Catching up

Posted on June 9, 2009 by ruthek

We took the red-eye back from San Francisco on Friday night, and I've done nothing but sleep or think about sleeping since then. I guess that's not entirely true, but it's Tuesday morning and I'm still not functioning properly. I'd like to go back to bed.

SF was fun. Unfortunately we seemed to be between new exhibits at the Asian Art Museum and the DeYoung. The best thing I saw was at the public library: an exhibit of drawings by Paul Madonna that appeared as All Over Coffee, in the SF Chronicle, over the past five years.

The library doesn't open until noon on Friday. Here are people pouring in as soon as the doors opened.

In a kind of nostalgia trip, on Thursday I took the Caltrain down to Palo Alto and Stanford. (Never thought of taking the train while we lived there.) We lived in Sunnyvale for two years, and Robin was born in the hospital on the Stanford campus. I did not go down to Sunnyvale, but I could see from the train some of the same type of houses we lived in were still in existence. These were built for returning GIs after WWII and sold for $10,000. I think you could get one for a thousand dollars down and a hundred a month for the mortgage. We rented; I don't remember how much we paid.

I went to see Asian art and the New Guinea Sculpture Garden at the Cantor Art Center. Robin arranged for the mother of a friend to meet me at the train so I had a companion for the afternoon. She was lovely.

I was most impressed with the sculpture garden. Ten artists were brought from Papua New Guinea to create sculpture in the garden. Some of the pieces resemble things I brought home when I visited Robin and Steve during the year he was doing field work there. I'll put up a PNG slide show soon.

On the road again

Posted on June 3, 2009 by ruthek

Actually, I'm in
a hotel in San Francisco, sightseeing and keeping Robin company while
she attends her yearly Java conference. I've spent the entire day
walking around and now I'm back in the hotel too wiped out to do much
of anything but watch TV and write this post. I began the day at the
Andersen Bakery, Crocker Galleria, for breakfast. The bakery is
actually from Japan, but not quite as good here. Across the street
there is a sign: YARN–Art Fiber. I was looking forward to going there,
but found it was gone, possibly another victim of our current economic
problems.

I
walked over to the tourist office on Market Street to pick up maps and
current info then spent time in Nordstroms. I'm not a big shopper, but
I have picked up some choice things there. Not today, though. Sometimes
I find the fashion offerings dismaying.

Last year, on
the last day of my visit here, I was walking through that same shopping
mall killing time while waiting for Robin to get finished at her
conference, and I was given a taste of grilled beef from Buckhorn
Grill. It was delicious, but we were scheduled to go out for dinner to Greens,
so I did not indulge. I've been thinking about that meat all year.
Actually, I thought I'd never get back here. Robin didn't think she
would come back to the conference, and I certainly wasn't coming back
here alone. Needless to say, I headed right back there for lunch.

There are things
in the world one ought to appreciate without trying to expand on them.
Lunch was good, but not nearly as good as that one tiny piece of meat.
I had heartburn all afternoon and probably ruined my cholesterol.I eat very little meat. I thought it was on principle, but maybe I don't digest it very well.

The new Jewish Museum
is just down Mission Street. The had an interesting exhibit of Passover
Seder Plates and an excellent exhibit about Marc Chagall and the
Russian Jewish Theater.The building
that now houses the museum was originally a power station, one of the
first buildings to be restored after the 1906 earthquake, now repurposed by Daniel Liebeskind, the architect who designed the New York 9/11 memorial.

I needed to sit down so I got on a bus and went to Japan town to the Kinokuniya bookstore. The website says it's just like visiting Japan, an amazing exaggeration. Lots
more walking then back on the bus to the Embarcadero to the Acme
Bakery. I recalled getting walnut whole wheat bread there last year and
was able to get it again–without doubt one of my favorite things to
eat and very hard to find.

China Book is finished

Posted on May 31, 2009 by ruthek

I finally did it! I'm not entirely satisfied, but I've decided to accept it as is and try to do better with the Japan book.

I had to remove all of the pockets from the front of the bag; it was just too large. I had hoped to put the small one, upper right, back at the lower right and decided it wouldn't work.

I did a photo transfer on the now empty front section of the bag. I consulted several books and the internet and my friend SandyB, who is wonderfully creative, gave me some excellent advice. I printed this photo backwards, with China 2008 added to it, on an inkjet transparency.

After I brushed acrylic medium on the fabric I placed it ink side down and rubbed the front of the transparency. This kind of transfer is usually done with paper, rubbing removing the paper from a film created by covering the ink with the medium, and involving lots of careful brushing and waiting for the medium to dry. Using a transparency bypasses all of that but results leave something to desire.

