A few thoughts about the recital and on art in general.

My son's recital Saturday was very interesteing for several reasons--The first piece, by Jairo Duarte-Lopez, was based on a painting by Tanguy. It is a surrealistic painting, and one I wasn't familiar with. On Sunday in the Menil Collection in Houston, I saw a painting by Tanguy, which according to my son was very similar to "El Miedo," the painting on which his piece was based. This was a pleasant coincidence.
The rest on the recital was made up of pieces by Elliot Carter. The Carter pieces, Figment No 2, "Remembering Mr Ives" and "Enchanted Preludes for Flute and Cello" also had some coincidences. Charles Ives made his living selling insurance--this was his day job. One of his clients was Elliot Carter's family, and he was an influence and mentor for Carter. Enchanted Preludes was based on a poem by Wallace Stevens--actually a piece that was understandable to me. Stevens was an executive with an insurance company. Another artist who had to have a day job in order to support his art. It is interesting to me that neither is remembered for his contribution to the business world. No one says that he was a great salesman, or he was a wonderful executive and he beat all of his sales projections. On the wall in the Fines Arts Building in Chicago, it is engraved--"Art Endures"
I am very proud of my son and of the fact that he commissioned the piece by Lopez-Duarte, which won a prize from the government of Columbia. Two years ago, it was just an idea, and a fragment of a piece that lasted less than a minute. Lopex-Duarte developed it, and the whole concept changed. The piece was very well recieved and many people in the audience commented on how much they liked it.
I am also proud that my son played the pieces by Carter, which were very difficult.

Back Home

After a very fast weekend in Houston, I am back to some very bad weather. Our forecast is horrible--rain turning to snow, quickly plunging temps--over 40 degrees, blowing snow. I have to drive to work and teach tonight. I hope that some of my students show up.
The weekend in Houston was a lot of fun. My son's recital was spectacular, as one faculty member said, a very difficult and challenging program. My son played very well. The recital was well attended and well received. He played a piece that was written for him, and 3 pieces by Elliot Carter. One, Enchanted Preludes was with flute.
We had a good time with the family: Manny, Sheila, Michele and Steven, Lisa and Eric and Jeremy all came for the recital. We went out for dinner at Lupes, a Mexican place, and Ruggles in Rice Village, both were good and a lot of fun. We had breakfast at House of Pies (a Houston favoritee) and Kenny and Ziggy's ( a New York style deli). We celebrated my birthday at Carrabbas. (Italian) All the restaurants were good. I had a tres leches cake for my birthday, and it was very good. I tried some red velvet cake at Ruggles. It was red and white and very sweet. We all shared one piece, and a few bites was enough for me. It was so rich.
I was pretty tired on Monday when we got home. The traveling was very good both ways, no delays, no crowds. We used Southwest and were very pleased. Both flights were undersold, so we had our choice of seats. It was a good trip.

Am I losing it?

During the past two days I have encountered some unnerving events which lead me to conclude that I am losing it.
Let me tell you what happened. Yesterday at Oakton, I was xeroxong a chapter of my textbook using 11x17 paper. After I finished that, I then continued to xerox something else--but I forgot to change the paper to 8 1/2 x 11. So halfway through the job, I had to stop it and start it over again. Then on the way home, I realized tht I forgot the shut down the computer in the classroom, which was made worse because I left my jump drive in the computer. This has all my power points and my grade book on it. I had to turn around and drive back, and fortunately, there was no class in the room yet.
Today, I got up and planned to do nothing at all. It was snowing and cold, so I decided to stay in and do things around the house. At 11:05, my personal trainer called and asked my why I wasn't at the gym. Then I remembered that I had scheduled a personal training for today 3 weeks ago. So, I decided to go the the gym anyway. So much for hanging around the house. Actually I enjoyed my workout very much. Afterward, I went to Nordstrom and bought two pairs of shoes and a handbag. I got a good price on the handbag, it was a Brahmin, and was 50% off. Lucky me.
So, am I losing it? Were these events just coincidence? I hope so.

