Tag: Lydia

Lydster: I had never made pancakes

baking powder, NOT baking soda!

Until recently, I had never made pancakes before. Okay, that’s not true; I’ve made them quite often over the years, but almost always with a mix, either Bisquick or Jiffy.  In my bachelor days, I might even make enough batter for two or three meals and put the leftovers in the fridge.

But one Monday morning, my daughter decided she wanted pancakes for breakfast, which, of course, meant that I would make them. I am the only unemployed person in the household. Moreover, she required that I use… a recipe?

Specifically, this one from AllRecipes.com. It wasn’t difficult, but it was a bit annoying.  It started with, “I found this pancake recipe in my Grandma’s recipe book. Judging from the weathered look of this recipe card, this was a family favorite.” Sure, why not?

Then we get the prep time and the ingredients. But then it lists “How to Store and Reheat Pancakes,” followed by “Can You Save Pancake Batter?” I just want to make the food. “Can You Freeze Pancakes?” I just got up, and I’m already falling asleep again.

“Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise.” Whatever. I will note the first comment.  “This recipe is one to hand down to your grandkids,” raves… “Fluffy and delicious. Haven’t bought a box of pancake mix in months! Just add a bit of vanilla and poof! Magic.” I’ve been adding vanilla for years, ever since it was suggested on a Bisquick box. 

What I really, really want

Finally, the Ingredients with the actual amounts! And the Directions! It was the daughter’s suggestion, even in my Bisquick days, to mix the dry ingredients before adding the liquid ones. Adding salt was new to me, and I was very parsimonious with its use. But I’ve been trying to avoid adding salt to my food for years.

Oh, I came across another AllRecipes page: What’s the Difference Between Dry and Liquid Measurements? I never liked those metal dry measuring cups, though I understand how effective they are. So in this experiment I DID use two sets of measuring cups. (Another item to put in the dishwasher? The horror!)

I always have to be alert to add baking POWDER rather than baking SODA. About 30 years ago, I used the POWDER, and it was VILE. My daughter said I could substitute cooking oil for butter. Nah, although I had always used vegetable oil.

The verdict was that my wife and daughter liked them. I thought they were fine. If I were making it again, I’d probably bump up the milk quantity from a cup to 1 1/4 cups.

Not incidentally, we almost ALWAYS use real maple syrup. Because.

The suitcase retrieval

Nor’easter

NEWLY-PLANNED: Sunday, September 27 – On Friday evening, after I called my wife, my daughter called me to ask what I was thinking about regarding the suitcase retrieval. I had left it on the bus from Syracuse to NYC when I got off in Binghamton.

I thought that there should be a way to send the luggage up by bus, but this would mean more work for Andrea. So I decided I should take a bus to New York City.

My wife and daughter had been in NYC Wednesday through Friday, having seen School Girls or, the African Mean Girls Play (which they loved) and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) (great acting, but plot holes).

So, my daughter offered to come to NYC (drive to Poughkeepsie, Metro-North train to Grand Central Station) on Sunday. Wonderful. There was only one potential downside: a Nor’easter was racing up the coast. So, it’s settled; the plan is on.

The point of it all, apparently

On Saturday, I had called my father’s first cousin Ruth, who witnessed firsthand my father coming up my name shortly after I was born. She offered to pick me up Sunday morning and take me to the bus station.

As she and one of her daughters had picked me up quite early,  we talked about family lore, about Raymond Cone, and the resilience of my paternal grandmother Agatha, Ruth watching Leslie and me when we were little, and my father’s amazing creativity, coupled with his utter lack of fiscal restraint.

REALIZATION: Suddenly, I realized why I needed to be in Binghamton the weekend of my dad’s 100th birthday: to share Les stories with people he’s related to.

