Y2K in the UP

New Years week, 1999-2000 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Remember Y2K?  When if the computers didn't get the time and date upgrade there was the possibility that all of civilization would shut down?  We had a great plan-go somewhere where if it all shut down it wouldn't matter.  A friend had a share in a cabin in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and 6 of us went up there for ~5 days and had a fantastic time!

Biggles the Airman is satisfied.  We ate pretty much the entire time :)

Or went out to play in the day time

We had to bring all the camping stuff-there were basic bunk beds, a wood stove and peppermint schnaps.  You know, the basics.

The propane stove and prep table.

Yes, that is the outhouse....

It was gorgeous-we did a day of cross county skiing to see the lake and the waterfalls

How cute is the cabin!

Cheers at midnight as the world-as-we-know-it doesn't end.  GreenEyedGirl-no photos of you because you were taking the pics on actual film!

I guess I do like this haircut that I've had for 2 decades!

Cute cross stitch, seed stitch Vikings scarf, soup!

I made this for GreenEyedGirl for xmas after our epic trip to Yellowstone-yeah!!  

I helped DelicateFlower make some cute xmas gifts using a book I have, Subversive Cross Stitch by Julie Jackson for the general ideas and substituting some sayings.  Super cute!  These are fast and satisfying.

I made this for my Auntie for xmas.  She is a Vikings fan and these are their old school colors.  I am totally loving the seed stitch-I can do it in the movie theater without getting messed up.  

And in my effort to make more soups, I made this sweet potato and yam soup.  I am bad at watering soup down to actual soup consistency, so it looks like baby food....but it is spiced up with Cayenne pepper.

Got a bunch of Meyer lemons (thanks Larry!) so I froze the juice and boiled the rinds for their pectin.

They smell so fantastic!

Rosicrucian Egyptian museum

January 2014, Rosicrucian Egyptian museum in San Jose

The Rosicrucians are an interesting philosophical group (not a religion!) with a deep interest in Egypt.  Their headquarters, and museum, just happen to be here in San Jose.  

The complex of buildings are the museum, the planetarium, some members-only building and gardens.  They are well maintained and popular with wedding party photo shoots.

Inside is a fine collection of items.  Some are authentic ancient artifacts, some are castings from the original pieces in the British museum or Louvre, and some are hand built models.

Can't deny that Hammurabi was influential.  The informational placards are well written-I hate it when they really don't tell you anything.

A model of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  I have to admit I kind of want to build models.  It takes attention to detail and is fiddly. 

A substantial collection of cylindrical seals, used like a signature on clay documents.

There is a bunch of stuff for kids to do-hidden messages you can only see with a black light (get it from the front desk) and stamps.  And the place was busier than I expected-nice to see folks interested in ancient history.

Also a substantial collection of amulet pieces

And of course cat statuary-they even have a cat mummy.

Haven't you always wondered about frankincense and myrrh?  Here it is-not gorgeous like gold, but valuable in that it is only for kings and gods.

We checked out the literature and it is an interesting mix of many different takes on self-improvement.  They are not pushy from anything I saw, so I can respect that-nice job Rosicrucians!

Japanese Tea Garden, De Young

January 2014

Golden Gate park has a small Japanese Tea Garden and the weather was so perfect it was nice to be outside.

Even though it is not a large space, the garden has everything.

 flowers in bloom

This specially commissioned bridge which is almost impossible to climb over.  I'd kind of like to know more about why that is.

 All of the trees are carefully trimmed and sculpted-from the info placed around the garden I think some of the trees are ~150 yrs old.  I love that there are people dedicated to the beauty of trees.

then rocks in the Zen garden are perfectly in place

The flower paintings are on the ceiling of one of the pagoda arches.

A good time was had by all!

We ate at The Moss Room-fantastic atmosphere, great food and service.

with goat cheese, apples and beets-yeah salad!

 Ginger cake

chocolate and peanut butter

The reason we went to the city was to see the David Hockney exhibit at the De Young.  It has had a big splash because he is showing a lot of his recent art, some of which is made with 'new media', meaning iPad and video.  I would have preferred a slightly different presentation.  There were rooms with just the paintings, and then just the videos, and then just the charcoal drawings.  He had a focus on a specific spot in England, done in all the different media, which I would have like to see next to each other.  I liked the look that he got out of the iPad, so much so that I would like to see IKEA turn them into prints.

Of course no photography of the exhibit, so the only photos are from the 9th floor observation room. On a clear day this is a fantastic place to see the city and beyond.

The living roof on the Cal Academy of Sciences

Coit Tower and the bay.

The bridge and the headlands

and the ocean.

Thanks to Kahn and their relations who instigated the trip!