Things to do: weekend of Feb 18-19, 2012

** Tulipmania
Feb 18-26; 10AM; Pier 39, SF
http://www.pier39.com/Events/index.htm

** Life Aboard a 19th Century Sailing Ship
Feb 18-19, 2:15PM-3PM; SF Maritime Historical Park
** Music of the Sea for Kids
Feb 18, 3PM-3:45PM; SF Maritime Historical Park
http://www.nps.gov/safr/planyourvisit/events.htm

** "Sleeping Beauty" by Moscow Festival Ballet
Feb 19; 4PM; San Ramon
http://www.ci.san-ramon.ca.us/parks/theater/calendar.htm#021912

** Chinese New Year Festival
Feb 20, 9AM-4PM; Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito
http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/programs-and-events/festivals-and-events/chinese-new-year-festival/

** Giant Pacific Octopus Week
Feb 17-26, Aquarium of the Bay
http://www.aquariumofthebay.org/plan-a-visit/visitor-programs-and-events/featured-events/giant-pacific-octopus-week

** The Art of Graffiti 1.0 Class
Feb 18, 12:30-3:30PM; 1:AM Gallery, SF
http://tinyurl.com/6rzofld

** The Klez-X: concert and dance party
Feb 18, 8PM; JCCSF
https://tickets.jccsf.org/public/show.asp

Pets

Since I remember myself I always wanted to have a dog. But my parents thought it was too much work, and tried to introduce different animals.

First we had guppies. I wasn't too interested until one day I noticed I have a lonely guppy in the aquarium and it's not looking too well. Imagine my surprise when next day I found 9 small guppies swimming happily. Since that day I remember that guppies are live-bearing fish.
After guppies my parents allowed me to have a bird, we started with a small goldfinch. Minutes after bringing him home I let him fly in the room. Poor bird hit the window and died in my hands. I was devastated and cried 2 days in a row. Next weekend I got another bird, it was siskin. Now I was smarter and never allowed it to fly in the room with uncovered windows. Siskin happily lived in our family for a few years until it flew away from our country home.
One summer day while living at our country house we discovered a turtle. It wondered into our yard and stayed with us for the whole summer, then somehow it managed to break a brick wall we've constructed for her (it wasn't cemented, but I'm still puzzled how small turtle could move heavy bricks) and wondered away.

Finally, the night before my high school prom, my mom asked me if I still want a dog. I couldn't believe my ears. Since that day I always have a furry companion at home.
Dogs are my absolutely favorite animals. But once in a while I'd add another pet to the house.
I've had few Betta fish, couple snails and shrimps. Now I discovered hermit crabs. Those are pretty amazing. One of my crabs just molted. When I brought him in from the store I've noticed that he is missing one of the legs. During molting he regrew the missing body part, and now happily climbing around in the aquarium (he couldn't climb while the leg was missing).
Our pets are wonderful addition to our lives, the only complaint I have is their short life span. Unfortunately there is nothing that could be done about it.
While visiting veterinary clinic few days ago I've noticed a chart, courtesy of F.L. Metzger, DVM of "Relative age of your pet in 'human years'". I always thought that to calculate relative age of a dog or a cat you need to multiply their real age by 7, but this chart seems to be much more accurate:

Israel on the house

If you or somebody you know are Jewish and 18 through 26 years old you might be eligible for free 10 day trip to Israel this summer. You can check for full list of eligibility requirements here: Eligibility Requirements
Registration for past applicants starts on Feb 14th at 12PM EST, registration for new applicants starts on Feb 15 at 10AM EST. 
Please check here How to register

Things to do: weekend of Feb 11-12, 2012

** Russian Festival
Feb 10-12, Sutter St., San Francisco
http://www.russiancentersf.com/festival

** Chinese New Year Parade
Feb 11, 5PM-8PM; San Francisco
http://www.chineseparade.com/

** Chinatown Community Street Fair
Feb 11-12; Chinatown, SF
http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/events/communityfair.html

** Migration Festival
Feb 11, 11AM-4PM; Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz
http://www.parks.ca.gov/Events/EventDetail.aspx?id=2599

** Chocolate and Beer Festival
Feb 11, 2PM-6PM; Richmond
http://craneway.com/Events/Details/li/3rdAnnualChocolateBeerFestival

** Screenagers: Bay Area High School Film and Video Festival
Feb 11, 3PM; Berkeley
http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/screenagers_2012

