I was pleasantly surprised to find out, on a recent trip to the farmer’s market downtown, that one of the little theatres was going to be putting on A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s been fun to insert Shakespeare plays into our history education, but the result has been hit or miss. The 1953 movie version…
Author: cjbickford
A Visit to Star Route Farms
Paul and Mary are visiting. Before they came, they told Peter Paul had reconnected with one of his college track team buddies who happened to own an organic farm in Marin, and that they planned to take a day to visit him. I turned it into a field trip for Charybdis and Scylla. Farms are…
Our Memorial Day Parade 2009
Every year, our neighborhood has its own parade for Memorial Day, and I looke forward to it. It’s a small event, but it’s a chance to remember the holiday in the right way and see our neighbors. For the first few years, Neil participated as a cub scout, and one year Kelly dressed up for…
A Visit from Bill Gosper
A few weeks ago, Neil happened to meet famous mathematician Bill Gosper at the Julia Robinson Math Festival. Gosper and Neil kept in touch via email afterwards (both keeping me in the loop). Finally, Peter and I dared to invite Gosper over for dinner. He accepted, at which point Peter and I wondered whatever could…
Lawrence Hall of Science
For Neil’s break between sixth and seventh grade, we took a two-week vacation. I asked Neil what he wanted to do, and besides play on the computer, he wanted to revisit the Lawrence Hall of Science, one of his favorite science museums in the Bay Area. For the last few years, we’ve been lucky to…
Zombie Invasion: Baptists or Mormons?
I’ve been thinking, if there was a zombie invasion, who would I rather hole up with: the Baptists or the Mormons? Both these Christian sects are in good shape to hold off zombies. They keep provisions and have killer homemaking skills, they have guns and people who know how to shoot them, and a broad…
Escape to Sunshine Gulch
Several years ago, our neighbors Dave and B.J. sold their house and traded it for 40 undeveloped acres separated from the Bay Area proper by a mountain range or two. I rarely see them, but this week Charybdis and Scylla was on break, and I wanted a break away from the urban hustle and bustle,…
Kelly Escapes Public School, Again
On Saturday, Peter and I received the news that Kelly did not make it into Hacienda (the science magnet), and her spot on the waiting list to get in was #278. Peter, in particular, was crushed. Last year, when the waiting list had only 130 children, she was 3 up from the bottom of the…
Neil and the Julia Robinson Math Festival
A few months ago, Neil participated in the Math Counts competition, which was enlightening and humbling. The program was great: all through the year, he had to work out tough mathematical challenges. In February, the Silicon Valley chapter put the students who’d been in the program to the test. It turns out, that compared to…
Armageddon Crime Spree
My last few posts have been rather down, but I was beginning to cheer up. Then, last night, I kept waking up from dreams based on Natural Born Killers. Then today, I loaded my children in the car to take them to the Grange, where I could check out a (sort of) a homeschool group…