Finding Balance in San Francisco

May the Force Be With You

We just got back from Sacramento, where we saw Star Wars in Concert. The kids were delighted with their first symphony. They were very impressed with the dazzling laser light show, pyrotechnics and video clips from the original movies (all of which the boys have seen at least some part of). It was a great way to expose our young kids to a full symphony orchestra.

We took Quinn for his upcoming 5th birthday, and he's been looking forward to the concert for about 6 weeks. He went in full Darth Vader regalia- Jordan changed a bunch of times- here at our house just before we left he thought of going as a devil, and earlier in the day it was Peter Pan. I explained about those not technically being Star Wars characters, but he wasn't dissuaded.

Here they are, showing off their moves (a cross between Michael Jackson and kung fu)

Shasta joined in the pre-Star Wars concert fun

but Shasta wound up staying in San Francisco with our neighbor Dave and Jordan wound up settling on his Superman pajamas as an outfit. Quinn got a kick out of all of the Star Wars memorabelia

and we enjoyed it. Here's couple low-quality clips from my camera:

Star Wars for Quinn's Birthday from kathy hassanein on Vimeo.

Star Wars - with symphony from kathy hassanein on Vimeo.

The show was a couple hours long, and 3 year old Jordan was getting a little restless toward the end, but overall it was a great experience and I'd recommend it to kids who are 4 or 5 years old and older.

May the Force Be With You!

Beautiful September Day at Crissy Field

The boys and I + Shasta joined Gretchen and Toby for a "dog playdate" down at Crissy Field today. So beautiful. Love it when the fog is coming in just under the bridge.

 

Stalking the Olympic Torch In San Francisco

I decided to go ahead and try to see the Olympic torch yesterday afternoon... and boy are my legs sore and feet sore today!  After a 4+ mile walk in the morning, I wound up running about 6 miles chasing the torch all over the city... and I'm not exactly in the kind of shape to casually throw 10 miles under my belt in a day.

In what SFGate called "an Olympic sized fake-out," officials secretly changed the torch's planned route in order to avoid the thousands of protesters.  Here's the route the torch was scheduled to take: but it didn't go that route at all.  Like thousands of others, I was completely duped.

I started out by the green patch in the top left corner of the image above (aka "Aquatic Park) around 1pm (when the torch relay was scheduled to start) then made my way over 2 miles to the Ferry Building (labeled "Justin Herman Plaza" in the image above) and 2+ miles back again before running smack into the Olympic flame out of dumb luck at Bay and Van Ness as I was trying to get to where I'd parked my car.

The photos and videos I've seen in the press seem to depict an angry scene, but that wasn't the vibe that I got at all. What I saw were a bunch of peaceful protesters, many of them twirling around with colorful banners and flowers in their hair. And, of course, there were the requisite nude protesters. This is San Francisco, after all.

All in all a once in a lifetime experience and I'm delighted that I did it.  I'm also delighted that Lady Luck happened to be on my side yesterday! See my video of the experience here:

9/11 Tribute

Hard to believe that 9/11 happened 6 years ago. A lot has happened for me personally since then- first my boyfriend and I got a Black Labrador together, then a car together, then we got engaged and then married, followed quickly by 2 beautiful sons.

And it's those very sons who are keeping me from writing very much about 9/11 right now.  I do want to give some sort of tribute though, so here's a video/song.

I followed a Huffington Post Blog to a link to this song- a tribute from Live called Overcome, complete with video from the 9/11 attacks and aftermath.

I hate this war (who doesn't), but God Bless America all the same.

The U.S. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier- Interesting Facts

The content below was just forwarded to me from my aunt.  Speaking of content, after initially posting the content exactly as it was in the email that my aunt sent me, about 15 minutes later when I checked my blog strange things started happening to that content on my blog. 

First the photos disappeared and then the format started to dramatically change. This I don't understand- if anyone has any insight as to why this happens, please let me know!  The weirdest part about all of it is that the format KEEPS changing, every time I check back it gets odder... the font grows larger (only in some places though), it centers itself... it's just strange.  And the Twilight Zone part is that a similar (but not exact) thing happened on my other blog, http://balancedmommy.blogspot.com/

At any rate, back to the original point:  my aunt's son (and my cousin) enlisted in the U.S. military last year. My deep reservations about the current war notwithstanding, I also deeply admire and respect our men and women in uniform.

Tomb of the  Unknown Soldier
   

1.  How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the 
tomb  of the Unknowns and why? 

       21 steps. It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute, which is the 
highest honor given any military or foreign  dignitary.
 


2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his
return walk and why?

       21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1



 

3. Why are his gloves wet?

       His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the
rifle.  

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time
and if not, why not?

       He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb.
After his  march across the path, he executes an about face
and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

 

5. How often are the guards changed?

       Guards are changed every thirty minutes,
twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

 


6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

       For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be
between 5' 10" and 6' 2" tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30."  Other
requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the
tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on
or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the
rest of their lives and  cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in
any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on
their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only
400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their
lives or give up the wreath pin.

       The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat
and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the
top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.
There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty
in front of a full-length mirror.

       The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor
watch TV.  All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid
to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are
and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe
E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most
decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

       Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for
guard duty.




  ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM. 
 
       In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching  Washington,  DC, our 
US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC 
evening news, it was  reported that because of the dangers from the 
hurricane, the military  members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of 
the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They 
respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!"  Soaked to the skin, 
marching in the pelting  rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding 
the Tomb was not just an  assignment, it was the highest honor that can be 
afforded to a serviceperson. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 
24/7, since 1930.