happy hour!

Some good grad school friends united for some refreshments on a hot Charlottesville evening.

making some noise

As you've probably heard, a lot of people in the UVA community have been angry about the board's secretive moves that resulted in the surprise resignation of President Sullivan two weeks ago. The community has come out to a vigil last week and a rally this past Sunday, and is gathering again today to hear the Board of Visitors' decision.

For Sunday, Chris and Emily organized "The Unofficial UVA Transparency Band" to bring some humor and clever inferences to the event. With lots of percussion and horns, we made some noise and started things off on a positive, creative note. It was a joy to play with these great musicians and to raise our voices to the issue at hand

The speakers who followed used their creativity with thoughts and words, to make clear and powerful points about the value of Sullivan's leadership and the need to fix mistakes, forgive, and heal.

postcard from Virginia

Charlottesville is green and lush, in the quiet of summertime after the students' departure. Birds call beginning at dawn, and insects buzz at night. It was magical to walk on the Lawn again, underneath the trees and through the long colonnades.

sunset on Venus transit, Baldwin Hills

The Baldwin Hills overlook is a stunning place, especially at sunset, especially during a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event.







This beautiful building is nestled into the hill with a large view outward, and is surrounded by bold native sage scrub:


A steady stream of people climbed the long staircase up the hill:

group ride

Yesterday I joined a group bike ride organized by Design East of La Brea, to visit design studios in Chinatown before enjoying dim sum.


Starting off, 70 riders strong!


First stop, Caine's Arcade: the young boy in the blue shirt built these arcade games out of cardboard. A film and flash mob publicized it about one year ago, and now there is a small staff and a lot of visitors snapping photos:






Dim Sum at Golden Dragon

poppy dance

the native Matilija poppy in Griffith Park