Pasadena Daily Photo

Theme Day: Waiting

2009-12-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

The first of every month at the City Daily Photo blogs, we play variations on a theme. This month's theme is "waiting." I had planned a different photo but when nosing around through my stuff last night I came across this sorry pair.

I don't know about your dogs, but Boz and Sprocket can't seem to amuse themselves. They're always waiting for a human to come along and entertain them. I can't remember if I was coming or going when I took this but from the looks of their disappointed faces, I must have been going.

To see how other City Daily Photo Bloggers around the world (over 1100 now!) interpret today's theme, click here to view thumbnails for all the participants.

Zen Monday: #74

2009-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. I also stay out of the comments box for most of the day, to avoid influencing the discussion. I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, something odd or silly.

As I post each new Zen Monday photo I add a label to last week's to identify it if necessary--if I know what it is.

Last Day, November 2009

2009-11-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

I can't fool you. It's not the last day of November. But tomorrow is Zen Monday and I'm not about to mess with that.

So to continue our experimental monthly look across Johnson Field, let's see if anything's changed.

Hmm. Looks like the Psychocross fanatics got their rudders stuck.

I kid. The local Cyclocross riders train here sometimes. They're nice. Insane but nice. Dog-friendly. Could be a little freaky if you're on horseback. But there's room for everybody.

Darling Clementines

2009-11-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

I picked this season's first ripe clementines from our tree on Thanksgiving day. Last year the tree gave very little fruit but this year I watered it every few weeks and I guess that made the difference. Some branches hang only a couple of feet above the ground, burdened with abundance.

Clementines are about the size of a tangerine, sweeter and easier to peel. Rarely will you find a seed in a clementine. (I wonder how they propagate?) I ate one Thursday night. Delicate, delectable, nature's perfect little package of delight. Apparently I'm advocating for them.

This is our fourth holiday season in our Pasadena home. Each year (except the last) we've bought baskets at the 99 Cents Only Store and filled them with clementines to deliver to friends and neighbors. Some folks have come to expect them so last year was a tragedy of block-wide proportions.

Soon I'll get out the ladder and begin instituting my No Clementine Left Behind Plan. Besides my distribution program I'll eat as many as I can. The squirrels will, too, which is fine with me. We've got plenty.

If my father were alive, today would be his 93rd birthday. He was the one who first sang Darling Clementine to me. He had a wicked sense of humor.

Library Window

2009-11-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

The House Was Quiet and the World Was Calm
by Wallace Stevens, 1879-1955

The house was quiet and the world was calm.
The reader became the book; and summer night

Was like the conscious being of the book.
The house was quiet and the world was calm.

The words were spoken as if there was no book,
Except that the reader leaned above the page,

Wanted to lean, wanted much to be
The scholar to whom his book is true, to whom

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.
The house was quiet because it had to be.

The quiet was part of the meaning, part of the mind:
The access of perfection to the page.

And the world was calm. The truth in a calm world,
In which there is no other meaning, itself

Is calm, itself is summer and night, itself
Is the reader leaning late and reading there.

1923

Thanskgiving, 2009

2009-11-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

I hope Paula of Pensacola Daily Photo won't mind me quoting her: "expressing gratitude isn't saying what you're grateful for, it's what you do with what you're grateful for." It's much like the old chestnut (or the old pecan), "actions speak louder than words."

I like that because it reminds me I can talk talk talk (or write write write), but it's what I do that counts. My actions are so much more important than my "blahbedy-blah Thanksgiving platitudes." (Shoot, I worked really hard on them, too.)

I'm grateful for so many things I can't list them all here but they include my husband, my dog, my home, friends, food and freedom. I'm going to spend time enjoying all of those things today.

I wish you more blessings than you can count.

Two Beasts

2009-11-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

I have an architectural photo to post. The building has interesting lines. I sit at the keyboard, hunkered down in my lair, without one interesting line in my head.

"Must write must write must write," I think. But I don't type it because it isn't interesting.

Squeak!

"Boz, I'm trying to work." If I hadn't just gotten my hair cut I'd pull it out. But it's too short, I can't get a grip on it. Maybe I'll write about my haircut.

Squeak! Squeak!

"Not now, Boz."

Nobody cares about my haircut. I consider writing some sort of blahbedy-blah Thanksgiving platitude but I want to save that for tomorrow.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

I look up.

