Just by chance, as in when I walked back in from the ballgame, I had the opportunity to watch a part of one of the Twilight movies, something I had been studiously avoiding because I'm not a teenage girl. I'm not sure which one. It had vampires in it but they can go outside during the day and act pretty much like everyone else. And big dogs that appeared to be vaguely 2-dimensional. And dialogue that was absolutely spectacular in its dullness. Even having low expectations because I'd heard the books were terribly written, I couldn't believe how lifeless (and I don't mean like the undead) and boring everyone was.
There's a heavily moussed guy, Edward, who is earnest and introspective and never says anything interesting. There's another guy, Jacob, who doesn't wear a shirt and is in lots of scenes where he does nothing but talk to the girl, Bella, about how she ought to be with him instead of Edward. I keep waiting her for her to say, "You never talk about anything else, so I have no choice but to assume that if I decide to be with you that you will have nothing whatsoever to say." But she loves him too, of course.
I gather that dullness is part of the atmosphere in which the story takes place. Bella lives in a dull town with dull people and dull things that are not exactly people. So first you create a boring place and populate it with creatures who say nothing but boring things. There was a battle where one group of vampires defeats another with the help of the dogs, who of course can't be attacked because they're only two dimensional. The battle consists entirely of people running toward each other and throwing each other around.
I know that I'm being kind of disingenuous here and making fun of an easy target. I just couldn't believe how easy a target it was. Wow, I can hardly wait for the next sequel.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
FInal Day of AP Camp (Final update)
So it's our last day here. Time for campfires and hugs and promises of a reunion.
No, not really. We've all gotten semi-friendly but it would take an accident of fate for any of us to see each other again. And I don't think Penn State would look kindly at our setting fires somewhere. though you never know. Last time I did one of these everyone exchanged e-mail addresses but I don't think anyone ever used them for anything. Maybe with Facebook, who knows, but it doesn't really make any difference.
Meanwhile, I cannot believe how much my body hurts from doing this. I could have played a couple of hours of rugby and I doubt I would have been noticeably more uncomfortable afterwards.
The difficulty of the material is increasing at about the same pace as my ability to process new information is decreasing and I think we've now moved into negative territory.
Lunch today was awful. I decided to stay here this time, which was nice because I got to talk to a couple of people, but bad because of the food. Today we had no choice. It was a box with a two half-wraps, turkey with cranberry sauce and Italian. I like turkey/cranberry wraps and get them at Wawa, but this one had a strange salty taste, beyond the processed turkey saltiness. But of course if you're looking for salt, you need look no further than an Italian wrap. I managed to swallow the first bite but could get no further.
We scurried through the final bits of material, filled out evaluation reports, gave out door prizes (more textbooks! Tote bags!) said a few goodbyes to the people we'd had a moment or two to talk with socially, and off we went.
Two days of this would have been just fine. Four is just too much. Glad to be able to sleep in tomorrow.
No, not really. We've all gotten semi-friendly but it would take an accident of fate for any of us to see each other again. And I don't think Penn State would look kindly at our setting fires somewhere. though you never know. Last time I did one of these everyone exchanged e-mail addresses but I don't think anyone ever used them for anything. Maybe with Facebook, who knows, but it doesn't really make any difference.
Meanwhile, I cannot believe how much my body hurts from doing this. I could have played a couple of hours of rugby and I doubt I would have been noticeably more uncomfortable afterwards.
The difficulty of the material is increasing at about the same pace as my ability to process new information is decreasing and I think we've now moved into negative territory.
Lunch today was awful. I decided to stay here this time, which was nice because I got to talk to a couple of people, but bad because of the food. Today we had no choice. It was a box with a two half-wraps, turkey with cranberry sauce and Italian. I like turkey/cranberry wraps and get them at Wawa, but this one had a strange salty taste, beyond the processed turkey saltiness. But of course if you're looking for salt, you need look no further than an Italian wrap. I managed to swallow the first bite but could get no further.
We scurried through the final bits of material, filled out evaluation reports, gave out door prizes (more textbooks! Tote bags!) said a few goodbyes to the people we'd had a moment or two to talk with socially, and off we went.
Two days of this would have been just fine. Four is just too much. Glad to be able to sleep in tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
AP Camp Day 3
Okay, I've about had it. I simply cannot sit for that long and be productive in any way. There's nothing wrong with the class, but as much as I like Calculus (really), I can't just sit in one place and work on it for days on end.
So in my usual way, I rebel around the edges. Today I came about 10 minutes late. I got up several times during each session to use the rest room and stretch my legs. I went out for lunch instead of having a 3rd identical bag lunch catered by the college board. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow, though being late is pretty much a must. It's nice that I'm not taking it for credit.
Not that that would be a problem anyway. I seem to be in the middle of every discussion and I feel like I'm talking way too much. Some of the other teachers ask me questions and the instructor says things like, "Frank, you've been doing this a while (really?) how have you done this?" I feel bad for some of the others. They're kind of freaking out.
Today a sales rep for a publishing company came in to shill one of the textbooks we're getting (yes, one of the perks of going to these things is free textbooks. Booyah!). She is not only over the top perky, but she's talking at a volume more appropriate to an auditorium than a classroom. She leaves and we're all wondering if she's like that all the time.
Tomorrow we wrap it up. Thinking through how the school year went I guess we're on a topic I was covering in March or so, so I guess that makes sense. Last time I did one of these things the instructor told us a lot more about the test itself and spent a lot of time trying to convince us to be test readers. This is where you go to an undisclosed location and spend 10 days grading the free response section of the AP test. You are assigned one question to grade, you're trained on it and then you sit at a table with 9 other teachers and grade batches of question 5 Form B, with everything you do checked and double checked. Sounds like probably not the best plan for me. The one thing I learned about the test is that you don't need to do arithmetic. As in you can leave an answer as a series of things multiplied and added together.
So I guess I'll check in tomorrow after I'm done if there's anything new to say. In the meantime, hope that my butt recovers feeling before the morning.
So in my usual way, I rebel around the edges. Today I came about 10 minutes late. I got up several times during each session to use the rest room and stretch my legs. I went out for lunch instead of having a 3rd identical bag lunch catered by the college board. I don't know what I'll do tomorrow, though being late is pretty much a must. It's nice that I'm not taking it for credit.
