Sunday, March 17, 2024

Genius Meal Train

 


Somebody had a genius idea for a meal train dessert.  This family has an almost 3 year old and a new baby.  She sent over a small frosted cake.  But the sprinkles were in an attached separate bag.  So the three year old could put the sprinkles on the cake.

Of course he loved it!  Genius!  A very good idea, one of the best!

Frankie (in his trademark leopard shirt) demonstrates.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Giving our Archives presentation


 On Friday night, the six of us in our Archives Hearth Group presented our projects at Temple.  These groups are designed to help people get to know each other.  Supposed to last six weeks, we're almost a year.  These art projects address the problem of how to construct something that will communicate some of our family information to others, especially the younger generations.  So we all made one.  They are mounted on the walls in a hall off the main lobby.  We all made a two minute speech introducing our work.  Here I am, doing it.

I think I need images of all of them.

I was nervous at first thinking of producing an art piece.  But not so bad!  Many thanks to our leader Ken and our (accidental) artist in residence Mercer.




Monday, March 4, 2024

Great day in San Francisco


 I traveled to San Francisco for the day yesterday.  Only problem was the logistics of getting back, we didn't get home until 2:30 am.

I went by myself.  The main event was the Chopin Birthday concert played by Robert Schwartz.  Fabulous!  He does such a wonderful dramatic job with Chopin pieces.  And everything else.  We all were entranced from the very start.  He treated us warmly after the concert.  So worth it!

We also went to Mandalay Burmese restaurant.  I definitely need to go there again.  I will post pictures next time.  JJ and I had a wonderful time.  Prior to the restaurant we went to the tower at the de Young museum.

San Francisco, such a beautiful city.




Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Simon at two weeks


 

Simon at two weeks with his eyes open!

Hmmm  I think I need a Frankie picture


Sunday, February 25, 2024

Introducing Simon Arthur

 


Welcoming Simon Arthur!  He was born on Feb 13 (two weeks early).  It was an extremely hard birth for mom and son due to a ruptured uterus.  Ilana lost a lot of blood and Simon was moved to a high level NICU in Indianapolis.  But everybody is home now safe and sound. Looking good for both of them.  So fortunate for them that Matt's aunt and uncle live an hour or so away.  Aunt Sarah came down and took care of Frank for a whole week.  Known as the patron saint of their household.  Megan went for a week to help out and crushed it.  She'll be home tonight.  Naomi is already on the way for a week.  They might be ok; we show up on March 13, always the plan.

You can see that no blog entries since Feb 13; that's why.




Monday, February 12, 2024

Hi from Bowen


 Reacquaint yourself with our boy Bowen.  Yeah, he's probably mostly pit bull terrier.  And, he still has only one eye.  We went to visit some of Dennis' relatives today (equipped with two cheese danish and two sandwiches).  Points south to collect some pictures which we did score.  His brother and birthfather.  I tried to keep the birthfather visit to one hour but it was 45 minutes over our limit until I could drag him out.

Suzie let Bowen out partway through.  He's not so great on the piddling on command but he does have an iron bladder.  So I told her not to worry if he didn't go.  He's a good boy and has his own pink puzzle piece nose.  Bowen was his official name from Oklahoma and he comes to it.  So there you go!  Sounds like a name from Oklahoma.

Our lawn is almost entirely moss at this point; life in the Pacific Northwest.



Saturday, February 3, 2024

Book House Reconstruction




Ilana is having her set of ?My Bookhouse" reconstructed!  This beautiful set of five volumes of old-fashioned stories was bought by my grandparents in the 1920s for their children.  I enjoyed the stories, poems and fairy tales as a child.  I inherited them and my children enjoyed them too.  I once brought one of them to school for some project; the teacher had a much later uglier version.  I really thought she might do violence to get my version!

Ilana really wanted to have them.  Being part of the library community, she's using her resources to have them repaired and reconstructed.  So they will be strong for the next generation!


 

Friday, February 2, 2024

Archives Art Project


 We started as a 6 week class last spring.  About Archives.  At our synagogue.  But we're still going!  Somehow the idea turned into an Art Show.  Nobody is sure how that happened.  The idea was to use the archival materials that we had and turn it into some art object.

Art?  Aaack!

So mine is called "Why no yiddishkeit?"  It started with an uncomfortable conversation I had with somebody I knew who assured me that she knew ALL about being Jewish.  After awhile, she was substituting the yiddish culture from Eastern Europe, the people, the food, the music, the theater the language for Judaism.  But then I thought about my own family.  There really was none of that yiddishkeit in my family at all.  Why not?

So this piece explores that.  On my mother's side (the top half), her relatives were (almost) all from the earlier 1840-1860 migration from the German States.  About 250,000 came; they did not come from yiddish (and it's culture) lands.  Many from Bavaria ssettled in New Haven, CT.  They spoke German and considered themselves German.

My father's side (the bottom half) came from the much larger (about 2 million) later migration (1880-1925) from Eastern Europe.  Where the yiddish culture flourished.  The Lower East Side, the garment trade, etc.  But my father's family settled in Rochester NY.  In 1918, my grandfather, won a scholarship to Harvard and was a proud 1920 graduate.  From that point on, he was a Harvard Man.  He and my grandmother denied their immigrant past of their parents; they obliterated it.

As you know, I have a lot of archival material.  And I use it.  A lot.

There's the final piece though I'm still picking at it.



Thursday, February 1, 2024

Edwin T. Pratt



Edwin T Pratt was a civil rights leader and President of the Urban League.  In 1959, he ad his family moved to Shoreline.  The first black family to do so.  Shameful!  Ten years later, he was assassinated in his own home.  Even worse!  The murder is unsolved to this day.  Terrible!

We attended the annual Edwin T. Pratt event at Shoreline Community College.  I had connections to both of the main speakers.  Ken Winick (featured at the podium) leads the Hearth Group on Archives at Beth Am that we are participating in.  Jean Soliz is the sister in law of Diane S. who is shown in the picture in red.  A long time friend.  Jean was very close to the family and is writing a book about him.

Some Shoreline facilities are named after him.