Book Crawl

San Diego

April 29, 2023



We celebrated Independent Bookstore Day by visiting five independent bookstores around San Diego. One was an old favorite; the other four were new to us. Thirteen independent bookstores around the county joined in making this national trade association day into a weekend “Book Crawl.”

Meredith had heard about the Book Crawl through an email from Reading Legacies, a nonprofit organization.

The participating bookstores offered a map and passport for Crawl participants. Shoppers who visited and purchased something at three stores earned a free sticker. Other prizes included a tote bag (6 stores), a pin (9 stores), and a coffee mug (all 13 stores).

We have been loyal and enthusiastic customers of Mysterious Galaxy since its founding 30 years ago, so of course that was our first stop, in Loma Portal. They specialize in science fiction and mysteries. We went on to Bluestocking Books in Hillcrest, then Book Catapult in South Park. We finished the day in North Park, home of both Verbatim Books and Meet Cute Romance Bookshop.

We had almost forgotten how much fun it is to browse the offerings at a thoughtfully curated, well run independent bookstore. The time flew by, and it was the dinner hour before we called it quits, heading home with some new acquisitions to read. Looking forward to next year’s crawl! In the meantime, we try to support independent bookstores, both through in person shopping and also when we do online book shopping, by using bookshop.org rather than Amazon.

Animated!

San Diego Comic-Con Museum
Balboa Park, San Diego
February 3, 2023

Meredith went to a preview showing of the Comic-Con Museum’s new exhibit, The Animation Academy: From Pencils to Pixels. She enjoyed the exhibit immensely; it was both informative and fun. It spans the entire history of animation, explaining technological advances at each stage, including information about the creators and creative process, and offering numerous video loops. The 1914 short film Gertie the Dinosaur is playing at one of the first stations. It is amazingly well done from a technical standpoint and remains gently humorous a century later.


Meredith found the side-by-side Gumby labs fascinating. On the left are the tools for creating the modern stop motion animation. On the right is a work bench with tools and a video showing the original clay techniques.


There are hands on stations where museum visitors can draw and otherwise learn and create. Period merchandise is displayed also, such as Mickey Mouse watches and vintage cartoon lunch boxes.


There are many nuggets of information about the ideas behind favorite characters:

  • Two Hanna-Barbera characters were inspired by The Honeymooners: Yogi Bear drew on Art Carney’s Ed Norton, and Jackie Gleason’s character Ralph Kramden inspired Fred Flintstone.
  • Art Clokey’s wife Ruth suggested that he start with a gingerbread boy, as he was trying to find the right shape for a clay figure that could be easily reproduced and manipulated; that is how Gumby started.
  • Mark Twain’s description of a coyote he saw in the old West inspired Wile E. Coyote: “ A long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton… a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry.”

There is a good deal more to the animation exhibit. We recommend it highly.

Meredith took time to see a few more small exhibits at the museum. On the upper level visitors can see cover art from 50 years of Comic-Con souvenir guides. Tucked away in a side room, also upstairs, are impressive Cardboard Superhero statutes made by teenage artists.

The Comic-Con Museum does not keep a permanent collection. Visit soon to see these exhibitions! The museum is closed Monday; open other days from 10 am to 5 pm.

Monet to Matisse

Monet to Matisse
San Diego Museum of Art
Balboa Park, San Diego

May 29, 2022


We enjoyed the Monet to Matisse exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art with our friend Chris. Apologies for lagging so far behind in making this post! But the exhibition was recently extended and will run through October 10, 2022, so it is still possible to view it.


The museum describes the exhibition as follows:
See Impressionist masterpieces from some of the most significant names in European painting, including Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Pablo Picasso, Alfred Sisley, and Pierre Bonnard.

Organized by the Bemberg Foundation, which is based at the historic Hôtel d’Assézat in Toulouse, France, the exhibition features more than 60 works produced from the 1870s to the 1930s. This is the first time this collection of works is on view in California, and SDMA is one of only two showcases in the United States.


Meredith was pleased to see a painting by Maurice de Vlaminck. Her grandmother’s second husband Herb was a distant cousin of Maurice, an established Impressionist painter.



