One Person's Crap Is Another Person's . . . .

The beauty of a summer fair is the recycling - one person's junk becomes another person's luxury while we, the PTA, make a benefit. Madeleine takes full advantage of her freedom and £10 to buy three stuffed animals including a giraffe about as big as her, a "buddy back-pack" (self-explanatory), a miniature bowling set, a marbles game (most marbles lost by dad on the way home), a poster of the human body and, with Eitan, a fooz ball table. I tell them not to get too comfortable with this last item because "I am taking it straight to the dump" which nets horror from the Shakepeares. We also purchase some plants from the plant stall and I buy, like, ten classics from the book stand for 10p each. Bargain. This includes "Roots" by Alex Hailey, something by Stephen King, "Bonfire of the Vanities" (just to read the first, most awesome, first chapter), "Robinson Crusoe" (why not?"), Chinua Achebe's classic "Things Fall Apart" (to send to Tim) and something on Patagonia (to send to Sloan). I also buy a tombe en francais which, like the others, will probably stay at my bedside until I get bored (or finish O'Brien's The Master & Commander series, which has absorbed much of my free time since 2001 - thank you, Eric). The only downside is the news I must break to Eitan that another of his ManU heros leaving - this time Carlos Tevez (he cried bitter tears about Ronaldo). But, on average, everybody ahead.

Portland

 Shoes

Photos from Sonnet and Madeleine's trip to Portland are coming in - these are from my cousin David, where our gals stay during their visit.  They are visited by Moe, Sloan and Mary and other local and far away friends who lend their love and support of Sonnet.

From Oregon, Madeleine and Moe head for the Bay Area to join Gracie, Maggie and the cat Sweetie Pie in Berkeley while Sonnet in Los Angeles meeting with museum directors.

Sonnet, I am told by someone not Sonnet, forgets her opening-evening gown and has an afternoon find a loaner from a friend.

Her exhibition goes off with a bang! as the opening dinner draws Portland's Good and The Great. Over 400  guests- "as big as London", she notes.

The following day Sonnet presents to 500 people on the  exhibition's opening day, giving "the back story on Italian fashion" Madeleine now says. "It went amazing. And people were lining up to get her autograph."

Grandfather, granddaughter 

Post Seattle

Sonnet, Rana, Rob

So here is what the gang is doing: Rana, Assistant Managing Editor, Time Magazine and economics pundent, CNN; Mary, founder, Gatheredtable, backed by Starbucks Howard Schultz; Rob, founder and funding a Latin American bank; Sloan continues her exec coaching business.  A dynamic and interesting group for sure.

Madeleine: "Where do you want to go?" [Dad's note: we are on a bike trail outside Spokane]
Me: "You're a young woman now, you need to answer your own questions sometimes."
Madeleine: "I think you're jumping over a few stages there, Dad.  Like teen-ager."
Me:
Madeleine: "In fact, I'm still a pre teen."
Me: "You're a 'tweenie.'
Madeleine: "Definitely not a tweenie. OMG."

Me: "Can I have a sip of your drink?" 
Madeleine: "No."
Me: "Sharing is an attractive quality."
Madeleine: "Like last night when you wouldn't give me one bite of your burger yet ate all my chips?"
Me: "Touche."
Madeleine:
Me: "Nicely done in fact."

The Gang Together

Back together again

We arrive in Seattle and re union with Rob and Sloan and Rana and Amado and Mary who host everybody in their beautiful big house on Mercer Island overlooking Lake Washington and snow-covered Mt Rainier.

The kids pick up where they left off - no awkwardness, no hesitation. They are best friends but older (and fun to observe, silently).

Eitan at the Seattle airport: "It smells like America."

Claremont Hotel

I arrive in Berkeley Monday and zip around the Bay Area - today, it is the Claremont Hotel - pictured, 1909 - and before that, San Francisco, Mill Valley and Tiburon. I visit Industry Ventures, Christian and HS friends where last night we see the Decemberists, a hot band which plays the Fox Theatre in Oakland, which has recently been refurbished and hosts great talent like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party and others. Before that we reunion at Van & Clef which is a cool lounge joint, dark and covered with crap offering superb cocktails. I also catch up with Sloan who is up to her usual magic with a new business consulting (mostly private equity) professionals on their careers and taking care of business with the PTA. All this while Rob in Brazil. In short - she is a super-star. So the Claremont Hotel. We are happy to have it around as it faced destruction in the '91 fire, which stopped feet from the grounds. Unusually for now and in the 1930s, transbay line was run right to the doors of the hotel (eventually designated the "E" line), approaching from between the tennis courts. The tracks were removed in 1958 when the Key System ended rail service, but the tennis courts survive, with a path between them where the tracks used to be. I mention this because I played summer tennis here before swimming took over everything. An old legend I pull from the Internet: after prohibition, the Claremont continued to suffer from a state law banning the sale of alcohol within one mile of the UC Berkely. In '36, a Cal student measured several of the possible routes, finding that the shortest distance from the school to the hotel's front steps was a few feet over a mile. The Claremont immediately opened a bar and awarded the student free drinks for life.

The gals

Sonnet, Mary, Sloan and Katie

We left the Sierras Monday following a long hike with Katie and Mary, who took us thru a number of Boston Consulting Group case studies which I failed horribly. I met Mary at Columbia, where she was a stand-out from day one. Prior to business school, Mary was a public school teacher in NYC, which is where she met her husband Amado. From business school, she was hired at BCG as a Consultant, and is now one of 30 female partners, a number she is trying to grow - equal opportunity remains a main motivation of her work (Nb Mary was one of two Consultants to be promoted Partner from her intake year of 20, and on occasion has received ovations from grateful corporate boards).

On the drive to Berkeley, everyone was a bit sad but excited to see Gracie and Moe and their cat "Sweetie Pie" with whom Madeleine has fallen in love.