Not that that would be a problem anyway. I seem to be in the middle of every discussion and I feel like I'm talking way too much. Some of the other teachers ask me questions and the instructor says things like, "Frank, you've been doing this a while (really?) how have you done this?" I feel bad for some of the others. They're kind of freaking out.
Today a sales rep for a publishing company came in to shill one of the textbooks we're getting (yes, one of the perks of going to these things is free textbooks. Booyah!). She is not only over the top perky, but she's talking at a volume more appropriate to an auditorium than a classroom. She leaves and we're all wondering if she's like that all the time.
Tomorrow we wrap it up. Thinking through how the school year went I guess we're on a topic I was covering in March or so, so I guess that makes sense. Last time I did one of these things the instructor told us a lot more about the test itself and spent a lot of time trying to convince us to be test readers. This is where you go to an undisclosed location and spend 10 days grading the free response section of the AP test. You are assigned one question to grade, you're trained on it and then you sit at a table with 9 other teachers and grade batches of question 5 Form B, with everything you do checked and double checked. Sounds like probably not the best plan for me. The one thing I learned about the test is that you don't need to do arithmetic. As in you can leave an answer as a series of things multiplied and added together.
So I guess I'll check in tomorrow after I'm done if there's anything new to say. In the meantime, hope that my butt recovers feeling before the morning.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
AP Camp Day 2 (Final update)
Back in Great Valley at 8AM. I find that about 4 hours of sleep is the perfect preparation for this kind of thing, because a certain amount of loopiness is necessary to endure a full day of it. I like taking classes, but this is simply too long. I can't sit still that long and I don't care how nice the chairs here are, it hurts to drive 45 minutes somewhere, sit in a chair for 8 hours, then back in the car for 45 minutes. I had to go home and lie down on my stomach.
The problem with these things is that not only do you have a range of intelligence but you have a huge range of skills and experience. So the questions are far more varied than they would be in a regular class, and let's not get started on the 3 different kinds of calculators.
OK. We're now onto handout number 6. It's an excellent handout as far as its content is concerned. I just need to say, I don't care how many cute little pictures you put on the Calculus homework, it's not going to make the kids like their Calculus homework any better. And using emoticons as graphic devices is neither original nor helpful.
I walked back into the room after break and the teacher was distributing textbook #2 and I offered to help and she said she was almost done. Made me realize that offering help just as someone is finishing a task is a well-developed skill from years of living with someone.
Final Update of the day:
Lunch today was exactly he same as yesterday except that the sandwiches were on different bread than yesterday. Not exactly the variety I'd prefer. Think I may be off to Wegmans tomorrow.
Okay, it's official. The main casualty of this week is my butt. I simply cannot sit this much. At lunchtime today, everyone was making fun of me because I was standing across the lounge from where everyone else was sitting and eating, so I finally dragged a tall table over. I had never gotten the sense that my butt had gotten less resilient as I've gotten older, but I'm wondering if that's one of those signs of aging that goes largely unrecognized and is cloaked in shame.
(So what did I do this evening? Go to a Phillies game and sit for another couple of hours.)
But back to AP. The class moved very fast today and there was a clear break between the people who get it and those who don't. There are a decent number of people who are genuinely having difficulty keeping up. They're not suffering in silence, but it's clear that they're finding this an upsetting experience and are not looking forward to the task of actually teaching this class.
The people who are fine with the pace are pretty much the under-35 crew and me. This stuff comes pretty naturally to me and even if I miss a problem it's because I've spaced out and not because I don't understand what's going on. I like the teacher okay, but I doubt she'll be getting great ratings, even given that it's hard to cover all of AP Calculus in 4 days.
The problem with these things is that not only do you have a range of intelligence but you have a huge range of skills and experience. So the questions are far more varied than they would be in a regular class, and let's not get started on the 3 different kinds of calculators.
OK. We're now onto handout number 6. It's an excellent handout as far as its content is concerned. I just need to say, I don't care how many cute little pictures you put on the Calculus homework, it's not going to make the kids like their Calculus homework any better. And using emoticons as graphic devices is neither original nor helpful.
I walked back into the room after break and the teacher was distributing textbook #2 and I offered to help and she said she was almost done. Made me realize that offering help just as someone is finishing a task is a well-developed skill from years of living with someone.
Final Update of the day:
Lunch today was exactly he same as yesterday except that the sandwiches were on different bread than yesterday. Not exactly the variety I'd prefer. Think I may be off to Wegmans tomorrow.
Okay, it's official. The main casualty of this week is my butt. I simply cannot sit this much. At lunchtime today, everyone was making fun of me because I was standing across the lounge from where everyone else was sitting and eating, so I finally dragged a tall table over. I had never gotten the sense that my butt had gotten less resilient as I've gotten older, but I'm wondering if that's one of those signs of aging that goes largely unrecognized and is cloaked in shame.
(So what did I do this evening? Go to a Phillies game and sit for another couple of hours.)
But back to AP. The class moved very fast today and there was a clear break between the people who get it and those who don't. There are a decent number of people who are genuinely having difficulty keeping up. They're not suffering in silence, but it's clear that they're finding this an upsetting experience and are not looking forward to the task of actually teaching this class.
The people who are fine with the pace are pretty much the under-35 crew and me. This stuff comes pretty naturally to me and even if I miss a problem it's because I've spaced out and not because I don't understand what's going on. I like the teacher okay, but I doubt she'll be getting great ratings, even given that it's hard to cover all of AP Calculus in 4 days.
Monday, July 25, 2011
My First Day at AP Camp
My butt hurts. Last time I took one of these 4-day things, by the end I was bringing stadium seat cushions to sit on the hard plastic classroom seats. This facility is much nicer. More like a conference center, so there are padded swivel chairs. Still, I really can't sit in a chair for 7 hours out of 8. I stood all the way through our two allotted 15-minute breaks and out 30-minute lunch.
I wasn't sure how to dress. These things are always completely informal. Today I opted for lightweight long pants. Most of the building was quite cool but our classroom was warm so I'm wearing shorts tomorrow.
