Friday was a long day, starting with the last day of a nice week of camp at our secondary site. Afterwards, we had our Friday meeting during which the new lodge was discussed at length. I was supposed to have a mini-interview for the recently available permanent position, but managed to reschedule it for Tuesday so I could rush home and watch the kids for Jen. From there I had to pick up a science party kit for my weekend job with four kids in tow, combatting traffic both coming and going, and stopping on the way back to get Matt at the bus station, followed by a quick visit to the Children's Discovery Museum to drop off most of my arachnids and insects (which will be on display in their art space for the next month or so). Lisa, who I worked with while employed at the museum, and who runs the art space there now, had picked up some plexiglass ballot boxes, complete with the slot in the top, for the critters to live in during their stay at the museum. They actually make very attractive display cases. I might have to get some myself. Anyway, as I was getting out the Hissing Cockroaches I noticed that they'd had babies again. This meant that I had to take out the adults and bring the babies home with me so I could transfer them into a more escape-proof cage. I also met a woman there who is the sister of the volunteer who had been helping me out with my field class all week. After convincing the kids to leave the museum (no easy task), we rushed home just in time to drop the bigger kids off at their dad's, eat a quick meal, and hop in the car again (just Matt and I this time) to drive up to 21 Grand in Oakland for a most peculiar concert, billed as inn.aff.(orchext.) and featuring members of NF Orchest, Maleficia, French Radio, Petit Mal, and irr.app.(ext.). Opening the show was a brilliant acoustic guitar improvisor named Sean Smith, and a cool jazz prog krautrock band called The Why Because. Lots of nifty artwork on the walls too (21 Grand is, after all, a gallery). The inn.aff.(orchext.) show consisted of nine people broken into rotating trios. Three people started, with one leaving and being replaced after five minutes, followed by another switch-off five minutes later, and so on. Greg showed up for this in a top hat and suit (his shadow is pictured here). Matt brought his bass and a bunch of other little fiddly bits. I brought penny whistles, the Winnie the Pooh megaphone (taken from the girls' room), various other things, and some dry ice (which produces interesting sounds when metal is pressed against it). Dean Santomieri narrated over the top of the evolving soundscapes we produced. It was a lot of fun, and I'm interested in hearing a recording of it so I can more properly assess it. We got to bed at around 2 am.
Saturday I did another birthday party. Sunday I supervised the work crew at our school.
I need to recover from my weekend.
This week has started well. The weather is cloudy and cool. The kids are brilliant. Jen and Willow dropped in at lunch to say hi, which was a pleasant surprise. The Rattlesnake is back in its usual place, and I found the first Ensatina of the season. One of the kids decided that his camp name is going to be Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse. I like that.
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