The Dore Family

Dead Friday!!

2012-01-20T07:01:00.000-08:00

twenty-nine!!!

2012-01-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

2012-01-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

The people in The Village don't tend to get out all that much. So this year, Patrick, Amy and Julie put together a great dance party for us. I was a little dubious at first, but it turned out to be just the thing. Here are the girls, don't they look pretty? Bell changed dresses about 8 times. This is her wedding dress that made Scarlett go, "Oooooh!"

Party rockers in the house tonight! All the kids had fun staying up late, but Finn and Lorelei shut the party down. (With help from Marilyn. Thank you Marilyn!)

Pretty Adrienne, ready to dance.

Lovely Michelle, also ready to dance.

Jamie concocting one of his crazy shots.

This one looks a bit like absinthe and seemed to have the same effect.

Patrick and his sister Amy swing dancing. I wish we had more pictures of everyone dancing. Thor, Algis and Daniel all turned out to be great dancers, but you'll just have to take our word for it. The kids were pretty crazy cute doing their shuffling dance, but somehow it seems we were all too drunk and busy dancing ourselves to take many pictures.

A proper way to spend New Year's Day.

Three tired boys. In case you can't read the awesome sign below that Amy had the kids make for us, Happy New Year everyone! We hope this new year brings everybody many, many good things.

Christmas 2011!!!

2012-01-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012 to everyone!!! Here are some memories from our 2011 Christmas. First of all, we were so glad that we got to see so much family!! Dad and Molly from Oregon, Brian and Krista, Pat and her family, Grandpa Hank, and many more helped to make it a great Christmas. Oh, and the perfect weather helped too!!

Christmas Eve at Mom and Petur's:

Christmas morning before pic:

Christmas morning after the hurricane:

Cute family:

Caroling on Christmas night - thanks for the suggestion Amy!!!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!!

Cutie Patooties

2011-12-15T15:57:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I have had a difficult time finding my Christmas spirit this year. The boys did their holiday performances last week, though and even my sad, lonely heart couldn't deny that there was Christmas magic in the air

Funny Jack, front and center.

He has a bit of a cold, so he was a little off this year, but he was doing his best. Jack couldn't see us, but Finn was sitting right below the stage on the floor and Jack kept giving him the sweetest smiles.

Presenting...the adorable Dores.

That's Finn's awesome teacher Ms. Marks in the background. He is so lucky to have her! The girl in the glasses on the far-right is Finn's girlfriend.

Here she is again behind Finn with Hana. She seems like a sweetheart, but...

We're still holding out hope for Hana. Or Ms. Lorelei! : )

These pictures are long overdue, (sorry Mom and Zod!) I decided to include them, though because they make me so happy. Here are the boys with my sweet nephew Chris.

Doesn't Jack look happy to be spending his birthday at the Happiest Place on Earth?

Bell and I try to duplicate Jack's happy face.

Chris was a really good sport. He carried Jack around all day. Did I mention that Jack wiggles and kicks?

Come on, get happy...

That's more like it. Love to everyone and a very merry Christmas!!!

Heron!!!

2011-12-14T06:30:00.000-08:00

Heron!!!

Sad.

2011-11-30T06:49:00.001-08:00

You step out of line, the man come and take you away : (

Hope.

2011-11-28T18:16:00.001-08:00

I'm not going to write too much about it, but I'm feeling bad about not being with Occupy L.A. right now. I'm so inspired by the bravery and dedication of the people down there and my prayers are with them. I hope that you can spare some for them also.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-25T07:01:00.001-08:00

We had Thanksgiving in the Village this year. We missed some of our loved ones, but we were very grateful for all of the family and friends who were able to spend Thanksgiving with us. Thank you guys for all of the amazing food you brought to share!

We even managed to watch a little football. Pretty exciting! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

More Mikey

2011-11-13T18:40:00.001-08:00

Michael's step-mother Mary sent me a few more great pictures of Michael. We were a little slice of his life, but these pictures capture more of the fuller picture. Here he is in front of the stage, probably at Hamilton High, based on his longer hair, but possibly at Pacoima.

His famous Flock of Seagulls hair! This was probably at Pacoima, or close to it.

This picture makes me cry every time I look at it. I remember this sweet little guy showing me his stamp collection, telling me baseball stats and showing off his latest karate moves.

Michael and his beautiful sister Rohana. They look pretty tough here. They went through a lot together and I'm sure there were times when it felt like the two of them against the world.

I'm not sure which birthday party this was, but I believe this was at Michael's mother's house in Venice Beach. I think that's his little brother Laurent in the background, but I can't tell for sure from this picture. Michael adored his brothers.

This is Michael's mother Dominique. You can see where Rohana got her gorgeous looks from. I wish I had a picture of Michael's father Renardo. As a kid, I remember thinking both Renarda and Dominique were very striking people. Rohana looks more like her mom and Michael looked more like his dad, but they were both lookers.

See? Michael and Rohana. Can you tell how much they adored each other?

Michael and my Dad at a celebration. Michael looks very dapper. I have no idea what my dad is wearing here, but they both look happy.

Hanging out at Mary's.

Cuties!

For some reason the blog keeps erasing my post for the picture two up. That is Mikey with his ex-girlfriend Angie. She was very important to him, even though they weren't able to keep it together.

The second picture above is of Michael and his step-mother Mary. Michael loved his parents a lot, but he was also lucky to have a really good step mother and step father who cared about him a lot and took care of him as much as they possibly could. Michael never made it easy. He liked to test everyone in his life to see how much you really loved him. If you passed the test, though, he loved you forever.

Not everyone knew that Michael loved to cook, but he did. Especially bbq.

Michael and his ex-girlfriend April. Things didn't turn out so well for them, but he was so happy and excited when he first met her and they had a beautiful little boy together named Alex.

I believe this is Michael and Alex and Michael's brother Gershom, but again, it's hard for me to tell in this picture. I hopeIi got it right!

Michael and the love of his life, his son Alex.

Mikey

2011-11-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

We lost our brother last weekend. Michael was always at war with the universe, but he was also funny and insightful and fiercely loyal. There is a big, big hole in the world where he used to be.

When Patrick and I got married, Patrick's bachelor party started out at another party at our friend Eli's house. A girl there was griping to the bartender that she couldn't believe that Patrick was marrying me. She went on for quite a long time about how I wasn't pretty enough or smart enough for Patrick and she really thought he could do better. Patrick's friend Kim walked up and was horrified. He said, "Do you know who you're talking to? That's Em's brother." The girl was terribly embarrassed to discover that the bartender she'd been complaining to for the past half hour was my brother, but Mikey just smiled his Cheshire cat grin at her and said, "That's okay, girl, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But just so you know I'd throw myself in front of a train for that woman." And he would have.

Mikey and Eli were very different people, but they were best friends. I think the Brotherhood/Sisterhood camp they attended really brought them together in a profound way. Patrick Delaney was also very dear to him. I wish I had a good picture of the two of them together. I am naturally very introverted and it occured to me that, either directly or indirectly, I owe many of the people I love in this world to Mikey. He always knew how to get me out of my shell and out into the world.

Anyone who knew Mikey knew that he loved music. Here he is dancing around and being goofy with some friends of his from Penny Lane Records. Record stores were a refuge for him his whole life. Even when Patrick and I went to visit him in the hospital, he asked us to bring him to Amoeba.

Bell and Mikey and Eli. This picture pretty much sums up the early 90's for me, Bell wearing something scandalous, Mikey being loving and protective and Eli looking amused.

Mikey and Patrick didn't always have the easiest relationship. I'm not sure Michael would have ever thought anyone was good enough for me, but I'm very glad that he and Patrick had moments like this where they really connected. When Mikey lived with us in Highland Park, I used to come home to find the two of them talking about music for hours.

Bell and Mikey were kindred spirits - both a little too fearless for their own good. I've had more worry in my life because of Bell and Michael than pretty much anyone else, but I've also had more fun because of them. I feel so lucky to have had both of them in my life.

This picture was taken at a benefit concert Michael arranged for Homeboy Industries when they were first getting started. If he believed passionately in something, Michael could do amazing things. This ended up being a fairly large event with media coverage and a big crowd. When Michael was homeless, he also organized an unofficial company through craigslist where he would get other homeless people odd jobs here and there painting houses and cleaning gutters and such. A lot of his fellow-homeless people were very grateful to Michael for giving them the chance to contribute. A couple of them wrote to me when Michael was in the hospital.

Patrick giving Mikey the rings for our wedding. Mikey told me recently that he was really touched by what a great dad Patrick has become. Michael wasn't in a good place the last time he came to visit us, but he always loved kids and he and Finn really hit it off. Mikey used to call him Philly. I so wish Mikey could have met Jack. They would definitely have been partners in crime.

