At Home

Their home, not my home.  Certainly not the home I lived in while growing up in East L.A.  Nope as wonderful as the memories are of that home, it was about 600 square feet in total.  And that probably included the back porch steps.

No, this home is the famous Blacker House.  It is hyper quintessential work by Greene and Greene.  The design of the whole informed the design of the particular.  If you've not had a chance to enjoy a Greene and Greene do so the next chance you get.  While not cathedrals they can make jaws drop and illicit breathtaking responses.

The Blacker House was vandalized by a previous owner.  That is, they took bits and parts of the house and sold them as individual items.  Recognition of the Knells who hosted my talk last night, referred to their work as recovering treasures.  So true.

Talking about the past often is recovering bits of treasure.

As a result of the talk I met a fellow who has connections with the family I was talking about.  It turns out his father was friends with the younger son of Arturo Bandini and Helene Elliott Bandini.  We're hoping to get together and chat sometime soon.  Here's hoping for some more bits of treasure to return to the history of our home - Pasadena.

Pasadena General Plan Update

Okay, I've just broken all sorts of rules.  Very, very unsexy title for this topic.  

But like brushing your teeth, if you don't attend to the task, things begin to fall apart.  

 I'm hoping that you'll find the information and the colors on the page a little intriguing.

Beyond being colorful they respresent a vision for the City of Pasadena. I've focused on sharing the existing and projected vision of Lake and Washington.  

The colors represent everything from density to height of businesses/building.  As the flyer states - 

The General Plan is the blueprint that will guide Pasadena's future for the next ten years and beyond.  

 

If you're the sort of person who likes to see things in 3D and likes to speak to folks so that your opinion is weighed in - there's another Community Forum tomorrow night - it's the last one.
The red-ish dots represent where folks live who have expressed their opinion thus far, the blue dots represent where they work in the city.  If you can't make tomorrow night, you certainly can still express your opinion to someone who is with the City and connected with this effort.

http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/GeneralPlan/June_2012_Community_Forums/

It was a Cloudy Day yesterday

This weekend the American Library Association is having their annual conference in Anaheim.  Last year about this time I posted images of a competition that involved librarians and bookcarts.  

Who know what will take place this year?

Yesterday things were hopping at the Central Library.  Beth Walker, Principal Librarian at Pasadena Public Library

and Mayor Bill Bogaard spoke about the debut of the 3M Cloud Library eBook Lending Service.  The name is long, but idea is simple.  The library now has available the technology to allow patrons to download library materials to computer, iPad, iPhone or other "smart devices". 

 You can reserve books just as you would hardback books.  In a touch of magic and technology the books "disappear" after two weeks.  Pasadena and Glendale are among the first 10 cities in the nation, and the first two in California,  to debut this new technology.  There'll be more than 1,400 titles from which to choose.

 Folks from 3M were at the debut able and willing to help folks get started.  They're long gone but the link below will help you get connected to the Cloud.  If that doesn't do it, there are some very cool librarians in our city who would be more than willing to give you a lesson in magic.

http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/library/books_materials/ebooks_and_downloadables/

Pasadena: Unexpected Roots

When I first began to explore the history of Pasadena, I was focused primarily on Latinos.  There was a paucity of facts on members of the community and there were a lot folks who had really interesting lives that weren't well known.  Like most other folks who delve or dive into archives it quickly became clear that the history was one more of connections than of isolation.
I get to share a bit of what I've learned next week.
This event is organized by the Pasadena Museum of History.
It's really an honor to not only be giving the talk, but to be doing so at the Blacker House is a once in a life time experience.