The class itself is fine. The people are a wide range of ages, with a couple of people in their mid 20's and a couple of people in their 60's and the rest in between, evenly divided by sex. The teacher is very good. Not the most entertaining person I've ever met, but clearly in command of her material and very knowledgeable about AP Calculus.
For the first part of the day we just go some general information dumpage, including a comprehensive presentation on the College Board's commitment to diversity. Since the percentage of minorities taking the test at our school is somewhat less than the average (unless you count Jews as a minority, which we certainly are, even if we do control everything), we have some work to do in that regard.
After that, we started through the curriculum. This looks like it might turn out to be the entire AP Calculus course crammed into 3 1/2 days. We have a textbook (with 3 more yet to be distributed) and 4 handouts that have been distributed so far (I know there are more to come but I can't tell how many).
I haven't really learned any math techniques or anything so far, but the value in doing this is to get ideas of how to introduce and present material, and get an idea from the AP people just what it is they are trying to test. There was some decent stuff in this regard, including a unit on something that has always been difficult for me to present.
Lunch was the classic box (bag) lunch. Choice of chicken salad, roast beef, turkey and grilled vegetable sandwiches with chips, an apple and a chocolate chip cookie. The chicken salad was decent except that it was done hoagie style with provolone cheese. Cheese on chicken salad will never make sense to me. Sorry. The apple was good. The cookie was so sweet I couldn't discern the cookie part from the chocolate part so I didn't eat it. Things have to be pretty bad for me to pass on a chocolate chip cookie.
There was no coffee available after lunch. BIG downgrade in my program ratings for that. I went out to get a thermal cup of iced coffee that I'd brought for just this type of emergency and in the process got to close the windows in my car before it poured. Good planning triumphs, and it was nice to have the coffee because the afternoon got pretty draggy after a while. This wasn't anyone's fault and maybe nobody else thought it was draggy.
Walking through the hallways during breaks you could see the other AP classes going on. The AP Spanish people looked highly engaged and finished early. The US History people looked kind of bored.
At about 3:45 we were given a homework assignment and sent on our way.
I wasn't sure how to dress. These things are always completely informal. Today I opted for lightweight long pants. Most of the building was quite cool but our classroom was warm so I'm wearing shorts tomorrow.
The class itself is fine. The people are a wide range of ages, with a couple of people in their mid 20's and a couple of people in their 60's and the rest in between, evenly divided by sex. The teacher is very good. Not the most entertaining person I've ever met, but clearly in command of her material and very knowledgeable about AP Calculus.
For the first part of the day we just go some general information dumpage, including a comprehensive presentation on the College Board's commitment to diversity. Since the percentage of minorities taking the test at our school is somewhat less than the average (unless you count Jews as a minority, which we certainly are, even if we do control everything), we have some work to do in that regard.
After that, we started through the curriculum. This looks like it might turn out to be the entire AP Calculus course crammed into 3 1/2 days. We have a textbook (with 3 more yet to be distributed) and 4 handouts that have been distributed so far (I know there are more to come but I can't tell how many).
I haven't really learned any math techniques or anything so far, but the value in doing this is to get ideas of how to introduce and present material, and get an idea from the AP people just what it is they are trying to test. There was some decent stuff in this regard, including a unit on something that has always been difficult for me to present.
Lunch was the classic box (bag) lunch. Choice of chicken salad, roast beef, turkey and grilled vegetable sandwiches with chips, an apple and a chocolate chip cookie. The chicken salad was decent except that it was done hoagie style with provolone cheese. Cheese on chicken salad will never make sense to me. Sorry. The apple was good. The cookie was so sweet I couldn't discern the cookie part from the chocolate part so I didn't eat it. Things have to be pretty bad for me to pass on a chocolate chip cookie.
There was no coffee available after lunch. BIG downgrade in my program ratings for that. I went out to get a thermal cup of iced coffee that I'd brought for just this type of emergency and in the process got to close the windows in my car before it poured. Good planning triumphs, and it was nice to have the coffee because the afternoon got pretty draggy after a while. This wasn't anyone's fault and maybe nobody else thought it was draggy.
Walking through the hallways during breaks you could see the other AP classes going on. The AP Spanish people looked highly engaged and finished early. The US History people looked kind of bored.
At about 3:45 we were given a homework assignment and sent on our way.
AP Summer Institute 3
A lot of Calculus books have the phrase "Early Transcendentals." I know that this refers to a class of functions and I guess I always assumed it meant that it dealt with the first kinds of transcendentals, the easy ones. But today I learned that what it means is "Transcendentals Early," as in they are included in the book in the early chapters.
I haven't been fussed at yet but I've noticed that I am calling out answers without raising my hand. Oops.
I haven't been fussed at yet but I've noticed that I am calling out answers without raising my hand. Oops.
AP Summer Institute 2
My favorite people in these classes are the people who found out like a week ago that they're teaching AP Calculus in the fall. In at least one case they'd never even taught pre-calc. Such is the world of budget .
We just had a break (we are allotted 15 minutes morning and afternoon as permitted by the College Board). I guess we're falling behind since now as we begin the post-break session the teacher is now talking VERY fast.
We just had a break (we are allotted 15 minutes morning and afternoon as permitted by the College Board). I guess we're falling behind since now as we begin the post-break session the teacher is now talking VERY fast.
AP Summer Institute 2
My favorite people in these classes are the people who found out like a week ago that they're teaching AP Calculus in the fall. In at least one case they'd never even taught pre-calc. Such is the world of budget .
We just had a break (we are allotted 15 minutes morning and afternoon as permitted by the College Board). I guess we're falling behind since now as we begin the post-break session the teacher is now talking VERY fast.
We just had a break (we are allotted 15 minutes morning and afternoon as permitted by the College Board). I guess we're falling behind since now as we begin the post-break session the teacher is now talking VERY fast.
AP Summer Institute
I know that some of you like when I do "behind the scenes" teacher stuff. So today I'm on the first day of a four day intensive class in teaching AP Calculus. I'm now in the orientation session at Penn State in Great Valley where we are being told that we must do 8 hours a day, no exceptions, because they "take their partnership with the College Board very seriously." They said there would be a representative of the College Board here on Thursday so that should know if we see any "strange faces." This leads me to wonder what kind of faces the people at College Board have.