Boz stands at my office door with his stuffed zebra in his mouth. He chomps down, squeaking the squeaker to get my attention.

He is calling me out.

Squeak.

This is war.

I creep out of my cave. He backs away, then trots, then runs. I stalk, then chase Boz across the wide open fields of the dining room, down the dark forest path of the hallway and into the living room's dimly-lit shrubbery. All the while, the zebra cries out for help.

I must try to get the zebra from Boz. I must try, try to save it. I grab and pull, but Boz shakes his head with violence and refuses to relinquish his prey. I give up. No I don't! Boz shoves the zebra at me, daring me to try again, growling in his most horrible, most vicious, "come-back-here-I-won't-kill-you-but-I-could-if-I-wanted-to" growl. I growl, too, a kind of a giggle growl, and we roar at each other while he squeaks the squeaker to the delight of his deep, inner, dichotomous wolf-brain: "I'm killing I'm killing I'm killing! I'm a good boy!"

I let him win. He first extracts the squeaker, the zebra's beating heart. Then, with powerful, sharp teeth, he extracts mouthful after mouthful of the fluffy viscera of dog toy. He relishes his victory, his jaw muscles working, his claws gripping his kill.

Then, amid the carnage, the beast finally rests. He submits to a flash photo only because he's sated now, tired enough to be patient. I'm the impatient one, unwilling to read the directions and photograph in manual mode, in a hurry to shoot the big game before he slinks off to his lair.

A Thanksgiving Moment

2009-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

As we savor this week of Thanksgiving it's useful to take a moment to reflect on what's important, before the rampant consumerism of Christmas sets upon us.

Ohm.

Zen Monday: #73

2009-11-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. I also stay out of the comments box for most of the day, to avoid influencing the discussion. I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, at least something odd or silly.

As I post each new Zen Monday photo I add a label to last week's to identify it if necessary--if I know what it is.

iDo iMpressions

2009-11-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

Every evening when the sun strikes at a certain angle, the mountains turn pink. I never tried to show you with my Olympus SP350, but I have a plan in mind to capture it with the Canon 20D when I'm good and ready.

But today the pink moment happened with clouds and I didn't have either camera with me.

If you live in Illinois or Alabama or Europe you may not think clouds are a big deal, but we don't get them very often in southern California, and excuse me, but do you get a pink moment with your clouds?

I took this photo with my iPhone. It doesn't do justice to the pink moment, but if you enlarge it you'll see it has a...well, an impressionistic quality. Yeah. That's it.

I added a little more pink.

Then I added a lot more pink. I'm not crazy about it.

So I tried blue. Yep. I got yer Monet right here.

Are we talkin' Hudson River School or what?

I like the gold, too. Very western. Chuck Monet, if you will. Hell, even if you won't.

For an excellent iGallery, visit Vanda at toadberry.

Autumn in Orange Heights

2009-11-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

I snapped this just because the light's pretty. Sometimes that's all I need.

If you enlarge the photo you can see the stone pillar on the right and the stone wall at center. Both are typical of Craftsman architecture in Pasadena. In this case I'd guess the pillar at right (part of a gate) is a recent addition and the wall is original to the house. These stones (locally called "river rocks") are everywhere you turn around here.

I've got a busy weekend getting ready for more than one celebration this week. What's to celebrate? So, so much. It has been a hard year for many--including some of my loved ones. Some of it's been tough for me, too. But as a friend told me today, it's easy to look at what's going wrong; she finds it healthier to look at what's going right.

It's blessing-counting time. Can you look around yourself and find the good things? Once I start counting blessings I can't stop.

More Drive-By

2009-11-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

This isn't really a drive-by shot, silly. It's not safe to shoot photographs while driving. This is a park-by shot.

But I'm keeping up my (teeny tine-y) theme in support of the Put a Fork in Hunger food drive, which is coming up this weekend (details below). The drive was put together by The Fork Guys: Phil Coombes, Ken Marshal and Bob Stane.

Two of The Fork Guys, Ken and Bob, operate the Coffee Gallery Backstage. I shot this photo at the back side of the building. I figure it's appropriate, it's a back room. Plus I love that sign in the window.