"Join us for an evening  filled with intimate stories of Pasadena’s earliest days as reflected in the romance, marriage, and works of Arturo Bandini and Helen Elliott Bandini: a melding of the legacies of Old California and a Transcendentalist sensibility to women’s identity and roles.  Our guide, Pasadena’s Roberta H. Martínez, author ofLatinos in Pasadena, will point out unexpected connections with the Valley Hunt Club, Greene and Greene architecture, Charles Lummis, and even the Manhattan Project.  Ms. Martínez is the Executive Director of Latino Heritage; and as an independent researcher and scholar, she has explored many of the lesser-known nooks and crannies of Pasadena history. This event takes place at the renowned 1907 Blacker House, designed by Greene and Greene". Image: Arturo Bandini leaning against a tree with two unidentified men. Courtesy of the Archives, Pasadena Museum of History (People-B).

Members-Only At Home Series Event Tuesday, June 26, 6:30 pm at Blacker House, Pasadena Tickets: PMH Members Only, $30 per person.  RSVP online or by calling 626.577.1660, ext. 10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_R._Blacker_House

June 18, 2012

I love my birthday.  In our family the birthday girl or boy was royalty for their day.  Every couple of years James and I look for an excuse for a PARTY.  Well, it's usually me looking and James is fine with the whole PARTY idea.

Ten years ago we celebrated my turning 50 with a big PARTY.   I also decided to be a blonde.  I was curious about how I'd look and what it might be like to be a blonde.  It was an experiment where fashion and curiosity intersected.  Our friend Sharyl Ramos, who's been cutting our hair for decades, did the deed.  Except the first go 'round my hair was Tweetybird Yellow.  Thank God I'm secure.  Do you really know what color Tweetybird is?  A second go round got me to something approaching platinum.  That, I liked, and found I didn't need to find new clothes to go with my hair. 

I enjoyed being a blonde for about a month.  Then I enjoyed being a redhead.  Why not?  My grandmother was supposed to have had auburn hair.

But, I found that my roots came back with a vengeance every couple of weeks and I either had to spend time or money to stay ahead of them.  I'm too busy and too cheap to spend money on my hair.  

Today I turn 60.  I've shared with some friends that "there are still pages on the calendar, but I can see the cardboard backing."  There are things I still want to do, but it's not a bucket list.

I'm comfortable and aware that I sometimes look backward as much as I look forward.  Who I'm with matters more than where I'm going.  That's something to celebrate isn't it?  One might even call it a gift.

Father's Day 2012

Hats off to all the Fathers

  who let us fly

 when we're ready to land by ourselves

 and who are there 

 to help us fly 

until we can do it on our own.

photos - James Grimes

A scholar's retreat

I had a dear friend, actually a couple of friends, ask me to write about my Scholar's Retreat.  I think they meant the place I stayed while I was doing research at Berkeley as much as the experience I had in my role of scholar.  Big ol' Venn overlap in that.

Having a room or roomlet of one's own is what I wrote about.  Having the comfort of a partner who encourages you to explore all parts of your life, is a luxury that's precious and contributes to this scholar's life.  Being able to call myself a scholar and not have people laugh to my face, is another.

Part of what I like about my scholarly retreats is that I can plan my day following my own measure.  I am silly in love with my husband.  He is my soulmate and my buddy.  I still smile when I think of him.  Point here is that he is comfortable with my wandering off to do some academic spelunking which helps me love him all the more.

I digress.

Traveling down a scholarly road has included finding a room that you can afford and then finding out that the toilet is down the hall.  Actually around the corner and being shared by folks who are attending a conference.  The balance to this; the person speaking is a Noble Laureate.  Sort of doesn't matter what his name is.

It's also about the details it takes to get to the manuscripts you need for your work.  In my case, I'm dealing with the Bandini/Elliott family - I'll write more about them next week. I'm dealing with materials in English and Spanish and trying to decipher 18th -20th century handwriting. There is a big cosmic laugh going on at my efforts.

There is the variance that exists at any of the sites where I do research.  In one case, I arrive and they are thrilled to know that my work has a connection with  Pasadena - the 19th century catalogues of a college are available at my convenience.  At another my driver's license serves as my research passport and I am required to fille out form after form.  At another I must wait as the kernels of history are brought to the library at specific delivery times.