Adult admission to the museum is $20, but youth under 18 are free. There are discounts for seniors, students, and military. For this exhibition there is an addition $5 charge. We have the Balboa Park Explorer pass, which is accepted at multiple museums, so we only needed to pay the exhibition fee. Parking is free in Balboa Park but is not close to the museum. Plan to walk or ride the park shuttle.
After our museum visit we ate at Panama 66, the open air restaurant next to the museum. We enjoyed it, as we have in the past. The food is good, they have craft beers on tap, and diners can stroll through the sculpture garden.


Timken Reopens!

Timken Museum of Art
Balboa Park
San Diego
June 5, 2022

We are delighted to say that the Timken Museum in Balboa Park has reopened after more than two years. During its hiatus it has undergone a major refurbishment and systems upgrade. The Timken is probably our favorite museum, and it was delightful to get reacquainted with an old friend.


We attended a members’ preview on the first weekend in June; the museum reopened to the public on June 8. The San Diego Union Tribune did a pair of very thorough articles, a long piece about the reopening which covered the history of the museum and what’s new, and a second, shorter piece that highlighted ten “must see” works of art in the collection. We recommend those articles highly and will not try to repeat all that they covered.

Here are some highlights from our visit:
We enjoyed seeing the two new works on display as part of the permanent collection. The first is an 1874 marble bust Eve by American artist Thomas Ball.

The second is an 1890 oil painting Salome by American artist Ella Ferris Pell.

Hearty thanks to the donors who made those acquisitions possible! (Kevin and Irene Rowe, for Eve, and Sandra and Bram Dijkstra, for Salome.)
The gallery walls have been repainted, and the overall effect is to make the interior lighter and more pleasant. The collection has been rearranged in chronological order. The prior grouping was by category. The new system makes sense and is pleasing, and it did not take us too long to find our old friends. Every work of art now has an explanatory text on the wall to inform visitors. The bronze details have been refinished, inside and out, and this beautiful mid-century modern building really shines now. The air conditioning system has been completely revamped, an invisible but important upgrade.
Among our all-time favorite works in the collection are:
Eastman Johnson’s 1880 painting, The Cranberry Harvest, Island of Nantucket:

And the 1557 painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Parable of the Sower:

Early in the pandemic lock down, Meredith ordered a mask from the museum store online with that Brueghel image, and she wore it for our recent visit.
The museum website has photos of all the works in their permanent collection, along with facts about each piece.
The gallery that houses special exhibitions was not open when we visited. There is a planned exhibition of works by summer artist-in-residence Marianela de la Hoz set to open July 10. Something to look forward to!
Things to know: The museum is open Wednesday – Sunday 10 am – 5 pm. Admission to the museum is free. Please make a donation! Parking in Balboa Park is also free, but located at a distance from the museum, so you will need to walk or take the park shuttle.

Lemon Grove Outing

Main Street Murals
Parsonage Museum
Lemon Grove
March 12, 2022


While Meredith was visiting her Dad in March, Bob went exploring. He was in search of some new history murals being painted in Lemon Grove, about a half-hour’s drive from home. Bob had read about those new murals in the San Diego Union-Tribune in February, and the story caught his eye. One feature that interested him was the inclusion of images telling the story of the Lemon Grove school desegregation case from the 1930s. As a history teacher, Bob knew of this incident, and he had shared with his classes many times over the years the story as told in a television program produced by the local PBS station, KPBS. The Lemon Grove Incident relates the events of the 1930s surrounding an attempt to segregate Mexican and Mexican-American children into a separate elementary school. It is told using re-creations and interviews with surviving children who experienced the event and participated in the lawsuit that ended the segregation. In the end, Bob did not find that mural this time—another search for another trip. But he did see other murals.

Bob searched online to see if there was any new information about the location of the murals and found “murals” mentioned on one website. He set out. He found murals that depicted the history of the town and city of Lemon Grove on the side of a commercial building on Pacific Avenue at the corner of Main Street, just south of the city’s famous landmark. “Those paintings — 65-feet wide by 18 feet tall, filled with art depicting the Kumeyaay people, the 15th and 16th century Spanish Conquest, 1800s Mexican heritage, 19th century buildings and a current look at Lemon Grove — were created over an eight-year span, starting in 2005.” [SD Union-Tribune, 18 April 2018]



Still not seeing the murals he was looking for, Bob wandered south towards Treganza Heritage Park (formerly Civic Center Park), which he had noticed when parking his car. On the east side of the park is the headquarters of the Lemon Grove Historical Society. At that location the Historical Society maintains the Parsonage Museum. (It is the firm belief of our youngest child, commented on many times, that her parents can find a little, out-of-the-way museum anywhere!) The building started life as the Atherton Chapel, the community’s first church, and was repurposed to house the clergyman’s family when a later church was built. The parsonage was moved to its current location.

