Red

The light came through the window. "Look at me," she insisted.  "Watch me when I become cloaked by another.  I will remain in place even though another one comes between us."

But you've turned away therefore so shall I.

Slats

I love the room with moonlight stripes.

Sun and Moon

Today the sun is with me for the longest day. We will celebrate with The Rite of Spring.  Sunday pre-dawn the moon will be closest to me than it will be all year. That celebration is being determined.

Blue Moon

Plans for the moment:
_finish dresses, insert labels
_writing goal: a page a week of personal content, a page a week of professional content
_warp with multiple colors and widths for color studies
_devolve old clothes: make quilt material or get rid of them
_try another new venture

Supermoon

I love this image, taken a few days ago.

Photo by Ira Serkes, Berkeley, May 5, 2012

A supermoon is “the coincidence of a full moon or a new moon with the closest approach the Moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, or perigee, leading to the technical name for a supermoon of the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system".

Cycles

How did you celebrate the full moon?

Grand Piano, Go Bears

Tonight, piano was played in the Grand style by Yefim Bronfman at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley. I have not heard a program of Brahms, Liszt, and Prokofiev played like this in many many years. Brahms' f minor Sonata and a selection of Liszt's 3 Transcendental Etudes provided a platform for Bronfman to show the broad range and stamina he has. His technique is incredible, his voicing poetic, and his strength is especially evident in the gossamer passages. The second half of the program was Prokofiev's 8th Sonata. Bronfman tossed out a few Chopin etude encores to the standing audience. Pity that the hall was not full - this is a reflection of the business of classical music and dwindling audience base, which is further diminished by the difficult economy. It was a privilege to hear Bronfman.

I emerged from the hall and saw a crowd of blue and gold striped rugby shirts, the flash of tuba bells, and trumpets waving side to side. Hands clapped overhead in unison and the band sudddenly broke into Dave Mathews' "ants marching". Saxophones ran around the building, cheerleaders danced, and the striped shirts cheered and danced. How can a body stand still with all that going on? The Cal Marching Band played a few more songs, then closed with the Cal Song as flag bearers on the student union balcony waved big Cal flags in dramatic swoops. The band wandered off as they sang their closing song, occasionally punctuating the song with phrases played on their trumpets, clarinets, or drums. The tuba choir started to play together - the standard oompa bass with a tune above it - I've always associated tubas with musical elephants. Brass sounds good.

The evening was warm and the moon was full. It was late but the night felt young. It was all good.

Central Total Lunar Eclipse

Today a fairly rare central total lunar eclipse occurred, where the center point of Earth's shadow passed across the Moon.  The red moon was not visible from my location, North America, but was visible in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia.  Although not visible from where I am, it was experienced.  The last time a lunar eclipse was closer to the center of the earth's shadow was on July 16, 2000. The next central total lunar eclipse will occur on July 27, 2018.

The next total (not central) lunar eclipse will occur December 10, 2011, and will be visible from North America, weather permitting.

Solstice

A total lunar eclipse occured last night.  The last lunar eclipse on a solstice happened in the 1600s, and the next one will take place in another 400 years. The clouds parted long enough so that the lunar thumbnail disappeared, then glimmered, then went totally dark before the clouds closed in again.  From this darkness, during the eve of the longest night of the year, the earth continued on its path and the moon was once again revealed. "Remember, my friends, no matter how dark it is now, Solstice means the light is coming." [Stephanie Pearl-McPhee] ...And from the dark depths of the lunar eclipse on the solstice, the emergence and ever-increasing duration of light comes from a deeper source.

September 23 moon

Let's take a moment to observe the harvest moon: the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox, typically September 22 or 23. This year the full moon and equinox nearly coincide, a truly remarkable and auspicious event.