The Coffee Gallery Backstage offers musical entertainment in the evenings. Check the website for what's coming up. It's an intimate cabaret, dressed up to look like a coffee bean warehouse. But the room doesn't sit idle during the day. "For a slight fee or absolutely free depending on the event," the Coffee Gallery Backstage is a meeting room, a community space of sorts. For me it's a cherished spot because I join there once a month with one of my favorite groups, at the combined meeting of the local chapters of the Alameda Writers Group and the Independent Writers of Southern California.

Thanks so much, Fork Guys.

Update Friday morning: just received this bulletin from Phil:
Due to major traffic and safety concerns, people dropping off non-perishable items for food drive MUST enter Bellefontaine off Fair Oaks and proceed West. We want this to be safe and successful with no danger of accidents or the city shutting us down.
BTW, we are in desperate need of volunteers for both days. Please call Phil or email him if you can assist on either day for shifts 8-11 or 11-2. His number is below.

Details of the Put a Fork in Hunger Food Drive to benefit Union Station Homeless Services:
Saturday and Sunday, November 21st and 22nd between 8am and 4pm, at the Fork in the Road where Pasadena and St. John Avenues meet south of Bellefontaine. Drive by slowly (see update, above) and hand your non-perishable food items to the volunteers in the bright orange t-shirts and holding outreach bags. The Fork guys are also looking for volunteers. For further information or to volunteer, contact Phil @ AgentPhil.com or call 626 644-3227.

Guerrilla Drive-By Donations

2009-11-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

Update Friday morning: just received this bulletin from Phil:
Due to major traffic and safety concerns, people dropping off non-perishable items for food drive MUST enter Bellefontaine off Fair Oaks and proceed West. We want this to be safe and successful with no danger of accidents or the city shutting us down.
BTW, we are in desperate need of volunteers for both days. Please call Phil or email him if you can assist on either day for shifts 8-11 or 11-2. His number is at the end of this post.

In keeping with this week's developing theme (did you notice a theme developing?) of guerrilla art, here's a guerrilla drive-by photo, taken at dusk yesterday while I waited for the traffic light to change at Orange Grove and Lake.

I've long admired this building at 825 E. Orange Grove Blvd. I searched the web for architectural information but didn't find it. I want to say Myron Hunt because it has that early 20th century Pasadena charm. But I'm no expert. (It's next to this building. I like them both.)

I've also wondered what was housed in the building and now I know: it's the headquarters of Union Station Homeless Services, the charity that will benefit from your non-perishable food donation to the Put a Fork in Hunger food drive this weekend. Here's an undated web page with history and information about Union Station. Assuming this page is up-to-date, 825 E. Orange Grove Blvd. is also Union Station's Family Center, with an emergency center, facilities for meals, case management, parenting classes and childrens' programs accommodating 50 parents and children.

With the Put a Fork in Hunger food drive this weekend, the Fork guys are helping Union Station fill their food banks. Union Station not only holds a giant Thanksgiving dinner at Central Park, it feeds thousands of needy people throughout the year. I posted about the drive-by food drive yesterday and I might remind you again--using relevant, fun-filled and action-packed photos for your enjoyment, of course.

If you can add historical or architectural information in the comments, please-oh-please do.

(Update: See the comments: Thal Amathura of Avenue to the Sky and Darrel Cozen of Design and Historic Preservation came through with the answer: the architects are Bennett and Haskell. Google them and you'll recognize their buildings all over town.)

Details of the Put a Fork in Hunger Food Drive:
Saturday and Sunday, November 21st and 22nd between 8am and 4pm, at the Fork in the Road where Pasadena and St. John Avenues meet south of Bellefontaine. Drive by slowly and hand your non-perishable food items to the volunteers in the bright orange t-shirts and holding outreach bags. The Fork guys are also looking for volunteers. For further information or to volunteer, contact Phil @ AgentPhil.com or call 626 644-3227.

Put a Fork In It

2009-11-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Update Friday morning: just received this bulletin from Phil:
Due to major traffic and safety concerns, people dropping off non-perishable items for food drive MUST enter Bellefontaine off Fair Oaks and proceed West. We want this to be safe and successful with no danger of accidents or the city shutting us down.
BTW, we are in desperate need of volunteers for both days. Please call Phil or email him if you can assist on either day for shifts 8-11 or 11-2, Phil @ AgentPhil.com or call 626 644-3227.

Drive a little further south on St. John Avenue from yesterday's photo and you'll come to the Fork in the Road.

Today's photo was taken by Phil Coombes, pictured at right. I myself have avoided photographing the Fork.