I embroidered the letters and the red banner, which hardly showed up at all in the transfer. Then I added the beads, bone soaked in black coffee, at the bottom, and the pieces of silk fabric at the top. The back of the bag had a large pocket that I retained. I write all of the files for the book on a DVD and put it in the pocket, just in case I want to do it again.

Binding boards get cut to size (9×11.5) then a half inch gets cut off the binding side and glued a quarter inch from the larger board. This enables the cover to open properly. After the fabric was glued to the boards, keeping everything clamped together, I drilled five tiny holes within that quarter inch space, then sewed the entire thing together using linen carpet thread from Ireland. Directions for sewing can be found here.

Medical update

Posted on May 28, 2009 by ruthek

Last week when the dr's office told me to return the monitor, that he had enough data and I had extra heartbeats, I was certain he wanted to talk to me about some invasive tests, or worse. It was a long weekend. I didn't really worry; they would have put me in the hospital if it had been really bad, but I'm supposed to go to San Francisco next week with Robin. I didn't want to ruin the trip. So, what was it all about?

He explained how the heart works, what the read-out showed, etc. He thought I was feeling those extra beats when there were none. Although the monitor technicians always asked me what I had been feeling, and I always told them the monitor was doing this all by itself, evidently that was not conveyed to the dr. I felt something only 4 times in the 2 weeks and those were the extra beats. Everything else was normal. I don't know what that damn monitor, which went off every day but one, was doing. The dr asked if I felt good: I do. He told me that was what was important and sent me on my way.

Remember my earlier question about when you tell things to the dr, and the long discussion we had about it? Well, this time I should have kept my mouth shut. True confession cost me two weeks of aggravation and $50 in co-pays. I think I'm going back to my earlier stance of not talking to drs unless I am desparate.

Dear President Obama

Posted on May 25, 2009 by ruthek

What happened to the man I voted for? The man of courage and confidence who entered the election with overwhelming odds against him, and won. What happened to that man who was going to change the world? It looks to me like you have lost the stomach for the fight. By working with what you consider the possible you are giving up the chance to make the world better for all of us.

Thinking it was just an aberration, I didn't write to you when you selected Geithner and Summers. And I didn't know much about finance, although I am certainly learning about it.

I know a lot about healthcare, about fighting with insurance companies, about not being able to get insurance when my husband was made redundant (don't you love that word) at the age of 56. The only real answer to the healthcare mess in this country is to get rid of the insurance companies and institute a medicare-like single payer system.

AND YOU ARE NOT ALLOWING SINGLE PAYER BACKERS TO SPEAK THEIR PIECE.

Does that mean you have chickened out? Or are you now in the pockets of the insurance companies and big pharma?

David Sirota at Salon.com talks about your early support for single payer:

In that speech six years ago, Obama said the only reason single-payer
proponents should tolerate delay is "because first we have to take back
the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take
back the House.

then asks some of these same questions:

So it's back to why — why Obama's insurance-industry-coddling
inconsistency? Is it a pol's payback for campaign cash? Is it an overly
cautious lawmaker's paralysis? Is it a conciliator's desire to appease
powerful interests? Or is it something else?

We need you to fight this battle just as you fought to get elected. If this is an impossible dream, your election was an even more impossible dream. Keep that in mind while you fight and win this one for us. Don't let us down now.

Three quarters of a century

Posted on May 24, 2009 by ruthek

I took Darcy home where she is more comfortable and I can have peace and quiet. She barks incessantly while she is here: at the dogs walking by and at my neighbors dog who she knows is there but has never seen. She hates other dogs so I don't think introducing her would help.

It's been a lovely birthday since. Carol sent me roses, then called this morning to sing happy birthday, our family tradition. My cousin Marilyn who is six days younger than me called, and Raja called. Then Mary, another neighbor brought me a beautiful cupcake. My family is coming back from the camping trip this afternoon and we will all go out to dinner (without Darcy).

I keep thinking about my grandmother. She lived with us from the time I was six until I was fourteen and she died of leukemia at the age of 78. As I age I think of her often and feel like I know her better than I did when she lived with us. Then I saw her through the lens of my mother's emotions and I was a little afraid of her. She was a formidable woman and remained so until she took sick. Five days a week she walked several blocks then took three streetcars to go to the nursery she started in Chicago.

Here she is addressing a meeting. Did I say she was formidable? Somehow I can't imagine myself looking that old. But now I can understand her drive, her need to leave the house, and her silences. I'm sure that living with my family was not easy for her.

Latest news

Posted on May 22, 2009 by ruthek

I returned the event monitor yesterday and I'm thrilled to be without it. What a nuisance. The doctor said he got enough data from it; he wants to talk to me next week. I have a feeling this will be more reason to get a stent.

