Breakfast serenading

...Whether you like it or not. (The beginning dialogue is about tiny birds who come and steal your bread. Then he kicks into gear.) He's standing on the street, while we're sitting in the patio of a cafe.  I almost feel sorry for him, he had the whitest-and-uptightest audience imaginable.  He got no participation and no love.

N'Awlins in the Fall

...is just like Michigan in the Summer. Actually, Michigan right now, given that it was in the high '70s yesterday in Flint. "But what are you doing in New Orleans, Simon?" I hear you ask. Well, I'm attending a conference if you must know, this one, in fact. But enough of that, the real reason is of course to see New Orleans. We did come here many eons ago when we were still in Arkansas and Thomas was just a tiny tot. That was in April or something and we were actually worried that Thomas would get cooked. He went an alarming pink. Right now it is shorts weather (I planned ahead and am wearing shorts and a pair of sandals that a panhandler referred to as "flip flops" and said he knew where I got them and what would I give him if he was right? As the answer was "Amazon.com" that was either too easy or something he wasn't going to guess so I gave him a dollar to leave me alone (cheap at the price. And indeed, I am cheap. Sidenote: panhandlers everywhere!) and overcast. Apparently we're due for storms tomorrow and Saturday, but as the conference will be in full swing then we probably won't know. The trip here was pretty uneventful. The flight from Flint to Atlanta was delayed at first but then almost back on time (so if I'd believed the text that I got from Delta (! what an age we live in) and come much later I would have missed it - fortunately Jami was already driving me to the airport and Frederick had been prepped to say goodbye so there was no way we were turning round) and I discovered that you can get peanuts on 'planes again (albeit in the tiniest packages imaginable). That flight was pretty empty - I had three seats to myself - but the flight from Atlanta to New Orleans was in fact "oversold" (did you know they think they can do that? The nerve) so I was given the opportunity to take another flight and get a coupon. Apparently some people do that just for kicks. I politely declined. The trip from the airport to the hotel took a while and cost a fortune ($36!) but at least it was a set fortune, because an airport employee acts as middle-person between you and the taxi and gives you a card that states firmly that it is a flat rate of $36 from the airport to the city. My driver, like all the others, appeared middle-Eastern, and by the thickness of his accent, newly arrived. He was not a believer in air conditioning (or bathing, it seemed) so we hurtled along the freeway with the windows down (and 2 feet behind the other traffic - I had to close my eyes). It was a bit like a very no-frills roller coaster. The hotel is very nice, and my room is HUGE (pictures later - I didn't take any before because it was dark last night and very gloomy when I left this morning because it was foggy) but now I've strolled round the French Quarter, I can't help wishing I was in one of the old ones that seem to be packed, appropriately enough, with French tourists. Anyway, here's some photos:
  The Hotel. Told you it was generic.
This was the only thing on the menu at the hotel restaurant (I arrived after 11 and there was no food on the 'plane (not even peanuts on the second flight)) whose price didn't make me blanch. It was a "soup sampler". Delicious, but those cups are espresso size. Now an assortment of the sights of the French Quarter. As I don't know what they are, I won't pretend to tell you:

Now the New Yorker wants a piece of that Flint action

This article is actually a bit behind the times - they need to see this.

