I Speak of Dreams

Personal Update

Another horse show week.  JumperGirl is doing even better than in Santa Barbara.    I think I'll be able to make about 2/3 of BlogHer tomorrow.

George A Ditz jr

George Armand Ditz, jr.
1917-2006

The memorial service will be Tuesday, June 20, 2006 at 1:30 pm, at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California Street, San Francisco.

He was my father's brother.

The obituary left out a few things.

He was a wonderful raconteur with a very dry sense of humor. 

He was a good cook, and all his sons are likewise skilled in the kitchen.  The daughters aren't bad either. 

And oh, my, did he love his children and grandchildren.

If you'd like to leave a message for the Ditz family, feel free to visit the guest book.

Applause

JumperGirl's grades came.  I've been holding my breath, because the Honors Chemistry was a make-or-break deal.  She got the best grade of the year on her final exam (pulls to her weak suits)!  Hooray for her.  A lesser grade might have meant repeating the class at community college over the summer.  Yikes.  And the rest of her grades were great.  Way to study, JumperGirl!

And in a related post, Community College Dean Dad writes about The Three Kinds of 'A' Student.  Go read.

I don’t worry about the ‘Brilliant’ group; they’ll survive anything, the lucky bastards. But I worry sometimes that academia is too geared towards the Dutiful, and too quick to punish or shame the Maniacal. The “overall” gpa as an indicator definitely favors the dutiful over the maniacal, even though the maniacs’ best work is almost always better. ‘Distribution requirements’ were written by and for the dutiful. The concept of ‘prerequisites’ has Dutiful written all over it.

The Sun Is Setting

My father had was the youngest of three, and died first.  His sister, Janet Ditz Ford,  left second, in 1995.  She lived a life that a proper matron did then--mentioned only at her wedding and at her death.   The sun seems to be setting on dad's older brother, and as dad always called him,  Brother George. 

A story: during WWII, both my father and his brother were in the Navy.  They were quite close, and both were at Stanford. 

Sister Janet

Since I wrote about my sister Nance and my sister Suz, here's a word about my sister Janet Sarah Ditz Tarr.   It's Janet and Bill's 10th wedding anniversary. 

Never Too Old to Excel

My sister Nance was the first American woman to cross the finish line in the 1988 Olympic marathon (Nance started as a fitness runner)  Now Anna and Ennis have told me about the best living desi athlete: 94 year old runner Fauja Singh. 

He not only set a new 200m title, but halved it from 76.8 seconds to a mere 49.28 seconds. He has also set the UK record for the 400 meters, 800m, 1 mile, and 3000m.

I wonder if he also plays gatka.

 

The Lavender Farmers Take A Chance

Suz and Fred, my sister and brother-in-law, took a chance that paid off.  Rancho Alegre hired workers from Community Gatepath.

You Missed a Damn Fine Show

Marley's Ghost played for the Noe Valley Music Series  at the wonderful Noe Valley Ministry.

Tour the Lavender Garden

Weather is warming up...want some lavender lemonaide?  No, really, it is delicious. How about learning to distill essential oils and other liquids?   It would make a great Mother's Day gift for the mom who has everything.

Support Schools in Towns You Drive Through

Tour the Lavender Fields

Rancho Alegre will be open for visitors on May 15, 2005. 

You can also visit one of my favorite places, Harley Farms Goat Dairy, about a 10-minute drive toward the coast.

How about my favorite humorous gift, the Portable Campfire?  All the Romance, None of the Mess.  Marshmallows included!

My Man Jesse

Jesse Robbins in my nephew -- my sister Suz's son.  He is one of the funniest guys I know, live and in person,  and I sure am proud of him.

He's got a blog back up.

He &  DTs EMS ought to meet up.