Wednesday morning I will give a talk at the Pitt Osher program about my experience in China with Cross Cultural Solutions. I want to have the book finished to show at the talk so I'll be working all weekend. I've been taking pictures as I go along. With any luck I'll be able to show it to you early next week. Since I've been taking that stitchery class I've been using hand embroidery on this one. I'm not very good at it, but it will do.

This is also a Darcy weekend. My family went camping today. I'm going to walk the dog and bring her back here in a few minutes. I'll be celebrating my 75th birthday on Sunday…with Darcy. I think I've reached a new low.

Head, heart, art and earrings

Posted on May 19, 2009 by ruthek

There were no bids on the pictures. I would have been very surprised if they had sold. Several people asked how I found out about it. I don't spend my time looking at eBay. In fact, that was probably only the second or third time I have ever gone there. What I have working for me is Google Alerts. Some time ago there was a piece on NPR about the internet being used to slander or malign people. Their expert suggested setting up a Google Alert with your own name. Being the daughter of someone who was extremely paranoid this sounded good to me. Google alerted me to the pictures for sale.

Stacie of Nomadic Creations is living here in Pittsburgh for five weeks. We met on Sunday and it was really fun. I had to cut the visit short because I had another commitment, but I felt like we could go on talking for a long time. We never had a chance to talk about her jewelry or the wonderful earrings she gave me. And we did not get to walk in Frick Park. Come back Stacie.

The heart monitor continues to irritate me. I just spoke to the dr's office and they will get back to me. Maybe I can quit. At least I now know the dr has been getting reports.

I've been watching the HBO series on Alzheimer's Disease. You can see it on the computer, thank you HBO. It's very depressing. I can't help but wonder if I'm headed there. Robin assured me not, but I still worry about it. My mother may have had it; she was never really diagnosed. The doctor guessed it was small strokes, but who knows. She was always a little vague, and I have to admit I can't remember when I understood she was no longer with us, before she didn't recognize me, or only then. She told my father he was the man who took care of her, but he was not her Morrie. That really hurt him. Ironically, as we all suffered with her loss of memory she became a happier woman.

Heart and art

Posted on May 16, 2009 by ruthek

My heart monitor was silent for more than 36 hours, making me think it was broken. It has two recording modes: I can press a button and the loop (tape?) is recorded, or it can decide it has detected something and retain the recording automatically. In the ten days I've had the thing I have pressed the button three times. It has found the need to record several times each day, with the exception of yesterday and last night. Ringing after it records is extremely annoying. The ring tends to startle me and we won't take about how I feel when it rings if I am in a class. Transmitting the signal stops the ringing, but I can't always get to a phone; using my cell phone doesn't give a good transmission. Before I go to a class I push the transmit button, but don't erase the tape. It seems to remain silent, at least for the length of time of a class, then I actually transmit when I get home. If I was trouble-shooting this as a device, I'd be very suspicious of that silence.

I don't fully understand this thing. I've talked to people in the dr's office, the techs who answer the phone and even managed to get to an engineer (or salesman) for the company. I get a slightly different story from each person I speak to. I have pretty much figured out how to live with it, but I have no idea if any useful data is coming from it.

I am now taking Osher classes at both Pitt and CMU; I'm very busy. I'm taking a drawing class, a stitching class, a class about Pre-columbian and tribal art, a mystery reading class, a class that visits private art collections and artist's studios, and tai chi, of course. I really love the stitching (embroidery) class and the visits to the art collections. Last week we went to a fabulous private home with an interesting collection of contemporary art along with a huge collection of Palissy ceramics. This is certainly a way to get into places I might not otherwise see here in Pittsburgh.

For sale on eBay

Posted on May 13, 2009 by ruthek

Five of my old photographs, from 1975, are for sale on eBay. I don't remember who bought them from me (or who I gave them to). Not surprising, they have lost value: I sold them for $25 each, unframed and that's probably what they will go for now, if they sell at all. They are photos taken on or around the elevated and subway trains in Chicago.

I worked briefly, for a city planner with offices next to the elevated tracks. During my lunch hours I walked around and photographed under the tracks going around the downtown area of the city. After they fired me laid me off, I continued my city walks and systematically rode each of the trains, photographing old stations and city views from the trains. Eventually, I had a show of 65 of the photos at the Chicago Cultural Center, one of the highlights of my career as a photographer.

I'm tempted to buy the photos myself; I have almost nothing left from the show. I'm fairly certain these were not prints that were in the show, but some extras I sold at art fairs. It doesn't sound like they are in good condition.

100 Books Before I Die

Ruthe Karlin