Things to do

** If you have elementary or middle school age kids and never seen Physics Show at Foothill college, it's definitely worth a try. And you better hurry because tickets are almost sold out:

http://www.thephysicsshow.com/

Showtimes:
  Saturday March 3, 2012 - 10:00 am and 1:00 pm
  Saturday March 10, 2012 - 10:00 am and 1:00 pm
  Sunday March 11, 2012 - 10:00 am and 1:00 pm


** K1 Speed - Go-Kart Indoor Racing place opened recently in Santa Clara, right across from "Jump Sky High". They have separate races for kids and adults. Their prices are pretty high, but they do offer promos on regular bases.
They have one right now: $44 for Go-Kart-Racing package with 4 races and 2 annual race licenses: http://www.groupon.com/deals/k1-speed-san-jose

Schools and teachers

One subject that always struck a chord with parents is schools. Public or Private? We've tried both and I love to talk with other parents about their school choices. Those conversations also influenced my opinion. Still, what I'm going to say is highly subjective.
There are different types of private schools with different goals, I've only researched academic ones, so I would not know much about Montessori or Waldorf programs.

What are the usual reasons for choosing private school?
A) Stronger academic curriculum.
B) Advanced student body: if parents care enough to pay for education, kids will be more inclined to study.
C) Better teachers
D) More individualized attention to each student needs.

Surprisingly, if you compare with good public school, first 3 reasons would not hold.
A) Curriculum is comparable. While many private schools claim that they are a year ahead of public ones, the reason for that is often not a faster pace of learning, but skipping over certain points of subject entirely.
Of course, there is always Harker, the only school I know, which offers 3 different levels for each grade Math and English instructions. Now for the tune of ~30K/year those kids in higher level classes will get better education, while those in regular level classes just get the same education as kids in good public school.
B) You will find that parents of students in good public schools are just as fond of educating their children as parents of kids in private schools. Therefore there are a lot of education oriented kids in good public schools, and there are always kids, who are not inclined to bother with studying. And you can find them in public and in private schools alike.
C) In spite the budget crisis public schools offer very attractive salary/benefits packages for their teachers. Most private schools are not able to match those packages. Therefore public schools have a better pick of applicants.

Regardless whether kids attend Private or Public school, the most important and influential person in their life (beside parents) is the teacher. Out of curiosity I've compiled a list of all teachers my kids encountered during their school years. I was only looking at Elementary and Middle school teachers, and then only core subject ones in Middle school.
I decided to divide all teachers in 4 categories.
Excellent: those who really love kids and their job. Those, who invent new ways to teach that make kids burst with curiosity and run to school every day.
Good: those who are not Excellent, but not yet Indifferent
Indifferent: those who do their job but don't really care about anything else.
Bad: those who like to humiliate kids and show their authority
Out of 20 teachers my kids encountered during their schools years, 3 were Excellent, 4 - Good, 11-Indifferent, and 2-Bad.
Looks like a perfect picture of real life.

"Teenagers are not small adults, they are large children."

From the New Yorker: Parent says to teenage child: "It's you who don't understand me -- I've been fifteen, but you have never been forty-eight."

Since my kids were born I've started reading children's psychology books. I've read about behavior of babies, toddlers, kids, and now teens. Most of the books came recommended and were very good. None however prepared you for all the eventualities of life.
I've read so much about teens, I thought I was ready, but when this crazy age arrived, it was still scary and confusing. My easy to talk to, and handsome kid suddenly became this angry, sullen, and pimply creature, who would not allow me into his room.
I was not sure what to expect from Dr. M. Bradley's lecture "Loving your teen without losing your mind".  This lecture was part of speaker series provided by Mountain View/Los Altos High Schools foundation. 
Dr. Bradley immediately put everybody at ease. He started by saying that "teens brains are under construction". When you remodel your bathroom and you enter it in the middle of the demolition process, what you see is not pretty. And that is what happening with teens brains. According to Dr. Bradley, "teenagers are not small adults, they are large children". Adolescence does not end until 23 years of age for girls and 25 - for boys. That's an average age when  frontal lobes, that are responsible for decision making and social behavior, fully develop.
Dr. Bradley talked about neurotransmitter instability - crazy blow outs, so well known to parents of most teens, followed by absolutely normal behavior 10 min later, while parent still trying to catch his/her breath. Doctor talked about teens impulsiveness and the fact that teens take our worry about them as criticism and disapproval.
Dr. Bradley also mentioned that marijuana, which is relatively harmless for people older then 22 years, is extremely psychologically addictive to teens.
One thing that struck me the most: parents tend to withdraw from their kids lives during teen years, it's an easier way to cope with their craziness. But this is the age, when kids need us more then ever. So, don't stop! Keep hugging, keep reaching, keep loving! Bribe them to go for coffee or a long ride, talk to them even if they don't want to talk back.