This was from a trip up To San Francisco to visit Michael and Damon and the boys. This was from a really good period in Michael's life. He was so proud of his brothers and truly loved San Francisco. We walked all over the city this day from sun up to sundown. I will always be grateful to his step father Damon for taking Mikey in during that time. I wish I had more pictures of Michael's family. He loved his sister Rohana and his step-mother Mary with all his heart. He missed his lovely mom Dominique so much and he had a great deal of love and respect for his father Renardo. They really reconnected with each other during Michael's time in the hospital and he mentioned how much their talks meant to him many times during our phone calls. Mikey also loved my Mom and Dad a lot, even though he didn't always have an easy relationship with my Dad. Of course, the person Michael loved most was his son Alex. When Alex was little, Michael used to call me and put Alex on the phone while he took him on long walks. I know that he had great sorrow about letting Alex down and he hoped to one day get his life together enough to be a father to him again.

The two funniest people I know making each other laugh like mad.

Another picture from our perfect day. I hope somehow, somewhere he knows how much I miss him already. I loved him so, so much.

Amy's birthday

2011-11-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to our dear, lovely Amy! We had a lovely time carving pumpkins in the park.

Hooray for Amy and a happy Halloween to all!

Jack's first day of kindergarten

2011-11-08T06:43:00.000-08:00

Some of you may have noticed we have not been putting up many pictures lately. That's because blogspot changed the way you post and it has taken me this long to figure it out. Needless to say, we have a little catching up to do. These are from Jack's first day of kindergarten!

Way to go Jack!

529!!!

2011-11-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

Occupied!!!

2011-10-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Finn and I went down to Occupy Los Angeles this weekend - it was pretty amazing how many tents there were! Not surprisingly, there were some crazies – they seemed mostly like homeless people hanging out with the movement. But there were also a lot of people who seemed really committed to causing change, and there were a lot of articulate people with booths, flyers, signs, etc. And I would say that good old Tom Joad was definitely in one of those tents : )

Finn and I walked around, listened to some people, and played chess. I was happy that we occupied L.A. for a little while : )

Martin Simpson!!!

2011-10-20T16:19:00.001-07:00

The wonderful Martin Simpson : )

Daydream 2!!!

2011-10-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Welch!!!

2011-10-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Gillian Welch!!! She finally has a new album out, and I would say that half of it is great. The other half is a little grim for me, but she's always worth hearing. Here's one of the songs that I really like (with a strange video from Paper Moon):

Rosh Hashanah!!!

2011-09-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Rosh Hashanah everyone!!!

Tuesday!!!

2011-08-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Have a great Tuesday all!!!

Huntington Gardens

2011-08-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Kathy and Petur for the lovely trip to Huntington Gardens. We had a great time!

Intrepid explorers.

Lovies!

Children! In the children's garden.

A little fairie door in the children's garden.

Wild Things in the bamboo forest.

Kathy and Felix looking at koi fish in the beautiful Chinese garden.

Tired kid at the end of a fun day getting a lift from daddy.

Borges!!!

2011-08-24T16:36:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Google for reminding me that today is the 112th birthday of the great Jorge Luis Borges!!! Dig his writing about the Barbarian leader Doctulft:

‘Let us imagine Droctulft...not the individual Droctulft, who no doubt was unique and unfathomable (as all individuals are), but the generic type formed from him and many others by tradition, which is the effect of oblivion and memory.’

Happy birthday!!!

Always!!!

2011-08-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Ah, Farm Fest

2011-08-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Every year, Patrick's dad Mike and his stepmom, Molly, throw a great party up at their farm. We love to see everyone, Patrick LOVES playing music with all the great Oregon musicians and the boys have incredible memories from their trips to the farm. We try to make it every year if we can. Here we are this year hitting the road. Part of the fun of the trip is waking up at a brutal hour. Patrick and I always look a little bleary, but Finn & Jack love it.

Mike took Finn and Jack and Patrick on a trip to the orchard to visit the plum trees. Jack figured he'd better test them out.

He also got a ridiculously cute, tiny apple which he carried around in his pocket for at least 2 days.

Patrick just after a jump into the swimming hole. Jack jumped for the first time this year! Alas, we did not have the camera ready.

Finn and Lorelei paddling a raft to the "rapids" at the other end of the swimming hole. There's a small drop at the far end of the swimming hole and the kids love whooshing over it.

Jack manned his own boat for quite a while. The water is still a little cool for him, but he stayed out there for an impressive amount of time.

The three amigos (and Finn's dead fish.) Finn found an incredible assortment of critters on the farm, every time we turned around, it seemed like he had something new. In addition to this carp, he caught a tiny frog, a snake and a slug, observed several tadpoles and many, many varieties of insects. I think Lorelei was a little grossed out, but she was a very good sport about the whole thing.

Our friend Aligis relaxing on the rocks above the swimming hole. Algis used to live in Eugene and it was great to have someone around who knows that area a little better. I just wish we'd had more time to explore!

We did make it to Saturday market, which is always fun. Brian and Krista were able to come with us because they just moved to San Francisco - woo-hoo! They are a lot of fun and we are so glad to have them close by. A big thank you to Krista who was lovely with all the kids, especially Ms. Lorelei.

Algis did take to us to the infamous Voodoo Donuts! Yes, Jack is eating a donut with cocoa pebbles on it. No, thankfully, he did not eat the whole thing, but if you're ever in Portland or Eugene and you feel like a truly decadent treat - Voodoo Donuts is definitely the place to go. (Note the sign over Jack's head.)

Patrick's aunt Patty and her sweet kids, Kenny, Nick and Chris were able to come. We had a great time with them! Finn and Lorelei and Jack probably wore them out, a bit, but they were so happy to see them there. They are always a welcome addition to...

Farm Fest! Woo-hoo! Thank you Peepa Mike and Grandma Molly for another awesome party.

We love Farm Fest, but we also love the morning after. Here are Patrick and Jack playing together.

Another morning shot.

Hanging out. Literally. Chris and Nick play ukulele and are great singer/song writers. They inspired Jack to sing a very silly song called 'The Menu of the Grassy Hills'. One of our favorite memories from this year was a beautiful song Nick wrote that perfectly captures the feeling of being at Farm Fest. Tears! We just wish Amy and Jamie and Felix could have been with us this year. They were very missed.

Jack and I had to go home a little early this year, but Finn and Patrick were able to stay and help build the....

Tree house! It looks amazing already. We can't wait to see it when it's all finished.

Patrick helped a little too. : ) Here he is putting some finishing touches on the smaller platform.

And here's Grandma Molly testing out the new floor on the bigger platform. Eventually the two platforms will have a bridge between them. Great-Peepa Hank's amazing plans also include a firepole, a second story sleeping loft, a swing and a slide! Now the farm is really going to be kid heaven.

See?

This is Patrick writing, continuing Em's post. After staying in Oregon a little while longer, Finn & I drove down to the Bay Area, where we stayed with my cousin Andy in San Francisco. Here are Finn & Andy at Andy's great place that he shares with a roommate in the city. Thanks Andy & Laura!!!

Finn & I did spent a day doing lots of tourist stuff. Here's Finn with a live lobster at Fisherman's Wharf - Finn heaven!!

A thoughtful (and cold) Finn with San Francisco in the background.

Tourists : )

Finn at the corner of Haight & Ahsbury - couldn't help myself!

After a day in San Francisco, we traveled a little further south and stayed with my Aunt Katie & Uncle Colin in Palo Alto. It was great to see them & they gave us a great tour of there area, including Stanford University & this lovely bird sanctuary!

Being a very creative (and well off) place, Palo Alto is filled with many interesting things. Katie brought us by their library which had this amazing...sculpture??? It is part bird's nest and part castle. We loved it!!

Finally, after lots of sight-seeing and driving, we spent the night with Katie & Colin and Finn watched his first baseball game. I was amazed to see how much he liked it!!! After that night, Finn & I headed back to L.A. Thanks so much to the Chos for a great time in the Bay Area!!!

Here are some other pictures from our wonderful Farm Fest trip:

Finn and Lorelei recreating a picture we took of them when they were a year-and-a-half.

Finn's frog.

Charlie dog! (And Jack levitating.)

Thanks Dad & Molly!!! We'll see you again up there next year!!!

Chandler!!!

2011-07-23T09:27:00.001-07:00

Happy birthday to Raymond Chandler!!! Here's a nice little article from the LA Times, although a word of advice: if you're planning on being a great writer, don't confuse "nonetheless" with "much less". Hope you're having a great weekend!!!

Getting bigger all the time

2011-07-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, Jack graduated from preschool. (*Note...make that a month ago. This is a long-overdue post. We were holding it back while we tried to figure out how to include a very cute video of Jack from the ceremony, but no luck. Ah, well...here is the post.)

After almost eight years of parental servitude, I am well aware that I have missed pretty much every big movie and television release of the past decade, (except for Harry Potter, of course). Every once in a while, though, I suddenly get a sense of just how quickly the boys are growing up. This was one of those days.

Brothers!

The older students at Jack's school do these amazing chalk drawings at the end of the year.

My personal favorite.

Chilling before the ceremony...

Hooray for Jack!

We're so proud of you little growing boy.

Jack is pretty proud too.

Proud Momma and Daddy.

Proud brothers.

Hey, baby...it's the 4th of July!

2011-07-11T20:59:00.001-07:00

This post is a little late, but we got to spend our Fourth of July with some great kids. Finn and Jack's sweet friends Lorelei and Hana came with us to see fireworks at the Rosebowl.

