The coldest winter I ever spent
In today’s fascist news…
Trump is (again) erasing actual facts from the public record because they make him look bad. NPR article: Trump’s impeachments have been removed from a Smithsonian exhibit, for now.
Trump is literally firing the messenger OR Trump is hiring a newspeak statistician. NPR article: Trump calls for firing of senior Labor official after job market weakens in July
The best mechanical pencil in the world isn’t manufactured any more, but I just found a box of them on eBay! Yay!
The Sanford Logo II mechanical pencil was made in the 1990’s by Sanford and Paper Mate. No other pencil had all of the important features in one writing implement:
It’s crazy that the bar never raised in mechanical pencil design! This literally was the pinnacle of mechanicals and the box says it was made in 1994, more than 30 years ago. I would understand about people saying “They don’t make ’em like they used to” about buggy whips, or record player. But people (as far as I know) still use pencils!!!
Here’s some archival photos of the box:
The closest match to the Logo II is the Skilcraft Dual Action. I bought a few on recommendation from commenters on my blog. It’s almost as good as the Logo II but for a few issues:
The Skilcraft is a little lighter so it doesn’t feel quite as solid in the hand. It doesn’t have the spring-loaded lead, making the writing experience a little less enjoyable. And my “fix” for the loose eraser doesn’t work on the Skilcraft, making the eraser more of a bother. One thing the Skilcraft has is a slightly more robust pocket clip.
I’ve lost the clip fiddle-thing from the end of the pencil holder on few of my Logo II’s, which leaves a fairly raw piece of metal sticking in my pocket. See the photo:
The box of 9 pencils set me back about $90 which honestly is very reasonable since I’ve bought them for $4.50 back in the aughties!
She wrote these this spring
Hills for miles and miles
Forest all around
I wish I could stay here forever
and you would too if you hear the sound
Of crinkling leaves beneath your feet
The wind in the trees
And the birds so petite
I wish I could stay here forever
I wish I could stay til I die
This place is more beautiful than I imagined, oh my oh my oh my
At the Bottom of the Ravine
Rushing rivers
Rushing rivers
So beautiful and clean
As the water flows through the rocks and the flint of sunlight beams
I sit here far upon a rock
In this beautiful creek
It’s just so peaceful here
And all the colors are so neat
Shadows falling, sun is shining
That’s all the creek
I see the shadows of the creatures swimming atop it
I think nothing can knock it off of this beautiful earth
That’s the river underneath
It was really terrific spending time in Nashville with my cousins a few weeks ago!
(oh and this is the first time I used my Google Pixel 9 for an “Add Me” photo. I took one photo, Abigail took another, and it magically stitched the two together, neat!)
Hey, my cousin Ryan is a solid guy!
(via)
VILLANOVA, Pa. (July 9, 2025) – The Villanova University Alumni Association (VUAA) has named Ryan Siedlecki ’14 CLAS as the recipient of its 2025 Young Alumni Medal. The award honors alumni who have made outstanding contributions professionally, academically and in service to the University.
Siedlecki has remained deeply engaged with Villanova in the years since his graduation. In 2018, he partnered with the VUAA to establish the Villanova University Club of Nashville, for which he currently serves as president. Under his leadership, the club—affectionately known by members as “NashVillanova”—has hosted a variety of events, including St. Thomas of Villanova Day of Service outings, Wildcat Welcome receptions for local incoming students and basketball game watches and meet-ups. He has also welcomed University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 CLAS and other University leaders to Nashville as part of regional engagement efforts.
“Ryan has created countless meaningful opportunities for Villanova alumni to connect in Nashville,” said Sheila Doherty P ’23, ’25, Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations. “Through his leadership, the Club of Nashville has become an active and welcoming community. His efforts reflect the values of our incredible alumni network, and I’m so pleased to recognize him with the Young Alumni Medal.”
As an undergraduate, Siedlecki was actively involved across campus. He worked in the Villanova Athletics Media Relations department, supporting men’s basketball and other programs, served on Villanova University’s Special Olympics Committee and was a member of LEVEL, a student group focused on inclusion and accessibility.
