Monterey Conference

View of Portola 'fancy shmansy' Plaza Hotel from below
The Conference is over and done already. I drove the 3.5 hours south to Monterey on July 31, checked into the Portola Plaza Hotel & the conference began the following morning. Talk about your fancy venue; the Portola is directly adjacent to the Monterey Museum & 2 skips from the renowned Fisherman’s Wharf. The conference was the best I’ve ever attended and I’ve been to loads of conferences around the state. I might add this wasn’t even my first Monterey Conference.

The highlights of the conference for me were not strictly work related. There was a pair of Saker Falcons present with their falconer. I loved the regal and adorable little raptors and admired their fancy headgear.
I told the falconers they must read The Goshawk by T.H. White, who wrote my favourite book, The Once and Future King . It was turned into Camelot and Disney’s the Sword in the Stone. I think there are at least another half dozen other books in the main tome. One of the falconers said he’d read the Sword in the Stone which unlike the Disney version did not have young King Arthur turned into a sparrow by Merlyn the Magician, but ‘the Wart’ was actually turned into a Merlyn Hawk and was put into the Mews for the night where he listened to the wise talk of the other noble birds; the Peregrine,  the Hobbies, Goshawks, and the Sparrow Hawks.

I told the Falconer he must read T.H. White’s The Goshawk which is what taught me the magic of falconry and austringry.

I was enchanted by the beautiful hoods which were hand made by the elder of the two Falconers. Their birds were regal in their hooded day wear.

The following day I took some time to visit the Monterey State Museum which was small but interesting, at least in that its building were originals dating back to the turn of the century when California was still a part of Mexico.


Spanish patio and garden at the Monterey CA State Museum
I also took a long walk along the Fisherman’s Wharf. I’ve been there several times before for dining and more notably for Pelagic birding and Whale watching trips to the deep waters off Monterey.


The second floor of the Monterey Museum has a nice collection of artifacts, regalia and baskets from various North American tribes. Here is a porcupine quill beaded parfletch bag, used by plains Indians for carrying goods around.

I must say there seemed to be end of things to do in Monterey. I took this picture at the Farmer’s Market which was one largest I’ve ever seen in California.

Ah! At last I’ve caught up with a small bit of my busy August. More tomorrow.

AIDA

Had to get on line and squeal for a bit. Last weekend I went to our Music Circus here in Sacto where I saw the musical AIDA – for free! A coworker Peter is in charge of getting ushers for the Music Circus, one night, once for each play. Two weeks ago I was asked to usher for Fiddler on the Roof, but I was off visiting my buds in Monterey County. But I was here last weekend and happily skipped off to usher my little ♥ out.

Ushers must wear a white blouse and either black trousers or if of the feminine sort, a skirt. I didn’t have much warning to prepare and was worried about making the ‘uniform’ requirements as I wore could only dig up a black skirt with eensie white poka dots. Lucky me though, I was told the skirt was well up to snuff so that is a relief. I did however shop over the weekend, buying black slinky slacks and yet-another white blouse.

It is my great luck that Peter hosts one Saturday night for each run. That is so much handier than having to get off work at 4:30 and linger downtown until 6:30. Anywho, on Saturday night the ushers – including moi - gathered in the Subscriber’s Lounge (for season ticket holders). At 7:00 we gathered in the theater and a head usher, Todd, told me what I needed to do; very simple really. I was in charge of door seven and when the doors were opened for ticket holders at 7:30, all I had to do, if they wished for my help, was show them to their seats.

It is easy/breezy and I’ve actually ushered before. My San Diego buddy Joann’s sister Judy was a head usher at the Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park. For one whole summer I ushered at one performance each of 8 different dramas. I loved ushering in San Diego and it is marvelous to have another opportunity to do the same here in Sacramento. As the cheapest tickets at the Music Circus are $37, it is lovely being able to see as many plays as I wish for gratis.

In case you don't know, I have a habit to feed. I MUST SEE PLAYS/MUSICALS. The 'habit' can cost hundreds of dollars so being able to assage my 'little problem' for the price of the $7 it takes to park across the street from the Music Circus is a freakn' mercy, I can tell you!

The musical Aida is über cool; the story of a Nubian princess whose curiosity leads her to the Egyptian border where she and her ladies in waiting are kidnapped by the Pharoah’s soldiers *hisss* and taken into slavery. *booooo!* There, with her identity as a princess a secret, Aida catches the eye (or rather the mind) of the handsome Egyptian captain who is betrothed to the Pharoah’s daughter.

The musical is a tragedy and I thought it might be tiresome but not a bit of it. The music is lively, written by Elton John and Tim Rice (Beauty and the Beast) so the resulting work is lively and fun though I did find myself boo-hooing like a nut case during the final act. Haven’t sniveled like that at a play since many year ago when I caught Man of La Mancha in Davis.

Good news; I have another ushering gig this weekend for South Pacific. I saw that musical only last year but know what? I can’t wait to see it again. For free, free, free!

Carefully Contained Chaos

*knocks on computer glass*

I'm still here! Just busy & sidetracked by stuff. Oh, and I will still post more pics and stuff from Phoenix but not until the weekend of the 22nd. That will be a three-day weekend; I can't wait!

Meanwhile, last weekend Jeannie & Ron came over to help me get my bigger STUFF out on the sidewalk for the once a year Bring-Out-Yer-Trash Day, that is, large trash pick-up. While Jeannie and I sat on the back porch and yakked, Ron got my lawn sprinkler system up and running again. I guess there were loose wires but I've been manually watering and that gets old fast. He also replaced a bunch of cracked and damaged sprinkler heads. That was followed up by the hauling of stuff out to the curb. Hurrah! Unloading junk feels great. My possessions are lighter to the tune of one old sink and bathroom cabinet, drapery rods, left over waterbed parts and... the couch.

Oi! Thanks Ron! Thanks Jeannie! You saved my lawn and my sanity.

Yes, the old couch had to go, it was dreadful. It was a hand-me-down and was always meant to be only a temporary fix - that was what... three years ago?

So...I currently have no couch, but before I even shop for a new one I have priorities. I want the uber ugly brown living room & hall rug removed and the hardwood floor beneath striped, buffed and finished.

Screw rugs, they only give dust and dirt more places to hide and don't even get me started on fleas! My poor stupid little Rum-kitty took it into his eensie little head to no longer allow me to get close enough to him to put flea stuff on him. That means I refuse to let him run rampant in the house any longer; the Great Flea Infestation of 2004 is still fresh in my memory. So no more rugs for my house. The difficult bit is I have little idea how to go about making the arrangements on getting the floor done. I am certain the last step, varnishing, will require I vacate my house for at least a few days. Will be nice if I can arrange the floor re-finishing to be done while I'm out of town next month.