Luckily, we were able to set up right next to a park (and bathroom - score!) I have to admit, I missed Lacy Park a little bit, but this was definitely one of the easiest 4th of July's we've celebrated in a long time. We were able to park right next to this playground, which was also conveniently located next to an exit. That was a big help at the end of the night when we were heading out with four tired, sugar-shocked kids.

This must have been after ice cream. : )

Jack and Lorelei hanging out.

Finn dangling.

Pretty Lorelei

Finn and Hana hanging out (and being goofy : )

Jack spinning.

Patrick lounging. Yes that is his shoe he's leaning on. Using his shoe as a pillow is one of my husband's stranger - or more unique -proclivities, depending on how you look at it.

Bubble time! (Thanks Uncle Thor!)

We blew bubbles galore.

Last year, our camera got ruined by condensation on the 4th of July, so we put it away well before the fireworks. The kids had a great time, though - the Rose Bowl really knows how to put on a show. Jack also loved the musicians playing close to us. It's hard to tell, but the picture below shows Jack be-bopping along next to the big kids. (I think he was just happy they put up with him for 4 hours.) Happy July everyone!

Happy birthday to Marvelous Mr. Finn

2011-07-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

A very happy 8th birthday to our darling, sweet Finn-bo! We had a pool party to celebrate.

The gang was all there - literally, pretty much the whole village showed up. They all waited eagerly for....

Dirt cake! Yum.

Finn and his friend Jason helped us clean out and crumble up the Oreo cookie "dirt". Julie and Thor and Scarlett provided all of the great gummy creepy crawlies.

Happy birthday Finn! (Hana, Lorelei, Lana and Scarlett were pretty patient with the hoardes of boys.)

Julie and Scarlett and Thor also took Finn fishing for his birthday. He came home from that trip about as happy as I've ever seen him. Happy and smelly and tired.

Captain Finn...

...fulfilling his dream to ride on the Nautilus.

Thor and Finn reeling one in.

And filling up.

Aw, lovies! A special thank you to everyone who helped make this such a happy birthday for Finn.

Happy birthday, sweet ocean boy.

We love you all the way to the moon and back, many, many times over.

Cy.

2011-07-05T18:57:00.001-07:00

R.I.P. Cy Twombly. The real deal he was.

Happy Fourth!!!

2011-07-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Thomas Jefferson on the 50th anniversary of July 4th:

May it be to the world what I believe it will be, the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. These are grounds of hope for others; for ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.

Bliss!!!

2011-06-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

It's one day late and only mentions 9 years, but it's still relevant. Happy 15th Anniversary Sweetheart - I love you!!!

Two!!!

2011-06-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

Joe. Vs. the Volcano

2011-06-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is my second movie post. Mike probably stopped reading at the title, but for anyone else who is interested, this one is for my sweetie who has been having a pretty crummy time at his job lately.

I loved Moonstruck when it first came out, so when I heard that John Patrick Shanley had written another movie, I was very excited to see it. Although Joe Vs. the Volcano was slightly reminiscint of Moonstruck in certain ways it was definitely a movie experience unto itself. Like other great, but peculiar movies that I would see later in life (hello Cohen Brothers), I enjoyed Joe Vs. the Volcano the first time that I saw it, but I don't think I truly appreciated it fully until I saw it the second time. And the third. And the fourth. And god knows how many times I've watched it since then.

After the fairy tale opening, 'Once Upon a Time...' we follow a long, dreary line of workers slogging their way into a grim looking factory. On the way in, we meet the very pasty and downtrodden Joe Banks (played by Tom Hanks). The factory on the inside is essentially a hell-hole (as I recall, their main product is a rather distasteful version of petrolium jelly.) Joe lives in a drab, grey world full of unhappy people and life-sapping flickering flourescent lights. The only bright spot in the office, literally, is the hula lamp Joe keeps hidden in his desk. Unless, of course, you count the office's sweet, but asthmatic secretary DeDe played by Meg Ryan, who clearly has a soft spot for Joe. Joe's boss is a hilarious, toad of a man who lives to torment Joe. With all of this to contend with, it's probably not too surprising that Joe is either chronically ill or a hypocondriac.

Joe pays one of his regular visits to his doctor who tells him that he has a 'brain cloud'. Surprisingly, Joe seems relieved by this ominous news. He KNEW something was wrong. Of course, he doesn't know what a brain cloud is, but who cares? It sounds bad and that's good enough for Joe. His doctor tells him he only has a short while left to live and he needs to think carefully about how he wants to spend his remaining days.

Here is where the movie does it's first 180. As soon as Joe leaves his doctor's office, everything is different. People are friendlier, the world's a little brighter. Joe goes straight back to his work, tells off his belittling boss, quits his job, kisses a shocked DeDe and invites her out to dinner. She says okay and they have a great romantic dinner, including an inspired mariachi band. Everything seems to be going Joe's way until he tells DeDe that he is dying and just like that, the moment's over. DeDe just can't handle Joe's illness.

So...Joe spends the next few days dilly-dallying around his apartment until a strange man appears on his doorstep. This is Samuel Graynamore, a filty rich industrialist with an unusual proposition for Joe - he will give Joe all the money he wants up until Joe's death if Joe is willing to sacrifice himself by jumping into a volcano on a small island called Waponi Woo. There's a lot of mumbo-jumbo about super conductors and stripping the island of some precious mineral and arranging for a sacrifice to appease the gods, but the important thing is that Joe used to be a fireman and this is his chance to live big and then die doing something meaningful.

Joe leaps at this chance - literally and figuratively. From here on out, Joe meets with a series of fascinating characters, including a laconic taxi driver and two vastly different sisters, both also played by Meg Ryan. He picks up everything he needs for the trip - including the world's greatest set of luggage, hops on board an incredible ship and sails away with one of Graynamore's daughters, Patricia. They fall in love over the course of their trip, but when the boat gets caught up in a storm, Patricia is knocked overboard and Joe leaps after her to try to save her. The boat gets hit by lightning (one of the many reoccuring motifs in the movie) and sinks before Joe's eyes, but the crazy awesome trunk that he bought floats up to the surface and he is able to make an amazing makeshift raft out of it for himself and his konked out beloved.

I won't go into too much detail here, except to say that this is my favorite part of the movie and that it involves an umbrella tent, golf clubs, an incredible moon and a ukulele. I should state here that to appreciate this movie, it probably helps to have a fairly high tolerance for whimsy. It can be a bit twee if someone chooses to see it that way, but I think the quirky characters and unique dialogue paved the way for a lot of my favorite tv shows and movies (Northern Exposure, The Big Lebowski, etc.) and over time, I have come to see it as a pretty good analogy for life. No matter how much you love your job, it can feel at times like it's sucking the life out of you and that you're not quite sure what the purpose of it all is. Life does sometimes feel like a scary, funny, strange adventure. And love...well, what could possibly be a better analogy for love and marriage than taking another person's hand and saying, "Okay, I'm ready, let's jump into the volcano together,"?

Which brings me to the end of the movie, which, I know is completely absurd. I remember thinking why is Fish from Barney Miller dressed up like a cannibal from the Jungle Cruise and why does everyone on this island drink orange crush? This whole segment is ridiculous and I can see why it turned a lot of people off, but I think it is all just a shaggy dog story leading up to the moment when Joe heads to the volcano and Patricia tries to stop him. She mocks his brain cloud and together they figure out that Patricia's father paid off Joe's doctor to find some poor schmuck and tell him that he was dying. Still, deep down inside, Joe is a hero and he promised to jump into the volcano so that's what he's going to do. Patricia isn't going to let the man she loves jump alone, so she takes his hand and whoosh, they jump...but a blast of hot air propels them up out of the volcano straight back out into the sea where Joe's handy luggage pops up again. As they sail off together into the moonlight, Patricia lovingly grumbles, "It's always something with you Joe, isn't it?"

There are so many amazing things that I've noticed about this movie on repeat viewings. The set design is incredible and there are all sorts of beautiful and creative repeating images - most memorably the colored lights that appear in the Mexican restaurant on Joe and DeDe's date, in the apartment windows, in the panoramic view of Los Angeles at night and later in the lanterns on the boat. I'm not sure about this, but I think all of these are related to Joe's hula lamp at the beginning of the movie. I also love that the same actress plays all three of the main female roles. Both Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan can grate on me at times, but for some reason I completely fall for them in this movie. I'm not 100% sure if this is what John Patrick Shanley intended, but I love the idea that when you love someone over a long period of time, it helps to look at it as if you're meeting them for the first time and falling in love with them all over again. Mostly, I just appreciate this movie as a reminder to let some of the small stuff in life go and to remember to look around and enjoy the adventure.

Patrick, if you've read this far, I love you very much and if I had to jump into a volcano with someone, your hand is still the one I would want to hold. I just hope we pick up some really good baggage along the way.

Boat!!!

2011-06-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

The Boat

Maybe the eyes of a dragon or goddess
glare from its prow.

More likely it leaks, loses an oar,
and reeks of rainbows awash on a sheen
of gutted salmon and gasoline.

If it’s a liner, we lash ourselves
to whatever will float or sell.