We're on a nice little campus that might be mistaken for an office park, right off 202.
To say I'm not in the mood for this would be an understatement. This hasn't been a particularly restful vacation and the prospect of getting up at 6:30 to drive out to the western suburbs doesn't thrill me. On the other hand, I've not been able to get much of anything done around the house so maybe I'll be more successful if I'm assigned to do something. And maybe it'll be nice to use another part of my brain for a little while.
We're on a nice little campus that might be mistaken for an office park, right off 202.
To say I'm not in the mood for this would be an understatement. This hasn't been a particularly restful vacation and the prospect of getting up at 6:30 to drive out to the western suburbs doesn't thrill me. On the other hand, I've not been able to get much of anything done around the house so maybe I'll be more successful if I'm assigned to do something. And maybe it'll be nice to use another part of my brain for a little while.
Friday, July 15, 2011
The end
I was riding my bike today and as I was about to make a left turn, a spectacularly beautiful woman jogged by, wearing just a very small sports bra and very short shorts. And I thought, this is how I'm going to die. I'll be riding my bike one day, someone who looks like that will come by and distract me and I'll get pancaked by a car. Didn't happen today though.
Monday, July 11, 2011
And let's not forget the place itself
It's kind of arrogant to actually review a place. If I write what I think about Ithaca, NY, why would they care? Why would anyone care? But I've traveled enough and paid close enough attention that I can at least try to put things in perspective.
The first thing I ask myself about a place is, could I live here? This is probably not the most selective screening, since I can enjoy myself pretty much anywhere, but it's an important framework within which to evaluate a place. In the case of Ithaca, I could absolutely live there. It's a nicely sized little city, with two colleges dominating the culture, on the southern shore of a big lake surrounded by rolling hills, assorted natural beauty, and a lot of farms and vineyards. So you got food, you got wine, you got culture, you got scenery. Not the best weather maybe, but not too shabby.
I found most of the people I talked with to be pleasant and helpful. The downtown "Commons" area is that most economically precarious of urban designs, the pedestrian mall, but it seems to work with a nice mix of shops and restaurants. Downtown is ringed by parking lots, a surprising number of parking lots in fact. It's hard for me to imagine enough people being there to come close to filling them. I'm not a huge fan of parking lots and I never entered one, but I'm guessing that their existence helps free up street parking. There is also a reasonably robust public bus system.
Urban design-wise, it's kind of a mess. It kind of can't help it though, with half of it ringed by hills and the other half next to a lake, you're kind of stuck with whatever flat space you can find. Downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods, both on flatland and hillside (which I can tell you from biking experience is 4 miles of fairly steep uphill with no letup whatsoever), seem pleasant and reasonably safe.
All of the suburban type development is crammed into one small area on the southwest side of town. This a good balance of convenience and inconvenience. Traffic on that end of town is hellish (what do you expect from a half mile of shopping center entrances every 50 yards, each with a traffic light?), and the shopping centers run into each other at odd angles making it hard to know whether you're in the Kmart center or the Walmart center (they're right next to each other because...well, there's no place else) or the Lowes center.
Fortunately, the first thing in the strip is a Wegmans and so it isn't ever necessary to go anywhere else (any place with a Wegmans has to be livable, even Cherry Hill). And the rest of the stuff is so difficult to navigate that I think it keeps all those big box stores and chain restaurants from decimating downtown. Plus I'm guessing that the college students either don't have cars or wouldn't get caught dead in a Walmart.
There's a nice old theater that houses good concerts and other theater type shows. There's a 5 screen art movie house a block from the Commons. Lots of decent restaurants and pubs with live music on weekend nights. And of course there's ample natural beauty and good air. Maybe not that much sunshine between September and June, but at least the air is clean and the water tastes good.
Ithaca also boasts one of the best farmers markets I've seen. There seem to be markets somewhere in town most days, but they have a big wooden pavilion full of booths that gets filled with over 100 vendors on Saturday and Sunday (some vendors both days, some only one and replaced by something else the other day). Aside from the usual array of fresh organic stuff, there are specialty growers (one guy who, and I'm not making this up, sold nothing but currants, currants of all different colors and flavors, all of which the guy could describe in great detail).
The market features a huge variety of fresh prepared foods of all nationalities. Would you expect that in Ithaca you could choose between Cuban, Cambodian and Sri Lankan food? Apple cider slushies? Flatbread pizzas from a portable wood-burning pizza oven? Plus wine, cheese, chutney, kefir, and hard cider tasting, crafts and baked goods. Yum.
There's also at least two microbreweries (nothing exceptional but all reasonably tasty) and a good local coffee roaster in town. Their coffee shop also has a massive stock of craft beers (as does Wegmans). I decided to buy a few half liter bottles on the way out of town. The girl at the register said she really liked the Ommegang Abbey Ale (from Cooperstown) but hadn't tried the other Ommegang offering I'd selected. I looked at her for a moment and asked, "are you old enough to drink?" She turned pink and kind of stumbled to answer. I said, don't worry, I've got a 19 year-old daughter so I understand.
And with that we were on our way home.
The first thing I ask myself about a place is, could I live here? This is probably not the most selective screening, since I can enjoy myself pretty much anywhere, but it's an important framework within which to evaluate a place. In the case of Ithaca, I could absolutely live there. It's a nicely sized little city, with two colleges dominating the culture, on the southern shore of a big lake surrounded by rolling hills, assorted natural beauty, and a lot of farms and vineyards. So you got food, you got wine, you got culture, you got scenery. Not the best weather maybe, but not too shabby.
I found most of the people I talked with to be pleasant and helpful. The downtown "Commons" area is that most economically precarious of urban designs, the pedestrian mall, but it seems to work with a nice mix of shops and restaurants. Downtown is ringed by parking lots, a surprising number of parking lots in fact. It's hard for me to imagine enough people being there to come close to filling them. I'm not a huge fan of parking lots and I never entered one, but I'm guessing that their existence helps free up street parking. There is also a reasonably robust public bus system.