“I’m honored and humbled to receive the 2025 Young Alumni Medal. The VUAA’s support in helping me establish an alumni chapter in my hometown of Nashville meant the world to me,” Siedlecki said. “During my time at Villanova, I learned several principles to live by, including that the one thing you can control, especially during times of adversity, is your attitude. I try to carry this mindset with me every day.”
Siedlecki earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Villanova in 2014 and is a senior product analyst at HCA Healthcare in Nashville, Tenn. There, he leads a team of software developers in HCA’s Information Technology Group, supporting a patient-facing application used across hospitals and emergency departments. His contributions earned him a Clinical Development and Innovation (CDI) Recognition Award in 2023.
Siedlecki earned his MBA from Belmont University in 2020. He and his wife, Ashley, live in Nashville where they recently celebrated the birth of their first child, Scarlett Elizabeth.
Siedlecki’s continued commitment to Villanova, professional accomplishments and efforts to build community exemplify the spirit of the Young Alumni Medal, and the VUAA will honor him at a ceremony during Homecoming Weekend 2025.
About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University’s six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation’s top universities, Villanova supports its students’ intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.
Last summer, Abigail and I were at a street fair in El Cerrito and there was a guy who let us make sand sculptures in bottles and clear tubes. It was so very fun! We made a few pens with colored sand and then we made this work of art for Megan!
Here is our note for Megan
Abigail and I put a beautiful amount of work into making that sand flower thing for you. Here’s the colors we put in it, starting from the top of the flower, going down :-)
Rainbow
Tree (black to green)
Volcano (black to reds and yellows)
Geyser (black to blues)
Family green, orange, purple
Rock formations:
Sapphire blue
Amethyst
Emerald
Diamond
Rose quartz
Family colors
Sulfur for Lassen (black to yellow)
The oranges and reds of sunset and fire (AKA, our wedding colors!)
Family colors
An awesome rainbowWith love,
Lee and Abigail
Here is a photo of my aunt, Ernestine McCarren in a full-page ad for the KPR (Kallir, Philips, Ross, Inc.) advertising agency. She helped market Tylenol and other medications in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
We danced together at Christmas but dementia has now taken her lovely energy from our world. When I think of her, I hear her saying her silly and uplifting “Oh Scu! Tank you, tank you!” in my mind, her nickname for me is “Scu” as in “Scooby Doo”, and she’d say “Thank you” with this most wonderful chime-tinkling voice!
She resides in a caring, well appointed facility near her former home in Florida.
My 93 year old aunt Dorothy makes caps, AKA cappelletti, for the family.
She made me a gallon bag in Nashville. I got it home on the plane with dry ice. Here’s how
8 lbs of dry ice in 2 blocks from the local Publix in Nashville. The night before flying, I put the caps and dry ice in the center of my luggage, wrapped in my jacket and clothes. When I went to fly the next day, all the clothes were cold and a bit frosty and there were about 2 lbs of ice left. As Tami suggested, I put a note inside my luggage saying “2 lbs dry ice” in case they opened the bag while it was checked. (UPDATE: Hmm, I’m looking at the rules and maybe I should have put the note on the outside of the package and gotten airline approval)
When I arrived at home, I still had about 1 and 1/2 lb of dry ice and the caps were in perfect condition!
You’re allowed to fly with up to 5.5 lbs of dry ice in luggage but I’ve had trouble on a previous flight where they made me throw out the dry ice. The caps made it, still frozen, kept cold by the cold clothing!
I think I did well getting a new phone….
I just paid $110 cash plus $320 over 2 years for a new Google Pixel 9 Pro with 256 GB. I’ll soon trade-in my working-well-enough phone for $120.
For the service, I’m now paying $55/month (fees included) for “Google Fi Unlimited Standard”
Details:
I had bought a Google Pixel 7 Pro from Swappa a few months ago. It took me 3 months to realize that something was wrong with the radio in the phone; I had TERRIBLE coverage with a variety of providers. OMG, over the course of a few months I tried about 5 providers and they ALL had terrible terrible service. I figured that it wasn’t the provider but my phone.