No matter which. We choose. We’re aboard,
icebergs or no, as we plow
through the songs of the siren stars—

one boat, black water, dark whispering below.

…………………..

by Paul Fisher

Jack's first field trip!

2011-05-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

I took this past Thursday off to go with Jack and his class to the Long Beach Aquarium. The kids were very excited to go to the aquarium, but I think they were most excited to ride on the bus.

This is Jack and his friend Sky, who also went to Maria's with him. Bell went with me on the field trip, so they asked us if we could watch Jack and Sky and another one of Jack's classmates named Lily. We were a little nervous about the two boys, but we figured Lily would be a piece of cake.

Wrong! We quickly discovered that Lily is a wriggler and a darter. While I followed Jack and Sky walking hand in hand through the aquarium, poor Bell ran ragged trying to keep track of Ms. Lily.

The magic bus.

One of the few times we managed to get all three kids together.

There was a lot of cool stuff to see. The kids were watching a playful group of sea lions when this shot was taken. There were also a lot of divers cleaning out the aquariums while we were there, which the kids thought was very exciting. They squealed like a rock star had just jumped in the tank.

Jack and Sky pretending they were about to be swept out to sea. (A cranky employee scolded us for letting them up there two seconds after I shot this. Who puts a bunch of rocks up in a place swarming with kids unless you expect them to climb on them a little bit?)

The kids all lined up for their picture. Except Lily. Her teacher had to chase her down and beg her to join the group. I was trying to get Jack to smile, so I stuck my tongue out at him. I did catch this...

...but it quickly turned into this.

There were a couple of cool things about this trip that I've never seen on our other trips to the aquarium. There is a giant model of a momma and a baby whale suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the aquarium. We stopped for a big, long potty break right below the whales and all of a sudden they shuttered all the windows and started playing whale sounds and then a movie appeared all around us. That was pretty cool, but it was also cool to go into the back of the aquarium for a special educational show.

Lily, miraculously holding still for a moment.

Sky entranced.

Two fingers! Finn taught Jack well.

Go ahead, everybody's doing it.

That's Jack's friend Roan next to him. She was the other poor kid in her pajamas at their Christmas performance.

Bell and I were a little tired by the end of it, but all in all, it was a pretty great first field trip for the Jack man. We just wish Finn (and Julie and Scarlett!) could have been there.

Satire!!!

2011-05-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

A brilliant proposal from Nathan Bootz, superintendent of public schools in the town of Ithaca in central Michigan:

Consider the life of a Michigan prisoner. They get three square meals a day. Access to free health care. Internet. Cable television. Access to a library. A weight room. Computer lab. They can earn a degree. A roof over their heads. Clothing. Everything we just listed we DO NOT provide to our school children.

This is why I’m proposing to make my school a prison. The State of Michigan spends annually somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 per prisoner, yet we are struggling to provide schools with $7,000 per student. I guess we need to treat our students like they are prisoners, with equal funding. Please give my students three meals a day. Please give my children access to free health care. Please provide my school district Internet access and computers. Please put books in my library. Please give my students a weight room so we can be big and strong. We provide all of these things to prisoners because they have constitutional rights. What about the rights of youth, our future?!

Tom.

2011-05-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

So I've been let go from my school after nine years.

We did it!

2011-05-22T18:45:00.000-07:00

Many many months ago I wrote a grant for a reading garden for Finn's school. We won a $5000 award from Lowe's, yay! Unfortunately, everything that goes through LAUSD is a little slow and it is only now that we are starting to see it all come together. We were ready to paint the mural last Sunday but we got rained out. Well, we finally did it! We painted the mural today. We started out the morning with a go away rain dance.

We made these special hats yesterday. Thanks Scarlett, Jack, Finn, Felix and Bell for making these great anti-rain hats. It was a little overcast this morning but they did the trick!

We forgot to take a before picture of the wall we painted, but the bungalow next door gives you an idea of what it looked like. There is A LOT of this orange/brown color at Finn's school.

Thank you to Patrick, Bell, Steve, Jordan, and Lonnie for pre-painting the wall blue for us! That was a big help today.

Here is Ms. Gretchen our awesome creative leader chalking in all the outlines for us. We were all just standing around, sort of staring in fright at the blue wall and then Gretchen got there and took charge. Mom, she is a lot like you. We were debating getting a projector and other means of putting the winning design on the wall when she just grabbed a piece of chalk and started sketching it all out free-form.

Yay Gretchen thank you! We really couldn't have done it without you.

Patrick painting in the sun!

Some of our little helpers. The kids had a lot of fun painting, but they also loved having free rein of their school on the weekend.

The kids painted in all the grass for us at the bottom of the mural.

Even Jack sat still for a little while to help.

Ezekiel was my little helper all day. He was awesome and added in lots of great details.Slowly, but surely, here it is coming together.

I have to admit, that I was partial to Finn's design for the mural. He did an Octopus' Garden theme with an Octopus reading books on all of its arms to various sea creatures who were gathered around. He even showed a bit of copy writing skill, writing, "I'd like to read under the sea." Awwww. All bias aside, the winning mural design did seem like it was somehow meant to be. The centerpiece of the winner's design was a kid sitting on a stack of books. Gretchen immediately decided to use this very inconveniently placed electronics box as a 3D version of the stack of books. Perfect!

Voila! Here it is finished.

Here are our little helpers taking a break.

Here are the kids' hand print flowers. The two together on the far-right hand side are Finn's and Jack's and I think the little pink one at the top left is Scarlett's.

Almost finished...

This really was a great project to be involved with. So many parents, staff, kids and community members came together to make it happen. I think of it as our valentine to the school.

And to one little kid who I especially adore.

And to other future Glenfeliz kids yet to come. A lifetime of happy reading to all of you!

The Jack man

2011-05-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Jack had a Spring music performance. When Bell and I saw the program of seven songs, we were a little nervous. Would a classroom full of wriggly pre-schoolers really be able to make it through seven songs? Would they remember all the words? When they came out on stage and sat down, Jack looked a little nervous too.

Then they jumped up though. Jack looked ready. This picture captures a hint of the sweetness inside Jack if you get him when he's not lunging around jabbing swords at people.

That's him off to the far right. He was underdressed for the Christmas performance and a tad over-dressed for the Spring performance, but he was a trooper. He sang his little heart out.

See?

Another sweet picture of Jack. Note the military-like posture. Jack took the whole performance very seriously.

And never missed a beat.

In case you can't tell, he was having a great time hamming it up.

Dimples!

This was during 'You are my Sunshine.' Awww. You and Finn are my sunshines too, sweetheart.

See, very serious. Jack didn't just close his eyes, he squeezed them shut.

But he still took the time to send a few smiles our way.

This is Jack with his awesome teachers, Ms. Sylvia and Ms. Maritza. As you will see in the next couple of pictures, this is Jack's new posed picture smile. Exhibit A.

Exhibit B. Thank you so much for coming Aunt Bell! Since Bell moved into our complex, Jack has pretty much been glued to her hip. She manages to pry him loose every now and then, but he completely adores her and would happily move in with her if she would let him. That's his cutie pie friend Ethan next to them.

Exhibit C. I would make more fun of Jack's picture face, but obviously mine isn't much better. Thanks for the great performance Jack, we loved every second. We're so proud of you for doing such a great job in school!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2011-05-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to my Momma and all the fabulous mommies out there! (Not to mention all the great aunties who help us stay sane.)

What better place to celebrate Mother's Day than the Renaissance Pleasure Faire!? Here is another terrific Momma, Amy, looking fabu in her cool new costume. Jamie and Felix were pretty adorable too.

First we stopped at a Pirate hat booth. Arrrrr!

Ahoy matey!

After we got all pirated out, we stopped to do a bit of swash buckling. 4 against 1!

Finn was very precise about the whole thing.

For everyone else, it was pretty much a free-for-all.

After a valiant effort, Finn was having trouble, so Jack swooped in to save the day.

Aw lovies!

Here's our whole motley crew. The kids had a really great time together. Even more fun than last year.

We had a pretty great time, too.

Three fearless riders take on the dragon swing!

Whoo-hoo!

Patrick in his great new faire shirt! Thank you to Amy for the rest of his cool costume, especially the tankard.

We were off to jousting. Finn got to serve as one of the Queen's guards.

He helped vanquish some dastardly knights, then came running heroically back to cheers from the queen. Way to go Finn! Sadly, our knight was brought down by a sneak attack, but the queen scolded his attacker for his unchivalrous display. I never!

Felix and Scarlett making beautiful music together.

One of the highlights of the day was this very period innapropriate jumping device. Here's Finn, ready to go....

And Jack, up, up and away! (This is maybe the happiest Jack has ever been in his life.)

Even Scarlett went! Whee! What a brave girl.

God save the queen! And mothers everywhere. An especially happy mother's day to my own Mom, Bell and I miss you A LOT.

Party People!

2011-05-04T20:13:00.001-07:00

Lately, the Village People have been more like Party People. Here the kids are performing their very own version of the Doo-Dah parade.

Happy birthday sweet Scarlett!

Go Benny!

Go Finn!

We're so happy to have Lorelei here.

