Roses and Stinking Roses
Soon my mother-in-law will be gone and we'll be able to fully rest and recover. Turns out we misunderstood and she's only staying through tomorrow. After the last couple of days, I definitely need a vacation!
Yesterday was the big day: UCLA Law graduation. After getting all fixed up and looking nice and pretty, a friend of ours came by to hitch a ride with us over to campus. After forking over the parking fee (UCLA is not cheap; parking is enforced seven days a week, for something like sixteen hours in a day. Either you can park in the garages to the tune of $7, or you can pony up a quarter for eight minutes each at a meter, for up to two hours), we walked over to the ceremony. It's held each year outside on the plaza to the west of the law school. It's filled-in land, and was once a ravine. The road between the north and south plazas leading to the old quad was once a bridge, back when there was nothing in Westwood/Bel-Air other than hills. This outside ceremony consists of hundreds of folding chairs, mostly in the sun, with standing room at the back under large trees. I recalled going to graduation last year for a friend of ours, and coming away sunburned. This year I'd learned my lesson, and slathered my face, neck, and arms with sunscreen.
After dropping off the resident lawyer-to-be at the law school along with all the other grads, we went to the front row. I'd made interpreting arrangements, and insisted there be a section set aside this year for deaf attendees. Last year there was interpreting provided, but no seats set aside. Luckily, we got there early enough to sit in the second row, but once the grads marched out, we were surrounded by a sea of parents, relatives, and other well-wishers trying to get a picture of their special person, and in the process blocked off our visual sightline of the interpreters and the ceremony. The deaf and the interpreters then had to spend a good third of their time telling everyone to move out of the way. It was rather annoying, to say the least!
This year was markedly improved. Five to six seats were set aside, and the seating areas for all were roped off- no way for people to consciously jump in front of us without crossing the ropes. So we had a much better view of the ceremony this time around.
After staking out our seats, I went to find my family. Since all but my immediate family lives in SoCal, I had uncles, aunts, cousins, and the like in attendance, which was nice. It's nice to have the support of your family. However, between my mother and my mother-in-law, I kept handing over my program book, and going back to the ushers for a few more copies. After the third time, I went back to get more, and told the usher, "Why don't you just give me a box this time?" Considering I went back about two more times, it was a decent request to make, don't you think? As it was, I finally ended up handing my program book over to a friend of ours midway through the speeches, and so I don't have a souvenir. I think my wife held onto hers, though-- at least I think she did...
The afternoon wore on fairly nicely- last year the graduation started a little late and then went on and on and on... the speaker last year was Ben Stein, the actor who is probably best remembered for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" ("Bueller.... Bueller.... Bueller...") and "The Wonder Years" (the science teacher who spoke in a monotone). He gave a pretty good speech-- funny at times. The Teacher of the Year was an older professor who went on- and on... and on.... Come to think of it, he probably saw Ben Stein and got really inspired.
This year we had the same Teacher of the Year, but since Ben Stein wasn't present, he kept his speech fairly short. The guest speaker was Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, who had graduated from UCLA a dozen years earlier. The main thing I remember from her speech (a standard graduation speech) was that she mentioned she's still paying off her law school loans. Not exactly an inspiring thought! The grads stood up to receive their hoods, and my lovely wife was first, thanks to being in the front row due to interpreting needs. It was kind of nice, since then I could chat with our guests. The only other person I really wanted to see get hooded was my wife's frequent study partner, a guy about my age. About two-thirds of the way through, he finally received his hood. The whole shebang ended about forty-five minutes earlier than last year.
We all trooped over to the southern half of the plaza, where tables were set up with the usual refreshments you find at these things: cheese, fruit, crackers, and punch. The one thing I thought was great about Gallaudet's graduation ceremonies is that they always put up a tent, which kept things cool. There was no tent or other covering here. Even though it's SoCal and fairly low humidity, it was still a warm, sunny day, despite the slight breeze. I later discovered to my chagrin that part of my neck, my nose, and one forearm were burned. Damn...
After we'd mingled, sated our thirst, and found restrooms as needed for all the little cousins who had been remarkably good about sitting still for two hours, we headed off for a dinner celebration at The Stinking Rose. Some of our friends joined us and our relatives, so we had a nice mix of people to talk with and enjoy our dinner. Someone bought a cake at Gelson's, so we had that for dessert rather than garlic ice cream or any of the other offerings at the restaurant, and there was quite a bit left, so now we have a huge chocolate cake sitting in our kitchen. Someone presented the happy graduate with a bouquet of flowers, so we have some very nice flowers sitting on the coffee table.
After all the craziness of the last few days, we decided today to just relax a little, and since my mother in law loves flowers, I decided to take us to Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge. This is a huge place, once part of a private estate, that has something blooming somewhere on the grounds most of the year. Right now, the roses were in bloom, so we thoroughly enjoyed that section. A few magnolia trees still had blossoms, as did some of the lilacs, but other areas had already passed peak bloom. The California section of the garden was gorgeous, with tons of California poppies, snapdragons, native grasses, and catcus in bloom. Most people are familiar with cactus, but catcus flowers are really gorgeous if you find them in season.
So we had a nice, leisurely walk on a nice day-- not too warm, not too cool, and hundreds of flowers everywhere. A nice relaxing way to end the school year.
