the gleaners and i

This week J and I watched an interesting French documentary, The Gleaners and I (2000). I really loved Agnes Varda, the director of this documentary - she had such a quirky, fun way of going about her documentary project. The film discussed the act of gleaning: why people glean, what people glean, the legal issues of gleaning, etc. I think my friend Kelly would have been especially interested in watching this film, since she sneakily took some apricots from her neighbor's tree this past week (and made a delicious-looking rustic pie afterward!) Actually, Kelly, you'd be happy to know that a gourmet chef was interviewed in the film: he always gleans his own fruits and vegetables, since he wants to know 1) where the produce came from and 2) that the produce is fresh.

This film was also fun because it incorporated works of art into the discussion (such as Millet's painting The Gleaners (1857, shown above)). Varda viewed herself as a gleaner of images, which I thought was interesting.

In addition to gleaning, Varda went around and interviewed people who are scavengers. It was interesting to see the reasons why people scavenge, and what kind of things people choose to scavenge. This made me think back to my college days, when my roommate(s) would sometimes go "dumpster diving" at the Provo Bakery, in order to get their hands on the day-old pastries. It's not that my roommates were starving - they just wanted some free donuts. There were several times that our kitchen floor was covered with two or three black garbage sacks, each one filled with sticky pastries. Mmm. I ate many a delicious donut from those bags.

Since I never went "diving" with my roommates, I don't feel like I can claim that I have ever scavenged (although I often shop at thrift stores, which is just a step above scavenging, right?). I'm not opposed to it, I guess, but I've never really needed to scavenge or glean. What about you? Have you ever scavenged or gleaned? Why or why not? And more importantly: if you did go, what did you get? Anything good?

(If anyone is interested, click here to see a beginning clip of The Gleaners and I).

hike: little si

After realizing that we may be limited in our hikes next summer (since Sam probably will be too big to carry), we've decided do some hikes which might be too challenging for Sam next year. So, this past weekend we hiked Little Si. The beginning and end of this hike had some relatively steep and exposed areas, but the majority of the hike was really pleasant. The shaded trail winds around the forests of the mountain, and the trail is fairly level for long stretches. We walked through some very pretty areas. I think this has been one of my favorite hikes that we have done in the Northwest, despite the fact that the trail was rather heavily trafficked.

We noticed this interesting tree which had roots that arched in-and-out of the ground. In this picture, Sam is sitting underneath the tree roots.

The view of Mount Si from the top of Little Si. We also noticed some interesting hills in the distance (see the left side of the photo). I wonder how they formed.

Sam learned in this book that mountaineers wave a flag when they reach the top of a peak. He usually waves an imaginary flag when we go on hikes, but we remembered to bring an actual flag this time. He was thrilled.

I'd love to do this hike again, or even hike up halfway and do some of the rock climbing routes. There is also a Boulder Garden Loop that is an offshoot off of the main trail, which looks fun.

which face to mint?

The Royal Mint in the UK is holding a contest to determine whose face should be minted on a new British coin. I'm torn between voting for John Lennon or Jane Austen. Who would you vote for?

hike: poo poo point

Last weekend we hiked Poo Poo Point with our friends Rachael and Richard. This was a moderately difficult hike; it had a couple of steep areas that gave us quite a workout. I'm really glad that we did this hike, though, because we are still able to carry Sam up steep switchbacks (even though he's getting heavy!). Next year I think that this hike would be impossible, because Sam will be too old to be carried, but too young to climb such a steep ascent. I bet we won't repeat this hike for a couple of years, until Sam is about five. (That being said, we took the Chirico trail that begins off of Issaquah-Hobart Road. Perhaps the Poo Poo Point trailhead at Issaquah High is easier for small kids?)

This hike is really neat because the top area also serves as a launching point for paragliders. Although we only saw one paraglider on our hike (just as we were getting back to our car), it was still fun to see the launching area at the top. And no - the name "Poo Poo" has nothing to do with paragliders. "Poo Poo" allegedly references the sounds that trains would make when passing through the area.

The view of Issaquah/Bellevue/Sammamish from the summit was great! Here are a couple more pictures:

The boys standing on the launching pad for paragliders

"you shouldn't"

A crotchety old man got mad at me in the grocery store today. It's not worth rehashing the details here, but basically he became upset because I inadvertently blocked his view of a product demonstration. He authoritatively said, "You shouldn't have blocked my view" and "You shouldn't do that." I apologized and kindly tried to explain my reasoning for maneuvering in his direction, but he kept on wanting to lecture about what I "should" or "shouldn't" do. I was rather unnerved at his condescending approach to superimposing protocol (and decency?), and my fiesty side wanted to say all sorts of things about how he "should" and "shouldn't" treat total strangers.

But I just pushed my grocery cart and walked away.

As I left the store, I began to wonder why that man felt like he could lecture me on how I "should" and "shouldn't" act. Is it because I'm younger than him? Because I'm a woman? Because he hates mothers and/or toddlers? Or maybe he treats everyone that way? Hmm.

Has anyone else been lectured by a complete stranger before? How did you react? How would you react if a stranger gave you a lecture on how you "should" or "shouldn't" act?

paul mccartney concerts

Last weekend we traveled to Salt Lake for Grandpa's funeral. It was a really nice service, and I think Grandpa would have liked it.