Jack dangling.

Felix playing.

Sweet Lorelei.

Alleh showing off his hats.

Finn showing off his muscles.

And his sweet face.

Happy birthday my darling Patrick!

42! Woo-hoo! You are officially now the answer to life, the universe and everything! Okay, maybe just my life.

Cake!

Love!

If our pictures seem a little better than usual, it's because Algis graciously took over picture-taking duties for us.

The best thing about The Village is that we can gather together a party on a moment's notice. Which is good when you're as busy/spacey/absent-minded as me and Patrick. Thank you to all of our friends and neighbors for being so easy-going and so much fun.

See? Fun party people.

Tired!!!

2011-05-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

Tired.

Easter egg hunt!!!

2011-04-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

It was a grey, drippy Easter morning, but did we let that stop us? Nooooo. How could the rain possibly compete with the garrishly epic splendor of this tablecloth? Patrick and Jamie did an eggcellent job of guarding the park and hiding the eggs. There were spies hanging around left and right, but none made it past the guards.

Finally, we let them come in, but still...they had to wait. The little guys got a 28 second head start.

Everyone was anxious...

And...they're off!

Go Jack! (And Felix and Scarlett and Lorelei...)

And Finn!

Amy looked quite lovely and fresh and Spring-y. I was impressed that anyone managed to get dressed up since the rest of us were still in our sweats. Of course, she might have had a little help from the jaunty pin on her shirt, "Lucky!"

Thank you to Amy for organizing the egg hunt. The kids seemed to have a really good time. After Scarlett's birthday party the evening before, early morning basket raiding and the egg hunt, poor Jack was down for the count, but we still had a great time.

Twenty!!!

2011-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

Some Girls

2011-04-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Patrick and I had a very interesting discussion with Amy and Jamie and Adrienne. We were talking about various movies and television shows that we all like and dislike and it quickly became clear that our opinions on such matters vary wildly. Patrick and I believe that The Wire is probably the best writing we've ever seen. Jamie found it pretentious and self-important. Amy loves a British series called North and South that put me and Patrick in such a funk, we haven't been able to work up the nerve to try it again. All of us loved Arrested Development, except for Adrienne who thought that it tried too hard and just wasn't very funny. It was fascinating to me to talk to a group of lovely, insightful people and to see just how much we all differed in our opinions.

So, I am continuing with this post knowing full well that my recommendations hence forth may be meaningless. For whatever reason, I've decided to pass on some of my favorite movies and explain why I enjoy them and why they've stuck with me for so many years. If you try one out and it's not your cup of tea, I apologize whole-heartedly, but all of these are movies that I could happily watch at any time on a moment's notice. I should warn you that they frequently make fun of me at work for being an 80-year old woman combined with a 12-year old boy since A ROOM WITH A VIEW and ALIENS are two of my favorite movies.

If you're still with me, I will be posting the movies one at a time and my first selection is the movie SOME GIRLS. Some Girls starts out feeling a bit like a crude 80's sex comedy shot in an exquisite location. But pretty soon, it become something much more. It follows the hopes, desires and frustrations of a young college student named Michael (Patrick Dempsey, way before his McDreamy days)on a Christmas visit to his enigmatic girlfriend's house in Canada. (Jennifer Connely plays his beautiful, but mercurial girlfriend, Gaby.) Michael arrives at the airport and sits beneath a giant mural of the three graces while he waits for a very long time for Gaby to pick him up. This is a perfectly fitting opening for a movie that is essentially about the enticing, but strangely unknowable quality of women. Gaby whisks Michael away up to her family's castle house and I was pretty much smitten with it from then on. I don't know if it's the snowy scenery, or the incredibly decorated art nouveau house or the eccentric family with three daughters, but I always feel completely caught up in their world whenever I revisit this movie. A Russian actress named Lila Kedrova plays Gaby's grandmother and her portrayal is one of the more memorable and luminous performances I've ever seen on film. The writing in this film, particularly towards the end, played a big part in my wanting to write movies. There are some incredibly moving scenes near the end between Michael and the grandmother. I don't want to give too much away, but if you give the film a try, watch for the summer shoes and the grandmother closing up her house for the winter.

I also think that Some Girls does not get enough credit for helping to usher in the 80's Sundance era of independent movies. Obviously, there were earlier independent movies, like Easy Rider, but this was the first movie of my generation that I remember being a small scale film that attracted a lot of attention. It also just so happens to have been produced by Robert Redford and I would not be at all surprised if this film's modest success encouraged him to grow the Sundance Film Festival. Nowadays, people talk a lot about Sex, Lies and Videotape and The Crying Game and other films that came after this one. Definitely they were a part of that movement, but I still say that Some Girls had a hand in building the momentum.

Cute!!!

2011-04-18T12:48:00.000-07:00

The boys and I are VERY happy to be on vacation this week!!! To symbolize our joy, here is a video of a little penguin being tickled in the tummy (well worth the one minute lead-up!):

Hope everyone else is doing great this Holy Week!!!

Fingers Crossed!!!

2011-04-13T06:36:00.001-07:00

Later on today, President Obama will make one of the most important speeches of his presidency and, in my opinion, one of the most important presidential speeches ever. This may sound like hyperbole, but tonight the president is expected to make a proposal to raise taxes that, I believe, will not only shape the rest of his political fortunes - as well as those of the Democratic party - but will test whether our country is capable of remaining a great nation.

The reason for all of this portentousness is that no president or presidential candidate has seriously talked about the need to raise taxes since Walter Mondale did it so disastrously in his run against Ronald Reagan. To be sure, many presidents have actually raised taxes (including Reagan - 7 times), but none of them have had the political will or courage to actually publicly call for this.

There are countless reasons why this is crucial, and I would love to yack on about them, but I've got to go to work in order to pay some of those taxes!! Before I head out the door though, I just wanted to do three things: first, give the president some props in advance for even daring to take this step. Secondly, cross my fingers and hope that he does indeed outline a bold and honest plan. And finally, cross them again to hope against hope that he will actually fight like a lion to make it all happen, because otherwise we're in big trouble.

February 8, 1995

2011-04-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Hana!!!

2011-04-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

Anyone who reads this post regularly has probably heard of Finn's friend Hana. Hana has been one of Finn's best friends ever since they met in daycare. I'll let Finn tell you about that: Finn and Hana's class has recently been learning how to write letters. They had to write practice letters to friends and this is the one Finn wrote to Hana. I was so touched by his sentiment. It's such a true description for how it feels when you meet someone who is destined to be a great friend. After going to separate pre-schools, Finn and Hana would always pick right back up where they left off as if no time had passed at all. They've been in the same class since kindergarten and still have a great time together. I'm sure they'll figure out the other one has cooties soon enough, but in the meantime, we're so happy Finn has Hana in his life.

In addition to being super bright and sweet, Hana is also a very talented gymnast (She just ranked #3 in State!) Finn and I went to one of her performances last weekend. This is Finn while everyone else was performing...

And this is Finn when it was Hana's turn.

Here's Hana! I knew she was a great gymnast, she's constantly doing cool moves around our apartment, but it was still amazing to see her in action. She performed with quite a few older, high-level gymnasts, but Hana still stood out. It was hard to capture in these pictures because she was basically just a blur most of the time, but Hana has truly amazing balance and form.

Mr. G, the director of Finn and Hana's after school program made these signs for Hana. She has a lot of fans. : )

Take a bow Hana!

We're so proud of you.

Happy Birthday Felix!

2011-04-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Amy already sent out some great pictures, but here are a few more. Unfortunately, hardly any of our pictures of the birthday boy turned out - he was having so much fun as Robin hood, all we saw was a smiling blur running from room to room. Here is a picture of his lovely Momma and her bro, though.

In your face! Ha, okay, not really. Clearly Patrick took Algis' advice to take closer pictures.

Smiling Jack, which is hard to capture these days. As soon as the camera turns on, Jack's smile turns off.

Patrick's trippy shot that makes it seem like we spliced two pictures together. Amy and Jamie set up an awesome archery station for the kids, which Finn and Jack loved.

A couple of merry men. jack's merry on the inside, trust me.

Two lovely ladies. We felt so lucky to have Pat home after her harrowing trip to Japan.

And finally...one picture of the birthday boy. Happy, happy birthday sweet Felix. We love you very much!

What a Day!!!

2011-04-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

Well, we were a little nervous when we started out!!

We had some dark looking clouds overhead!!

But with the power of the rock...

Plus a little hippyness : )

We got some great vendors:

An awesome Kid Zone!!!

Some great kids...

Some fantastic musicians ; )

And we had ourselves a festival!!!

And a good time was had by all!!!

Thanks so much to everyone!!! More pix later : )

Also, see more here at our Morning Glory site:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Morning-Glory/109458242465747

Snakes...

2011-03-23T20:46:00.001-07:00

Monday, Jack's class got a visit from a reptile petting zoo. Unfortunately, neither one of us could be there to take pictures, but Jack's teacher sent us this great one of Jack. She told us that all of the other kids were scared of the animals at first, so Jack showed them that it was okay to touch the lizards and snakes and frogs and then he let them put this giant snake on him to show the other kids that it was okay. Considering the size of this snake, I'm not sure if that was terribly brave or incredibly foolish, but Jack had a great time. He said that Finn taught him how to be around animals.

