My Blog

Master Gardener Program

Gary the No-Trash Cougar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:17:46 GMT

I got accepted by the San Mateo/San Francisco Counties Master Gardener program, which is run through the UC Cooperative Extension program. I've really been looking forward to this and had been waiting on needles and pins to hear back from them. It's going to mean that I'm going to be doing a lot of volunteer hours in 2009 and Jenn and I still have to find time to volunteer at the Cactus Garden at Stanford. Classes begin September 3. Whoo hoo!

Stanford University Hijinks

Gary the No-Trash Cougar — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:18:44 GMT

Before I dropped Jenn off at work this afternoon we paid a visit to the Stanford University campus. I was very excited (naturally) to see the Arizona Garden, AKA the cactus garden. This garden had some very old and well established plants, including prickly pair, golden barrel and saguaro. There were also several very large draceana trees. Most of the draceana had their trunks lying along the ground, rather than standing upright. This was the first time I've really seen something like this and was wondering if it had something to do with lack of water? We have a D. marginata "tricolor" at home that flopped over when it wasn't being watered enough. The garden in general was amazing but the years of neglect were apparent. Jane and Leland Stanford commissioned the design by landscape architect Rudolph Ulrich and it was planted between 1880 and 1883. It was planned to be part of the larger gardens for the Stanford estate. After their son Leland Jr died, the plan for a near-by residence was scrapped for a family mausoleum. The garden was regularly maintained until the 1920s after which it fell into great disrepair. Restoration work began in 1997 and continues to this day. Jenn and I are considering volunteering for the restoration project. Near-by is the above mentioned Stanford Family Mausoleum. This is the site where they were originally going to build their mansion. After Leland Jr died they decided to convert the intended estate to a University. The all marble mausoleum has sphinxes that adorn both the front and back. As mausoleums go, it is a fine example. Lastly, we swung by the Cantor Arts Center. Didn't really have time to go in, but we perused the Rodin Sculpture Garden and checked out Andy Goldsworthy's "Stone River" installation. The Stanford campus is full of all sorts of wonders like these. And most everything is free!

Golden Gate Park Hijinks

Gary the No-Trash Cougar — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 01:51:54 GMT

The San Francisco Succulent and Cactus Society held their annual show and sale today at the county fair building in Golden Gate Park. The SF Bromeliad Society also set up shop with them and they put on a pretty good show. The actual show itself was pretty small, but was judged by show attendees which I thought was pretty cool. The sale part was well stocked as always. Didn't buy anything though because I really didn't see anything I didn't already have or that moved me in such a way that I had to have it. Add to that the fact that the line for the check-out wrapped halfway around the inside of the showroom. I did however really get a kick out of seeing a stapelia flower on display. Didn't even smell as badly as I was expecting. Too bad they didn't have any of the plants for sale, I would really have liked one. The highlight of the day though was my visit to the Conservatory of Flowers. For some reason, I'd never been there before but it was definitely worth the wait. The Conservatory was built in 1878, a true Victorian masterpiece and the oldest surviving in the western hemisphere. Needless to say, I was blown away. The best part was this huge philodendron that is over 100 years old and basically grew right up to the ceiling (which is probably 50-60 feet). They even had a wing for cloud forest plants. Golden Gate Park is a horthead's Disneyland. The Botanical Gardens are not to be missed either!

Are these kids on dope?

Gary the No-Trash Cougar — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:49:52 GMT

And by dope, I don't mean good old fashioned, wholesome drugs like marijuana. I'm talking like.... heroin. 91 freakin' degrees here in San Carlos and this girl is walking around with her hoodie on with the hood pulled all the way up over her head. And it sure isn't the first time I've seen this recently. Young martyrs looking to make a fashion statement? I remember how hard it is to be a teenager, but when we were their age we proudly displayed our individuality by not hiding the fact that we were freaks. So, by using my fabulous powers of deduction I can only surmise that someone walking around in such thick, heavy clothing in this kind of weather must be cold. And if they're cold on a day like this then they must be on heroin. Or, maybe I'm just getting old. Any one want to listen to some Joy Division?