This is not because I don't like the Fork. Hell, everyone likes the Fork. But everyone has also photographed the Fork, talked about the Fork, written articles about the Fork. (This is because Phil is some kind of genius publicist.) I figured I didn't need to add anything about the Fork. But now the Fork is about to be the location of Put the Fork in Hunger, "Pasadena's largest food drive ever," so I'm on the bandwagon. Um--plate.

Ken Marshal (the Fork's creator, whom you know from the Coffee Gallery Backstage), Bob Stane (formerly of the Ice House and now of the Coffee Gallery Backstage) and Phil Coombes, (local real estate broker, AgentPhil.com) are the oomph behind this project to benefit Pasadena's Union Station Homeless Services. Union Station puts on an annual Thanksgiving Dinner at Central Park. This year they're expecting 5,000 people, and I don't suppose it'll surprise you to hear their food banks are extremely low.

Ken, Bob and Phil are asking for your help. This Saturday and Sunday, November 21st and 22nd between 8am and 4pm, just drive by the Fork in the Road where Pasadena and St. John Avenues meet south of Bellefontaine. It's just south of Huntington Hospital (you'll want to stay in the left lane whether you take St. John heading south or Pasadena heading north). Drive by slowly and hand your non-perishable food items to the volunteers in the bright orange t-shirts and holding outreach bags.

(I don't know what an "outreach bag" is, either. Don't worry about it. I suspect it'll be obvious when you get there. It's not like there'll be people at the fork wearing bright orange t-shirts and holding a variety of bags to confuse you.)

Ken, Bob and Phil are also looking for volunteers to help on both days this weekend, "especially high school students looking to put in service hours." For further information or to volunteer, contact Phil @ AgentPhil.com or call 626 644-3227.

Right now my browser's napping so I'll give you more links tomorrow. I think you've got enough information for marking your calendar and for putting non-perishables on your grocery list. Wouldn't it be great if all of Pasadena turned out for this event? A traffic jam, yes, but a fun one.

St. John Signs

2009-11-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

I don't usually tip off Zen Monday until the following week but today I'm making an exception. Pascal Jim guessed right in yesterday's comments when he surmised there was another sign down the street.

Politics and grammar aside, your signs in yesterday's comments were more fun.

Bellis is a cagey one. She knew where we were but she didn't let the secret out. Thanks, Bellis. Let's tell it today: we're heading south on St. John Avenue. from California Blvd.

Along here, people have just hopped off the freeway and are still on their speed high, zipping by a city park and pretty, craftsman homes. Two side streets south of the park come to an end at St. John. I wonder if they ever went through? They're lined with shady, mansion grounds, quite nice and a little incongruous. It makes me very, very glad there's no 710 freeway in Pasadena.

Bellis is more than cagey, she's prescient. We'll continue south on St. John tomorrow to a photo I didn't take of that famous fork in the road. I want you to plan a trip to see it this weekend and tomorrow I'll tell you why.

Zen Monday: #72

2009-11-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. I also stay out of the comments box for most of the day, so as not to influence the discussion. I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, at least something odd or silly.

As I post each new Zen Monday photo I add a label to last week's to identify it if necessary--if I know what it is.

AmyR, in Seventeen Days

2009-11-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Fellow Pasadena-area blogger AmyR is beyond busy this month. Besides hosting a dinner party last weekend and her mother this weekend and besides it being a busy time at work (which I learned from one of her posts) and besides operating two blogs, Amy is writing a novel.

Yes, she's writing a novel this month. November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, and Amy's participating. Her goal is to write 1667 words per day. Think that's a snap? Give it a shot.

I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo, but I know all about it. I'm participating in National Novel Writing Decade, which is totally different.

The aim of NaNoWriMo is not to complete a publishable novel in thirty days (bully for you if you can), but to get your first draft going. Just blurt it out onto the page or the screen, no stopping to edit. It doesn't have to be good--hell, it can't be, can it? The point is, maybe you've been saying for a long time that you have a novel in you and NaNoWriMo is your chance to get it out.

I'm cheering Amy on. I'm saying, you can do it! Spit out that book, my friend!

Amy took her mom to the Huntington yesterday. It was a cool day. The ginkgo trees in the zen garden are golden this time of year. I took the above photo in the zen garden last year at this time, when I came upon a group of young women kicking it up after a bridal shower in the tearoom. I don't know if this was bride or bridesmaid. I just know she was letting loose.

