I will miss this

the entrance to Fromm Institute

School is out. No more lunches, no more walkers and/or canes, no
more cell phones going off during lectures despite all those warnings.
What I'll miss most: the professors, being with Ginger, that surprising
feeling of, "I didn't know that!" during class. So many seniors and
so eager to learn. Our teacher who said that his wife belongs to a
women's bike club named Menstrual Cycle. The one who prefers us
to his college kids because we know who Eisenhower was. And I
love the USF campus: the library, coffee shop and all those diverse
university students being so very nice to us old folks. Good times!

deep dive into the future

There are only five or so biologists world wide who wear this complicated
gear to dive down below 100 feet in the ocean. Yesterday Professor Rocha
(California Academy of Science) described his life's work which is to
save the coral reefs from plastic, algae, global warming, etc. He had some
wonderful videos of new fish he has discovered and I will get to the
Academy soon to see the exhibit there. Despite everything he remains
hopeful that the ocean will survive.

nation building with violence

The 1840's were messy for both Italy and Germany. All those self-centered
little states had to come together under one power-hungry ruler in each
country. Garibaldi in Italy and Bismarck in Germany. Toss in the Catholic
Church, weak economies, north-south issues, farm vs. city and the restless
poor and we can see how future problems developed for both countries.
Fascinating stuff and the professor dashes along at 100 miles per hour.

a silent coup?

It's unlikely that the 25th Amendment will be used to get rid of Trump.
We learned all about this yesterday in Professor Rothmann's class
and we have a much better chance of Impeachment, although the
House and Senate are unlikely to oust the mean moron man through
this process either. We are stuck it seems...

another Napoleon

Yesterday Professor Large went into great and interesting detail about
the life and times of Napoleon III. He thought of himself as the Grand
Nephew of the famous Bonaparte, but there were always questions
about his birth father. But no matter ~ he came to power in 1848, and
was involved in the Crimean War, the building of the Suez Canal
and the exile of Victor Hugo. We covered a lot in 2.5 hours!

ommmmmmm

Yesterday our Science class was all about meditation.  We even had two
group sessions and everyone was quiet and calm. The Neuroscience of
Meditation ~ now there is real proof (lots of charts and graphs) that
this works. People have been meditating for 5,000 years and yet we
all know it is difficult to silence our minds for one half hour. But we
should just keep trying. Namaste.

behold the Flywheel

I was tempted to skip class yesterday what with the rain and my general
lack of scientific knowledge,  but I trudged to the bus and school. The
speaker filled us in on the Flywheel system of storing energy and it
was fascinating. He is a physicist who owns a company that makes
these big mother Flywheels. Questions after class made me realize how
many scientific minds are in the classroom here in SF. Also, only with
the green laws in California is this kind of innovation possible as
they force the power companies to consider other power sources.

before storming the Bastille

I spent all day at Fromm ~ in the morning we had a relaxing introduction to
the Wonders of Science and then the French Revolution in the afternoon.
There are no USF students currently so we enjoyed our sandwiches in
front of the big fake fireplace in the student union. A lovely way to live
with or without two arms. My, they were a blood thirsty bunch back in
France in the 1790's. Heads a rollin'.....

life long learning

I became a Frommie again yesterday and enjoyed my class taught by
Mr. Rothmann. Problems of Political Leadership in America. And
yes, we have plenty to cover here. He is an excellent teacher and even
with my awkward arm problem I had a fine day.

unbalanced

Yesterday was our final American History class and Professor Rothmann
spent the whole time discussing Trump and how treacherous he is. He can
be removed from office but it will not be easy. Impeachment is a political
act, not a legal one. It is his belief that Mueller will go after and get
Trump's income tax returns and those will tell us so much. Trump's
rhetoric should concern everyone because it is very dangerous. During
the Q&A only one person in a class of 200 seemed to disagree and he
mentioned how great the stock market is doing. Oh, please...

it's a wrap

I attended the final Universe class yesterday. Try to accept these facts:

• the universe is 13.8 billion years old (after the Big Bang)
• our solar system is 4.6 billion years old
• human civilization is 11 thousand years old

We are the youngest civilization in the universe and who out there

would want to communicate with babies? But Professor Fraknoi

seems to think that there might be other life out there and he

recommends the movie Contact with Jodie Foster. Will do and

well done Fromm.

pumpkins and goblins

It's fun being on the USF campus for Fromm ~ the unexpected. During
the lunch break there is a young woman student helping us with all
our electronics and although I haven't needed her, there are usually
people waiting to talk to her with their devices in hand. No charge.
(For the retirees without handy grandchildren I guess.)

