Life's A Ball

Sonnet and Oriel at Blythe house, where the gals have been all week photographing ball gowns.

Last night we dine at St John's with Beth, Sonnet's former colleague at William-Sonoma, and her friend Laurie. They are checking out a few retail businesses while having some fun. I went to college with Beth's brother Doug and, on the lip of the Ngora Ngora crater, in an ancient English bar, there he was. Years later Beth and I re-united on Russian Hill, San Francisco, when I first was dating Sonnet. Since then, Beth has moved up the executive ranks of W-S while Doug to Stanford Business School then bought a company.

At St John's I enjoy a pig's spinal chord on toast with gherkin and red onion for an appetizer and Chitterlings and fava beans for my mains, washed down with a '07 Chianti. Of course. Chitterlings are the intestines of a pig that have been prepared as food.

Bonded

Nobody loves Rusty like Madeleine loves Rusty. She made the pooch happen.

Tony and I have lunch - Tony returns this evening to Boston's back-bay where he recently returned following ten years in London. Tony buzzy about software company Datanomic which was sold to Oracle realising a serious return for the company's VCs and Tony, who was on the Board and helped turn the business around when they got into trouble two or three years ago. Bravo!

Purple

This lovely iris from our backyard having survived Rusty.

Juniper Hall

Madeleine returns from Juniper Hall, which reminds me of Chantilly (or maybe The Shining), and jumps into my arms - so much to tell me ! She shares a room with four girls who keep her up all night "crying and stuff" - our Tom Boy has no problems missing home. The children explore their natural surroundings on guided tours, set worbel traps and examine plants. Madeleine tells me : Photo from a scanned post card.

"In a quiet wooded valley in an unspoilt area of the chal North Downs, Juniper Hall, leased from the National Trust, is a superbe country house dating from the 17th century. It is about 1km from Box Hill and 40km from central London."

Soul Sister

Katie and Cornel @ Princeteon -->

Katie at Princeton for the Op-Ed Project - she recently signed Yale along with Stanford - and re-unites with former think-tank colleague Cornel West. Katie first introduced me to Cornel at the Houses of Parliament when Cornel and she presenting their findings on the labour pool's loss of women and minority talent : "The Hidden Brain Drain." Cornel, who I had not met before, called me his "Berkeley Brother" and Sonnet "my Soul Sister."

Madeleine Rocks It

Working Hard

Eitan tired and who can blame him : Friday slumber party (four hours sleep), the five-mile "fun" run, homework, chores and, finally, a morning at .. Ham House. Poor kid. We give him an opt-out for Sunday 7AM swim-practice. He takes it.

Glasvegas

Morgan and I check out Glasvegas at the Forum in Kentish Town. Awesome photograph of Caroline McKay by Jon Behm. Glasvegas does Indie rock and has a weird, intense and violent energy - perhaps because they are from the East End of Glasgow? Or maybe guitarist Rab Allen enormous and dwarfs his instrument. His brother and lead-singer, James, wears a white sleeveless sequined outfit - and jams. Behind them, "GLASVEGAS" , spelled in large bulbs, flashes. Glasvegas got critical acclaim for their debut album Glasvegas , released in 2008, reaching No. 2 in the UK Album Charts. Their debut album also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2009. The NME declared, "If The Libertines defined the start of the decade and Arctic Monkeys its middle, then Glasvegas are almost certainly going to define its end and beyond."

After the concert I get a Gyro at Clapham Junction, taxi ride home and a bowl of strawberry ice cream, Rusty on my lap and television until 3AM (the ends of "Aliens" and "The Matrix"). Pretty much perfect.

Fixing A Head Piece

Sonnet at the V&A's costume storage facility at Blythe House in Olympia, London. Today and this week she is with fashion photographer David Hughes where they set up a make-shift studio to photograph ball gowns for Sonnet's upcoming book and exhibition, both out next year.

Golden Iris

From the gardens at Ham House.

Ham House

My photo facing Ham House northward with the Thames on the opposite side.

From the National Trust brochure :

"A 400-year-old treasure trove waiting to be discovered and one of a series of grand houses and palaces alongside the River Thames. Ham House and Garden is an unusually complete survival of the 17th century that impressed in its day and continues to do so today. Rich in history and atmosphere, Ham is largely the vision of Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart, who was deeply embroiled in the politics of the English Civil War and subsequent restoration of the monarchy. Discover the fine interiors and historic gardens that make Ham an unusual and fascinating place to visit.

The house is said to be haunted by the Duchess of Lauderdale [the Lauderdales owned Ham House and bankrupted themselves with parties and entertaining; the house became dilapidated until revived by the National Trust from 1965] . The house was subject to a year long investigation by the Ghost Club which recorded a number of phenomena that remain 'unexplained'.

Sunday Joy

Since Sunday, the weather fine and Katy here, we motivate to Ham House on the Thames. The Shakespeares mood only worsened when they realise we will have a guided tour of the grounds , 1230PM, sharp. I tell each they must know one thing, and one thing good, which they will tell me afterwards (Madeleine: "Aw, Dad, this is torture.") while Eitan sulks. The old-age pensioner takes it in stride and gives us a lovely overview of the property from gardens to gates, kitchen to ice which, we learn, Queen Victoria had shipped from Norway until she decided America had better ice, then it came from there ("beggars belief" our guide says). Once concluded, Eitan and Madeleine snap-to with Best Behavior, under Sonnet's watchful eye, and all ends up fine.