Something for Amy to do, perhaps on December 1st?

In My Dreams

2009-11-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Gee, those are clean dumpsters and wow, that alley is tidy. I guess you can keep your dumpsters and alleys polished when you have hired help.

I'd love to employ someone to do that for me, but first I'd hire someone to clean the house. Then I'd hire someone to do the laundry. Wait--no, I don't mind laundry, it's the cooking I don't like. So a house-cleaner, then a cook, then a laundry person, and that person would iron. (Am I the only one who still has clothes that need ironing?)

Oh! No, wait. I need someone to plant things--like landscape the yard. I also need someone to clean out the garage, which I wouldn't mind doing except I've got to clean out my office first. Oh, and I'd love to have a secretary, wouldn't that be great? Someone who'd call the phone company and pay bills and file things, take stuff to the dry cleaners and Goodwill and go to the grocery store...I guess that's more of a personal assistant than a secretary. That's a dream, isn't it? I'd love that. I might like that even more than having a cook. Maybe.

If I had all that staff in place I'd shine the trash cans and polish the driveway myself.

Tranquil Weekend

2009-11-13T07:46:00.000-08:00

I was looking for something spooky to post for Friday the 13th and I stopped at this one. Not spooky. Tranquil, in fact.

I'm facing south under the 210 freeway overpass, toward the Rose Bowl. It's tranquil except for the noise of rushing traffic above.

The photo suits my mood. I have a lot to do today but once it's over, a tranquil weekend promises to follow.

Have you got something good coming up? It's the calm before the holiday storm, you know. The bleachers are already going up for the parade.

Learning

2009-11-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

So John and I go to the Huntington Library and Gardens for our anniversary. I take my camera. John's patient while I practice a few shots. I'm learning about F stop and shutter speed and aperture, and frankly I'm still not sure which two of those are the same thing. But I can tell the above photo, taken in the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, is a little blown out, so I adjust a knob to make it darker.

This is better. I'm bracketing, meaning I'm trying a few different--speeds, I think. So I'll take some more because the LCD screen's small and I won't know for sure until I see them on the computer monitor. But I think--wait. What's that in the corner?

Damn. Some kid just ruined my shot.

A Taste of France in the Dena

2009-11-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

We in "the Dena" are one, I like to think. I'm free to travel from Alta to Pasa to South Pas, and thank goodness for that because South Pas has Nicole's Gourmet Foods. Laurie will forgive me for posting about it. She herself has posted twice about this slice of paradis in southern California. Who could resist a visit to, and a post about, a cafe whose website slips in a cheese guide with the usual menu, about page and directions?

Plus there were the chocolate cups. Which I resisted. I was there for coffee and coffee only.

It was this dumb idea I had, I don't know, don't ask me why. What was I thinking? My friends said, "Let's meet at Nicole's" and I thought, great, I'll have a latte and a visit and be on my way.

Then there were the chocolate cups. And the mango mousse macarons. Mango mousse. I kid you not.

Not the best photo, but I know my audience. It's not the photo that counts in this case. It's the macarons (not to be confused with macaroons).

I didn't taste them, or the chocolate. What a fool I am.

Eliot School: Room 13

2009-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

At the door to Room 13 at Eliot School, Principal Peter Pannell told our tour group, "I don't know what we're going to find in here."

We found creativity in process, where the students were running their own show (or would be, as soon as school let out and they got back into the space). Room 13 is a unique, international arts program where the kids have to be entrepreneurial as well as creative because the program has to sustain itself. There are only two Room 13 chapters in the US, both in the LA area.

Local professional artists are welcome to mentor (hint hint). Or, if your talents don't swing in an artistic direction, you can help out with the wish list:
If I hadn't already been impressed with Eliot School, Room 13 would have done it. I love that combination of creative freedom and business acumen. I had an excellent arts education but I entered the adult world without any business training and I needed it, even back in the goodle days.

Many classes at Eliot combine disciplines and invite professionals from the community to participate. For example, we witnessed a fun program in the gymnasium led by pro dancers. One of the math teachers is developing a robotics class with the help of Caltech and JPL personnel; he was extremely enthusiastic and it was exciting to hear him talk about it. (His Caltech connection is filming a documentary about the program's development.)

Eliot School principal Peter Pannell answers parent questions in Room 13.