...and Swings!

2011-03-23T20:29:00.001-07:00

More heart-stopping pictures of Thor's high-flying, heart-stopping swing. As you can see, the kids love it and the Mom's just cover our eyes.

Finn defying gravity.

Our neighbor Jason, hair a' flyin'.

All the kids love it, but I'm not sure anyone loves it quite as much as Jack.

Thank you for the picture-taking tips, Algis. I think they helped a lot!

Rush!!!

2011-03-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

I woke up in a Rush mood this morning!! Why do these things happen? Who knows? But I just felt like giving props to a band that still gets less respect in the critical world than they deserve.

Of course, Rush is super-easy to make fun of (check out "Stereo" by Pavement), but Rush has an almost unique ability to make you appreciate how great music can be, almost by virtue of their being sorta bad!! It's kind of like going to a taco truck on a Saturday night and realizing how great the world is, because there are great restaurants like Lucques, and there are taco trucks!! That's how Rush is. Enjoy!!!

Alone!!!

2011-03-18T14:53:00.001-07:00

Stuck here on parent conference afternoon & all alone (as usual) - just me and my pigeons : )
Good time for a house post!! Have a great weekend y'all!!!

Finally!!!

2011-03-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

Finally!!! According to Huffington Post, "Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) announced new legislation on Wednesday that would create new tax brackets for earners who make significantly more than the baseline for the current top income bracket."

This is big, great news, and so (of course) has been entirely ignored by the mainstream media so far. It's about time that someone woke up to the fact that we cannot save our country simply by cutting every program that exists.

Tax revenue is absurdly, catastrophically, low right now, and Rep. Schakowsy's bill simply raises the tax levels for the very highest earners. As the New Yorker financial columnist James Surowiecki said, about the tax rates under the Bush Tax cuts, "LeBron James and LeBron James’s dentist: same difference."

So this bill, which affects the middle class not at all, will finally raise the rates on the wealthiest Americans, who have been paying the lowest tax rates for their income level since the Eisenhour years.

The resulting income? 78.9 billion in the first year alone.

Of course, since it's a great, essential, idea, it's probably going to go down in flames, but try to send Rep. Schakowsky you support, and let your representatives know that you support this bill. Thanks!!!

Read more here.

R.I.P. Bear

2011-03-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Owsley "Bear" Stanley.
A real counter-culture hero died yesterday : ( Although I do not personally partake of the substances of psychedelia, I've got to give credit where credit is due and acknowledge that many things that I love probably wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the work of this man. For more, and some really interesting, info read here.

Five, pt. 2!!!

2011-03-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome!!!!

2011-03-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

A HUGE welcome to all of our wonderful friends and family that moved in over the weekend!!! We are sooooooo glad to have you all here!!!!

Goodbye Maggie

2011-03-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

You were a great cat. We were lucky to have you and will miss you very much. You weren't as much of a character as your brother, but you were wild and free once and now you are again. Say hello to Baxter for us. Safe journey little sweet one.

Fifteen!!!

2011-02-24T19:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

Union!!!

2011-02-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a great article on what's on the line in Wisconsin from - where else? - Daily Kos : )

Hope everyone's having a great (hopefully 3-day) weekend!!!

Rahman!!!

2011-02-19T11:00:00.001-08:00

Here are two classic Bollywood scenes, both with music from the great A.R. Rahman because, well, why not? : )

On Wisconsin!!!

2011-02-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

God bless the unions and Democratic senators of Wisconsin!!! If you're not following this amazing story (and the major papers are, of course, giving it very little play), you can follow what's happening here at the Daily Kos.

Kos!!!!

2011-02-16T06:39:00.000-08:00

I was kind of surprised a few days ago when I suddenly realised that I hadn't blogged about the Daily Kos before! I like to share good online finds, and this site is definitely one of my favorites!!

The Daily Kos is a frequently updated progressive blog where you can find many bite-sized stories about current political events, and a few really good in-depth dissections of same. The great thing about the site is that it is not only very insightful and easy to navigate, but that the authors actually have a sense of humor!

For a long time, I felt that one big thing missing from the progressive cause was the ability to see the absurd in many of our current situations. We had it in the 70's - see MASH and, especially Gary Trudeau, but it kind of disappeared there for a while. Say what you will about Rush Limbaugh (and I can't stand him), but at least he realised that, if you're going to stand on a soap box in this day & age, you'd better (at least try to) be funny!

Most of the Daily Kos writers (and especially Kos himself - otherwise known as Markos Zúniga) understand this, so it makes for pretty easy morning reading. No mean feat considering the many current atrocities of our political system!!

Anyway, I highly recommend The Daily Kos.

Here's a good one from this morning , by the way.

Have a great day all!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T06:13:00.001-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. We love all of you!

Love!!!

2011-02-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day to my babe wife : )

I love you Sweetheart!!!!!!

Extraordinary!!!

2011-02-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

It's Friday and the last day of the first semester - half way there!!! Congratulations to all teachers for making it this far, to everyone for making it through the week, and to the Egyptian people for an amazing 18 days!!!

I found this on the Internet today, and it seemed pretty appropriate - have a great weekend everyone!!!

20 Extraordinary things that are happening right now:

1. A baby is taking its first few steps.

2. Someone is admiring a breathtaking sunrise, and someone else, a surreal sunset.

3. Someone who suffered from a severe injury is getting back on their feet.

4. A small group of people are building something that will soon make the impossible possible.

5. One of the next brilliant musical artists is patiently rehearsing in her garage.

6. A piece of literature is being written that will eventually change your perspective on life.

7. A friend is helping a friend rise above thoughts of suicide.

8. People of various religious backgrounds are in temples, churches, mosques and other places of worship praying, wholeheartedly, for world peace.

9. Two best friends are laughing so hard that they aren’t even making any noise.

10. A firefighter is running into a burning building to rescue a perfect stranger.

11. A new mom is lying in a hospital bed and holding her baby twins for the very first time.

12. Someone is taking a shower and singing happily at the top of their lungs.

13. There is someone out there who smiles when they think of a specific moment they once shared with you.

14. An alcoholic just celebrated one full year of sobriety.

15. Volunteers in major cities all over the world are working at homeless shelters caring for those who are less fortunate than themselves.

16. Two teenagers just received their very first kiss ever from each other.

17. Honest people are working for various government entities to help protect your basic human rights and civil liberties.

18. An emergency room surgeon is in the middle of saving his patient’s life.

19. Someone out there is missing you and looking forward to your next visit.

20. We are reminded that extraordinary things happen to ordinary people, and that there is beauty and wonder in everyday life.

BTW - I got this from a great site called Happythings that has something great on every page - and there are hundreds of pages!!!

Another Country!!!

2011-02-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

They'll Say: 'She Must Be
From Another Country'

Imtiaz Dharker

When I can’t comprehend
why they’re burning books
or slashing paintings,
when they can’t bear to look
at god’s own nakedness,
when they ban the film
and gut the seats to stop the play
and I ask why
they just smile and say,
‘She must be
from another country.’

When I speak on the phone
and the vowel sounds are off
when the consonants are hard
and they should be soft,
they’ll catch on at once
they’ll pin it down
they’ll explain it right away
to their own satisfaction,
they’ll cluck their tongues
and say,
‘She must be
from another country.’

When my mouth goes up
instead of down,
when I wear a tablecloth
to go to town,
when they suspect I’m black
or hear I’m gay
they won’t be surprised,
they’ll purse their lips
and say,
‘She must be
from another country.’

When I eat up the olives
and spit out the pits
when I yawn at the opera
in the tragic bits
when I pee in the vineyard
as if it were Bombay,
flaunting my bare ass
covering my face
laughing through my hands
they’ll turn away,
shake their heads quite sadly,
‘She doesn’t know any better,’
they’ll say,
‘She must be
from another country.’

Maybe there is a country
where all of us live,
all of us freaks
who aren’t able to give
our loyalty to fat old fools,
the crooks and thugs
who wear the uniform
that gives them the right
to wave a flag,
puff out their chests,
put their feet on our necks,
and break their own rules.

But from where we are
it doesn’t look like a country,
it’s more like the cracks
that grow between borders
behind their backs.
That’s where I live.
And I’ll be happy to say,
‘I never learned your customs.
I don’t remember your language
or know your ways.
I must be
from another country.’

Andy!!!

2011-02-07T19:57:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Andy - hope we get to see you soon!!!

1...2...3...Hike!

2011-02-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

What's the best way to celebrate the Super Bowl? Go on a hike of course!

For all of you 'Room With A View' fans.

Ah-ha! A wild animal!

A wilder animal.

An exciting (but kinda stinky) expedition.

Pretty lady.

Hey, hey we're the monkeys! There was lots of monkeying around on this hike.

Oooh-oooh-ohhh-ahhh-ahhh-ahhh-ahhh!

Cutie patootie. (I think I put that designation on a lot of Felix' pictures.)

As Patrick pointed out our new action cam setting is pretty fast, but not as fast as Jack.