Yesterday was the big day: UCLA Law graduation. After getting all fixed up and looking nice and pretty, a friend of ours came by to hitch a ride with us over to campus. After forking over the parking fee (UCLA is not cheap; parking is enforced seven days a week, for something like sixteen hours in a day. Either you can park in the garages to the tune of $7, or you can pony up a quarter for eight minutes each at a meter, for up to two hours), we walked over to the ceremony. It's held each year outside on the plaza to the west of the law school. It's filled-in land, and was once a ravine. The road between the north and south plazas leading to the old quad was once a bridge, back when there was nothing in Westwood/Bel-Air other than hills. This outside ceremony consists of hundreds of folding chairs, mostly in the sun, with standing room at the back under large trees. I recalled going to graduation last year for a friend of ours, and coming away sunburned. This year I'd learned my lesson, and slathered my face, neck, and arms with sunscreen.
After dropping off the resident lawyer-to-be at the law school along with all the other grads, we went to the front row. I'd made interpreting arrangements, and insisted there be a section set aside this year for deaf attendees. Last year there was interpreting provided, but no seats set aside. Luckily, we got there early enough to sit in the second row, but once the grads marched out, we were surrounded by a sea of parents, relatives, and other well-wishers trying to get a picture of their special person, and in the process blocked off our visual sightline of the interpreters and the ceremony. The deaf and the interpreters then had to spend a good third of their time telling everyone to move out of the way. It was rather annoying, to say the least!
This year was markedly improved. Five to six seats were set aside, and the seating areas for all were roped off- no way for people to consciously jump in front of us without crossing the ropes. So we had a much better view of the ceremony this time around.
After staking out our seats, I went to find my family. Since all but my immediate family lives in SoCal, I had uncles, aunts, cousins, and the like in attendance, which was nice. It's nice to have the support of your family. However, between my mother and my mother-in-law, I kept handing over my program book, and going back to the ushers for a few more copies. After the third time, I went back to get more, and told the usher, "Why don't you just give me a box this time?" Considering I went back about two more times, it was a decent request to make, don't you think? As it was, I finally ended up handing my program book over to a friend of ours midway through the speeches, and so I don't have a souvenir. I think my wife held onto hers, though-- at least I think she did...
The afternoon wore on fairly nicely- last year the graduation started a little late and then went on and on and on... the speaker last year was Ben Stein, the actor who is probably best remembered for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" ("Bueller.... Bueller.... Bueller...") and "The Wonder Years" (the science teacher who spoke in a monotone). He gave a pretty good speech-- funny at times. The Teacher of the Year was an older professor who went on- and on... and on.... Come to think of it, he probably saw Ben Stein and got really inspired.
This year we had the same Teacher of the Year, but since Ben Stein wasn't present, he kept his speech fairly short. The guest speaker was Congresswoman Linda Sanchez, who had graduated from UCLA a dozen years earlier. The main thing I remember from her speech (a standard graduation speech) was that she mentioned she's still paying off her law school loans. Not exactly an inspiring thought! The grads stood up to receive their hoods, and my lovely wife was first, thanks to being in the front row due to interpreting needs. It was kind of nice, since then I could chat with our guests. The only other person I really wanted to see get hooded was my wife's frequent study partner, a guy about my age. About two-thirds of the way through, he finally received his hood. The whole shebang ended about forty-five minutes earlier than last year.
We all trooped over to the southern half of the plaza, where tables were set up with the usual refreshments you find at these things: cheese, fruit, crackers, and punch. The one thing I thought was great about Gallaudet's graduation ceremonies is that they always put up a tent, which kept things cool. There was no tent or other covering here. Even though it's SoCal and fairly low humidity, it was still a warm, sunny day, despite the slight breeze. I later discovered to my chagrin that part of my neck, my nose, and one forearm were burned. Damn...
After we'd mingled, sated our thirst, and found restrooms as needed for all the little cousins who had been remarkably good about sitting still for two hours, we headed off for a dinner celebration at The Stinking Rose. Some of our friends joined us and our relatives, so we had a nice mix of people to talk with and enjoy our dinner. Someone bought a cake at Gelson's, so we had that for dessert rather than garlic ice cream or any of the other offerings at the restaurant, and there was quite a bit left, so now we have a huge chocolate cake sitting in our kitchen. Someone presented the happy graduate with a bouquet of flowers, so we have some very nice flowers sitting on the coffee table.
After all the craziness of the last few days, we decided today to just relax a little, and since my mother in law loves flowers, I decided to take us to Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge. This is a huge place, once part of a private estate, that has something blooming somewhere on the grounds most of the year. Right now, the roses were in bloom, so we thoroughly enjoyed that section. A few magnolia trees still had blossoms, as did some of the lilacs, but other areas had already passed peak bloom. The California section of the garden was gorgeous, with tons of California poppies, snapdragons, native grasses, and catcus in bloom. Most people are familiar with cactus, but catcus flowers are really gorgeous if you find them in season.
So we had a nice, leisurely walk on a nice day-- not too warm, not too cool, and hundreds of flowers everywhere. A nice relaxing way to end the school year.
posted by Mr. Sandman | 6:18 PM
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