Archives: October 2004
Sun Oct 31, 2004
Allied Arts Guild
The Mercury had a story about the Allied Arts Guild a few weeks ago. I hardly ever visit the places on the penninsula that I think I'm going to visit (like Fioli) but I'll put this note here in the blog so I don't have to hang onto the newspaper clipping anymore.
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Wed Oct 27, 2004
Total Eclipse in Red, Scorp, and Bull
Tonight's eclipse promises to be quite beautiful. I've seen the red ones before and they are strange and wonderful. Here's what my friend Judy Havey has to say about its other aspects: More...
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Mon Oct 25, 2004
Persecuted Authors
I didn't know there was an award for writers who have been exiled, jailed, tortured or harrassed because of their work. It's called the Hellman/Hammett Grant, and it was established by Lillian Hellmen who willed that her estate be used to assist writers who have been politically persecuted. It has been giving prizes for 50 years, unfortunately, granting $2 million to 400 writers. I can't even read the biographies of the winners. Why, oh why does this prize need to exist? Because: More...
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Californian Dream in Significant Variation
I just finished "Co-Operative Dreams: A History of the Kaweah Colony" by Jay O'Connell. I had heard about Kaweah Colony many years ago, and had always been curious about it, as I am curious about all cooperative ventures and people who try to practice their ideals. This one was settled in an area near Visalia, Three Rivers, and Mineral King. This book not only satisfied by curiousity about the colony, but served as a good example of what a local history can be. Accurate, focused, and applicable beyond its subject. More...
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Sun Oct 24, 2004
Easy Certainty is Hard To Find
Someone sent me Ron Suskind's article "Without a Doubt." I've always said that the reason why Born-Again Xtians shouldn't be in power is because they are believe they are"Only Visiting This Planet" and don't give a fig about the Seventh Generation. Ron takes longer to say it, and says so much more. If you can't read the whole thing, just read the last few paragraphs.
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The Bank is Not Your Friend
Patrick Combs, the man who deposited a junk-mail check. Maybe you remember this story. I don't. It all happened the year of the O.J. trial. The entire story is at the link above, and it is well worth the time to read it. Not because Patrick deposited a junk-mail check on a lark, but because of his courage under fire. Truely inspirational. And now, on HBO.
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Thu Oct 21, 2004
HP Support Forums
Because I keep losing it, here is the link for the HP Technical Support Forums.
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Tue Oct 19, 2004
Replacing the Dream Inn
There are some people, like Bruce Bratton, who don't like the plans for the new Convention Center on the site of the Dream Inn. His columns all during October include photos of the Dream Inn site before and after it was built. But I've seen the plans for the new hotel and convention center, and I like it. More...
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Mon Oct 18, 2004
My iPod, my TiVo
Wired writes about the latest thing, podcasting. If I ever get an iPod, I will certainly use it for getting feeds of my favorite radio shows. It's just tivo for streaming media. Of course. I like to listen to radio shows, but its a drag to have to be on the net to do so. Another reason to save up and get one of those gadgets. And speaking of radio revolutions.... More...
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Marriage Caravan
I didn't know about the "Marriage Equity Caravan" until it was over, but at least I got to read about it. The author of the last half of the posts had this interesting thing to about links to our history: More...
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Why I Cried
I went to see Andrew Purchin's Open Studio yesterday. I became overcome with emotion, and then embarrassed. I made the mistake of trying to tell Andrew how much I loved his landscapes, but I couldn't, only to say that sometimes art has an effect on me, before I could say no more. He hugged me for real and appeared to understood why his picture of Waddell Creek brought this on but I did not understand until today. More...
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Sat Oct 16, 2004
Subnetting, Binary, Hex
And now back to my regular blog.
I'm taking a routing class, and found a few good references for subnetting work.
More...
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Wed Oct 13, 2004
Armenia Day. Links to the Entire Story.