It was a perfect, beautiful February day here in Los Angeles and love was in the air.

Some of us even felt like dancing. Note Scarlett's amazing form!

Snuggle bugs! We've been a little crazy lately and we know everyone else has too, but big love to everyone. We miss you all.

Birthdays!!!

2011-02-02T06:40:00.000-08:00

It's a big birthday day today! First of all, a very happy birthday to my step bro Brian!!! He and his lovely wife Krista are out there conquering the Big Apple, but hopefully they won't mind heading back to the country for Farm Fest this summer!!

Secondly, happy birthday to James Joyce!! I'll get you next year.

Finally happy 106th birthday to Ayn Rand!!!

Rand has been in the news again lately, and in many ways - mostly bad - she seems to be as influential these days as ever. However, I still have a soft spot for her overheated prose. Since I'm short on time, here's a couple of quotes from an essay I wrote about her a while ago:

Everyone hates Ayn Rand these days, and there are some pretty good reasons why. For one thing, her disciple Alan Greenspan is one of the prime culprits in our current economic mess. For another, she saw nature as, essentially, the means to create gigantic sky scrapers. She was proudly reactionary and absurdly conservative.

...

But her real genius was in her passion for accomplishment. No one writes about work the way that Rand does. Not the monotonous grind of day to day labor, but the vital and sometimes violent act of creative work. For Rand (like Thomas Mann, but more viscerally), to do was to be. She describes the ecstasy of creation as if she were writing about God on the first day. And if that's what you're looking for, there are precious few other places to get it.

Happy birthday guys!!!

Six!!!

2011-01-31T19:37:00.000-08:00

Show?

2011-01-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

Continuing the Dore Family Blog tradition of Funny Friday, here is a very funny video! It was written by a 20 year veteran of Disney World, and is based on actual conversations. Hope you enjoy it!!

Permit!!!

2011-01-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

I'm sooooo excited!!! We got out permit for the Eagle Rock Daydream Festival today!!! More information about this coming soon : )

SOTU!!!

2011-01-25T19:41:00.001-08:00

I don't want to write too much about the State of the Union speech last night - I'm more interested in what Obama does than in what he says. But, having said that, I have to admit that it was a pretty great speech!

I especially liked that he renewed his call to raise taxes on the very wealthy, defended Social Security, and spoke movingly about the importance of education - he even had a great line for this, pointing out that trying to help the country prosper while cutting education is like "lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine." Very good simile : )

I have to admit that even his bipartisan call got to me, when he bet that no one in that room would trade this country for anywhere else. A little hokey maybe, but the guy can bring it on the podium. Now we just have to see what he does tomorrow!

For a better play by play, go here.

Last thought: Obama is a total lock for 2012.

Class Size etc.

2011-01-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

Not to sound like a broken record, but I thought that this video summed up the situation pretty well!!

Amazing Grace

2011-01-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Teresa's garden

This is Em here. I've taken a little bit of a breather from writing on the blog and on facebook because I lost one of my favorite people in the whole world on Christmas morning. My aunt Teresa was married to my Dad's youngest brother Tom. I have always adored Tom. He is open and gentle and loving, which is very important to mention here because, as much as I have always loved Tom, I still couldn't help but think that he was lucky as hell to have Teresa. We all were. Anyone who encountered her in even the smallest sense of the word was lucky - even her post man and the guy who read her meter.

Teresa was remarkable. She was fiercely intelligent and intimidatingly well read. She had a great Kathleen Turner dusky voice and a bawdy sense of humor. She was unflappable and she just seemed to do everything well and with such amazing grace. As she said on her facebook page, she was an avid reader, a serious cook and a passionate gardener. My most memorable meals were almost all made in her kitchen. She had a knack for effortlessly throwing together these amazing feasts and she would do it on a moment's notice, while carrying on the most fascinating in depth discussions with you that you'd ever had in your entire life. Suddenly, you would look up and there would be a deceptively simple looking roast chicken on the table in front of you that somehow had the power to bring all the best moments of your childhood rushing back to you.

This might have something to do with the fact that a lot of the best moments of my childhood were spent at Tom and Teresa's house. Like everything else Teresa touched, their house was incredibly warm and lovely and inviting. I remember giggling with my cousins into the wee hours of morning while having a slumber party on their lawn. Nothing but stars above us and the smell of flowers and ripe raspberries all around us. I remember Tom and Teresa patiently teaching me to play Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit at their house and letting me read there all afternoon, but most of all I remember hours upon hours spent sitting in their kitchen, talking to them and being so awed by Teresa's incredible empathy and insight. I always wanted to be like her and I was always so touched that she treated me like an equal and a peer, even when I was just a scruffy kid with scabbed knees.

This is Teresa and her own sweet Em - her daughter Emily. Teresa loved Emily to pieces and was so happy that she and her family ended up living next door.

This is Teresa and my Uncle Tom and their beloved boxers. She got such a kick out of her dogs and she and Tom really and truly loved one another.

And here is my darling Teresa. I miss her so. This past holiday season has been very bittersweet. It has reminded me how quickly life changes and how lucky we are to have the people we love, for however long we have them. I loved Teresa so very much and I probably didn't tell her nearly enough, so if you're reading this, there's a very good chance that you are another person who I love very, very much. And I hope that you know it.

Goodbye dear Teresa. Thank you for being amazing and for helping to bring so much grace into my life.

Trails!!!

2011-01-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

We had a great time today at Trails with Mom, Petur, Adrienne, Lorelai, Amy, Jamie, and Felix!! Of course, since it was Trails, we had a delicious and semi-healthy breakfast, but it also gave me a great chance to try out my new camera!!

Here's Mom & Petur - I had to put up both pictures since they're so cute:

Lorelai was a great Girl Scout cookie saleswoman!

Cuties!!

One more cutie!!

Since it was my first time really using my camera, I was trying some action shots, so a lot of jumping!!

They mostly came out pretty sharp!!

But no camera is as fast as Jack!!

Finally, I'm posting this picture of Amy since she made fun of my festival idea!

But here's a better one : )

Hope everyone is having a great three-day weekend!!!

BTW - new camera is a Canon S95 - very happy with it!!!

Great Things!!!

2011-01-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

"Patience," said Slartibartfast again. "Great things are afoot.''

"That's what you said last time we met,'' said Arthur.

"They were,'' said Slartibartfast.

"Yes, that's true,'' admitted Arthur.

Great things are afoot!!!

Awesome!

2011-01-10T16:49:00.000-08:00

I like this guy's stuff - kind of like a happier Edward Gorey/Lynda Barry!

Check out more here.

Shake the Dust!!!

2011-01-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

I might have to post this one a few more times : )

Go Jerry!!!

2011-01-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

This bodes well. Hope he keeps it up!!! The picture is for Panna by the way : )

From the L.A. Times (a little more progressive of late thankfully!):

"On his first full day on the job, Gov. Jerry Brown walked right up to the third rail of California politics. As he headed into a meeting with local government officials, he talked about how the state response to Proposition 13's limitations on property-tax rates have contributed to state's financial dysfunction."

Read more here.

Tuesday!!!

2011-01-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

Called Poetry

—In honour of Aldo Pellegrini

Called poetry is everything that closes the door on fools, yes.
Everything, on the other hand, that opens
the world’s vision and secret to the innocent,
to those who stake all on nothing,
those who don’t hoard, don’t look after themselves, don’t lie in wait
or calculate, and still are always on the verge of finding
as if by mere chance love, death, life itself even.

Called poetry is everything that pulls our feet
after the impossible. That which reveals the other side of things,
and sings at the end of disaster for no reason.
That which mercilessly blows you outside your being
or silently invades – an alien tide –
the inside until drowning your eyes.

Called poetry is everything that suddenly bursts in the word,
without warning and without logic. That which cannot be explained
properly to the smart, to those who are always right.

Called poetry is everything that comes back after exile,
defeat, the fears. The light that one day returns to the closed rooms
of old memory: the ancient, recovered simplicity of days.
The wind that revives a flame in the night. What survives us,
what always remains to us this side of the wound, the deepest loss,
like an ultimate, silent, hidden strength.

by Pedro Arturo Estrada

New Year!!!

2011-01-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!!! And a happy birthday to both J.R.R. Tolkien (2nd picture above) and Robbie Dore!!!

We had a very busy but nice New Years, beginning with a wild party at Amy & Jamie's house, complete with the traditional New Year's countdown...at 7:20 : )

After that, we had a great trip down to San Diego to see Grandpa Hank, and to celebrate with Erika & Pat's family (happy birthday again Erika!!!) So all in all it was a teriffic New Year's weekend...except that I didn't get a single picture of any of it : ( Oh, well, we still have wonderful memories!!

Finally, here's a partial list of things that I am already thankful for this year:

Erika's wonderful party & letter!!!!
Amy & Jamie's house not being completely flooded!!!
Em getting a $5,000 grant to set up a reading garden at Finn's school!!!
My new camera arriving on Friday (a Cannon S95)!!!
Getting to see so many great friends and family over the holiday (including the nifty Eric)!!!
Petur returning safely from Thailand!!!
Dad's help with education things!!!
A healthy Grandpa (even if he is gluten-free)!!!
My spectacular wife & kids!!!

