self-archive part fourteen
today, I guess is Wednesday: I have gotten out of the habit at looking at calendars or watches. Here especially, the names of the days of the days of the week are meaningless. This is my last night at Blake's. I am supposed to meet him and some of his friends tonight. As of tomorrow, I will be staying at the Green Tortoise hostel in North Beach. I am sure I have mentioned my excitement about sauna, proximity, and foreign kids. I will be packing up all my things soon.
Today at the Exploratorium I learned that there is yet another model of education that I didn't know about: the Reggio Emilia Approach. I went to a school that is run that way today with Dierdre to watch the testing of a prototype exhibit to be placed in the school's upcoming "energy garden". I observed the whole scene of someone's idea having culminated in the end product, built with the cheapest, most low key supplies. I think its going to be like a natural made creek - that children are given things to affect the flow with, a bag of rocks, toys, and then inbuilt meander-maker "land" factors. It was super pleasant. I watched kids play with said prototype and squeal, scream in delight about it. I had somehow forgotten that when children play they scream like pigs. This school (which bears the same name as a 2,000 year old cypress tree that I sat and drew for an entire day in Mexico) also had an organic garden. I was so impressed. Watching a prototype become the thing was also a fantastic experience. They have evaluators that speak with the children about the exhibit. It was also a beautiful weather day. Then I had my interview with Dennis. I only got a half an hour, I should have written him so much sooner; he is a very busy man. He was wearing jeans and a shirt. He sat at a table with me, instead of him being behind some desk and he just let me ask questions. I had thought a lot about what to ask, and he was very sharp, having something to say about everything.
Did I mention yet, that i love Frank Oppenheimer? That I consider myself really lucky to have stumbled on this? Again, my interest is really focusing on the combination of art and science. Today I also made my appointment for the Tactile Dome, on my last day and wrote Susan again requesting a meeting.
When I left, I went to my new favorite shrine: Presidio Branch library. Has anyone any read any Richard Brautigan? If not I highly, highly recommend him. I'm not going to spoil it though by trying to describe what he's like if you don't know. Just find him, and read him - or ignore me.
So I made the trek to the library from his book The Abortion. It was magical and warm. After feeling satisfied with my visit and making sure they had Brautigan's books in the fiction, (they had 5 on the shelf) I left. I walked down California (or maybe it was Sacramento) for quite some time, got off at sixth and walked over to Green Apple books. Keep in mind, I am carrying a large brown (handled) grocery bag from Rainbow (the co op), my clarinet ( I had intended to busk on my lunch, but the kids-prototype merriment happened instead), and a purse. I feel very , something.
"I apple-shape San Francisco". I looked around for a very long time, and knew that there was some book that I needed to extract from there. I thought it might be A Pattern Language but i'm sure I could find it for less of a "new" price than was present there. I scoured the art books looking for a book on Darger, because I am still crab-cake-y about not getting to see him at the Frye due to several sequences of non-fortuity. I thought about replacing some books that I have missed not having anymore: Dostoevsky, Corso's Mindfield, and The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (that used to be somewhat of a biblical text for me), but in the end I got something that I haven't yet read but have always wanted to: Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen. I am so excited. I stepped outside felt triumphant and then ate some carrots, bread, dried fruit and peanut butter that I had been carrying in the bag as I waited for the 44. Dinner. I should've bought chocolate so many times today.
Tomorrow I volunteer at Fort Mason for the NISE conference. Early, very early.
Today at the Exploratorium I learned that there is yet another model of education that I didn't know about: the Reggio Emilia Approach. I went to a school that is run that way today with Dierdre to watch the testing of a prototype exhibit to be placed in the school's upcoming "energy garden". I observed the whole scene of someone's idea having culminated in the end product, built with the cheapest, most low key supplies. I think its going to be like a natural made creek - that children are given things to affect the flow with, a bag of rocks, toys, and then inbuilt meander-maker "land" factors. It was super pleasant. I watched kids play with said prototype and squeal, scream in delight about it. I had somehow forgotten that when children play they scream like pigs. This school (which bears the same name as a 2,000 year old cypress tree that I sat and drew for an entire day in Mexico) also had an organic garden. I was so impressed. Watching a prototype become the thing was also a fantastic experience. They have evaluators that speak with the children about the exhibit. It was also a beautiful weather day. Then I had my interview with Dennis. I only got a half an hour, I should have written him so much sooner; he is a very busy man. He was wearing jeans and a shirt. He sat at a table with me, instead of him being behind some desk and he just let me ask questions. I had thought a lot about what to ask, and he was very sharp, having something to say about everything.
Did I mention yet, that i love Frank Oppenheimer? That I consider myself really lucky to have stumbled on this? Again, my interest is really focusing on the combination of art and science. Today I also made my appointment for the Tactile Dome, on my last day and wrote Susan again requesting a meeting.
When I left, I went to my new favorite shrine: Presidio Branch library. Has anyone any read any Richard Brautigan? If not I highly, highly recommend him. I'm not going to spoil it though by trying to describe what he's like if you don't know. Just find him, and read him - or ignore me.
So I made the trek to the library from his book The Abortion. It was magical and warm. After feeling satisfied with my visit and making sure they had Brautigan's books in the fiction, (they had 5 on the shelf) I left. I walked down California (or maybe it was Sacramento) for quite some time, got off at sixth and walked over to Green Apple books. Keep in mind, I am carrying a large brown (handled) grocery bag from Rainbow (the co op), my clarinet ( I had intended to busk on my lunch, but the kids-prototype merriment happened instead), and a purse. I feel very , something.
"I apple-shape San Francisco". I looked around for a very long time, and knew that there was some book that I needed to extract from there. I thought it might be A Pattern Language but i'm sure I could find it for less of a "new" price than was present there. I scoured the art books looking for a book on Darger, because I am still crab-cake-y about not getting to see him at the Frye due to several sequences of non-fortuity. I thought about replacing some books that I have missed not having anymore: Dostoevsky, Corso's Mindfield, and The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (that used to be somewhat of a biblical text for me), but in the end I got something that I haven't yet read but have always wanted to: Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen. I am so excited. I stepped outside felt triumphant and then ate some carrots, bread, dried fruit and peanut butter that I had been carrying in the bag as I waited for the 44. Dinner. I should've bought chocolate so many times today.
Tomorrow I volunteer at Fort Mason for the NISE conference. Early, very early.
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