A couple of weeks ago, a Florida federal judge issue an injunction against an elementary school who wanted to incorporate a religious song into their curriculum. You can read the decision accompanying that injunction
here
The school district then went and replaced the song with another one “Chatter with the Angels”. Its lyrics are less explicit and it was a song sang by slaves, but the same judged suggested that it would be just as unconstitutional to have the children sing it. He didn’t rule on the matter because the school had agreed to remove the song, but he said: “This court is also certain that defendants understand what may happen if they continue … introducing songs that are unconstitutionally religious in nature to public elementary school students”
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I won’t kid you around – turning 40 is hard. I could delight you with all sorts of thoughts about life and death, and getting old, and what I have and have not accomplished – but really, that would be pathetic for me and boring for you. So let’s, instead, stay on topic. What I had wanted to do for my 40th birthday was to go back to Egypt. What I ended up doing (thanks economy!) was going to the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose. Perhaps it’s just as well.
I thought about going to the Rosicrucian not just to relive old times. Just last year I regaled myself by seeing the Egyptian collection of the antiquities museum in Berlin (which includes the bust of Nefertiti, which I think surpasses in beauty and perfection anything the Greeks or their students might have produced), and two years before that, I spent a day with the Egyptian antiquities at the British Museum. If anything – I’m museumed-out.
But, alas, Mika is not – or was not. She’s been reading Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris
I hadn’t been to the Rosicrucian in 20 years and I was very impressed by the new building complex. It’s all done in ancient-Egyptian style, and yet it manages to be quite nice rather than incredibly tacky (I had a professor who claimed that one of the best things that happened to Egyptian antiquities was that the over the millenia the paint had peeled away). The gardens are very relaxing, there is an abundance of papyrus (maybe we should grow some) and semi-hidden places where to sit and relax. There is a middle school across the street, so I imagine it’s not that peaceful during the week – but on the (rainy) weekend, it was very calmed.
Inside, the museum looks like just every other museum. They have several modern exhibition rooms, with well lit cases and an abundance of objects. Probably the most interesting one was the mummy of a child – though Mika found it sort of disgusting. She liked seeing the sarcophagi (I think she liked recognizing them as such), and had fun browsing around, but all she could take was 1 1/2 galleries before she was egypted-out. The most fun part was probably the full-size-model of a tomb that they have. Kids always like going and exploring. It didn’t remind me of any tomb I’ve been to, but it was fun. In reality, my biggest frustration is that Mika lost interest in my explanations of what we were seeing, very quickly 🙁
In addition to the museum, the Rosicrucian has a “planetarium” where they have shows a couple of times a day. The current show in on the Mithraic mysteries, and I found it fascinating. I know absolutely nothing about Mithras, and while I gathered that the information they were presenting might be of greater than academic interest to the Rosicrucians, it was definitely interesting. Alas, the 40 minute show is not, in any way whatsoever, oriented towards children, and mine only lasted about 10 minutes before they were ready to go. Indeed, what I’d say, is that if you actually want to take advantage of the whole place, you should leave your (little) children at home.
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium
1664 Park Ave
San Jose, CA 95191
Monday – Friday: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday – Sunday: 11:00am – 6:00pm
$9.00 general admission*
$7.00 seniors 55 and older and students with I.D.
$5.00 children ages 5 – 10
free children under 5
* $1.00 discount on general admission for members of AAA, AAM, KQED, and Military
I’m turning 40 tomorrow and until recently I never really used lotions or creams. My mother, a devotee of oil of olay, kept giving me bottles and jars of different beauty concoctions. But until a couple of years ago, I had very good skin plus I didn’t really believe lotions could make any difference. That may have been a stupid opinion, given that people have been using oils and salves from time immemorial, but it wasn’t a subject to which I gave a lot of thought.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to start making lotions, just for fun, so I decided that I needed to start using what I had. I still have tons of bottles of lotion my mother has given me, some of which smell quite good, plus the lavender lotion I made, and a couple other things I’d bought. So for three weeks I’ve been using:
-A combination of the lavender lotion I made and Avon Skin So Soft Body Souffle on my arms and upper chest area (what is exposed when wearing t-shirts). I’ve grown to really like the lotion I made, despite the fact that lavender is not my favorite scent (it’s my mother’s, though, and I originally made it for her). It’s very refreshing when I put it on, and it dries up quite quickly. I absolutely love the body souffle. It’s so light and easy to spread and it has a wonderful scent. I didn’t find it in the current online Avon Catalog, but that’s just an incentive to try to make my own. Alas, I haven’t really found any recipes for body souffle online – though I’ll try to see if those for whipped butters are similar. As I keep the lavender lotion on my desk, I’ve been using it several times a day, when the mood strikes me 🙂
–L’Oreal Dermo-Expertise Age Perfect Day Cream for Mature Skin
–Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock, SPF-55
And at night:
–Grateful Body Facial Cleanser (which also doesn’t seem to be in their catalog any more), to wash my face. It’s very light and made all of natural products. It doesn’t seem to have any preservatives, which worries me a little.
-A homemade toner made from home made rose-water and witch hazel. I’ve ran out of this now, so I’ll need to make another one.
-A homemade eye wrinkle “cream” made of lanolin, sweet almond oil and honey.
-Kirkland (Costco) night cream and eye cream.
Now for the results. My arms have really become very soft. Mike touched them today and he could really appreciate the difference.
My face skin is also improving. It had been great until a few years ago when I started walking a couple of miles each way to pick up my daughter at day care. I wasn’t very good at using sunscreen, and my face became not only tan, but blotchy, reddish (specially my nose!) and coarse. I’m spending less time in the sun now and I think all the lotions are also helping making my face improve. It’s becoming less blotchy and it’s also much softer. In the last few years I’ve also developed quite a few whiteheads, and I started using some Retin A on them. Several have disappeared already, but when I use it, it reddens my skin as well.
And finally, my eyes. As most 40-year olds I’ve developed wrinkles around my eyes. I imagine that eye cream helps stop the development of new wrinkles, rather than treating the old ones, and whether that works or not cannot be judged in the space of 3 weeks. That said, the area under my eyes seems very soft, too soft. Now, I don’t know if this is due to the oil or cream I’ve been using, or whether it’s always been like that. In any case, I’m wondering if I should discontinue using them.
Well, this is it for this very frivolous posting 🙂
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