But what about not seeing 5 Gaines Street (42.107838 latitude, -75.915621 longitude), the house I grew up in that’s now for sale? I had friend Cee and spouse keep the 12:30 pm appointment and share the intel with sister Leslie and me. (Thanks!) I’m not saying either of us would move there, but it is an intriguing concept. Especially for my sister, since the housing costs are so much greater in SoCal.

It’s too bad I didn’t get to go to church at Trinity A.M.E. Zion, the church I grew up in, but I got to ride by it a couple of times; it’s less than two blocks from 5 Gaines. When I went by there on Friday night, a bunch of kids from the church were playing on the lawn, which I found oddly comforting.

Big Apple

NEW PLAN: The bus station in Binghamton does NOT announce or display arrivals or departures. So at 7:45, I went out to look for my 7:55; yup, it was just about to board.  I said my goodbyes and got onto a Trailways bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, which, not incidentally, was MUCH more comfortable than those Flix buses I rode to Syracuse and Binghamton. It rained intermittently on the trip, but it wasn’t bad.

Around the same time, my daughter was driving from Albany to Poughkeepsie. It turns out that, because of the counterclockwise winds, the rain from the Nor’easter was worse on the trip down than on the return trip, especially around Woodstock and Kingston. She almost stopped for a time but persevered, reaching Poughkeepsie and taking the Metro-North to Grand Central.

My sense of direction was all out of whack, and I couldn’t figure out how to reach Grand Central. Some official sent me to Penn Station on the 7 subway, but my daughter directed me back.

Suddenly, I wandered to an S shuttle that took me to Grand Central, and my daughter found me. We took the Metro-North. My daughter has quickly become an expert. We needed to take the New Haven line, but really the Stamford subsidiary line to Westchester County.

The ‘burbs

While we waited for Andrea and my suitcase, we overheard a couple of friends who had met at the train stop.  She was a trained dancer hired by a rich Manhattanite to perform at the wealthy lady’s two-year-old’s birthday party. But there were so many other people and stuff that there was no room to dance. The hired Santa assured her that it was a weird, albeit well-paid, gig. The friends realized we had been eavesdropping on their conversation – they were only about ten feet away – when I couldn’t stifle a laugh. They were cool about it.

Finally, Andrea figured out where we were and got me the suitcase. She suggested I be more mindful; noted.  My daughter gave her the wine and chocolate she had bought on my behalf.

We ate at the station, took the line back to Harlem, then took the Hudson line back to Poughkeepsie. My daughter drove us back to Albany. We arrived at 6:40, less than 20 minutes later than I would have if I had taken the bus back to Syracuse, then Albany; oh, yeah, that bus was canceled. How WOULD I have gotten home?

I was exhausted, but still wired. After my wife and daughter went to bed, I noticed I had recorded Sunday Night Football, the match betwen the Los Angeles Rams and the Denver Broncos. About halfway through the first quarter, I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up for the last three minutes, which I watched. It was a great ending to an interesting weekend.

Lydster: Love Island USA

Password

One of the things my daughter did quite regularly when she was home from college was go upstairs to her room to watch Love Island USA. Occasionally, she subjected her parents to it by watching it in the living room. 

In two articles in major publications, it appears that the daughter has hit the zeitgeist. (I’ve never been particularly zeitgeisty.) 

Bloomberg

On July 8, Future Party summarized the  Bloomberg story Love Island Has Cracked the Code on Gen Z’s Attention Span. After noting that the ratings of reality shows have taken a beating in the past decade or so: 

“Despite already being in its eighth season, Love Island USA is more popular than ever, according to Bloomberg.

  • “The first three episodes this season racked up 2.3 billion minutes viewed, putting it in the same league as premium scripted hits like House of the Dragon and The Bear.
  • “80% of viewers who started watching the season in its first two days have already watched at least 15 episodes — an incredible engagement rate.
  • “This season generated over a billion social media impressions across platforms in just 16 days after its premiere. The numbers have only continued to climb since then…
  • Last Looks: “Why does Gen Z love Love Island USA so much? Beyond the juicy drama, the show’s near-daily schedule fuels instant FOMO, while its interactive voting app puts viewers in the driver’s seat, letting them decide which contestants stay and which get booted off the island. That engagement has translated into major trading volume on prediction markets, with Kalshi even giving the show its own ‘dedicated tab’ in its culture section.” Ah, gambling! It reminds me of a recurring segment on The Daily Show.

