danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

Yesterday Miriam hosted a tea party, and it was a great success! Guests included old friends Steve and Kathleen; new teacher, Briana; and Andrew and Shannon, who came in spite of feeling a tad under-the-weather. Miriam had planned things well, and prepared all manner of desserts and sandwiches. Briana was a tremendous help in that regard, since a little more work had to be done to get things to the table.

And what a table! I think all her soirees have featured impressive spreads, but she says this one was her best. There were cute little cups and saucers, and a teapot, salt and pepper shakers and platter with an Alice in Wonderland theme. I don’t drink tea, but everyone else seemed to like it, and there were cookies and sweets to beat the band. We sat around the table telling ghost stories, and Shannon’s were, hands down, the most disturbing.

Later, we gathered in the living room and played Pictionary. Steve, Kathleen, Andrew and Shannon were ahead of us, but right at the end we rolled a six, and that made all the difference.  Pictionary reminds me how terrible I am at drawing anything.  Even when the clue was “box”, my box was inferior to Shannon’s.  I think what would make the game more fun would be if all the clues were all-plays.  I don’t like how one team can feel excluded for several minutes at a time.

Finally, late in the evening, I took Briana across the street to see Elke’s baby bunnies, and, as I promised her, they were adorable beyond belief. I called Steve and Kathleen over as they were leaving, and Kathleen seemed to delight in the bunny-hugging. I got to rub one on my face.  Bunnies are so soft and, though they lack that obvious personality that most cats have, they make up for it by being incredibly soft and cuddly.  I think Kathleen wanted to sneak some home in her purse, though she wouldn’t have had to; Elke is offering them free to a good home.  She tells me I can come over any time and play with them. I intend to take her up on that.

Eventually Andrew and Shannon had to leave, and we took Briana home in time to get back to watch the second-to-last episode of “Flight of the Conchords” for the season.  It was a splendid evening. Huzzah!

Filed under: Animals, Food, Friends, Special Occasions on August 27th, 2007 | No Comments »

If all politics is local, it doesn’t get much more local than the ongoing controversy surrounding the city’s plan to expand their vehicle maintenance facility located on 39th Avenue, just east of 6th Street. Back in May I was encouraged to attend a meeting of the city commission in which they would hear presentations from the various departments involved in the proposed expansion. The public was also invited to make statements, and it was clear that most of the Stephen Foster residents in attendance were vehemently opposed to the expansion.

As I listened to the city’s presentation, looked at the plans and saw the photographs of the existing facility, and the renderings of what the expanded facility would look like, and how it would effect the surroundings, I couldn’t quite understand what the fuss was all about. What was clear from the proposal was that:

• The footprint of the facility would be no larger than before
• There would be a considerable amount of planting of trees
• The noise levels would be no louder than before
• The traffic would not be an issue on any of the neighborhood streets

Answering the door moments ago I was asked by a middle-aged woman to sign a petition to oppose the expansion in a second round of hearings. I politely explained to the woman that I had been to the initial hearing, had seen the city’s presentation, listened to the engineers and architects and the city’s arborist, and I couldn’t see a legitimate reason to oppose the expansion of the vehicle maintenance facility. Moreover, I said, the city needs a place to service its vehicles, and that facility has already been there for a long time. It isn’t like people bought their houses there not knowing what they were getting into. Furthermore, the expansion plans, in my opinion, seemed more like an improvement than anything else.

“Do you own this house?” asked the woman. I told her I did. “Do you know that when they do appraisals that they look at the values of the surrounding neighborhood?” I told her I wasn’t worried about that happening. First of all, I doubt that the city’s plans would hurt anyone’s property values, and, second, it isn’t close enough to me anyway.

But that isn’t my real point. You see, there are a lot worse things to live near than a city-owned property where pick-up trucks get serviced, and the public never goes. I used to live across the street from a place that installed booming bass car stereos. Other people look out at stores or parking lots or freeways. If people really wanted to make a difference, and increase the property values in the Stephen Foster Neighborhood, they’d do something about the abandoned houses, and the overgrown lots with rusty shopping carts, and not gripe about what, to an unbiased eye, would appear to be an improvement of city property.  I could see if these people lived next to a lovely park, and then, suddenly, the city proposed a new service garage.  But that isn’t what’s happening here.

So, when I told the lady I supported her grassroots activism, but opposed her cause, she became pretty testy, and was suddenly in a hurry to go “convince other people”, as she said. I have a pretty good feeling that the lady that was at my door was the same one who wrote this letter to the Independent Florida Alligator. Sorry I upset you, but I think your passion is misplaced.

Filed under: Gainesville, House, Politics on August 27th, 2007 | No Comments »

I absolutely love this very brief excerpt of Tove’s “Sterne jubeln” from Schoenberg’s incredible Gurre-Lieder:

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Not only is it great, but it also vaguely reminds me of one of my favorite “Sesame Street” films:

Maybe it’s just me.  In any case, for the record, Schoenberg began composing Gurre-Lieder in 1900, and the work premiered in Vienna in 1913.

Filed under: Music, Nostalgia, WAYLTL on August 27th, 2007 | No Comments »