Even though our primary reason for traveling was the funeral, we did end up getting to see some friends for a few brief moments. And the most unexpected part of the trip? My family had two extra tickets to the Paul McCartney concert, so J and I got to go! (Thanks, dad!) It was really nice that we got to do something really fun while we were in town. And plus, I was ecstatic at the chance to see Paul perform again. I am a huge Beatles fan, and Paul has always been one of my favorite musicians.

I've seen Paul McCartney perform once before, in 2003 when I was on a study abroad in Rome. Paul gave a free concert in the Via Fori Imperiali, the street which leads up to the Colosseum. The concert stage was right in front of the Colosseum, actually. I remember how fun it was to see the ancient building "rocking out" in pink and green lights while the music played. I was really far away from the stage during that performance (you can see in my scrapbook picture (shown below) how multiple screens lined the street in front of me). Even though I couldn't really see Paul at all, it was so fun to hear him play in Rome.


When we went to the Paul McCartney concert this past week, I warned J that I might scream like schoolgirl when Paul got on stage. J thanked me for warning him in advance - but I actually ended up having more comportment for this show. (Although I think that I danced more than J has ever seen in the whole time that we have been married.) We had fantastic tickets, right on the floor. There were a lot of great Beatles songs that were played, and also a lot of Paul's later hits. Some of the songs that he played were "Band on the Run," "Live and Let Die" (which was accompanied with fireworks and flames going off across the stage - so awesome!), "A Day in the Life," "Eleanor Rigby," and "Helter Skelter." I secretly hoped that Paul would have sung "Beautiful Night," but perhaps that isn't a popular enough song to be played in his tour set.

Here are some pictures:

Before the show

My dad with V, A, and little brother C (my sister C was also at the show, but not pictured here)

My absolute favorite part of the show was when Paul broke out and played part of "Foxy Lady" as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. I didn't expect to hear anything other than a McCartney song at the concert, and hearing "Foxy Lady" was so unexpected that I loved the performance all the more. If Zillah had been there to deutsch with me, I think my ecstasy would have been complete.



My sister E was the sacrificial lamb. She stayed at home and watched Sam and L, while everyone else went and had fun. Luckily for E, Sam and L wanted to hold their own concert.

Sam on ukulele, while L marches to the beat

favorite phrases/words

J and I often find ourselves translating for Sam. It's not that Sam speaks a foreign language (I've tried, but he gets frustrated whenever I try to speak to him in Portuguese), but Sam pronounces words in his own little way. He also puts funny twists on certain words, which is cute. Here are some of my favorite words (with translation) from Sam's lexicon:

• "polly-eight" = pollinate (I don't deserve credit for teaching Sam the word "pollinate" at his tender age. He first learned the word on Sesame Street, and doesn't quite grasp what it means yet. But he does know that "polly-eight" has to do with bugs and flowers, and hey, that's a good start.)
  
• "airplane port" = airport
  
• "pollypop" = lollipop
• "Skew mee!" = Excuse me! (The great thing is that Sam uses this phrase in context - he usually says it whenever he burps or wants to scoot past a person.)

grandpa

Things have been rather sad around here, since I learned that my grandpa passed away.

Out of all the recent pictures that were taken of my grandpa, this one is my favorite. I feel like you can catch a glimpse of Grandpa's personality and charm in his expression, which was something that you couldn't always see over the past few years, as Grandpa battled with Parkinson's disease.

Some of my favorite memories with grandpa include singing at the Weber, skipping together on sidewalks, and talking about old movies. When I was younger, I always thought it was fun to see Grandpa lovingly tease Grandma. She would often tickle Grandpa in retaliation. My mom used to tickle my dad in the same way, and I've realized that I sometimes retaliate against J's teases with side tickles.

I'm glad that my sister E has perfected the "pop" sound that Grandpa could make with his cheek - we need to keep that in the family.

I love you, Grandpa. We'll miss you. You were a very good man.

pope joan

I've read a lot of books over the past few weeks, but most of the stuff I've read hasn't been worth recommendation. However, I just finished reading Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross and found it to be a really interesting and engaging read. This is a great book for anyone who likes historical fiction, medieval culture, or feminist topics.

My interest in this book was sparked a few weeks ago when I read this post about a Pope Joan movie. Although I remember a passing comment about Pope Joan from school, I didn't know much about the legend. Basically, a medieval legend claims that a woman in the ninth century disguised herself as a man, joined the clergy, and eventually became pope. The woman purportedly was exposed when she went into labor during a processional on the Via Sacra. (You can read more details about Pope Joan in the linked post above).

Donna Woolfolk Cross wrote this novel to try and imagine what life might have been like for Pope Joan. She wrote in a very compelling way, and I really liked following the sub-themes of doubt, human reason, and misogyny. I especially feel like the feminist issues addressed in the novel (particularly the treatment and education of women) can still find application in today's society. I also felt like Cross did quite a tasteful job with explaining how Joan became pregnant, which I appreciated for various reasons.

It is said that the Catholic Church destroyed all records with Joan's name in the 17th century, as part of the Counter-Reformation effort. Only one ancient record of Joan escaped this alleged destruction, a copy of Liber pontificalis. To be honest, I'm quite skeptical that Pope Joan actually existed. But it's a fun story to think about, nonetheless.