Urban design-wise, it's kind of a mess. It kind of can't help it though, with half of it ringed by hills and the other half next to a lake, you're kind of stuck with whatever flat space you can find. Downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods, both on flatland and hillside (which I can tell you from biking experience is 4 miles of fairly steep uphill with no letup whatsoever), seem pleasant and reasonably safe.
All of the suburban type development is crammed into one small area on the southwest side of town. This a good balance of convenience and inconvenience. Traffic on that end of town is hellish (what do you expect from a half mile of shopping center entrances every 50 yards, each with a traffic light?), and the shopping centers run into each other at odd angles making it hard to know whether you're in the Kmart center or the Walmart center (they're right next to each other because...well, there's no place else) or the Lowes center.
Fortunately, the first thing in the strip is a Wegmans and so it isn't ever necessary to go anywhere else (any place with a Wegmans has to be livable, even Cherry Hill). And the rest of the stuff is so difficult to navigate that I think it keeps all those big box stores and chain restaurants from decimating downtown. Plus I'm guessing that the college students either don't have cars or wouldn't get caught dead in a Walmart.
There's a nice old theater that houses good concerts and other theater type shows. There's a 5 screen art movie house a block from the Commons. Lots of decent restaurants and pubs with live music on weekend nights. And of course there's ample natural beauty and good air. Maybe not that much sunshine between September and June, but at least the air is clean and the water tastes good.
Ithaca also boasts one of the best farmers markets I've seen. There seem to be markets somewhere in town most days, but they have a big wooden pavilion full of booths that gets filled with over 100 vendors on Saturday and Sunday (some vendors both days, some only one and replaced by something else the other day). Aside from the usual array of fresh organic stuff, there are specialty growers (one guy who, and I'm not making this up, sold nothing but currants, currants of all different colors and flavors, all of which the guy could describe in great detail).
The market features a huge variety of fresh prepared foods of all nationalities. Would you expect that in Ithaca you could choose between Cuban, Cambodian and Sri Lankan food? Apple cider slushies? Flatbread pizzas from a portable wood-burning pizza oven? Plus wine, cheese, chutney, kefir, and hard cider tasting, crafts and baked goods. Yum.
There's also at least two microbreweries (nothing exceptional but all reasonably tasty) and a good local coffee roaster in town. Their coffee shop also has a massive stock of craft beers (as does Wegmans). I decided to buy a few half liter bottles on the way out of town. The girl at the register said she really liked the Ommegang Abbey Ale (from Cooperstown) but hadn't tried the other Ommegang offering I'd selected. I looked at her for a moment and asked, "are you old enough to drink?" She turned pink and kind of stumbled to answer. I said, don't worry, I've got a 19 year-old daughter so I understand.
And with that we were on our way home.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sleeping
Of course, no trip report would be complete without a review of the hotel. We're staying at a place called La Tourelle Resort and Spa on top of the hill near Ithaca College. It's a nice place in a beautiful spot. And although it's not quite what it aspires to be, I think it's a pretty nice place.
When you come up to a place with a Frenchy sounding name in a pretty spot, you're expecting something like a luxurious country inn. And it isn't quite that, as I had assumed based on the price, which was quite reasonable. It's not an old place, and so has the feel of something where they wanted to build something special and luxurious, but didn't quite have enough money or vision to pull it off. But despite that I'm reasonably high on the place.
The lobby is a mix between and inn and a hotel, which captures things in a nutshell. There are some comfortable leather couches, one of which I'm currently sitting on, around a fireplace and a baby grand piano. Just off that area is a table with a computer and a shelf with some board games and a stereo that plays pleasant music all the time. On the other side is a small bar area with a few tables and nice chairs. The bar has a Finger Lakes wine happy hour and the rest of the time is an honor bar, which although I haven't availed myself of it is one of the nicer touches I've seen. You take a glass of wine or beer or soda and leave some dollar bills in a basket. That just makes me feel good for some reason. There's also a breakfront with free coffee available all the time and excellent coffee from Ithaca Coffee Company to boot. There are coffeemakers in the rooms but this is much better coffee.
The people who work here are without exception pleasant and completely helpful. I brought my bicycle along and when I asked about a place to store it, since the place doesn't have a luggage room, they put it in a very nice hotel room, right off the lobby, that happens to have a non-functional air conditioner. So not only is my bike safe and comfortable, but the staff and I get to make constant jokes about how the bike is doing and how it's enjoying it's stay.
There is a vaguely South Pacific theme going on, with wooden primitive sculptures in the lobby and masks on all the room doors. It's not really carried through though, not that I'd want it to be. The rooms are good sized (we had a queen room- the king rooms, like the one my bike is staying in, are larger) with with plenty of dresser space, a small table and chairs near the window, and a small refrigerator (for our convenience! Not a mini bar!). The bed is very comfortable. Some of the rooms have flat screen TVs. Ours has a reasonably nice older TV with a DVD player. The bathroom is small and modest but functional. The wifi is free (thank you!) and works better than in most hotels, but there is no outlet anywhere near the table (the king room next door does have outlets near the table).
The real problem with the room is climate control. Here's where the lack of upfront money comes in. There's no central heating or AC. This leaves each unit with one of those accursed floor consoles where you punch buttons and turn knobs to adjust the temperature. This is hardly a unique problem. Mirror Lake Inn, one of my favorite places, has the same setup.
The big problem with these units is that they suck. I know that sounds vague, but it can be applied to any specific aspect of their operation with equal accuracy. The thing is noisy, difficult to adjust, and ineffective in dealing with extremes. It was very hot and humid the first couple of days we were here, and though the room would get cool it never got dehumidified so we had a choice of freezing or clammy or, most typically, both. So sleeping was less than great, and fairly or not, this significantly downgrades the whole experience.
There's a bistro for breakfast and lunch (and a curiously poor brunch menu). The food is fine. The servers say "Enjoy!" when they leave you something on the table. There's a steak restaurant on the property which we did not try. There's a decent spa on the property. We all had massages which were good but not special in any way. There are some nice sitting areas outside, though no pool, and trails in the backyard lead into Buttermilk Falls State Park.