And the Huntington where the hurdles are high to qualify, but once in, oh, my, what a place of researching bliss.  The acknowledgement of one's "seriousity" is a sweet thing.  There is an underlying assumption that the work being done merits support.  Somehow, for me at least, that makes me want to do my very best;  others have shared some of their knowlege and wisdom with me.

I have looked at doodles from the 18th century.

Yesterday I held the paper that was written and then read by individual who lived in the 19th century.  I read a report card from that same era.  I read the story of a young girl who nearly died and discovered a stack of letters that are written to the wife of one of the founders of Pasadena.

Somehow all of that balances my traveling on the cheap; being willing to take a day and a half to find the shower I can use and sharing the loo with the Noble Laureate.

Calistoga's Russian Orthodox Church

A friend asked me what is the most northern mission in Alta California.  It was a Bambi moment, you know deer in headlights analogy: because it was an unexpected question, because I didn't have a real answer.  So out came a non-answer answer; to the effect that where you stop hearing Spanish names for places, qué no?

Then we talked about regional names in Northern California, places with English and French names.  We both chuckled about the Russian River and the fact that we're pretty sure the Russians didn't call it Russian River, but that we didn't know what they did call it.  And my mind began to wander.

What would have happened if the French or the Russians had they remained in the area?  Would we all have a better sense of Cyrillic?  Would the Molokans be better integrated into our history? Would they exist in the U.S?   I grew up being aware of the Molokans as I was growing up in East Los.  I suspect there were Russian Orthodox folks but I didn't know or note them.

Mind still wandering.

Here is the Russian Orthodox Church in Calistoga, Napa Valley, CA. It's about a block away from the main street travelled by local and tourist.

I'm sure the romanized cyrillic gives the name of the Saint or Sacrament that is being recalled, but I've no time to try to translate.   I am thankful to Tanya Nazaroff, my  Stevenson Junior High school buddy who helped me learn to read cyrillic at a kindergarten level.  Masha, Tasha, Kot... I can on occasion sound out words, though I've no sense of what they mean.  A potentially dangerous linguistic state.

Mystery remains, mind wanders.

It's funny how the familiar need not be something you can read or translate.  I see this dome and am reminded of my childhood home - a community filled with all sorts of roots and branches. Iconic.  In this case, given Molokan beliefs, there is a certain irony in the whole package.

 Because I've mentioned the Molokans, here are a couple of sites with more info.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?cowellbib:6:./temp/~ammem_c5cJ::
http://happywonderer.wordpress.com/2007/03/27/molokans-milk-drinkers/

Looks like we've been adopted

He started as a feral and looked this side of starving.  

Larry thought he had the right credentials so he let him  hang around.  Leia figures he's okay - for a cat.  After all, he's not Larry, who has the heart of a dog in a cat's skin.  Perhaps Leia knows Larry's exceptional.  

In any case we humans have taken to calling him "Fred". 

He has taken to thinking of this place as home.  Yes, the pictures are presented in sequence taken.  

 Our futon, complete with curtain, burlap, and last Sundays' paper seems to be Fred's bed.

We can go away now, he's ready to nap.  Thank you.

Napa Valley tripping

Never having been to Napa, Sonoma, or Mendocino, and being of a certain age, I talked James into spending time there. I remember old Sunset Magazines that spoke of this place in almost mystical terms.  Had no idea what we'd find.

In brief - we found nature at all stages

a bit of eco/Disney

tiny bits of museums

and, not surprisingly, a lot of wine barrels as viewed from my perspective

 and as viewed from James' perspective.

 Topped off with hearty splash of good luck from the Parking Fairy.  Somehow the front door was never far from where we were able to park.

Stout Memorial Grove

James loves nature.

Photos - James Grimes

The personal and the political

As we get older we get different adjectives and nouns added to our identifiers.  We start out life with certain words, during our teen age we have words removed and added, and as we age the words are modified yet again.  At weeks shy of 60 words like compact, Nana, and researcher are words that describe who I am and what I do. 

Now I get to add another word - reader.  Or more to the point Reader.  