Bob happened to be visiting on a Saturday and the museum was open. (It is open on Saturdays from 11 am to 2 pm.) A friendly docent told him a little bit about the history of the building and then left him free to wander. There are several rooms downstairs that are typical of such museums, housing collections of period clothing, artifacts, furniture, etc. Of interest were the items on display that told the history of the eponymous industry of the town including lemon size sorters, graders, shipping boxes, and photographs. There is a larger room that is used for exhibits that change periodically. The house had the standard display of a period kitchen with rooms upstairs that showed bedroom, children’s room, office, and bathroom. Poking around in the house was a very interesting and pleasant way to spend the better part of an hour. Admission is free; donations requested. (Please be generous!)

Epilogue: Bob heard from a teacher colleague that she had seen the completed murals he had originally set out to find. Now he has a good reason to revisit Lemon Grove.

To Boldly Go

Skirball Cultural Center
Sepulveda Pass
Los Angeles
October 30, 2021

We trekked up to Los Angeles the day before Halloween to see Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds at the Skirball.  We met up with Meredith’s sister Kathleen in person for the first time since the start of the pandemic.  This was only our second indoor museum visit since March 2020.  It still feels a little awkward, but also a pleasure returning to old routines.

We have always enjoyed Star Trek, in its various incarnations, and we enjoyed this exhibition.  At the start there is a large timeline on the wall, showing the timing of various events in the fictional Star Trek future.  Excellent short videos are spread out in spots around the gallery, which include comments by actors and writers from the several Star Trek series, along with other commentators.

The display cases throughout the gallery house items such as spaceship models used in filming, costumes, set pieces, and props.

The original Star Trek series enjoys pride of place, but all of the TV series and films are covered.  The exhibition also puts the optimism of that first series in context, against the backdrop of what was happening in the 1960’s – the Vietnam War, space exploration, and civil rights protests.

The Star Trek exhibition has timed admission.  We arrived a little early and looked through the permanent collection, Visions and Values, for a while.  We each liked the outdoor reproduction of the third century synagogue at Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee.

Meredith splurged at the gift shop, then we enjoyed a late lunch with Kathleen at Zeidler’s, the museum cafe.  The food was excellent, as always. Zeidler’s is our favorite museum restaurant.

The Star Trek exhibition will run through February 20, 2022.  Admission requires advance reservations, and COVID protocols are in place.  Visitors must show proof of vaccination, along with matching photo identification.  Parking is free and accessibility is good.

The Los Angeles Times’ review of the exhibition can be read here.

Bemberg Foundation Treasures

San Diego Museum of Art
Balboa Park, San Diego
September 5, 2021

We donned our masks and headed to the Museum of Art for our first conventional indoor museum visit in a year and a half.  We went to see the special exhibition “Cranach to Canaletto: Masterpieces from the Bemberg Foundation.”  The exhibition included more than 80 paintings belonging to the Bemberg Foundation collection in Toulouse, France.  Artists represented included, in addition to Cranach and Canaletto, Clouet, Boucher, Tintoretto, the younger Brueghel, and several others.  Their home is undergoing restoration, making it possible for the works to be sent on tour elsewhere.

We saw some impressive and beautiful works from the 16th through 18th centuries. They were gathered by type and subject matter, with portraits all shown together, interiors in another section, religious and mythological works together, and then landscapes and other exterior scenes in the final room.  Meredith particularly liked the portraits painted by Tintoretto.  We were both amused by Boucher’s putti (cherubs).  They were playing in their own paintings, apart from any larger scene, and looked as if they were taking a break from dancing attendance on God in some great theophany scene.

In the gallery just outside the Bemberg exhibition we looked at some contemporary paintings inspired by the pandemic.