So overall I would give La Tourelle a positive but not rave review. I'm guessing for this area it's as good as it gets, and the price/value relationship is good. If you stay here I think you'll be satisfied but not blown away.
When you come up to a place with a Frenchy sounding name in a pretty spot, you're expecting something like a luxurious country inn. And it isn't quite that, as I had assumed based on the price, which was quite reasonable. It's not an old place, and so has the feel of something where they wanted to build something special and luxurious, but didn't quite have enough money or vision to pull it off. But despite that I'm reasonably high on the place.
The lobby is a mix between and inn and a hotel, which captures things in a nutshell. There are some comfortable leather couches, one of which I'm currently sitting on, around a fireplace and a baby grand piano. Just off that area is a table with a computer and a shelf with some board games and a stereo that plays pleasant music all the time. On the other side is a small bar area with a few tables and nice chairs. The bar has a Finger Lakes wine happy hour and the rest of the time is an honor bar, which although I haven't availed myself of it is one of the nicer touches I've seen. You take a glass of wine or beer or soda and leave some dollar bills in a basket. That just makes me feel good for some reason. There's also a breakfront with free coffee available all the time and excellent coffee from Ithaca Coffee Company to boot. There are coffeemakers in the rooms but this is much better coffee.
The people who work here are without exception pleasant and completely helpful. I brought my bicycle along and when I asked about a place to store it, since the place doesn't have a luggage room, they put it in a very nice hotel room, right off the lobby, that happens to have a non-functional air conditioner. So not only is my bike safe and comfortable, but the staff and I get to make constant jokes about how the bike is doing and how it's enjoying it's stay.
There is a vaguely South Pacific theme going on, with wooden primitive sculptures in the lobby and masks on all the room doors. It's not really carried through though, not that I'd want it to be. The rooms are good sized (we had a queen room- the king rooms, like the one my bike is staying in, are larger) with with plenty of dresser space, a small table and chairs near the window, and a small refrigerator (for our convenience! Not a mini bar!). The bed is very comfortable. Some of the rooms have flat screen TVs. Ours has a reasonably nice older TV with a DVD player. The bathroom is small and modest but functional. The wifi is free (thank you!) and works better than in most hotels, but there is no outlet anywhere near the table (the king room next door does have outlets near the table).
The real problem with the room is climate control. Here's where the lack of upfront money comes in. There's no central heating or AC. This leaves each unit with one of those accursed floor consoles where you punch buttons and turn knobs to adjust the temperature. This is hardly a unique problem. Mirror Lake Inn, one of my favorite places, has the same setup.
The big problem with these units is that they suck. I know that sounds vague, but it can be applied to any specific aspect of their operation with equal accuracy. The thing is noisy, difficult to adjust, and ineffective in dealing with extremes. It was very hot and humid the first couple of days we were here, and though the room would get cool it never got dehumidified so we had a choice of freezing or clammy or, most typically, both. So sleeping was less than great, and fairly or not, this significantly downgrades the whole experience.
There's a bistro for breakfast and lunch (and a curiously poor brunch menu). The food is fine. The servers say "Enjoy!" when they leave you something on the table. There's a steak restaurant on the property which we did not try. There's a decent spa on the property. We all had massages which were good but not special in any way. There are some nice sitting areas outside, though no pool, and trails in the backyard lead into Buttermilk Falls State Park.
So overall I would give La Tourelle a positive but not rave review. I'm guessing for this area it's as good as it gets, and the price/value relationship is good. If you stay here I think you'll be satisfied but not blown away.
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Washing
I'm sitting outside the Fall Creek Laundromat in Ithaca. It's nice out so I've dragged a chair outside and I've got my feet propped up on a railroad tie that I presume is there to stop cars. I'm using someone in the neighborhood's wifi. Thanks!
It's a nice, clean laundromat with classic rock playing not too loud from a radio somewhere. There are a number of top and front load washers and reasonably new looking dryers with digital displays. At the moment there are two other people, one young woman and one woman closer to my age. It's 10:00 on Saturday night and the few people who've walked by have been very friendly, including the loudly singing mid-teens girls and the drunk guys looking for a water fountain. They may have even told me to "Enjoy!" as everyone else around here seems to say constantly.
So why am I doing this? Easy. I volunteered. My daughter finished her music program (the concert where the kids played and sang was remarkably good- way beyond even the best high school orchestra, band or chorus I've seen) and is off to camp in the morning. Since camp is sort of on the way home from Ithaca, it seemed silly to drive all the way home and then all the way back, so we're staying here an extra night and the laundry must be done. Since the ladies are busy repacking and whatever else, I volunteered to come out and spend an hour doing the wash.
Don't get me wrong. This is serious business. My wife consideres herself something of a laundry expert and I have no reason to disbelieve her. In fact, I'm honored that she trusted me to do this without giving me extremely detailed instructions. So hopefully I don't screw anything up- oversuds the machine, burn the delicates to a crisp- that kind of thing. So far so good. And it's a beautiful night and I'm content sitting right here.
It's a nice, clean laundromat with classic rock playing not too loud from a radio somewhere. There are a number of top and front load washers and reasonably new looking dryers with digital displays. At the moment there are two other people, one young woman and one woman closer to my age. It's 10:00 on Saturday night and the few people who've walked by have been very friendly, including the loudly singing mid-teens girls and the drunk guys looking for a water fountain. They may have even told me to "Enjoy!" as everyone else around here seems to say constantly.
So why am I doing this? Easy. I volunteered. My daughter finished her music program (the concert where the kids played and sang was remarkably good- way beyond even the best high school orchestra, band or chorus I've seen) and is off to camp in the morning. Since camp is sort of on the way home from Ithaca, it seemed silly to drive all the way home and then all the way back, so we're staying here an extra night and the laundry must be done. Since the ladies are busy repacking and whatever else, I volunteered to come out and spend an hour doing the wash.
Don't get me wrong. This is serious business. My wife consideres herself something of a laundry expert and I have no reason to disbelieve her. In fact, I'm honored that she trusted me to do this without giving me extremely detailed instructions. So hopefully I don't screw anything up- oversuds the machine, burn the delicates to a crisp- that kind of thing. So far so good. And it's a beautiful night and I'm content sitting right here.
