.

An interesting coincidence

I was looking all over the internet for a picture of the Wilson School in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, where I had attended kindergarten. I found lots of photos of the interior and some students, but only one of the exterior. And it just happens to be from the year I was there! The date on the picture is May 1967. So, here it is:

I just think it's interesting that the only picture available is the one I'd want most.

New Job!

Sort of - I'm being transferred, along with my bookmobile, to Fontana, where they're building a new library. Apparently, the city of Fontana is willing to foot at least part of the bill for my bus, and they want to use it to promote the new library. I'll be working full-time down there by April 1st, with a few days spent there in March to get ready for the switch.

Here are some pictures of my bookmobile, for those who haven't seen it:


These were taken at the Fontana library's groundbreaking ceremonies - I guess the city officials saw it there and liked it.

I thought I was unique, but ...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 3 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I already know I'm a nerd,

but I decided to take this quiz anyway.

You are 83% geek/nerd.

You game, you know your computer, and you aren't a noob. That's always good. So, did you check out the latest Ctrl+Alt+Del? Funny, eh?

How geek are you?
Take More Quizzes

Busy as Usual

The last few months have been full of activity, starting with a great visit from my dad and stepmom, who flew out from Hawaii to spend Columbus Day weekend with us after visiting my brother in upstate NY. We took them to Calico Ghost Town, where Joseph had a blast entertaining everyone. He couldn't stay away from the live music - he seemed compelled to get as close as possible and dance to the beat. He ended up with two strands of Mardi Gras beads and a lace-trimmed hankie from some fancy ladies.

The college has changed to a compressed schedule, which is okay for most classes, but it cuts our rehearsal time in the music department. We only had 6 weeks between our fall and winter concerts. I think we did a pretty good job in spite of the lack of time and the change of venue (they're revamping the performing arts center, so we're using the Church of the Valley). We had the Hermitage Singers from St. Petersburg as our guests for the fall concert - they were excellent. Jacob enjoyed talking with the bass - his English wasn't good, but it was better than Jacob's Russian.

I've just been put in charge of the teen anime club here at the library. The staff member who ran it before was probably too young to be seen as an authority figure, and the teens ran roughshod over her, so she threw in the towel. I don't blame her. I'm sure some of the kids won't like me, but I think I'm mean enough to turn the group around. We're taking the month of December off, and I'm spending the time researching anime and manga - I know a little, but I'm not an expert by far. Jacob and Rachel have agreed to help me out - they're addicted to the stuff, and even know some Japanese. I've signed up with Tokyopop and ADV films to get ideas. I'll probably watch a few anime shows and read a few mangas over the next several weeks.

I bought an inexpensive lathe at Rockler on my birthday, and have been having lots of fun with it.

This is a picture of my second project. Joseph really likes it. I've made two more since then. Jacob and Rachel are learning to use the lathe as well - Rachel especially likes turning the captive rings.

Word Nazi confirmation ...

I took this simple little test -

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

Trip to Catalina

Brian and I finally got to take a short vacation the weekend of 9/8-9/11, to Catalina Island. We spent 3 nights at the Hermit Gulch campground, just up the hill from Avalon.

We left home at 7:10 on Friday the 8th, after squabbling with Jacob over who would drive. Arrived at the boat dock at about 9:25, got our tickets, and were in line at 9:30. The line was long, and because we were near the end of it we were lucky to get two seats together - the worst seats on the boat, facing backward with no table. The people sitting around us were friendly, however, and the ride was smooth and fast.

We arrived in Avalon at about 11:00, got off the boat, and walked around a bit looking for a place to eat. I checked into hiking permits, but it turned out we didn't need them because we had campground reservations. We ended up eating at Antonio's Pizzeria (the original) - Brian had a club sandwich and I had the lasagna. The garlic bread was the best I'd ever tasted.

After lunch, we hiked up to the campground. The hill was not very steep, the packs were not too heavy, and it was only 1-1/2 miles, but we were tired when we got to our "cabin". I was rather disappointed with the tent cabin, especially after staying in a much nicer one at Big Basin. This consisted of a wooden platform with a large canvas tent erected on it, and six canvas cots inside - no mattresses. Brian laid down for about an hour, then we made our beds (we had to sleep separately) and walked back down to Avalon. We looked at the stores for a while, trying to find a good deal on t-shirts and other gifts to take back home.