This week with Alma and me

It's cold and snowing. Pretty light snow, which has covered the skylights and the sidewalk.
Later I will take care of the bird feeders. The birds don't seem to be very hungry, because the feeders aren't emptying very quickly.
Yesterday it was so cold that I didn't even go outside.
This morning I shivered on the way to Weight Watchers, weighed in and lost .2 pound. A little bit of a disappointment. I did lose so much last week.
This week is busy for both me and Alma. I have Oakton on Tuesday and Thursday, and I have to prepare for next week's classes this week, since we won't be back until Monday night. I finished the power point for my 092 class, and downloaded one for my 094 class last night. Now I have to write my lesson plans for this week and next. There is a problem--the bookstore is out of texts for my 092 class. Someone didn't order enough. So I will have to do some xeroxing tomorrow to deal with that problem. The first week of classes went well.
On Friday we leave for Houston for a long weekend. My son is giving his masters degree recital on Saturday. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are coming in from Louisiana and so is Alan's niece and nephew and grand-niece. My brother Pete is also coming. So, it will be a family reunion too. We are all staying in the same hotel. I am going to celebrate my birthday a little bit early with the family. It promises to be a lot of fun. We have to get the food for the reception on Friday afternoon, followed by a marathon of recitals, and an orchestra rehearsal--David is playing principal cello. Manny, my brother-in-law is bringing some goodies from the Great Harvest Bread Co where he works, including a King Cake. So that led us to have a Mardi Gras theme for the reception. We will have beads and who knows what else.
Alma is going to Carriage Hill Kennel for the long weekend.

Something for the birds

Those little creatures are so fussy. I do like to please the, so they hang around in my back yard. I now use two kinds of seed and several types of feeders. For the past few years, all I have provided for them was black oiler sunflower seeds. This year, for some reason, there have been very few cardinals, the big consumers of the sunflower seeds. I have seen mosly sparrows and juncos, and they seem to eat anything.
A few weeks ago, when the hardware store didn't have the 40 pound bag of sunflower seeds, I bought a new --to me--blend called "no waste." Now I notice that the feeders with "no waste" are going down much faster that those with sunflowers seeds. I brought out the tray feeder, which caters to cardinals and filled it with sunflower seeds. Then, I decided to rearrange all my feeders, and add a new one. I also bought a new blend of birdseed, which is still in the trunk of my car.
Another problem with feeders is squirrels. You want to feed the birds, not them, so all kinds of deterrents are available to keep them off the feeders. Actually, I don't mind them as much as I did in the past. The pests du jour in my yard are rabbits, who eat my plants. So, the new feeder is like a round cage, with the feeder inside. It will only accommodate small birds--not squirrels. So now every time I hear chirping in the back yard, I run to the window to see if any birds are dining. So far, nothing.

The monkey is back

Yes, now I have a little stuffed monkey to chauffeur around for a week. I wasn't the biggest loser at my Weight Watchers meeting today, but that person had left, and I was in second place. Gail, the leader was very happy to give me the monkey for a while.
So, what was the loss, a surprising 3.8 pounds, even with the slip ups. So, I have continued the pact with Dorothy, another meeting member. She lost 2 pounds this week.
So, what will I do? First, I will stay away from the scale again. Second, I will follow the program and journal everything. I am within 5 pounds of my goal again. I don't want to keep losing and gaining the same few pounds. Thus, I will stay with the program from another week.
By the way, winter is back in Chicago.

Doing Well

So far, so good on the eating front. I've written down the food, I've been to the gym. Now I have to read the chapters in my textbooks before Tuesday--the first day of class. Then I have to do my lesson plans and class lists. I have quite a bit to do.