Dining
As I mentioned previously, we ate last night at Suzanne's Regional Cuisine. It's a very good restaurant up on a hill on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake.
We arrived at 6:30 after an afternoon of wine tasting. The restaurant is in an old farm house- there's a couple of barns on the property and a field, of which a small part is used to grow things for the restaurant. There's a wrap-around porch with a couple of tables on it, and once we came inside we were led through a surprisingly large number of dining rooms into what looks like the newest and largest one. It still kind of resembles a living room and even has a couch and some easy chairs. I don't think it's an inn, but that part sure looked like it.
The menu is small, but there wasn't anything on it I wouldn't have eaten. The waiter came around and recited a couple of specials, one of which, a cremini mushroom stuffed with lobster (Maine is in the Finger Lakes region?) with a citrus vinaigrette. This sounded delicious, but when the waiter returned to take our order he said they were sold out. "Sold out at 6:45?" I asked incredulously. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Sorry, he said, sometimes when there's a large party a bunch of people order the same appetizer and the specials can go really fast.
I'd say bummer, but the potato leek soup I had instead was wonderful. It was not thick or heavy, but just slightly creamy with a few shreds of bacon and a dollop of blue cheese in the middle. Ronnie, in honor of seeing so many wonderful scallop preparations in The Trip, had scallops, which were perfectly cooked on a bed of sauteed shallots. In general, this restaurant keeps the sauces mostly on the side and lightly on the food itself. Delicious appetizers.
In the meantime, I was trying a couple of Finger Lakes Pinot Noirs. They were recognizably pinot noirs, but not made in any way that was familiar- either from France or the West Coast. Like everything else I'd had, drinkable, but not memorable. We also realized that we were hearing a kitchen timer go off repeatedly. I guess I assumed that even great chefs use timers, but I'm not used to hearing in the restaurant.
Entrees were duck for Ronnie and roast pork loin for me. Ronnie said her duck was unexceptional, that the skin wasn't crisp and the meat not as tender as expected. My roast pork, while not in a league with Tony Luke's roast pork, was very good. I'd ordered it because I'd never make it at home and was not disappointed. It was wrapped with a paper-thin slice of pancetta and lightly sauced with cremini mushrooms. Haricots verts on the side were fresh and delicious and there was some kind of fried grainy thing, maybe cheese grits, that made a nice complement.
For dessert, Ronnie had fantastic berries while I had something called profiteroles. The waiter told me what that meant (kind of like rigamaroles, but more profittable) but it's clear that this is a made up word that they thought would sound good for a dessert and I'm sure they give everyone a different answer when asked. In my case it was three little puff pastries with strawberry ice cream inside, sitting aside a pool of Belgian chocolate sauce. Wonderful way to end it.
By the end of the meal we'd heard "enjoy" enough times that it was all we could do to restrain ourselves from laughing out loud (this seems to be a regional tick- they say it at every restaurant around here every time they leave something on the table and walk away) but overall it was a fine dining experience.
We arrived at 6:30 after an afternoon of wine tasting. The restaurant is in an old farm house- there's a couple of barns on the property and a field, of which a small part is used to grow things for the restaurant. There's a wrap-around porch with a couple of tables on it, and once we came inside we were led through a surprisingly large number of dining rooms into what looks like the newest and largest one. It still kind of resembles a living room and even has a couch and some easy chairs. I don't think it's an inn, but that part sure looked like it.
The menu is small, but there wasn't anything on it I wouldn't have eaten. The waiter came around and recited a couple of specials, one of which, a cremini mushroom stuffed with lobster (Maine is in the Finger Lakes region?) with a citrus vinaigrette. This sounded delicious, but when the waiter returned to take our order he said they were sold out. "Sold out at 6:45?" I asked incredulously. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Sorry, he said, sometimes when there's a large party a bunch of people order the same appetizer and the specials can go really fast.
I'd say bummer, but the potato leek soup I had instead was wonderful. It was not thick or heavy, but just slightly creamy with a few shreds of bacon and a dollop of blue cheese in the middle. Ronnie, in honor of seeing so many wonderful scallop preparations in The Trip, had scallops, which were perfectly cooked on a bed of sauteed shallots. In general, this restaurant keeps the sauces mostly on the side and lightly on the food itself. Delicious appetizers.
In the meantime, I was trying a couple of Finger Lakes Pinot Noirs. They were recognizably pinot noirs, but not made in any way that was familiar- either from France or the West Coast. Like everything else I'd had, drinkable, but not memorable. We also realized that we were hearing a kitchen timer go off repeatedly. I guess I assumed that even great chefs use timers, but I'm not used to hearing in the restaurant.
Entrees were duck for Ronnie and roast pork loin for me. Ronnie said her duck was unexceptional, that the skin wasn't crisp and the meat not as tender as expected. My roast pork, while not in a league with Tony Luke's roast pork, was very good. I'd ordered it because I'd never make it at home and was not disappointed. It was wrapped with a paper-thin slice of pancetta and lightly sauced with cremini mushrooms. Haricots verts on the side were fresh and delicious and there was some kind of fried grainy thing, maybe cheese grits, that made a nice complement.
For dessert, Ronnie had fantastic berries while I had something called profiteroles. The waiter told me what that meant (kind of like rigamaroles, but more profittable) but it's clear that this is a made up word that they thought would sound good for a dessert and I'm sure they give everyone a different answer when asked. In my case it was three little puff pastries with strawberry ice cream inside, sitting aside a pool of Belgian chocolate sauce. Wonderful way to end it.
By the end of the meal we'd heard "enjoy" enough times that it was all we could do to restrain ourselves from laughing out loud (this seems to be a regional tick- they say it at every restaurant around here every time they leave something on the table and walk away) but overall it was a fine dining experience.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Enjoy!
When we're on vacation, one thing is no different from when we're home. I get up way before everyone else. In this case, it's just the two of us, but the dynamic is the same, though the limitations of when you can get breakfast at a hotel limit how late things can go. So today we had breakfast at around 10. This unusually early wakeup led eventually to Ronnie going back to sleep while I went for a bike ride.