Here's the outside of the "cabin" --

and here's the inside --

We had dinner at Mr. Ning's Chinese restaurant. It was just as good as we remembered it from 10 years ago. We ordered shrimp chop suey and lemon chicken, which had strips of ginger laid across it. After dinner, we shopped some more. Brian bought me a nice zip-up sweatshirt, and we found a magnet made of tile for Brian's mom. We had a heck of a time finding one that was actually made on Catalina. We also got Joseph a rubber duckie.

After the stores closed at 9:00, we headed back up the hill to camp. On the way up, we saw several deer, including a nice buck, on the golf course. The campground was crowded and noisy when we got there, with a large group of Tongans nearby. It got quieter after 10:00, except for the loud snoring guy and the baby in the site next to ours who cried a few times.

We had originally planned to hike into the interior on Saturday, but Brian wasn’t sure if he could make it in his sandals. Instead, we walked to Avalon for breakfast, which we had at Antonio's Cabaret on the waterfront. We sat outside on the deck, which hung over the water, all by ourselves. There was a seagull and a couple of pigeons looking for a handout. The seagull was really cute - he'd sit on the railing behind me, slowly sneaking up on me, until I turned my head and looked at him - then he'd scoot back a couple of feet and start the whole process over again. I had a little paper cup with half a ball of butter in it, so I put that up on the rail to see if he'd pick the butter out of it - instead, he ate the whole thing, cup and all! Brian thought he was going to die, but he seemed fine and even begged for more.
Here he is after his "breakfast"--

We looked in a few more shops after breakfast, but didn't buy much. We walked out on the green pleasure pier and looked at the boats - some guys had gone fishing and caught a 185 lb. marlin. Big fish! I don't know if they kept it or not, because we saw it tied up to a barge later.

We ate lunch at the Channel House - too expensive for dinner, but the lunch prices weren't too bad. We both had sandwiches - Brian had hot pastrami and I had a meatball sandwich. Pretty good and lots of food. Our table overlooked the sidewalk, and we had fun people watching. The fashion police would have had a field day with the lumpy old lady in a metallic hot pink French-cut bikini, high heels, and way too much makeup - the restaurant patrons sure did.

After lunch, we walked out on the breakwater to watch the outrigger canoes come in. When all but the last few stragglers were in, we looked around in the museum store and took some pictures of the murals at the front of the casino, then walked over to Descanso beach to see what was there - looked like mostly the party crowd. We headed back to Avalon and got some ice cream at Big Olaf's, and sat by the beach and ate and watched people, boats, and birds for a while, then looked in the shops again.

We had dinner at Mi Casita - Brian had a burrito, and I had chicken tortilla soup and a salad, since I'd been eating way too much on this trip. After dinner, we headed back to camp, which was still quite noisy and crowded with rowers and support teams.

When we got up on Sunday morning, one of the Tongans was sleeping on our picnic table. He finally woke up, and Brian asked him if they made him sleep there. I felt sorry for the poor guy - he had no pillow or sleeping bag. We had granola bars and juice in camp for breakfast, then walked to the Wrigley Memorial 1/4 mile up the hill - unfortunately, it was $5.00 each to get in and we would have only had an hour to spend there. We walked around outside the gate and read the names of all the plants that were labeled, then headed down to Avalon. We walked out on the pleasure pier, then sat by the beach and looked at boats until time for church.

At about 9:40, we headed to the Catalina Bible Church. We got there at 9:45, so we had time to chat with the pastor's wife and some other members before the service started at 10. The church is very small - there were only about 25 people there, including several visitors (no children). We were not impressed with the music service, since they use a karaoke-type setup along with a bass player, organist, and drummer. The organist plays for the casino on the weekends, and the drummer has a band - both of them are excellent musicians. The pastor's wife (who is also the song director) wants to get rid of the canned music when they get a lead guitar player, but we think they've got enough already. The sermon was okay - the pastor uses the same approach as Jon, preaching verse by verse, but covered a whole chapter. Brian thought he used too much extrabiblical material. There was a fellowship time after church, with coffee, tea, and snacks, and we had a good time talking with people.

We went to Vons to get batteries for the camera and string cheese and fruit for lunch, then sat in the city park to eat. There was a baby shower going on - we had fun trying to figure out who the shower was for, since there were several babies and pregnant women there.