This morning I look up Ham House's opening times.

Madeleine: "What's that?"

Me: "Ham House."

Madeleine: "What?! We're going there?!"

Me: "Yep."

Madeleine: "Aw, Dad, it's just an old house."

James Will Finish The Iron Man

James awakes 5AM to bike five hours. Here he restocks with a beef burger before running two hours.

Fun Run 2011

The school Fun Run yesterday and Sonnet organises the event - field marshals, aid stations, St John's ambulance and 200 or so runners. Me, I do the BBQ - picture coming. The five-mile course, which may be 5.5 miles as the crow flies, starts at Sheen Gate then through the park and concluding on the school grounds, pictured.

Eitan tells me he aims to win and comes pretty close, taking second behind a 14-year old school alum. He holds back until the final mile then puts in another gear to finish in 38.09.

Madeleine equally fantastic, finishing the race in 54.12 for a two minute improvement on last year.

Rock On

After the ramble I pick up Katy in Oxford and back to London. Katy has been in the UK for four years and is an interdisciplinary scholar and a senior researcher for the UK Energy Research Centre at OxfordU. "Her role is to integrate social and technical dimensions of changing building practices for a lower carbon future" and (from Oxford) :

"Katy has studied the interface between social and technical systems in the built environment since 1990 and is particularly interested in why different social groups decide to promote or reject environmental technologies. Social groups she has studied include: building designers, environmental advocates, and building users. Technical systems she studies include energy-efficiency techniques and green building strategies. Her research encompasses three principal areas:
Social dimensions of energy use;

Social, economic and environmental implications of ecological design; and

The relationship between environmental technology adoption and organizational decision-making.

Katy also leads the Worldwide Status of Energy Standards for Buildings project, an investigation of the worldwide status of energy standards for buildings in more than 80 countries linked to the legal status and building sector coverage of the standards in different countries."

Katy and I once danced ourselves silly Thursdays at "Funk Night", Freshman and Sophomore years @ Brown. We walked the couple hundred meters to campus bar "The Underground" where a dj spun beats and a lot of Prince . The weekends for frat and off-campus parties or the occasional concert somewhere downtown, Providence, but who had the dough? There was also studying but most of the learning elsewhere. At least, for me.

New Peeps

Madeleine's orange spectacles chewed to bits by the dog so our gal gets a new pair and goes for blue, pictured. Her prescription not particularly strong but it makes a difference in the classroom and for reading.

Eitan under a blanket sprawled out on the sofa.

Madeleine: "Eitan has been watching TV all day."

Me:

Madeleine: "Can I watch what I want to watch?"

Me:

Madeleine: "Just say 'yes,' Dad."

Me: "Yes."

Madeleine: "Eitan! Give me the remote. Dad said I can watch whatever I want!"

Br'er Rabbit

My first thought before the field, pictured, is Uncle Remus and the trickster rabbit who succeeds through his smarts rather than strength, sticking two fingers at authority and bending social mores as ever he did wish. No doubt Br'er Rabbit, who originated in Africa, represented Southern slaves who use their wits to overcome circumstances and to exact revenge on the slave-owners. He does so without violence. Though not always successful, Br'er Rabbit a folk hero - even I understood, back in the drive-in, thumb-in-mouth, before the main-feature "Robinson Crusoe," Br'er is a multi-dimensional character : while he may be a hero, his amoral nature and lack of any positive restraint can make him a villain as well. This why the rabbit one for the ages.

“You can't run away from trouble. There ain't no place that far.”

--Uncle Remus

Burford OX18

Since Friday, Dave and I meet in Oxfordshire for a ramble through the Cotswalds.

"Burford's history began in the middle Saxon period with the founding of a village near the site of the modern priory building. This settlement continued in use until just after the Norman conquest when the new town of Burford was built. On the site of the old village a hospital was founded which remained open until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. The modern priory building was constructed some 40 years later around 1580. In 1649, the church was used as a prison (during the English Civil War), when the New Model Army Banbury mutineers were held there. Some of the 340 prisoners left carvings and graffiti, which can still be found in the church. Between the 14th century and the 17th century Burford was important for its wool. The Tolsey, midway along Burford's High Street, was once the centre of the local wool trade, and is now a museum. " (Wiki)

Lounge

Britain's April the driest on record and our good fortune continues - I take advantage, sitting in a lounge chair in Green Park (cost: £1.50/ hour) reading the USA Today and drinking coffee. The lunch crowds arrive and soon there is barely a patch for a picnic or nap. Suits and skirts next to loafers, teenagers and late-risers. Double decker red buses and black taxis speed along Piccadilly while the Green Park tube station, the busiest on the network, undergoes an overhaul.

There are more than 2 trillion ways of feeding a lace through the six pairs of eyelets on my trainer. Go figure.

Rusty Gets A Bone