CCSF Outreach at Sunday Streets Bayview, April 9, 2017

Carole Meagher, Donna Hayes, Elgy Gillespie, and Danny Halford with the SF community.

Below right:  Danny Halford introduces Student Ambassador Ayesha Shabbir and Board of Trustee President Thea Selby.

Student Ambassador Zacaria Palacios with a cookie I made.  I'm so grateful when anyone likes what I make!  See my Veganista blog.  http://mynameisveganista.blogspot.com/2017/04/vegan-cookies-appreciated-by-peers-and.html   

Elgy Gillespie is covering this event for the ESLetter in her very energetic, humorous way.

Elgy Gillespie (ESL instructor) Danny Halford (organizer), Tom Temprano (member of Board of Trustees) and I pose for the really nice guy representing Bottleshae, Winston Tam.  Tom Temprano had come after the  ribbon-cutting at the re-opening of  the LBGT center.

I like the way Zacaria moved down to the height of the little girl he was talking to.

Not pictured is Ellen Wall, whose name came up because she's been a big supporter of CCSF and was misssed at a meeting held the day before.  She's recuperating from a hip injury at the Jewish Home in SF.

We had a beautiful day for CCSF outreach at Sunday Streets in the Bayview, and I think Jeff Jelsmo, the site coordinator of Sunday Streets, was right that moving farther south near Bancroft on Third Street meant more foot traffic.

I loved the ride down Third Street, an area of the city I don't see very often.  We passsed Delancey, 4th and King, Mission Rock, Mariposa, , Evans, Oakdale--all names I'd heard for years, but the ride make them concrete.  I met a nice family who were going in the wrong direction and told them I had done that on occasions in spite of living in SF!

Danny Halford, the organizer of CCSF Outreach at Sunday Streets,  and Alex Guiriba, Associate Dean of Outreach, were there before 10:30, and the student ambassadors Zacharia Palacios and Ayesha Shabbir were there all day.

Thea Selby, President of the Board of Trustees, and Tom Temprano arrived in the afternoon--Tom Temprano after the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newly renovated LGBT Center at 1800 Market.

Donna Hayes, a counselor, had not committed but came and helped out a lot.  Ophelia Clark, Chair of the Business Department,  also came by to help tho' not scheduled to do so.

Carole Meagher of Business also did a lot to help.

A Russian couple came by.    Her English was very basic, but she communicated a lot.  They lived in the apartments on Armstrong and 3rd Street, which she pointed out to me, saying it was very dangerous or had been.  I wasn't sure of the tense.  I think she told me a Russian taxi driver had been killed.  She also said, "Chinese, Chinese, Chinese.  It's Chinatown."  I think she and her husband were in senior housing.

She told me, "You have beautiful skin" and pulled the skin on her cheek to show me what skin meant.  I said, "Oh, is my skin all right?"  and she said, "Not all right.  Very, very good."

I was happy to hear that.  But even more I was interested in where people live and how they feel about it, however anecdotal.

 I asked a passerby if she was interested in summer school, and she said, "No, but I'm glad the proposition was passed so that classes will be free.  That should help you get more people."

I was startled and pleased  that she was aware and so articulate on the subject!   Other volunteers noted that not all passers-by were so well informed.

More photos:  

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/7995a2wuhabkcjs/AACyohGma5KJophjZMSL0yMza

Dennis Johnson Is Spirit in Action!

Dennis Johnson, a friend and colleague of many years at CCSF, hasn't retired from giving sensational benefit piano recitals for Spirit in Action. 

spiritinaction.org


 (Janet Fowler drove  Lauri Fried Lee, Shehla Khan, Bill Shoaf and me to Point Richmond to hear him play, and we saw Robin Mackey, another CCSF friend and colleague about to retire.)

Besides being an extraordinary pianist, he has a great sense of humor, and he knows that we are OLD friends, so he even excused us in advance for any visits to the restroom we might have to make between numbers.


He said that he had been alone at the piano for so long that he took notes on how to behave in public: Don't hum. Don't moan. Don't drool.... 

He played pieces by Scarlatti, Haydn, Chopin, Lamb, Brahms, and Franck, and he didn't drool at all!. 