I went in the direction away from town because going toward town is straight downhill, a terrible way to begin a bike ride. The problem with going away from town, of course, is that there is virtually nothing between one town and the next. Not that convenience stores are the be all and end all or anything, but I'm not used to riding for 10 miles and seeing not one single business open anywhere and a mini market with cold drinks would have been appreciated. Did see a nice fishing pond though.
After I got back we headed out to taste the famous Finger Lakes wines. They were about what I expected. Everything was very drinkable, nothing was great. We didn't buy anything to take home. Many of them are in absolutely beautiful spots overlooking the lakes. There's almost no public access to either Cayuga or Seneca lake, the two biggest ones. I'm not sure why, aside from budget cuts that have forced NY to close the swimming areas in the state parks. It's a shame though.
Eventually we ended up at a very nice restaurant called Suzanne's Regional Cuisine. Oddly, that's how everyone there always refers to it, by that entire name. I had sort of assumed that Suzanne's was the name of the restaurant and Regional Cuisine was merely a descriptor, but apparently I was mistaken. Aside from repeating their entire name, the other verbal tick was that, no matter what the waiter or busboy or hostess did at the table, they always left saying "Enjoy!" By mid-entree´ we realized that this was just a thing that they did and were tempted to goad them into saying it even more often. But we didn't because we're nice people.
When we got back to the hotel I panicked because I couldn't find the new bottle opener I'd bought because I couldn't get the beer that I'd bought open with any of the 4 openers that we had at our disposal. After frantically searching through the car (you'd think after all the wine tasting that this would be unnecessary but I was driving so I'd been spitting a lot) for 10 minutes I finally gave up and went to the local mini mart and got something with a twist-off cap. Thank goodness for technology.
I went in the direction away from town because going toward town is straight downhill, a terrible way to begin a bike ride. The problem with going away from town, of course, is that there is virtually nothing between one town and the next. Not that convenience stores are the be all and end all or anything, but I'm not used to riding for 10 miles and seeing not one single business open anywhere and a mini market with cold drinks would have been appreciated. Did see a nice fishing pond though.
After I got back we headed out to taste the famous Finger Lakes wines. They were about what I expected. Everything was very drinkable, nothing was great. We didn't buy anything to take home. Many of them are in absolutely beautiful spots overlooking the lakes. There's almost no public access to either Cayuga or Seneca lake, the two biggest ones. I'm not sure why, aside from budget cuts that have forced NY to close the swimming areas in the state parks. It's a shame though.
Eventually we ended up at a very nice restaurant called Suzanne's Regional Cuisine. Oddly, that's how everyone there always refers to it, by that entire name. I had sort of assumed that Suzanne's was the name of the restaurant and Regional Cuisine was merely a descriptor, but apparently I was mistaken. Aside from repeating their entire name, the other verbal tick was that, no matter what the waiter or busboy or hostess did at the table, they always left saying "Enjoy!" By mid-entree´ we realized that this was just a thing that they did and were tempted to goad them into saying it even more often. But we didn't because we're nice people.
When we got back to the hotel I panicked because I couldn't find the new bottle opener I'd bought because I couldn't get the beer that I'd bought open with any of the 4 openers that we had at our disposal. After frantically searching through the car (you'd think after all the wine tasting that this would be unnecessary but I was driving so I'd been spitting a lot) for 10 minutes I finally gave up and went to the local mini mart and got something with a twist-off cap. Thank goodness for technology.
Away
I've had this uncomfortable feeling that the summer hasn't yet started and somehow is already over. I know that neither is true, it's just a feeling.
So right now we are in Ithaca. One of my kids is doing a music program for two weeks here, and as long as we had to come up here to pick her up, we figured we could leave a few days early and hang out in the Finger Lakes region.
So let me talk about the Finger Lakes. They do kind of look like fingers on a map, but the name is just kind of sketchy sounding. What the Finger Lakes are known for, aside from their shape, is their wineries. Over the years, wines made in New York have acquired an improving reputation, but they're still nothing special in the wine galaxy.
But I figured out why the wineries here are such a big deal. Because there's absolutely nothing else here. I'm looking at the "wine trail" map and in between the wineries there's...well, corn fields and towns you'd never visit unless you needed corn.
So tomorrow we'll tour around. From what I've heard a lot of the wineries are in really beautiful spots with great views. That's the other thing people say about places where there's nothing, that the scenery is beautiful. And in fact it's very pretty around here. But I never forget a satirical article we had in my college newspaper (my college was not terribly far from here) on the pros and cons of being at the college.
I'll be back with a report on our touring and a bit about the hotel later.
So right now we are in Ithaca. One of my kids is doing a music program for two weeks here, and as long as we had to come up here to pick her up, we figured we could leave a few days early and hang out in the Finger Lakes region.
So let me talk about the Finger Lakes. They do kind of look like fingers on a map, but the name is just kind of sketchy sounding. What the Finger Lakes are known for, aside from their shape, is their wineries. Over the years, wines made in New York have acquired an improving reputation, but they're still nothing special in the wine galaxy.
But I figured out why the wineries here are such a big deal. Because there's absolutely nothing else here. I'm looking at the "wine trail" map and in between the wineries there's...well, corn fields and towns you'd never visit unless you needed corn.
So tomorrow we'll tour around. From what I've heard a lot of the wineries are in really beautiful spots with great views. That's the other thing people say about places where there's nothing, that the scenery is beautiful. And in fact it's very pretty around here. But I never forget a satirical article we had in my college newspaper (my college was not terribly far from here) on the pros and cons of being at the college.
Pro: A view of the Mohawk ValleyI'm not saying it's equivalent exactly. This seems like a nicer area than around Utica (population when I was in school: 90,000, population now: 60,000, which tells you all you need to know). And of course I can find things to enjoy anywhere. I was just in advertising too long to not be wary of the overpromise.
Con: Living in the Mohawk Valley
I'll be back with a report on our touring and a bit about the hotel later.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
I guess its just one of those ex-felon, pro-acid kind of non-smoking homes
Saw "The Trip" last night. Not for everyone, but if you like that dry British insulty kind of humor it's really fun. Worth it just for the dueling Michael Caine and Sean Connery impressions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)