Think First

I've been reading some of the booklets that are given out at Weight Watchers meetings. Usually I put them in a basket, where they sit for months. But since I haven't been so successful in the past few weeks, I decided to review the material that I have been given. One of the main ideas that they talk about is think first. This means planning what you are going to eat, and thinking before anything goes into your mouth. I have bee successful at this for quite a while, but in the past two months, I've forgotten this important idea.
Yesterday was good and bad for me. I attended a department meeting at Oakton, and brought my lunch. The ideas was to brown bag lunch and dessert would be provided. Well, it was provided and I ate so many cookies that I felt sick for several hours. It was as if I had never eaten a cookie before. They were Good cookies, but after eating several, I knew what they were going to taste like. Now I have been able to resist food in situations like this before. I have thrown out bags of candy. I just don't know what got into me. By the way, there was a box on tangerines at the meeting, and I could have had one of those, which would have satisfied my sweet tooth.
So, what went well yesterday? It wasn't all bad. I ate 3 good meals which were on program. As soon as I left the meeting, I went back on the program. I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home and didn't buy any candy or other foods that would sabotage my program. I also have decided not to visit the scale until Monday's weight in.
I went to the gym today and worked pretty hard. I've been on program all day, planned my lunch, which I will eat as soon as I finish this entry.
So, I've thought first for most of the week. There are 3 1/2 days until my next meeting.

Happy Birthday Alma

Today is Alma's 11th birthday. I just took her picture, and isn't she a beautiful birthday girl? She was more interested in sniffing the air than smiling for the camera.

Starting Over

Monday is my Weight Watchers Meetiung day, and today I am starting over. I decided to change to the flex plan, so I could better control my eating. I have 19 points to work with, since since I gained over 4 pounds in the past few weeks, I really need to be careful. I am going to return to my old exercise schedule which means more cardio and more time at the gym. This will make me feel better too.
Yesterday I went to yoga, and today I have a mammogram appointment, so I will take a walk later. The weather is springlike today--actually the temp is springlike--about 60 degrees. All the snow is a memory, and the air smells like it does on those wonderful early spring days. To bad that winter will return on Thursday--so say the weather people.
I do have a huge job hanging over my head--I have to write two syllabi, as the first day of class is a week from tomorrow. So, that is my work for the rest of the week.
Someday soon I will post a few pictures of sun and fun in Mexico.
I just took Alma for a walk--she is getting to be an old dog. I noticed that I was in the lead, up to now, she was always ahead of me. I also think that she is losing her hearing. She continues to look great. What a dog.

Back from Puerto Vallarta to Cold Chicago

My goodness its cold here. Yes, the temp is near zero, but tomorrow it will be near 50--its hard to believe that.
It was chilly in Puerto Vallarta too, but just at night. Sweater weather, and long pants. But the days were warm and sunny for the most part and I got some major sunburn, even using lots of sunscreen. My advice--the spray on stuff isn't very reliable. Suns burn appears in strange places, like the back of arms, on the tops of the feet. So a switch to heavy duty--like 50spf stuff in the tube. Still, sunburn. So the last resort was to wear a bathing suit, shorts and a tee shirt. That worked the best. Anyway, I was going back to Chicago, to wearing long pants and turtleneck sweaters, long sleeves, socks and boots. About the only place that any tan shows is my face and hands. I do have a nice dark tan, but it will last only a few days.
What did we do in Mexico? Mostly nothing. We sat on the beach during the day. Then in the afternoon, when the breeze started up and it got cloudy and a little chilly, we walked on the boardwalk. We changed that a bit, and had a late lunch at the taco stand or bought shrimp on a stick from the shrimp on a stick lady on the beach. In the evening, we went out late to eat at nice restaurants.
There are things to do in Puerto Vallarta, like para sailing, swimming with the dolphins, going on a pirate ship booze cruise, going to a Mexican fiesta, taking a canopy ride over the jungle, going fishing or snorkeling. We mostly walked around the town, looking in junky touristy shops and the junky touristy mercado. I did buy two magnets--from the shop in the hotel.
We did one cultural thing--we went to most of the art galleries. That was interesting.
I decided to take pictures on the beach--mostly of the beach vendors. Then I expanded to taking pictures of interesting people on the beach, then of interesting people in the town. Some of these will appear on this blog soon. Most of these will go into a scrapbook. Someday.