East Coast Hijinks

Gary the No-Trash Cougar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 02:55:11 GMT

Jenn and I just got back from the East Coast where we spent two weeks. The flight over and the events that surrounded it went surprisingly smooth…. until we got to the Alamo car rental agency at the Boston-Logan airport. I knew in advance that if I took their insurance it would cost more than the price of the rental itself. I’d called Geico to make sure that they covered rental cars, which they did. What the agent neglected to tell me was that they did not in fact actually cover THE ENTIRE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. So I ended up forking over a fortune anyway. That aside, our next little mishap involved a freeway on-ramp, essential to reaching our destination that just happened to be closed with no warning signs or detours. None of the knuckleheads working in the numerous tollbooths we were forced to drive through while circumnavigating Boston seemed to know what we were talking about or be willing to give advice on how the fuck to get to the Cape. Fortunately, Jenn being from the area had a vague idea where we were going and eventually got us there. One a.m. and we finally arrive in Braintree, an erroneously named arsehole town just south of Boston. Our room at Motel 6 is surprisingly threadbare, even by their standards. I’m wondering if I’d somehow missed a sign at the check-in desk detailing hourly rates. Did I mention that nothing (not even grocery stores) are open at this time of night on the east coast? I haven’t eaten in hours and won’t be able to do so until morning, but none the less my blood sugar is through the roof. Go figure…. The next morning we drive through town and see some really cool old buildings. I guess this town has something cool to offer after all? We had a very inexpensive and filling breakfast at this little place. Price even included coffee! Then we head down to the Cape and Jenn’s old stomping ground, Bourne. Jenn’s parents and sisters are great people with wonderful senses of humor. I enjoyed being in their company and appreciated their hospitality. The thing that amazed me the most about this part of the country is how open and spread out everything is. Rhododendrons grow like weeds and old architecture abounds. Also got my jollies by spotting a wild orchid. And the freeways are lined trees! We have foliage out here on our freeways, but there are usually some crappy sound walls immediately behind them. On freeways back east you can look through the trees and see…. *GASP* acres of undeveloped land! Makes me realize how crowded the west coast is. Our next leg of the trip took us to Connecticut. On the way over I got a thrill out of spying the infamous skyline from Family Guy while speeding past Providence, RI. Going over the Tappan Zee Bridge we also caught a faint glimpse of the NYC skyline. As Keith says, “that’s about as close as you want to get!” In CT, we stayed in a town called Niantic (again at Motel 6) which made Braintree, MA look like paradise. Of course, we have shit towns out here too so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Our main reason for visiting CT was to hit the casino, though we did make it out to Mystic. To our dismay, you not only had to pay to visit the museum (understandable), but you also had to pay this admission just to walk along the seaport (WTF)! Since you could basically see the contents of the museum (a lot of cool, old fishing boats) through a rather large window in the gift shop, we decided to skip it. Instead we walked around Mystic partaking of the old houses and a cemetery with a number of ancient headstones. Mohegan Sun Casino was nothing to sneeze at. There was a strong Native American theme in the architecture and décor, which distracted us from the crappy player odds and little irksome things like the fact that none of the gaming machines took $1 bills. Many would not even accept $5 bills. I did enjoy myself though and I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a sculpture by Dale Chihuly. Foxwoods however was a disappointment. It looked, felt like and was laid out like a shopping mall. Every wing basically looked the same. I was honestly surprised at how little of an impression the world’s largest casino left on me. Of course, I’ve been to so many that I guess it takes a lot to impress me. Our next leg takes us farther south, almost to the very end of the earth… I mean New Jersey. We stayed with Keith and Tempest (or “Laura” as I like to call her) in Cape May. I was great to visit and spend time with them. Cape May was a very pleasant beachy town wedged between the Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. And speaking of, we finally got to visit Atlantic City, which I’ve been wanting to do for some time now. And master beachcomber Laura turned up all kinds of tiny treasures. Our last leg took us back to the Cape where we spent the rest of our trip. Though I’ve been told that there aren’t a lot of great employment opportunities there, Cape Cod is a wonderful place where I wouldn’t mind spending more time. And, it’s still on our list of possible places to move. Who knows? Maybe one day….

Jewel Orchids

Gary the No-Trash Cougar — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:39:18 GMT

My favorite type of orchid is surprisingly one that is not known for it's flowers, but rather for it's foliage. Jewel orchids have the most amazing variegation patterns of any tropical plant. They look like digital circuit boards or oscilloscope screens. It never fails to amaze me how much this natural phenomenon appears to be something man made. And now, let us have a moment of silence for my Macodes petola which passed away this weekend. It succumbed to a bacterial infection that spread so quickly that I was unable to do anything to save it. Probably the same infection that almost took out my favorite paphiopedilum. Hopefully it will not spread to any further plants.