After lunch, we hiked partway up Mt. Ada, stopping at an overlook to take pictures. There was a big stone bench on the edge of the cliff, and a passing hiker offered to take our picture sitting on it. Unfortunately, the bench was covered with graffiti, which spoiled the effect. The view of Avalon and the harbor was beautiful, though. We saw a doe and her fawns on the way back down, and took some pictures of them as well. Here's the view from the overlook --

We rested on a bench down by the beach after our hike, and talked with some backpackers who had hiked with a large group from Two Harbors. It was interesting to see the variety of backpacks they had. Most of them were much newer than ours, with internal frames and ergonomic designs, but there was a blue one just like Brian's, and couple of other "classic" frame packs. I think I'm going to have to either replace the straps on mine or get a new one, because my hip bones were sore after only a 2-mile hike.

We looked at the menus at several restaurants before deciding where to eat, since it would be our last night there and I wanted to eat someplace nice. We decided on El Galleon, since they had a pretty good deal on local swordfish and the decor was interesting. It seems that at least 4 restaurants in Avalon - El Galleon, Antonio's Pizzeria, Antonio's Cabaret, and Mi Casita - are owned by the same people, and we ate at all of them (and they were good). Anyway, I had fettuccine primavera and Brian had the swordfish, which he said was the best fish he'd ever eaten.

We did our final shopping after dinner. Brian got me a mug that said "Smarty Pants" on one side and said I had to use it at work. We hiked back to the camp - there was a horrible rock band playing at Bird Park, but fortunately they quit before we went to bed. The camp was practically deserted - maybe 1/10 of the spaces were being used.

The campground was quiet Monday morning, so we slept in a bit. We packed up our stuff, then headed down to Avalon for one last breakfast out. Several people asked us about our backpacking trip - we gave up explaining that it was just a short hike.

We got to Joe's Cafe about 10:15 and had French toast. The service was quick, but the food wasn't as good as Antonio's. We walked over to the boat dock, where there were only about 10 people ahead of us in line. A woman in line screamed, "Oh my God! Look at that!" There was a pelican trying to eat a fish that was way too big for his pouch. It was quite entertaining. A guy kept trying to help him, but he never did get it down. He finally spit it out and sat there looking dejected. He didn't even seem to care about people petting him. I felt sorry for the poor bird - he was obviously a young one, with a little down on top of his head.
Here he is with the fish in his pouch --

The trip back was much less crowded. We got better seats this time, though not the ones we'd hoped for, with the window in front of them. Since it was the 5th anniversary of 9/11, there was extra security, including several members of the Coast Guard who rode with us. It was quite uneventful, of course, and we made it back to Long Beach only a few minutes late. Jacob picked us up at the curb, and we met Rachel for lunch at a Burger King outside of Ontario Mills mall.

Sorry about the long hiatus ...

... but life's been a bit bizarre around here. I won't go into detail about the situation, but Caasi has left Jacob and is living with her parents. Jacob has full custody of Joseph, however, and he still lives with us.


Joseph took his first steps on Monday, and celebrated his first birthday yesterday. He's such a happy baby, and so easy to take care of. We got him a 6'x6' playpen, since our house isn't exactly babyproofed, but he doesn't spend all day in there. He'd rather be out with us. As you can see, he likes peanut butter.

Jacob got a new musical instrument. It's a Chinese instrument called a gu zheng, the ancestor of the koto. It has a few more strings than a koto, but can be tuned the same. It sounds a little like a harp. He bought it at the Claremont Folk Music Center after he sang there last month. Jacob's performance was rather interesting. When he got up to sing, he asked the audience if they would rather hear him sing in French or in English, and they all said "French!" so he let loose with "Si la Rigueur" from "La Juive," an opera written in 1835. They were impressed, though I'm not sure the crowd was ready for that. Jacob says next time he'll probably do something by Johnny Cash.

We just got back from enrolling Rachel in Platt College, located near Ontario Mills Mall, about 40 miles from our house. She'll be commuting there 4 days a week, and taking Unix at Victor Valley College on Fridays. The admissions director really liked her art portfolio, and is going to have it evaluated for a possible scholarship. That will help a lot, since this is not an inexpensive school. She'll also be able to transfer quite a few units from VVC, though the music classes won't transfer.

More pictures of Joseph

Well, here are some more recent pictures of Joseph, as I promised. He's getting cuter and cuter every day.

He loves to "help" his daddy work on the computer -

I just love his smile!