And then this line of pumpkins smiling and frowning at us as we
walked to the student cafeteria yesterday. The American History class
yesterday was fabulous ~ the professor is enthralled with the Mueller
indictments and cautions us to keep our eyes on the Republicans, not
the Democrats during this process. It is up to them...

Blade Runner (1982)

I missed this back in the day. Yesterday there was a free showing at
Fromm and I met Ginger for coffee and this movie and it was really
amazing. It takes place in 2019 (ahem) when we have ruined the
environment and it rains 24/7. The wealthy people live way up
in tall buildings and Blade Runners capture and kill (retire) the
"aliens" (it's a long story) and now I will go to see the new one
soon. Harrison Ford has aged well.

back to the past

The Coffee Cantata

Yesterday after studying the stars (how timely that two just collided a
million light years or so ago) I walked down to Haight Street and enjoyed
a delicious latte at Coffee Cantata. I'm pretty sure that this was the first
real coffee house in SF back in the days of free love, hippies and pot.
Today the Haight Ashbury is filled with tourists and druggies and very
expensive homes on the neighboring streets. The stores do a brisk
business selling beads, fringe clothing, boots and Frisco merchandise.

what I learned in my science class

Professor Fraknoi presented this tee shirt photo amongst an array of
stars and planets yesterday. I now know all about the death of big stars
and the truth about black holes. They are hard to see...

late for class!

First time, most likely, but that's OK, everyone was because Fulton Street
was blocked and traffic was terrible. There was a huge and colorful
funeral for a fire department battalion chief (I had to google this) at 9am
yesterday. You can barely see the hundreds of firemen and women there
on the front steps of St. Iggy. An impressive turnout. Parker Street
was lined with fire engines from SF, San Mateo, Marin and Daly City.
I like the flag held aloft by ladders and the attendees who wore white gloves.
Pomp still works.

thank you, Cassini

It took this space craft seven years (!) to reach Saturn and it spun around
for thirteen years taking gobs of photos and samples and sending them
back to our scientists. Today Cassini ran out of fuel and purposefully
crashed into Saturn, still taking photos and making us proud. Prof.
Fraknoi had prepared me for today so I jumped up to make sure that
everything went according to plan this morning. I did.

meet my teachers!

Jon Rothmann (at KGO radio)

Andrew Fraknoi loves our universe

School started Monday at Fromm and I am where I should be. Professor
Rothmann teaches T.R. to Trump: Changing Nature of the American
Presidency and then Professor Fraknoi is our tour guide to the Universe:
Mars to the Stars (and Galaxies). The classes are packed with the over
60 set and I feel deep gratitude to be back in the classrooms again.

see you in September

Today I sign up for Fromm and I will be taking Professor Andrew
Fraknoi's course entitled Exploring the Universe: Mars to the Stars
(and Galaxies) because I am woefully uneducated about this subject.
The other course I will take is entitled Truman to Trump with
Professor John Rothmann. Now this is a subject I do keep up
with, but of course I will learn a whole lot more. I am already looking
forward to school which all begins on September 11th. Hooray!

over and out

Yesterday was our final day of Fromm school and we learned all about
Mussolini who ruled for 22 years. He still has fans in Italy and, in fact,
his grand daughter is active in politics there today. He and Hitler admired
each other, learned from each other and protected each other. The
Germans did say that the Italian tanks had rear view mirrors so they
could watch the fighting as they rode away. I will miss school, but
it is baseball season and first things first...