He told us that Scarlatti had written 550 piano pieces but not to worry because he was going to play only three of them.  

 After he played three "Rags," he quipped "This may be the first time anyone's gone from playing  rags to Brahams at a recital, but when  you're retired, you can do whatever you want to do."

 He thanked his wife Marsha for being the page turner, and someone (Janet Fowler)  added "and more!" 

Their charming (and handsome) son Carl is here with Marsha and Dennis.

Then I had Dennis fake-play so I could take a picture without being disruptive!

He gives tidbits of information, too, and it's all new to me and helps me be a better listener since my usual choice of music is show tunes.  (I wonder how Joseph Lamb and other ragtime composers would regard the musical Ragtime if they were still around.)

I have to say, too, that when he played Chopin's Etude in E major, I wondered whether I'd heard that on an old Elaine May-Mike Nichols album."  

Someday I hope we get to hear Dennis play Ben Harney's "You've Been a Good Old Wagon, but You Done Broke."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEBs_mpTH6w

Susan Lamb, Interim Chancellor, Is Not Applying to Be Permanent

Just saw this--although the announcement was made on Thursday!  Susan Lamb, the Interim Chancellor, is not applying for the job of permanent chancellor.

http://www.sfexaminer.com/interim-chancellor-susan-lamb-leave-ccsf/

CCSF Shining Stars Hosted by Carol Fregly at Delancey Street

Carol Fregly generously treated sixteen of us to dinner at Delancey Street last night--honoring CCSF Shining Stars, her former students who distinguished themselves in her classes before her retirement and who went on to get their MAs or MBAs in fields like Speech Pathology and Business and are continuing to do exciting things like helping communities in Peru and  Emerites with food-related infrastructure.

She also included Jackie Green, Sam and Hilda Yee, other friends and retired colleagues

, her zumba teacher and her teacher's daughter, a pianist she met while they were both out walking their dog in Pacifica.  We had the chance to chat informally and hear philosophies like that of a former Vietnamese-American who emphasized the importance of not putting more than one event a day on the calendar and doing only what we enjoy doing.  He was enjoying retirement.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/2plmf73oka9wmw5/AADbIgGMLUrd_wv-wNfsI7kTa

CCSF Outreach at Sunday Streets in the Mission

It was a beautiful day for CCSF outreach in the Mission. We were on Valencia between 15th and 16th Streets.

Here you see student ambassador Moises with another student ambassador and Ronald Wolff of the Child Development Department. Moises later helped at the CCSF Innovation Conference at the Marriot. 

Greg Richardson interviewed Moises in Spanish and Danny in English. 

I met Hunter, a cadet who will be starting CCSF in the fall to get his degree in Administrative Justice. 

The fourth picture shows one of the CCSF students who came by (now studying sculpture at CCSF) with Danny, who organizes Sunday Streets for CCSF. 

Former students came  by, some saying "I love City College." 

 Danny Halford did the organizing, and Jim Wong, a counselor, and Lillian Ho, a retiree,  helped get the tables, chairs, and material there and back. Fred Teti came to set up, and Edgar Torres of Latin American Studies, Ronald Wolff of Child Development, and Martha Elizabeth Arroyo-Neves (librarian) were also there while I was there. 

Elgy Gilespie, Josie Loo, and Carole Meagher came later.


More photos...https://www.dropbox.com/…/8shi7y1…/AACkJgGcssvXHoxS50YM_BpXa

CCSF Free?

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-reaches-deal-for-free-tuition-at-City-College-10912051.php

CCSF Faculty and Friends, Family Celebrate the Life of Elender Wall

Elender Wall was the daughter of two CCSF retired faculty members, Ellen and Dave Wall.  You can see how stunningly beautiful she was--a Wonder Woman!--and that's how she'll be remembered--forever beautiful, forever loved and loving.

I want to jot down what I remember about the tributes paid to her yesterday.

The welcome was made by Ellen St. Thomas, a neighbor and singing colleague.  Then interspersed among music performances there were remembrances by Karolo Aparicio, Jason Shankle, David Moulton, her father David Wall, Bella Fong, Bryant Kong, Lynda Williams, her fiance Chris Hardaker, ..Ellen spoke briefly, mainly to welcome people and thank friends and family.