Like I said, this is just a partial list, but it has been a blessed year so far, and I hope that everyone is having the same!!!

Peace & Love to all,

Patrick

Bill Gates Rant!!!

2010-12-28T06:45:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted a good rant in a while, and the end of the year seems to be a good time to get one in. I have to say that I hope that people will read this one though, because I think that it gets to the heart of a few important issues in education - plus, I actually did my research : )

Recently Newsweek's online magazine ran an interview with Bill Gates and Randi Weingarten with the title "Fixing Our Nation's Schools" (you can read the whole thing here). For those of you who don't know, Randi Weingarten is the outspoken and controversial president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Bill Gates is Bill Gates.

These are two people for whom I have a great deal of respect, and who have spent a lot of time, energy, and, in Bill Gates's case, money dealing with our ailing school system. Both of them are intelligent, committed and persuasive, and they are both appallingly wrong.

Ms. Weingarten's particular wrongness is, rather famously, the unwillingness to accept the idea of using test scores in teachers' evaluations. Basically, she is the most public symbol of the inability of schools to get rid of "lemon" teachers, and she is totally wrong in this respect, but for some interesting reasons.

I really want to do a rant at some point about Ms. Weingarten and the misunderstood wrongness of the teachers unions. But it's going to have to wait because my beef right now is with Bill Gates - or actually with the countless people who are now making the same false statements that he makes in this article.

Bill Gates, through his great fortune and a rather surprisingly strong showing of public spiritedness, has put himself front and center on the issue of education reform. Again, I have enormous respect for what he has accomplished. I especially admire his desire to give not only some of his vast wealth, but also some of his admittedly great intelligence and experience. Unfortunately, in this case, he is wrong wrong wrong.

In the Newsweek article, Mr. Gates makes the argument that the problems with the schools are not primarily financial. He argues that what is needed is not more money, but a better use of resources. His suggestions include researching the best teaching methods from around the world, improving teacher training, and (in opposition to Ms. Weingarten), instituting a merit based performance system in which teachers are rewarded or fired based, at least partly, on measurable results.

What Gates is suggesting is that the solution is not more money, but more smarts. It is the same argument used by many politicians and pundits when they want to talk about fixing huge problems without using the forbidden words "increase taxes". (To his credit, Bill Gates doesn't actually use the egregious phrase "throwing money at the problem" - in English class we teach students about loaded words, and this is one of the most common examples in these absurd days - If your children are starving and you want to feed them, is this "throwing money at the problem"?)

The problem with Gates's argument is that he in almost entirely right. We should do all of those things. We should have done them fifty years ago, but the sooner the better.

Where he, and so many others, err these days is in the assertion that the problem is not primarily financial. The inconvenient, but inescapable reality is that the problem is primarily financial in two overwhelmingly important ways.

First, as I have brought up in this blog before, the amount of time that our students actually spend in school is shamefully small compared to the rest of the world. I don't want to get into too much detail about this here since I have before, and to his credit Gates does make this point. But it is a huge issue, and we are doomed without addressing it. Malcolm Gladwell makes the same point in his terrific book Outliers, and it is one of the big ugly elephants in the room of current American policy. Again, without going into too much detail, suffice to say that every extra day of education is insanely expensive.

Before getting to the next, and more insidious, aspect of Gates's argument, I want to make a point here. When talking about the expense of a longer school year, please don't think that this is only due to teacher's salaries. What I mean is, that if the powers that be told us educators, "You need to teach for an extra month each year, and we're not going to pay you any more," I would be upset about this - who wouldn't be? - but I would do it, and I would guess, so would most teachers in the long run.

Of course this isn't what would happen - they would end up paying teachers more - but my point is that this is only a part of the enormous expense. There are also insurance, maintenance, administrative costs, busing, etc. that make increasing school time a daunting task.

But this brings me to the main point of this rant and to the heart of the wrongness of so much of our national debate on this issue. Namely, that when Bill Gates and others claim that a simple increase of spending is not the answer to our problems, there is the spoken or unspoken implication that what this means is an increase in each teacher's salary. While I would love more money (again - who wouldn't?) Gates is correct that this is not what is needed.

What is needed - desperately and critically - is more teachers. Or, more precisely, smaller class sizes, which are facilitated by having more teachers in a school. And this is a profoundly financial issue.

Gates makes the astonishingly misleading argument that we spend more money per pupil than anyone else in the world - including countries like China and Finland that are currently eating our lunch in terms of education. And this is true, but it is meaningless because their class sizes are half as large as ours at most!!!!!!

Here is the unsexy but irrefutable research from the Department of education:

The US Department of Education recently looked at the achievement levels of students in 2,561 schools across the nation, as measured by their performance on the national NAEP exams. The sample included at least 50 schools in each state, including those from large and small, urban and rural, affluent and poor areas. After controlling for student background, the only objective factor that was found to be correlated with higher student success as measured by test scores was class size –not school size, not teacher qualifications, nor any other variable that the researchers could identify.

You can see the full study here if you've got some time.

That's it - smaller classes. Why is this? Just for the obvious reasons: they are easier to manage, students get more attention, and everybody has a better educational experience. There is nothing exciting about this, but it is absolutely critical.

As I said, I did my research, and here are the statistics for classes in Finland in education - they are about half as big as ours. (Class sizes for China have traditionally been larger than Finland's, but they have been shrinking as China has become wealthier, and there are strong cultural factors in china that, unfortunately, would be almost impossible to replicate in the United States, such as a strong family focus on education.)

So there you have it: more days and smaller classes. A lot more money.

Does this mean that good teaching doesn't matter? No, it just means that, on a large scale statistical level, there is simply nothing else besides these two issues that can be quantified. And as Mary Kennedy and many others have noted, although we know what good teaching looks like, we still have very little idea of how to make it happen with any regularity.

Again, I am totally behind Gates on many issues: discover the best teaching practices, teach them to new (and veteran) teachers, and reward or punish them based on measurable data.

But, as a country, are we serious about educational reform?

Then what we need are more teachers (and the space to put them in) to create smaller classes. This is the only thing besides time that has been proven to make a measurable difference, and it is indeed primarily a financial issue. In fact, it is incredibly expensive. But that is the issue, and unless someone is addressing it, they are not truly acknowledging reality, no matter how successful they may be in business.

Hope you all had a great 2010!!!

Peace & Love,

Patrick

Christmas Day!!!

2010-12-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

It was a little hard to capture the sheer craziness of our Christmas this year. This picture makes it all look so modest, so you'll just have to trust us that it was an embarrassment of presents. We had Amy and Jamie and Felix and Kathi and Annie here along with Julie and Thor and Scarlett. Poor Felix and Scarlett were a little hesitant about the whole thing, but Finn and Jack tore into their presents with crazed gusto. Just when things were starting to die down a little bit, Bell and Steve showed up with more excellent gifts.

This was around the time Thor went home to bed (he had to drive all the way back to Orange County on Christmas Eve to get Julie's present) and poor Ms. Scarlett said, "No more, Momma. Upstairs."

Patrick and I were surprised that the boys went to bed so easily on Christmas Eve night. We were not as surprised when we woke up at 2:30 in the morning to hear rustling sounds from downstairs accompanied by "tee-hees". Here are Finn and Jack modeling the teddy bear and snake that they found in their stockings.

Here are the lovely Campbell, Gambel girls. We truly missed Mike and Molly and Petur and Great Peepa Hank this year, but we still managed to have a pretty festive soiree.

Scarlett got a super cool pink horse costume.

Finn and Jack got scooters. Finn's makes sparks. Watch out!

More presents!

The beloved pink horse costume.

Jack loves his new teddy bear. The boys loved their sparking scooters and robotic bugs and other fun presents, but I still think their favorite gifts were the pillow pets and other stuffed animals. I wish we had some better pictures of Felix from Christmas morning because he was quite a sight to be seen. He got a top hat and a shiny red cape for Christmas, along with an awesome kitchen set, which he likes very, very much. Nice work, Santa!

After the crazy present opening frenzy, we had a little energy to work off so we took advantage of the one nice day inbetween all of our rain and we took the boys for a Christmas swim. This is Jack doing his "I'm so happy to see Finn" dance.

And this is Finn the fish, doing what he likes to do best - swim! Merry Christmas everyone!

Sun!!!

2010-12-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

I missed that big ball of flaming gas!!!

Aleatoric Tuesday!!!

2010-12-21T07:43:00.001-08:00

Once again it's Aleatoric Tuesday at the Dore Family Blog!!!

Aleatoric comes from the Latin word "Alea" which means dice. It is most widely known from the work of Julius Caesar, who, being a great puzzle master, initiated the first RubikCon (TM). In those days of course, many of the familiar colors had not yet been invented, so the cubes were mainly just black and white, like dice, hence the term.

And so each Tuesday we honor the great Latins with some random stuff, such as a cool dress:

Some deep thoughts from Bob:

The last words of Blockbuster Video:

The email inbox of Elizabeth Bennet (for Amy):

And finally, David Bowie being attacked by weasels:

Have a great Tuesday everyone!!!!