A few people have asked to read my story of our "Armenia Day" trip. So here's are links to each section, each will open in a new window. Thanks for reading about our trip, and please post your own comments (and corrections) if you please. More...
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Armenia Day continued. Ararat Cemetary.
As I said when I began this series of blog entries, we ended our day at the Ararat Cemetery; we wandered around the gravestones, immersed in the life, death, and grief of a community. You'll find the cemetery on Belmont, west of Highway 99. There are several blocks of cemeteries; if you've gone past Roman Catholic Holy Cross, you've gone too far. More...
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Armenia Day continued. Out Butler Avenue.
One of the older suburbs of Fresno is "Sunnyside," east out Butler avenue. Los Angeles street in "Old Armenian Town" becomes Butler, and if you're in the neighborhood anyway, I recommend driving out east on Butler and seeing what you can see. We did. More...
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Armenia Day continued. David of Sassoon again.
We decided to go under the freeway and drive through the other side of the neighborhood. Much of it is no longer what you'd call a "residential area" but there are a few old houses. On most blocks, vacant lots with their dead fruit trees the only sign of what the neighborhood once was. More...
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Tue Oct 12, 2004
Armenia Day continued. Surprise Relics of Old Armenian Town
Near where M St meets Freeway 41, we happened to turn down Santa Clara street. We were aiming for the Valley Bakery, "Home of Lavosh," which we eventually found, but first, we found this: More...
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Armenia Day Continued. Traces of William Saroyan.
We found the bust of William Saroyan in front of the Saroyan Theatre on M St. Saroyan was an artist who refused the Pulitzer Prize money on ethical grounds. I have a feeling he wouldn't appreciate this image of himself. More...
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Armenia Day continued. David of Sassoon for Everybody.
I love representational, emotional, and political public art. That's why I love the statue of David of Sassoon at Tulare and M streets in Fresno. More...
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Mon Oct 11, 2004
Armenia Day continued. William Saroyan.
When I was a girl, I was interested in William Saroyan, not because he was Armenian, but because he was one of the few Fresnans who made his living as a writer and I secretly wanted the same job. He was famous and successful but he *moved back* to Fresno, something I could not imagine doing, if I ever was so fortunate to be able to leave. I thought he must be crazy, and he scared me. More...
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Armenia Day Continued. Site Seeing.
We left north Fresno and headed downtown, driving down Blackstone so that I could show D where the "George's II" once was. I'll always remember that version of the restaurant because its ladies' room still smelled like I remember ladies smelled in the early 1960s: cigarettes, liquor, and a singular perfume. It was at George's II that I learned where it came from: the women's restroom at George's II provided coin-operated perfume dispensers. More...
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Sun Oct 10, 2004
Armenia Day: Food is also Third
Our final food-related destination was Nina's Armenian Deli at Shaw and West. You can get a sandwich, a cup of coffee, or those one of those decadent filo dough pastries that make strong coffee taste so good. This is definitely the place to go if you're in Fresno and need ingredients for your own Armenian cooking. More...
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Mon Oct 04, 2004
Armenia Day: Food Second, Too.
Armenia Day continued.
The next day, we packed up the left-overs --well, D's leftovers. While I was packing mine I couldn't control myself and I ate kabob and pilaf--cold--for breakfast. Yes, it was that good. We packed up the leftovers and set off to explore Fresno's Armenian past and present.
More...
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Sun Oct 03, 2004
Armenia Day: Food First.
The afternoon of September 25, last Saturday, I was at the Ararat Cemetary in Fresno. Ararat is the Armenian cemetary. All my life, until I was twenty and left Fresno, I heard Armenian names daily: among my friends, on local television commercials, on the news, in my neighborhood. And when I moved to Santa Cruz, I never heard those names again. I didn't realize this until I was in the cemetary and imagining stories from the names and dates as people do in cemeteries, that a flavor of my life had left my life when I left Fresno. More...
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