A few pointers from Dr. Bradley:

• Best time to talk with kids is late at night, never in the morning. Their biological clock are set differently.
• Stop fearing conflicts with your teen. But remember: don't rage, don't raise your voice. Try your best to remain calm, but firm. If you can't remain calm, leave the room, and later apologize. 
• When explaining your point of view, be concise: kids in general don't have enough attention span for lengthy speeches.
• Pick your fights. Develop a system, like in airport security, and don't spend too much energy fighting things of less importance (those in Yellow or even Orange):

        - Yellow: messy rooms

        - Orange: grades
        - Red: drugs, sex, violence

And remember like everything else in life teenager years will also pass. I want to finish with another quote from Dr. Bradley: "Don't raise an Ivy League student, raise a parent for your grandchildren".

For those who interested to learn more about Dr. Michael Bradley, here is the link to his site: http://docmikebradley.com/

 

          

California Foie Gras Ban

Image from http://thetastysidetolife.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

Do you like liver? Personally I don't. I remember my parents tried to convince me to eat it. I've tried. I hated it and decided to never try again.
So when my friends suggested to try a piece of duck liver in a pricey French restaurant, I was less then enthusiastic. I was sure restaurant called it foie gras just to disguise that it was a liver. That was more then 15 years ago, and on that evening I became a faithful foie gras lover.
I love it hot and I prefer it cold, but coming July 1, 2012 I will not be able to get it again in my favorite state of California.
The legislation to prohibit the sale of foie gras in California was signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004, but included a July 2012 deadline to give producers time to come up with less cruel methods of producing foie gras.
Unfortunately it's not possible. The whole reason why somebody who hates liver might love foie gras is the difference in taste and texture. If I wouldn't know how foie gras is produced, I would never have guessed it's a liver.
Do I feel sorry for ducks and gees, that are forced fed to create such a delicacy? I guess no more then for cows, and pigs, and lambs that will be slaughtered so we have meat on our dinner plates.
I do feel sorry for the fact that starting July 2012 I will not be able to order my favorite dish in any California restaurant.

Things to do: weekend of Feb 4-5, 2012

** Antique Toys Exhibition, 1870-1930
Museum of American Heritage, Palo Alto
http://www.moah.org/

** Cow Wow, Morning Farm Tour, Guided Night Hike
Lots of interesting activities for kids and adults at Hidden Villa Farm in Los Altos. They fill up pretty quickly, so you need to sign up in advance.
http://www.hiddenvilla.org/calendar

** Wildlife Walk
Feb 4, 8AM-10AM; Pearson-Arastradero Preserve, Palo Alto
WildlifeWalkInfo

** Water Magic Show
Feb 4, 1PM-2PM; Los Altos Library
ShowInfo

** Sycamore Grove Mushroom Foray
Feb 5, 1PM-4PM; Livermore
http://www.bayareamushrooms.org/calendar.html

Valentine Sweets Tour in Los Altos

February's first Friday is Valentine Sweets Tour in Los Altos: February 3, 2012, 6PM-8PM

Check for additional info here: http://www.losaltosfirstfriday.org/

Routes of the tour:

Shopping Bags

I happened to visit the store in San Jose today. When I got my credit card to pay for the purchases, clerk asked if I want to buy plastic bag for 10c.
Just then I realized how lucky I'm to live in the area not yet affected by this new trend. For most people lack of shopping bags is just a minor inconvenience, or even a welcome sign of their participation in "saving the environment". Not for me.
I arrived in USA more then 20 years ago from the country that does not exist today: Soviet Union (USSR). There were few things that really impressed me in my first month in the USA. One, was a selection in a meat section of a supermarket. It's not that we didn't have meat in the USSR, it's just that I never knew there are different parts of beef: sirloin, steak, fillet, etc... Seeing so much of meat at the same time was quite impressive. But even more impressive was the fact that I didn't have to carry bags with me to every store. The bags were included with purchase.
Unfortunately the time flies and things change. Today I know about foie gras and kobe beef, and I need to start carrying shopping bags with me again.
I even nostalgically remembered net shopping bag, we used to have in Russia (it was called "avoska" in Russian). At least it didn't take any space in the purse.