Monday, August 30, 2004

An evening of poetry

Dan's father, Larry Berkowitz, is in town from New Jersey, so Dan and JL hosted a wonderful evening, designed to give Larry some time to read his poetry. Larry, who was a mechanical engineer and mathematician by trade, has taken up poetry and haiku in his retirement. He pointed out that the syllables of a haiku (5,7,5) are all prime numbers, and perhaps that is why he is drawn to it.

Barb had reported to us that Dan was making this a very special event for Larry, including a mat upon which he could sit while reciting poetry. I imagined this would be a tatami mat.. and maybe we would have green tea while listening!

In preparation for the evening (as encouraged by Dan), we wrote some haiku at home before the dinner party. My brother John is visiting from southern California. We enjoyed putting pen to paper and jotting off some haiku. It is quite easy to do! But our efforts were not quite as poignant and well-thought out as Larry's, as it turned out. I also enjoyed trying to write a limerick in Larry's honor. Barb, John & I had a lot of laughs, trying to find good rhymes for "Larry".

At the dinner, no tatami mat was visible. Everyone settled into the (Design Within Reach) chairs and couches, and after we ate, Larry began to read. Upon questioning, it was discovered that the mat we had expected existed only in our imagination. In fact, the mat Barb had heard tell of was actually a BATHMAT that JL had bought, to make sure Larry wouldn't slip in the shower!

However, the mat still exists in my imagination, and in my limerick.

A New Jersey poet named Larry
Came, with his haiku, cross the prairie
He had it down pat,
Til he sat on that mat,
His word count affected by sherry!

Leah Brooks at 2:11 PM

Thursday, August 26, 2004

L'Attitude's debut

Last night my new quartet, L'Attitude, had our first performance. In front of Pacific Empire Chorus, we sang four songs in full apple-green outfits and extreme eye makeup!

It was such a thrill to finally have all our friends at chorus hear and see what we've been up to. We got lots of positive feedback from people who really enjoyed our performance. This week is our true debut, as this Saturday night we'll be singing at Mission Valley Chorus' Cabaret Show in Santa Clara.
Leah Brooks at 11:44 AM

Friday, August 20, 2004

Ariana is eleven

She is turning into a woman in front of our very eyes.


Leah Brooks at 4:34 PM

Olympics

We have been enjoying the Olympics on tv this week. The girl (Carly Patterson) from the US who won the "overall gymnastics" gold medal is 16 years old. They were comparing her to Mary Lou Retton. I was thinking about how wonderful it must feel, and how proud she must be, to have reached a goal like Mary Lou, who must be her idol. Then I realized that Mary Lou Retton won her gold 20 years ago! before this girl was born. She may never have even heard of her!

I feel that the gold medals are wasted on these young people! The stories the newscasters tell us are of long struggles and many hardships - but honestly, how hard can a teenager have had it? The real rewards come after many more years of frustration and disappointments. I was reading somewhere that Mike Phelps, the swimmer, has hardly ever been defeated. Can he savor victory without having felt the sting of defeat?
Leah Brooks at 4:15 PM

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

One breath at a time

I've been coughing lately - Barb and I both have had one of those strange "new viruses" that seem to be appearing and mutating more and more every year. This one doesn't act like a cold, it just settles in your lungs and makes you cough. I guess we could also blame our house, which is full of dog hair, dust and other allergens, but that's nothing new. The planned removal of our bedroom carpet is becoming more urgent, however.

Last night, I slept out in the patio - it was lovely, and I stopped coughing as soon as I got out there. It reminds me of times when people travelled to the mountains or the seaside for a "cure". Those remedies were probably for tuberculosis. I'm quite sure that's not my problem. But every little wheeze makes me more anxious for a lungful of clean, clear air.
Leah Brooks at 4:25 PM

Thursday, August 12, 2004

VOID but not NULL

Today, the California Supreme Court has voided our marriage. I'm optimistic that this legal fight will eventually be resolved in our civil right to marry, but disappointed that they decided in this way. When we went down to city hall that day, we expected that we would be married (in the eyes of the state) a week, tops. So we have had six months. No matter what the court says, nothing can ever take away the joy we experienced as we were legitimized publically that day.

I'm wondering if other marriages in the past have ever been voided. I keep waiting to hear about a class action suit that we can put our names on.
Leah Brooks at 11:31 AM

Monday, August 09, 2004

Documenting

I enjoy listening to Car Talk on the weekends. Those two guys make me laugh, just with their laughing. This Saturday was no exception, I was driving to quartet rehearsal, happy to have the guys from MA keeping me company. But one of the callers said something that has been sitting sour in my memory, like an out of tune chord.

She was a biologist, calling in for advice about what SUV to purchase for her off-road biology adventures. Near the end of their conversation, they asked her what she did on these excursions. She replied, "We are documenting the decline." They asked, "the decline of what? civilization?", and she replied, "We are documenting the decline of our natural heritage." This turn of phrase - and the sadness with which she stated it - has put me into an ecological funk.

We saw the movie "The Story of the Weeping Camel" this weekend. It's a film that resembles a National Geographic photo shoot, about a family in Mongolia and how they resolve a problem with a camel that won't take care of her calf. The ritual they use to cure the camel's resistance is stunning. The sad part of the movie, to me, was to see that even in this remote outpost of the world, satellite tv, adidas logos, and motorcycles replacing the camels as modes of transport across the desert.
Leah Brooks at 9:07 AM

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Falling

Last night I dreamt that I had to jump over a huge waterfall, like Niagara, in order to get somewhere. I was in such a hurry that I didn't hesitate to jump - I just squeezed my eyes shut, held my breath, and leapt into the void. The fall took a long time. So long, in fact, that I needed to breathe, but feared that if I took a breath, that would be the moment I would hit the water. I finally gasped a quick breath, and still I fell. I didn't dare open my eyes. Two breaths later, I was still falling. This was some big waterfall. The next time I needed to breathe, the alarm went off and I landed softly on my bed, head cradled on my pillow.
Leah Brooks at 9:25 AM