Just to identify them so I can write more later:  Karolo Aparicio (like so many others) knew Elender from Aptos Middle School.  He may have been the one who describe junior high as a long awkward age for him, but not for Elender.  He was in to Dungeons and Dragons and had a bad haircut ("Sorry, Mom") but felt that there was hope because "I'm a friend of Wonder Woman."  He spoke of the remembrance service for her in Berlin and said that even though there was a darkness because of her death, light remains because of the way she lived with kindness, talent, intellect.

People said the music was chosen by Elender or people who knew she would like it.

After Karolo Aparicio's remembrance Adam Schilling (with Lisa Houston as Echo) sang "Trues Echo dieser Orten" BVW Cantata 213 Herkules auf dem Scheidewege by Johann Sebastian Bach.  As with all the music selections except Lynda Williams (a capella) and the two songs by the Cauthen family (on guitar and fiddle), Chun Mei Wilson was the pianist.

Then Jason Shankle paid a tribute, remembering that they were in middle school together at Aptos, and he wanted some women in their basement.  Elender let them know that they were on a life path.  "You can climb down your own hand or join us."

Adam Schilling and Ellen St. Thomas sang "Pur ti miro" from L'incoronazione de Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi.  Maybe someone said "For Frederiha Houston in Berline."

David Mouton remember Elender as one of his three best friends.

Then Heather McFadden sang "Habanera" from Carmen by Georges Bizet.

Who was it that said he was Jonathan to Elender's Dracula when they were 11 years old?  Was that someone who coldn't be there--Frederik Houston?

Someone said Elender had invited him to visit her in London, but he'd thought that was just a pleasantry until it occurred to him that he could do just that--and did!  He later visited her in NY, Paris, and Berlin.

Who spoke of Buffy the Vampire slayer?  That person said they were at each other's weddings and also said that on her birthday each year, he'd give her a mathematical fact about her new age.

She was credited with co-editing her father's physics book and being in music and arts as well as science--a huge presence--Wonder Woman with a joie de vivre, usually smiling, often laughing and exclaiming, "Wow!  Fabulous!"

At the end, she said, Everything about my life is great except for one thing...

When she was taking pills, he asked her what color it was, and she said yes.  "Ah, the red pill!" he said.

Heather McFadden sang "Haanera" from Carmen by georges Bizet

David Wall, her father,credited Elender with editing his book with him.  "She took out all the seventies language.

 He said "She's now in the place where she knows whether life is all there is."  He said she was an atheist, but he's a Presbyterian.    His own father was a psychologist and talked abot grief counseling with its various stages beginning with denial and goin on toe anger and other states.  He said he wasn't going to go to anger but would just stay in denial.

After DAvid Wall spoke, Heather McFadden sang "Schmerzen" from Wesndonk Lieder by Richard Wagner.

Bella Fong, who knew Elender in Middle School, said Elender was "larger than life.  At eleven years old, she already had an infectious laugh.  Bella Fong said that as an Aisan daugher, she was expected to become a doctor or engineer, bu Elender got her interested in the performing arts and helped her develop her creative, artisic sides at the Herbst Theater and with Geeks and Schazas (?)  Somehow Elender's parents Ellen and Dave succeeded in persuading her parents to take two days off of school to go to Disneyland, where they told their teachers they would conduct science experiments:  They would see how their pulses differed according to each of the 20 rides.    Elender always kept in touch--always.  Chris, Ellen, her children adored her--as everything including a belly dancer.  Bella Fong said that she thought Elender was "up there with the angels, maybe talking with my dad."

Bryant Kong, the composer of the music for the Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld, also spoke briefly about Elender, " ahampion of new music."  She believed in creating comunity anto achieve potential.  So her wrote the music for the poems by Rumsfeld.  He said that Elender, Ellen, and David always welcomed him.

After he spoke he played "Sure on this Shining Night" by Samuel Barber on the piano, and Lisa Houston sang that as well as "Song" by Edward MacDowell.  Bryant Kong read a poem set to music before he played the music on the piano.