Happy Hallowe'en

I can't believe how much a pumpkin can be made to look like Cookie Monster. (Emily got the idea from Pinterest, she informed us. And Cookie Monster used to have complete eyeballs and a mouthful of Gluten-Free cookies, but you know, squirrels. Elmo was NOT on Pinterest, but Frederick insisted that there was no way they were going to stop the Sesame Street theme without doing Elmo. I'm sure Ava backed him up on that score, as Elmo is very dear to her heart too.) And I can't believe how excited Frederick was about Halloween this year. Every September I ask a kid (now that Thomas is 17, it's only Frederick) what he wants to be for Halloween. In years past, Frederick's answers waffled about and so, eventually, I had to make an executive decision (costumes don't make themselves, you know) and pick the most plausible/reasonable costume candidate. The great thing about Frederick is that he is always very happy with the results (unlike a certain other child who will remain unnamed) so long as I follow certain VERY FIRM RULES: (1) nothing on the face (2) walking and all movements must be easy and comfortable (3) nothing itchy, scratchy, or poky touching any part of the body at any time or in any position (4) all bodily functions (eating, bathrooming, drinking, breathing) must be easy and require NO assistance. These rules were in place this year but the change was that Frederick insisted that he wanted to be a "Purple Pluto Planet Monster" from about early September, and that conviction did not change. Not once.Besides being purple, I really didn't have a clear idea of what that would entail but he insisted that it was "smooth with spots" and there could be no horns or spikes. He had the all day party at school with Emily (Ava was Minnie Mouse and Emily was Daisy Duck) and was thrilled with being the Pluto Monster. (When I bought the fabric at Joanne's the woman who was cutting the fabric asked, "So what are you making?" I knew she would have trouble comprehending Frederick's ideas so I just said, "A costume." Obviously she regarded herself as a bit of a People Person as she persisted, "A costume!? Of what?" So I told her. She wrinkled up her nose in discomfort (as if thinking about the idea produced a bad smell) and said, "Purple Pluto....a what? Is that a thing?" I said, "Yes. That's right. It's 'a thing'." Sheesh. Other people.)

A Very Silly Way to Spend a Weekend

For about 14 months I have been on a committee mandated to find a replacement dean (we have been without a dean for over 2 1/2 years and after an absence of leadership for over a year, the university decided to do something--create a committee that would sit idle for about a year, then spring into action, dissolve and then reform 6 months later). So here I sit in a fancy pants hotel room in an airport outside Detroit. We had a three hour "prep" meeting earlier this evening (it was called a "working dinner" which is a good way to ruin a decent meal), after which we were instructed to reassemble tomorrow morning bright and early at 7 am. We will have 7 one hour interviews tomorrow (sorry I can't say more than that--I probably shouldn't have even said THAT much since it is all very "hush hush and hoosh hoosh") after which we have another "working dinner". Monday we (can you guess?) meet again at 7 am and trundle on until either we kill each other or settle on four people to bring out to campus for three day long visits in a few weeks. I hope to become very very ill during those four visits so I don't have to take part in that part of the process. So, since I can describe the hotel, here it is:This LOOKS like an outdoor shot but it taken within the lobby. It is very dark inside, perhaps to obscure the black mildew or so that we can't see that dull-eyed, travel-weary look in everyone's eyes. I thought those were live bamboo trees but upon close examination I realize the are simply giant plastic tree replicas. A little sad.I was told when I checked in that I would be treated to a "room with a view". Given the dreary darkness of the place, that seemed lovely. So the first thing I did when I got to my dark room was open the curtain to see this...this is the view: a giant wall of aluminum. If I look straight down I can see a handful of ground crew personnel going about their business. After staring out of the window for a while I realized that airports are very ugly places.Here is my room. It looks exactly like the room I was in in Vancouver last April. (That room did have a nice view.) Yep, here is the same square shower "rain fall" shower head. It has the same green tea leaf shaped soap bars, too. A flyer in my room boasts that this is THE PLACE to get "Michigan Muesli" ("famous the world over"--really? That's a bold claim.) I strongly suspect that I will be seeing that tomorrow at the "breakfast briefing meeting".

A mug's game

Thomas has to have his morning tea in the perfect cup, and I managed to break his last one (actually last several - clearly I have repressed feelings of violence towards him, can't imagine why) so here is the replacement. The only problem with it from his point of view is that the picture doesn't go all the way round so that both he and any possible interlocutor can simultaneously gaze on his beauty.

The New York Times is obsessed with Flint

Here's yet another story - and this time it's sort of positive!

That tree again

A couple of years agoI took a series of pictures of a fave tree of mine on Franklin. Looking back, I did a much better job from a better angle then, but here's the tree again. The relevant dates are the 13th and 26th of September, then the 10th and 24th of October:

(The September pictures are a lot clearer because I was on my bike - I took them on the way to play tennis. By the time October rolled around, no more tennis, so I was in the car.)