“Gen Z has also proven to be starved for in-person socializing… and Love Island USA is helping fill that gap. The show has sparked a wave of public watch parties, with bars reporting boosted business thanks to group viewing — a notable turn of events given how much less Gen Z drinks than previous generations.” 

NYer?

The New Yorker (June 27, 2026), mostly behind a paywall: “We all know what it is to be unhappy in love. In unhappy couples, each person feels unaccompanied; whatever they have, they wish for a little more. The unhappy speak our language, and we speak theirs. The punctuation of this language is the moment when a woman’s face falls with disbelief, and when she weighs, in a tearful yet luxurious silence, her desire against her dignity.

“At least, this is the language of unhappiness on reality TV. We are just now in the season of ‘Love Island,’ the most fluorescent of reality dating shows, in which young, tanned, and wonderfully naïve singles compete to fall in lust and become one half of the cast’s—and the nation’s—most popular couple.”

Fluorescent is right. If the Barbie movie found many ways to do pink, Love Island is an adult Candyland.

“The British islanders are currently sunning themselves in Mallorca; their American counterparts are enjoying similar tropical conditions and neon furnishings in Fiji. The communal bedrooms are open, the mike packs are strapped to this season’s bikinis (animal print and accent hardware abound), and a roster of ‘bombshells’ and Casa Amor hotties—seducers flown in to test the contestants’ romances—are said to be holding in isolation in nearby hotels…

“June is the original and proprietary ground for ‘Love Island,’ that hinge point when all the vague aspirations for the year have been half dashed, and the summer looks both opulent and devastatingly short.”

Naturally

Of course, I sent these pieces to my daughter, who was away in South Africa again until recently. As is her wont, she replied wryly, “Interesting, isn’t it?” It is. My daughter was part of a wave of viewers before the season ended in mid-July. 

When I was growing up, I usually knew what the Top 20 shows were for any given week – often Bonanza, or later, All In The Family –  based on the Nielsen ratings shown in the local papers.  In a streaming universe, I have no strong idea. So I’m feeling mildly nostalgic about learning this tidbit.

I’ve been watching Password recently. One of the celebrity contestants was Ariana Madix, the main host for Love Island USA seasons 6 through 8. (No, I didn’t recognize her or even know her name; my daughter would have likely scolded me for this transgression.) There was even a series of Password clues about love, in honor of the series.

Lydster: Hampshire college graduation

“people who care deeply about the world”

17 mphOur Hampshire College graduation journey started with my sister Leslie flying overnight (Th/Fri from San Diego to Albany. Then, on the morning of Saturday, May 16, my wife drove the three of us to the Amherst-area college.

The first task was to get the tickets in order to sit under the tented area. They were in the daughter’s mailbox. Unfortunately, it involved operating a combination lock that I, Leslie, and a random woman I asked were unable to open. Fortunately, the college postmaster COULD  and did. And we did need them because demand soared after news of the college’s closure.

In fact, Hampshire memorabilia became a hot commodity. The campus store was selling out of almost everything related to the college. (That included items such as this road sign, not for sale, that someone – not my daughter- purloined.) 

I ran into a guy named Nate Wardlaw. He was the tenor soloist in my church choir a few years back. Moreover, he was my daughter’s music teacher for sixth grade. He and I asked essentially the same question: “What are YOU doing here?” His sister was graduating from the college; she and my daughter were not acquainted.

The daughter wanted to wear the kente cloth I own. During the procession from wherever, I handed it off to her.