Then Lynda Williams gave a from the heart talk, speaking of Elender's "electro-magnetism."  She felt that they were in the same (sphere?)  They went to physicsscool together, and Lynda told her sister about Elender, whom Elender soon married.  Lynda Williams said she wondered why death had taken a person who was so clean and beautifu "and I'm such a dirty wretch."  Her sister wrote a song for Elender even before she met her  "Tomorrows will be yesterdays."

Lynda Williams also commented that it was just right that Elender was born on Valentine's Day.  Lynda's physics students are graeful that she's been trying to be more like Elender.

I think after Lnda Williams' song Terrence O'Brien, who met Elender in Wagner class (or was that Lynda Williams)  Terrence O'Brien was Elender's romate in Berlin.Terrenc, sang "Wintersturme" from Die Walkure by richard Wagner.  He said that Elender always saw herself as a Wagner singer.

Then Elender's fiance Chris Hardaker spoke, saying that they had met on Internet dating, and when she walked in, he found her stunning and also eloquent.  It was the best coffee he'd ever had.  "Gosh, she was gorgeous."  They went on to have the "best vegan food."  They met on Sunday and met again the following Tuesday.  But Elender was married to?  and he had his "litany."  But they felt they had met at the "right time for us."  At the end of the thrid date, they were going forward.  They held hands, hugged, kissed.  They would say "Have I told you lately...?" without having to finish the question.  How lucky I am.  How much I love you.  Sometimes they would say "I love you this much" and show a speck, but the "universe was a loop.  They Elender started to show signs of illness.
She made him see 5 operas in one weekend in prague.  He took her to a rocket museum.  Did he say something about sipping cheap?  They would then go to the Ritz Carleton, where he has a picture of her drinking from a coconut like a monkey's head.  "Simple pleasures."  Her thoughts in her last weeks were for others.  She was unhappy with the length of time.  But she sang sitting down and said, "If this is the pentacle of my career, I can live with that."  He spoke of New Zealand her "love's long shadow."  He wanted at least five times to endhis life, but people--Larissa, Sam, Lee, Terence, Dave, Ellen,Linda had reached out to him.

He said he had threatened Elender, "If you die on me, I'm going to go omnivorous."  and he did.  But now he said, he wanted to be more like Elender--"kind, generous, supportive, living lightly on this planet."  (During the reception afterwards I asked him whether "living lightly on this planet" met being vegan, and he said yes.  I told him I'd made vegan cookies.)

After Chris Hardaker spoke, Lisa Houston sang "The Colors of My Life" by Cy Coleman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC_NxE4o98g

Then Terrence O'Brien sang "It All Fades Away:  (but you) from The Bridges of Madison County by Jason Robert Brown.  I think soeone called up Medeline Mueller, but I think it was Ellen and some others who went up.

Linny Carlson of the music department said something like "I'll call myself a musician.  What the hell, I can call myself whateaver I want,. Life is short."    Maybe he was the one who said he was a "late-comer to the Elender cavalcade"  I think he met elener after she and Bryant did a recording on Rumsfeld's poetry--that "absolutely disturbed man, making "art out of weirdness of life.

I think this was where they read something written by frederich Harris, pianist, who couldnt' be there.
Judy Hubbel was sick in bed but sent a remembrance of Elender as "singer, teacher, actor, physicist..." a singer in German, English, Italian.  Before twenty!  She mentioned "Green" by  ?  And was admitted tot eh Conservatory and SFSU.  (Apparently she dropped out of high school two years early and went to City College.)

Maybe it was Ellen who mentioned Jerry Mueller.   I have his name down with "What would she have done?  A strong advocate for the music dept.  Once more there was mention of her likeness to Wonder Woman.

Elender started singing in the Diego Rivera Theater, Ellen said.  "By the way, this college never lost its accreditation."

Ellen also invited us to take photos of Elender or buy the CD of Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld.  "You've ben a friend to me."  She commented on Chris' commetn, confirming that Elender would "turn the conversation around" away from her illness.

Then Ellen's sister Joyce, brother-in-lsaw Jim, and niece Carey Cauthen sang "You've Been a Friend to Me" by the Carter Family and finally "Keep on the Sunny Side" also by the Carter Family.