I could go on, but Room 13 is a good place to finish our tour of Eliot School. I enjoyed myself, and it made me wonder if other Pasadena and Altadena schools are just as interesting. They probably are. Many thanks to Principal Pannell for the tour, and to Susan Savitt Schwartz of PEN for inviting me.

Zen Monday: #71

2009-11-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

For those who've been following the Eliot School tour I have another shot or two so we'll get back to it tomorrow. But Zen Monday is PDP tradition and we must have it.

Zen Monday is the day you experience the photo and give us your thoughts rather than me telling you what I think the photo's about. I also stay out of the comments box for most of the day, so as not to influence the discussion. I look for a photo worth contemplating or, failing that, at least something odd or silly.

As I post each new Zen Monday photo I add a label to last week's to identify it if necessary--if I know what it is.

Eliot School: Polished

2009-11-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to show you every picture I took at Eliot School. I took a lot. We'll take a Zen Monday break tomorrow then I'll show you a couple more favorites. But first I have to show you the cafeteria.

Lake Avenue historian Dale Trader tells me the architect of Eliot School was the one and only Sylvanus Marston. Although the Pacific Coast Architect Database lists every other project of his I can think of, it doesn't list Eliot School. Then again, PCAD is missing out--it doesn't list Eliot at all.

This cafeteria is polished to a shine. And kind of Dickensian, don't you think? I love it.

I love the institutional look, the basement-ness of it, the dim. It reminds me of the cafeteria in my junior high school, which made me feel like I was having my macaroni and cheese at the bottom of an empty swimming pool. I wonder how the current Eliot students feel about this room.

Principal Peter Pannell told us more than one movie has filmed in the cafeteria. (Eliot's often used for movies--a film crew was nosing about the premises that day.)

It was also in the cafeteria that Pannell told us he was an Eliot alum. His family had just moved to Altadena; he knew no one and the school "felt huge" to him. He had come from Detroit where he'd been going to a small, neighborhood school across the street from his home. Suddenly he was thrust into an institution that took up a whole city block and where all 1300 students were strangers. "I can tell you," he said, "the personal touch makes a difference."

Peter Pannell is a polished man, but that speech came unpolished, from the heart.

Loren of Hearken Creative tells us "most PUSD schools have tours similar to Elliot's; for instance, McKinley's is the first Wednesday of every month." Call the main office of the school that interests you to see if they offer a tour, or check with the Pasadena Education Network.

Eliot School: The Quiet Storm

2009-11-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

Something's going on in Pasadena's schools. Teachers are teaching and kids are learning. Quietly. Without making a lot of noise about it.

As I mentioned in yesterday's comments, they don't use the lockers at Eliot School in Altadena. Principal Peter Pannell noted a couple of reasons, the obvious one being that kids can't use them for hiding contraband. The less obvious reason is noise. Books are kept in the classrooms, and much of the homework gets done in after school programs. If kids have to take a book home they can check one out. At Eliot, they're not loaded down with pounds and pounds of them.

It was quiet during the first period at Eliot, and our tour group sat in the library while Pannell told us a little bit (well, a lot) about how the school operates. They do 90-minute class periods, alternating subjects but keeping the same group together in the same area of the building. Teachers meet regularly to discuss curriculum, the students in their group, what's working and what isn't. (A teacher group was meeting in the library while we were there.) All the teachers in the group know all the students in their area. This "embedded grouping" helps educators spot problems and work as a team to solve them. It also makes the kids feel safe--it's a big campus but they get to know their area and their group.

All this has been successful at Eliot, where they chalked up a 97-point gain in their API score just in the last year, jumping from 606 to 703. The target for all schools is 800. (I linked to the same article yesterday but in case you didn't read it, it's worth a look.)

Even if you don't have kids I think every citizen should care about the quality of local schools if only for mercenary reasons; if the schools in your town are good then your property value is higher. Touring Eliot School (see yesterday's post) showed me that, contrary to tired rumor that gets passed from tongue to ear to tongue to ear with nary an open-eyed fact check, Pasadena's schools are in decent shape and getting better. There's enough improvement (and hope for more) that it's worth making some noise about.

Our tour group was in the library when first period let out. I expected pandemonium. But it was a quiet storm.
Parent Tours at Eliot School are given the first Tuesday of every month, first thing in the morning. Contact the school at (626-396-5680).