We haven’t gone on field trips for a while, and when I offered the chance to Neil, his first choice was the Lawrence Hall of Science. Of all the science museums in the area, it has the most puzzles. It doesn’t update or rotate its exhibits as much as other science museums in the area, [...]
A few weeks ago, Peter and I went to see Tim Gunn at our favorite mall, Westfield Valley Fair. If you don’t know us, Tim Gunn is the designers’ mentor on our favorite show, Project Runway. Tim Gunn is himself an icon of elegant, classic style. I follow his advice in A Guide to Quality, [...]
Last night, Peter and I had a chance to watch a movie together, something we haven’t been able to do for quite a while. We chose one of our Netflix options, a movie called The History Boys. It seemed like it ought to be good: it was about British prep school boys (and who doesn’t [...]
I originally planned to take the children to the De Young Museum today; and another homeschool parent had told me about a free hands-on science day as CSU-Hayward; but in the end, I decided what I would rather do this weekend than on any other is to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum again with [...]
Last year, I finally tried something I’ve been meaning to try for a while. Instead of buying memberships at both the San Jose Art Museum and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, I bought a $150 membership at the San Jose Art Museum which included a North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) membership (as well [...]
This April has not been a good month for me, but I’m trying to make it work. In particular, field trips and parties make for nice diversions, and this month alone (among other fun adventures) we had a wonderful visit to the Exploratorium; found a lone banana slug in the remote Portola Redwoods; and had [...]
I’ve been working hard and been rather stressed lately, so I decided to give Charybdis and Scylla Academy a spring break. To begin, I gave Neil a minimal day of academics: a paper on the late middle ages (for which he wrote about Philip the Fair), a few chapters of Ivanhoe, and learning how to [...]
I recently happened to make an investment move so astute my broker complimented me on the action when it was done. I’m not rich; I just managed to lose less money than I would have if I’d kept my money in the market. So forthwith, based on my one brilliant move, I am sharing with [...]
I have to say this year has been exciting, and at times spectacular for me. In February, I got to revisit Germany for the first time in many, many years. I had a great time, but I missed my family much more than I expected to. And one lasting part of the experience is that [...]
As I’ve blogged before, Kelly and Shiaw-Ling share the same birthdate, exactly 21 years apart. And Shiaw-Ling always throws great parties, in the vein of great party givers, who know a great party requires a theme. This year’s theme was “poverty.” Very kindly, Shiaw-Ling held off on the fashion portion of her party until we [...]