I am now a Huntington Library Reader.  I owe thanks to Ted Bosley and Dr. Robert Winter, as well as the staff at the Pasadena Museum of History for helping add this word.  I'm about to put on my pass and go out the door. 

On last night's election - a couple of quick thoughts.

Given the amount of time that the District Task Force spent on Measure A it felt odd to not see a campaign connected with its passage.  Those of us who were involved were called a lot of names, none of which the folks I most closely worked with earned.  Some who were in disagreement saw alignments that didn't exist.  There was reporting that took place that was less than even and precious little coverage of Measure A.  

And yet, or despite all this, Measure A passed.  Thanks to those of you who supported it. Thanks to those of you who went out and voted - whatever your point of view.  Voting is a precious privilege and right.

As of Date: 06/06/2012 Time: 04:38                   Votes                Percent



PASADENA USD MEASURE A
ELECTION OF SCHOOL BOARD - YES            12,597              54.81


(MAJORITY OF VOTES CAST) - NO                  10,387              45.19

TOTAL PRECINCTS    126 PRECINCTS REPORTING 126   100.00

REGISTRATION 113,142

http://rrcc.co.la.ca.us/elect/12060602/rr0602pl.html-ssi

Arthur Bandini, Santa Clara College

Part of the reason for my trip over the last couple of weeks was going to institutions to do research in preparation for a talk that I'll be giving on June 26.  The talk will be a part of series that is presented by the Pasadena Museum of History.  

I'll be talking about some unexpected connections and roots that Arturo Bandini and Helen Elliott Bandini have to some well known aspects of Pasadena.  Things like the Tournament of Roses, Greene and Greene and the Shakespeare Club.

Arturo Bandini, standing by tree, with unknown persons and dog.
Photo courtesy of the Archives, Pasadena Museum of History

I began my trip with a stop at Santa Clara Universityh where Arturo had earned his B.A. and M.A.   

Chronocentric ego in the lead I went to college not knowing what to expect.  Arturo was born in 1853 so I was guessing he had been at Santa Clara College, as it was then known, in the 1870s.  I guess I was thinking that there would be a sheet or two of information that might be available to study.  So happy that my 21st century sense was wrong.

The students were welcoming, the archives were airy - yes, I wrote airy - and they had bound volumes of all the institution's catalogues.  It's striking to see what was being discussed, presented and studied.

And there is a part of me who wonders when Arturo became Athur who later became Don Arturo?

http://www.pasadenahistory.org/programs_events/index.html#athomeroots

http://www.scu.edu/archives/

Su voto es su voz

http://www.lavote.net/LOCATOR/

Election Day, June 5th, 2012 - Measure A

Elections can make for difficult times.  People become passionate in expressing their views.  An election is one of the few places where there you either win or loose.  It's hard not to take things personally.  All that.

So here I am sticking my neck out on a very local election matter.

I was one of those who served on the PUSD Districting Task Force (DTF).  The 9 of us were nominated and appointed by the governing bodies in Altadena, Pasadena, and Sierra Madre. We met for over 10 months, 30+ meetings that took place throughout the PUSD district, and had input from a wide variety of perspectives.  We also heard from those who didn't come to meetings - who were following them - who shared their opinions with committee members. 

The process was a good one and the outcome is Measure A that will move elections from at-large to sub-district elections. 

There are arguments being made that this move will lead to balkanization and intemperate name calling.  But truth be told, I've seen both things happen under our current at-large structure.  I've been involved long enough that I've seen school board members tell each other that they don't trust them - during a board meeting.  I've seen some shifty things happen and some very positive things happen.  That is the way things go when people are involved.  It can get complicated.

I'm betting that many of the folks who question the move to more local representation would not like to see their council representatives switch to an at-large structure.  They like having someone represent their needs and have a bit of faith that those elected will work with others to the benefit of the whole.  