The Bemberg exhibition has since closed. We are planning to go see the Renaissance to Realism exhibition currently on view which features secular paintings from the 17th century.

And Away They Go!

Del Mar Fairgrounds
September 3, 2021

On the Friday before Labor Day, Meredith made her (usually) annual trek to Del Mar for the horse races. We did not go to the track in 2020. Although the races were held last year, due to covid no spectators were allowed in.

Meredith checked out the horses in the paddock before each race, placed her $2 bet, then walked to the rail to watch them run. A double bet on the second and third races paid $19.80, so she broke even for the day, always a nice feeling!

A large group of well dressed college students were in attendance. Meredith chatted with one couple by the rail near the finish line. The group turned out to be fraternity and sorority students from USC, and that couple had backed the race’s winner, so it was a fun time for them.

Labor Day weekend saw the end of this season, but thoroughbred racing will resume at Del Mar on November 3, 2021 and will run through November 28. Breeders’ Cup races are scheduled for Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6.

Great Caesar’s Ghost!

Comic-Con Museum
Balboa Park, San Diego
Opening (first phase) November 2021

We first learned about plans for the new Comic-Con Museum at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2018. There was a booth on the convention floor with general information, and a Q & A session we attended as well. The following year we attended a fundraiser in the museum building, with pop up exhibits and activities celebrating Batman.

The museum will be in the Federal Building, where the Hall of Champions was located for many years. The Comic-Con Museum has a 37-year lease on that building, which needs extensive renovations. When done there will be about 68,000 square feet available for the museum’s use.

Comic-Con announced this week that phase one of the construction will be finished in time for a November 2021 opening. The event will coincide with Comic-Con Special Edition, a reduced-sized fall version of the Comic-Con convention held each summer in San Diego.

The vision for the museum is that there will be both daytime exhibits, of the traditional museum sort, and nighttime programs. Exhibits will rotate every few months.  The building has very little storage space so there will be a limited permanent collection, and the museum will rely more on loaned items. There are two classroom spaces planned for educational activities.

The museum is being founded by San Diego Comic Convention, the non-profit organization that produces the annual popular arts and culture celebration Comic-Con. The founders want the museum to appeal to all ages. They want to balance nostalgia on the one hand, and current artists and trends on the other. The museum exhibits will also explain sequential art for those unfamiliar with it. More information can be found here.

Money of course is needed to complete the construction, and donations can be made at the Comic-Con website linked above.

Virtual Connections

Virtual Connections
March 2020 to the present

We have taken social distancing precautions seriously and drastically curtailed our excursions and interactions with other people. Much of that isolation was not by choice, as businesses closed and group gatherings were banned. We have kept old events on the calendar and still see notes for things long cancelled, like trips, Padres games, and opera and theater performances.

Before the pandemic, neither of us had even heard of the Zoom conferencing app. Now it is an integral part of our life. One of Bob’s sisters set up a standing Zoom date on Sunday afternoons, that family members can drop into to check in with each other. Some of Meredith’s continuing legal education conferences use Zoom.

Various groups at Meredith’s rowing club have adopted Zoom as a way to gather, virtually, including the rowing team for its monthly meetings (one is shown above), and for trivia nights and a virtual awards banquet.

Her dinner crew meets once or twice a month for a “cocktail hour” before dinner. At one gathering the attendees modeled masks.

We have enjoyed educational sessions offered by the San Diego Opera.

The parish book club has moved online and meets twice a month in Zoom sessions. We recently finished James Martin’s The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything, and we are now reading St. Therese of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul.

A silver lining in the pandemic cloud has been the chance to make connections we might not otherwise have done. During the summer, Meredith participated in yoga Zoom sessions organized by a rower she knows in Colorado. Most of the other participants live in the Fort Collins area. Ever since March, she has joined with several Avalon Rowing Club members who live on the East Coast in a Rosary prayer group every Friday by Zoom. (Feel free to send us your prayer intentions!)

Casey approves of anything that keeps his people in one place — whether it is sitting on the couch or lying on a yoga mat – and he is quick to settle in with us. We sometimes call him “Zoom Cat.”

Although it is wonderful to be able to connect by video, we do experience “Zoom fatigue” and find there is a limit to the amount of screen time we can enjoy.