The apparel for the processional was… eclectic doesn’t begin to describe it. Graduates wore robes of various colors or no robes at all. One outfit looked like a potato sack.

Crossing the stage

You can see the whole ceremony here, though you could skip the first 20 minutes. The awarding of diplomas starts at about 2:08.00.

OPENING OF THE CEREMONY: Mike Purcell, Campus Safety and Wellbeing Assistant,  wearing an iconic plush frog hat 

WELCOME: Jose Fuentes 05F, Chair of the Board of Trustees

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT: Javiera Benavente, Assistant Dean of Collaborative and Community Engaged Learning

CELEBRATORY ADDRESS: Jennifer Chrisler, President. A recurring theme of the talks was balancing the joy people felt at the students’ accomplishments with the reality that this would be the last spring college commencement at Hampshire. She saw the class as “people who care deeply about the world” and who are “willing to engage with it honestly, even when it is difficult.”

STUDENT MODERATOR: Tenzin Jobe 22F

STAFF TOAST: Mike Purcell, Campus Safety and Wellbeing Assistant. This, like most speeches, was quite entertaining.  He led everyone in a chorus of Jim Croce’s “I Got a Name.”

FACULTY TOAST: Noah Romero, Assistant Professor of Native American
and Indigenous Studies

STUDENT ADDRESS: Samara Ternoir 22F. My daughter was pleased and surprised to be name-checked  (at  1:24.00) for her Div III project by Samara, whom she did not know well.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: J Finley 00F, Associate Professor of Africana Studies,
Pomona College, Claremont, California. A very good address. She noted that Hampshire was “in [her] bones,” remarking that she figured to deliver a standard commencement speech and then wound up being “the voiceover in a Ken Burns documentary.” Burns is one of the college’s most famous alumni.

ALUMNI TOAST: Harrison Blum 01F

CONFERRAL OF DEGREES: Jennifer Chrisler, President and Gary Hawkins, Vice President of Academic Affairs & Dean of Faculty

CLOSING OF THE CEREMONY

Afterwards

The daughter had a bunch of people to see after she graduated, including folks her mother and I met in April. Finally, we went out to eat at a Central American restaurant we have been to a few times.

Then to get her stuff, starting with her art supplies from the art building; we had to contact campus security because the structure was locked. Then to her dwelling to load two cars, my daughter’s and my wife’s, to the gills.

Carol drove Leslie back to Albany via the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90). Meanwhile, my daughter took the backroads, including US Route 20, in part because she had her bicycle on a trailer hitch.

At some point in rural Massachusetts, we saw an accident far ahead of us. A woman who was directing traffic sent us on a detour that took us a couple of miles on a gravel road, then onto a narrow dirt road where a pickup truck went off the road to let us get by, then back onto a rough but paved surface.

By the time we got home, Carol had taken Leslie to her hotel. We didn’t unload until the following afternoon,m with the exception of the bicycle.

Assume a lot of maudlin parental pride shared here. I’m not sure how much nostalgia she would feel if her college wasn’t closing in December 2026. As it is, she seems to be experiencing a bit of what I of…IDK. It’s not premature nostalgia because, even as she achieves her goal, there won’t be a Hampshire College to come back to in 20, 10, 5, or even 1 year.

Lydster: the Art Show

Kuumbaa, a Swahili term that translates to Creativity

The Daughter had her Art Show, Kuumba, at Hampshire College this month with three other talented folks. It was an intensive time. She had to get the show set up on Monday and Tuesday, April 6 and 7. The process took her over 14 hours, not counting the help she received.

On April 8, an uncle, an aunt, and a cousin came from the Mid-Hudson region of New York State to see her show, which was greatly appreciated. Her art committee did their walkthrough on April 9, and all was well.