When I ran for office I learned that among certain circles there is an unspoken structure that has been a part of at-large elections.  Within that structure there are designated seats - at least one for African Americans and one for Latinos.  Pretty baroque when there is a sole representative that is supposed to represent the voice of every third person in Pasadena. It's truly rococo if you begin to add in the fact that a third of the registered Latino voters are Republican and two thirds are Democrat.  

I like to see representation that over the long term reflects those they are serving.  It really bothered me during the spell when there were not women on our school board.  In a similar way, I want to see more folks on the school board who have connections and can serve as role models for our students and their parents.

Having sub-districts one thing will take place that can help that happen.  Because the areas will be smaller the amount of effort, money and time it takes to reach voters will become smaller.  Candidates should increase in number and the diversity within that pool of candidates should become greater.  

Like a couple of other members of the DTF I had no clear sense of where or what my opinion would be regarding the change form at-large to sub-districts.  What I saw over the course of several months was greater participation by folks from throughout the city, especially those whose children who are in school.  There were a lot of different opinions expressed, but the common underlying point was that they wanted to have a say in who was going to represent them.  

I'm hoping that the energy I saw will transfer over to GOTV efforts.  

Because of all that I share, and more, I hope that you will join me in voting yes for Measure A.

Equal parts of this and that

My mini sabbatical had several different parts to it: I'll be writing more about it at some point.  One of the parts was focused on the scholarly part of my life.  Like McCoy in Star Trek, I often want to say something to the effect of..."Jim, I'm a historian, not an organizer".  I'm happier at being a musician than being an advocate, but there you go.  We're all lucky with the roles we fill in the work to be done.

Coming up on my 60th birthday I have decided to "take the bull by the horns" whenever it seems appropropriate or feels right.  Not that I've been parrticularly reticent about expressing how I feel, more a matter of placing my desires at the same level as the desires of others.

So, although I was supposed to leave Tuesday morning, I did a couple of things for me before I left town. The most important thing was dropping off my Application to be a Reader at the Huntington Library.

This is something that I've meant to do for some time now.  Feel really fortunate that I had letters of recommendation from Dr. Robert Winter and Edward R. Bosley.  In fact, these kind fellows had written letters of support in 2009.  I know, I know.  They should have been used, but things - other folks things, kept getting placed in front of my taking/sending the letter and my app to the Huntington.

Good news is app was delivered, I am approved, and only need to show a government issued photo i.d. to finish registration.  Boy, am I glad I drive a car.  The DMV photo isn't great, but just the ticket.

Equally important to me is trying to spend as much time as possible with our familia.  The distance between here and Portland has helped boost this desire.  Getting hugs like the one below becomes sweeter because it is infrequent.  

It seems the solution we've found as a family is to have at least one camping trip per year.  This year we were at Jedediah Smith State Park, just a bit of a drive from Crescent City, CA.

Sharing a button commemorating the Golden Gate Bridge's 75th Anniversary was a way re-bonding after some months apart.

Sharing the joys of exploring the Redwoods will be a means for sharing memories of being together.

Two very different parts to life - both so satisfying in their own way.

Photos - James Grimes

Doors, doors, doors

Over the past ten days I have gone past all sorts of doors.  Some more photogenic than others.  

This first door led to the Scholar's Retreat at Berkeley.  A couple of treasure filled days - surrounded by all sorts of academic wonders.  Gloves necessary, information flowing from primary sources, pencil only places.  

Letters and notes, memoires and ephemera, bits of thoughts and time frozen in fading ink.  Opinions and thoughts to be measured one against the other.

Other doors led to barrels and glasses of wine.  Giant grand gestures to remind us of Tuscany or a surprise win in France with a chardonnay for the ages.

Or leading to a lighthouse on the California coast.  

These and so many more.  

And then to come home and find another door has opened.  It is official.  I have received a letter that has let me know that I'm approved to be a Reader at the Huntington Library.  

More doors are going to open soon and I can barely wait to see what is on the other side.

DOORSU.C. Berkeley, Faculty Club - Scholar's Retreat, Napa Valley - Castello di Amorosa, chapel, Crescent City - Battery Point Lighthouse