Sep
1
Waving
Submitted by jessica on September 1, 2009 - 9:37pm
Today is the day that Viola said to herself, I am going to get serious about waving. She waved at grandma and her toys when Joe dropped her off this morning, and she was still waving at her toy pelican this evening when I got home. Pretty cute!
Sep
4
Viola's sounds
Submitted by jessica on September 4, 2009 - 10:11pm
Joe's parents gave us a fancy video camera for Christmas. It later got stolen and then replaced by our insurance company. We've been using it to take a ton of video but haven't been sharing much of it with the outside world. Viola now has a few proto-words in her repertoire, so it seems an appropriate time to demonstrate them with video.
Exhibit A: "dada" (note that Joe goes by "papa," so she is probably referring to the cultural movement of the early 20th century)
Exhibit B: "mama" (note that she said this one first and that I go by "mama")
Exhibit C: "bbbbrrrrr" She has been saying this one for months, but only when she's dissatisfied. This usually has the effect of making us laugh at her when she's mad, which only makes her madder. This clip has a happy ending, though.
Sep
24
Still time for a last-minute save?
Submitted by jessica on September 24, 2009 - 11:20am
It seems like it's for real this time -- the Luzon building in downtown Tacoma is going to be torn down on Saturday. It makes me feel like I've been punched in the stomach, not so much because the building is so beautiful, but because it is such an important piece of Tacoma's history. The Luzon was designed by the Chicago architects Burnham and Root, who are among the fathers of the modern skyscraper. From www.historictacoma.net:
The Luzon was a transition building for the firm because it incorporated a relatively light steel framework along with traditional masonry construction. ... The property is listed on the local, state and national registers of historic places and is one of Tacoma’s foremost architectural treasures.
No time to upload photos (I'm on my lunch break), but do check them out here .
Sep
26
Hundred-year-old dust
Submitted by jessica on September 26, 2009 - 12:30pm
We visited the demolition of the Luzon this morning. While we watched, I told Viola about Burnham and Root, Chicago, the World's Columbian Exposition, historic preservation, and a certain jerk named Eric Anderson.
For all the sadness, the demolition was pretty cool. There were some protesters early in the morning, but the crowd was mostly silent and sign-less when we were there.
And I finally had an excuse to take a picture of a Tacoma legend, that guy with the fancy bike and legwarmers (and, as Joe added, "ripped calves").