She wrote a great three-page description of how she developed the show. Briefly, the work focused on her “studies of both African (continental) and Black American culture. and how they overlap… Even though they are separated by the ocean, natural themes shine through from Africa and the diaspora. Bright colors are seen as a symbol of freedom in many Pan-African cultures, from the intricate textile patterns to Bo Kaap, the colorful neighborhood in post-apartheid South Africa, to beadwork.

“Across the works in my series, each piece includes a multicolored component. It was important to me to make every aspect of my gallery show, including the frames, bowl beads, and rack, because I feel the point is to show off what I can do, and it gave me the flexibility to create exactly what I wanted. This meant I was also learning new processes that complement what I already know.”

Western Cape

On Friday afternoon, Pastor Miriam came to see the show, and the Daughter provided her with great detail.

The pics below are the latter half of the Western Cape Series. Monotype, pochoir, painting, handcoloring. As was true in most of pieces, it featured handmade frames.  “In addition to the series, I have created an outline of the cape that marks the locations.”

  • Cape Point, 14 February, 13:30
  • Seaforth Beach, 14 February, 15:33
  • Bo-Kaap, 31 March, 18:53
  • Muizenburg Beach, 10 June, 14:16

Shown are:

  • Bloubergstrand Beach, 12 June, 14:16
  • Signal Hill, 12 June, 17:30
  • Signal Hill, 12 June, 17:47
  • Seaforth Beach, 14 June, 17:38

The photo does not do them justice. What was interesting to me was when she showed Miriam the reference photos from her visit to Cape Town in 2025 in comparison with the monotypes. I’d seen the pictures and the artwork, but never before at the same time. Fascinating. 

Msuko Series

Linocut, monotype, collage, pochoir, handcoloring

  • Msuko V (yellow beads)
  • Msuko III (Koroba braids)
  • Msuko II (light and dark blue beads)
  • Msuko  IV (blue and purple beads)
  • Msuko I (purple and red beads)
  • Msuko VI (cowrie shells)

When she dressed up for the closing reception, she put on fingernails she had painted to match her artwork! (She’s not giving you “the finger”!)

MNANDI TEXTILES

“When I was abroad studying at the University of Cape Town, I took an African Dance class. Early in the semester, our professor, Maxwell Xolani Rani, had us go to a local fabric shop, Mnandi Textiles, to pick out fabric for our lapas. Lapas are traditionally West African, typically have brightly colored patterns, and in African Dance, we tied them around our waists to create a skirt. This installation includes six patterned fabric prints, cut to a similar length to my lapa from Mnandi Textiles. Each individual fabric and each pattern is named after someone I know personally, three of whom I grew up around, and the other three of whom I met in South Africa in 2025 and impacted my time there in some way.”

Vitambaa Series

Relief

  • Saadiya
  • Thandeka
  • Xolani
  • Lidia
  • Roseline
  • Prudence

Lidia.

CROWN

Lithograph, handmade glass beads

“The shape of this set of braids is reminiscent of a crown and thus was named after the CROWN Act (first passed in California in 2019). Lithography is a planographic printmaking technique in which one draws with grease markers or paints with tusche on limestone. This meant that the project involved drawing each mark in the braids rather than carving as I was used to. The two lithographs I created for the show are also the opposite colorways of the Msuko series in linocut, but I still used brown ink to print them. The beads at the ends of the braids in Crown are hand-colored to resemble the six colors surrounding Msuko Series.”

She has been working with the Hampshire Glass Collective for years, so the beads represented in the various works and in a freestanding bowl were made by her.

There were a couple of other pieces as well.

What sort of gushy, “we are so proud of her” rambling should I end with? I’ll think about it. I can say that about 120 people attended the reception, and many of them were impressed, even blown away, by her display. One guy who works in lithography exclaimed to anyone around him, “That took a lot of time!” 

It was wonderful to watch her patiently answer the visitors’ questions, many of whom were as entranced as her mother and I were. The comments, some of them by strangers, in a notebook – each artist received one – were quite moving when the three of us read them back the following evening.