Happy holidays!

…with the Beatles…

Whew…

Lots of rain, big waves, nothing happened. Good news.

Gulp

My daughter is spending the weekend in Martha’s Vineyard which sounded great, until I see this…

Hope they have an umbrella.

Sprint to Santa Monica

We did a quick trip to Santa Monica over the weekend to go to my nephew’s volleyball game–he’s a frosh at George Mason University, and they played #3 Pepperdine Saturday night. Great chance to see fam, and a good volleyball. Pepperdine won, 3-0.

We also spent Saturday doing galleries in Santa Monica, and made a great discovery of the Bergamot Station art gallery complex, as well as cruising the galleries on Main Street. I have to say, LA has great modern culture and music (KCRW).

We also stopped at the new Getty on our way back to Sac. No special exhibits for us, but just a great building and views.

More photos in Flickr set.

Reading and napping…

…in Santa Cruz.

Christmas in San Francisco

Embarcadero from the Hyatt.

Listening to jazz at the De Young

We spent the weekend in the city. Main feature was seeing the Chihuly show at the De Young. Afterward we escaped the crowds to listen to jazz outside. Perfect day.

“Retirement” party

Today was my last day at the Energy Commission. So the Commission had an ice cream social and merry-making at my expense, followed by beer at the Fox and Goose. It was a great time. This is a “retirement” party because I start at the Energy Foundation monday. I will miss my friends at the CEC, but we will still be working together.

More photos on Flickr.

Graduation!

Our good friend and Peace Corps volunteer is coming home from Kenya

Rachel Santos is a national treasure. She’s been in Kenya, and the Peace Corps is finally giving up over the current turmoil, and sending volunteers home. Rachel’s blog tells it all:

im coming home…wish i could see the look on your face.

Today i am officially an RPCV. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. no longer employed by the peace corps. i have completed service. ive only been here for 8 months-you all thought you had another 19 months without me. well, no longer, im coming home. a week ago i would not have been able to tell you i was leaving so soon. ive been playing with the idea of leaving for some time now, but it was in the future. the last few weeks have been some of my hardest here. since returning to voi from evacuation in tanzania, i went through severe depression. i couldnt eat, couldnt sleep. couldnt do anything…but cry. i was paralyzed. i couldnt stomach being back in voi, back in this small bubble seemingly untouched by the devastation the rest of the country is experiencing. i couldnt even fathom waking up each morning and reading about the gang rapes, the homeless families, the lost relatives and livelihoods just a few hours away and me, going back to life as usual, to talking to kids about aids and how to make decisions for their futures. futures that at this moment are so uncertain. i contemplated just quiting Peace Corps and walking up to one of our haphazard displaced persons camps and just saying let me help. i want to be talking to those affected, i want to hear their feelings about the people who put them there. i want to start thinking about the reconciliation process that is going to have to take place here. my brain is capable of so much more than what i was doing in voi.

Can’t wait to see her.

The tragedy of Kenya

It’s awful watching Kenya sink into the same bloodshed and horror of so many other hell holes in Africa. Lauren was there last summer, and had a wonderful time, and enjoyed the people enormously. Here’s an interesting historical comment on events (thanks to a great post on boing boing),

Happy New Year!

Fireworks over the Embarcadero in the City…

A few days in Santa Fe

We’ve been in Santa Fe for a few days of exploring. It’s been bitter cold–about 20F at night, and about 30F during the day, and breezy to boot. It snowed about an inch thursday, on top of about five inches that arrived before we did. Snow on the Santa Fe plaza — brrrrrrr:

But we’ve had a good time. Highlights:

• Trying lots of Southwest food. Our favorite was The Shed, although my Huevos Motulenos at Pasqual’s was great.
• The Site Santa Fe gallery, where we saw the moving “The Disappeared” exhibit.
• The San Miguel Chapel, which is the oldest church in the U.S.
• A spectacular drive to Abiquiu and the Ghost Ranch, which were Georgia O’Keeffe’s hangouts in New Mexico.
• The O’Keeffe Museum was a disappointment to me. I was hoping to see the classic O’Keeffe’s, but they weren’t there. But I did like this “Starlit Night” watercolor:

  

  More Santa Fe photos on Flickr.

My favorite tree ornament

Marilyn made this ornament 30 years ago, and I think it’s the most amazing thing. It’s always front and center on our tree, and we have a gorgeous tree.

Holiday greetings…

We’re enjoying the holidays, and hoping the world forgives the stupidity of the Bush/Cheney administration.