Google Fi Unlimited Standard comes with 50 GB data, 1/2 of which can be used for hotspot. I need the hotspot for my work.
The base model phone comes with 128 GB, I paid $100 extra for the upgrade because I figure I’ll have this phone for a while. It comes with 7 years of free OS updates after all! Though batteries tend to last only about 5 years, so there’s that.
Hugh Groman passed away in August, 2024. He had a wonderful life, a far more fabulous life than mine. He was surrounded by people that loved him and he loved the many people in his life. And he was a very successful business owner. Yet he was taken by a merciless disease. That is unfair to both him and the world that loved him!
He was a closer friend to my wife, Megan, but I knew him. Years ago, he literally demanded to cater our wedding and in doing so, he infused our wedding day and night with his incredible spirit and energy! I loved him!
His Celebration of Life was on January 23rd, 2025, at Ciel Creative Space in Berkeley. Family and friends gathered together in honor of him. And … dare I say… the event of the season! It really was!
It was, as I hope he would have wanted it: a grand party with music, an open bar, hors d’oeuvres, party schwag, disco lights, art on display, and people dressed to the nines in Gatsby-esque revelry at the good fortune we all had to be in the same place with everyone else. Missing only was the leading man who we each hoped in our hearts would leap onto the stage and call it all good fun.
More than a twenty-five people got on stage and either spoke forcefully about how awesome he was, how he had changed their lives, or they literally sang or danced in his honor. And that is not counting the throngs who got on stage to sing and dance in the audience participation numbers!
Please watch this beautiful evening that was streamed like the party it was, with laugher and tears:
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His Obituary in Berkeleyside
Remembering Hugh Groman, master of hospitality who catered events for Barack Obama and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Groman, who died last month at 53, founded popular Berkeley catering and party platter delivery businesses and ran a downtown burger joint called Phil’s Sliders from 2011 to 2017.
by Alix Wall
Sept. 18, 2024, 12:08 p.m.
Hugh Groman with his dogs in his Berkeley home. Credit: Cage & Aquarium
Of course, Nina Groman Ruebner’s favorite childhood memories about her younger brother, Hugh Groman, involve food.
As a kid, when his head wasn’t buried in a book, he used to make “cheese soufflés” by melting grated cheese in a ramekin in the toaster oven. They would eat them in a fort, “and they were delicious,” she said.
Another formative memory: When Groman was about 8, he wanted to make his own potato chips. He sliced raw potatoes and put them in a pot of oil on the stove. When they didn’t sizzle in what he considered a timely manner, he went out for a swim. The next thing he knew, smoke was pouring out of the kitchen; his parents had to do a remodel because of it.
Groman, who went on to found Hugh Groman Catering — a popular catering business in Berkeley which catered events for the likes of Barack Obama, Gloria Steinem and Ruth Bader Ginsburg — along with Greenleaf Platters and Phil’s Sliders, died suddenly on Aug. 29 in Berkeley. He was 53.
A resident of Berkeley for over two decades, Hugh Manuel Groman was born in Oakland on March 1, 1971. He was raised in Lafayette, where he was the youngest of four children. His father, Phil, owned a Jewish deli called New York West in Walnut Creek for some years, and Groman waited tables at various restaurants throughout high school.
Though his older siblings all attended Cal, Groman “was so much smarter than the rest of us,” his sister, Nina said; he attended Yale University, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
He moved to New York after graduating. Having been a part of the Yale a cappella group Red Hot and Blue, he loved performing and auditioned for musical theater roles while working in restaurants to pay the bills. Eventually, he quit auditioning, but never lost his love of performance, eventually channeling it into his events.
When he heard about an opening at the brand new Gramercy Tavern, owned by hospitality guru Danny Meyer, he was interviewed by its head chef, Tom Colicchio. Even though Groman had little kitchen experience and hadn’t attended culinary school, they took a chance on him.
He excelled there, and took what he learned about hospitality forward into his further ventures, considering Meyer a mentor throughout his career.
“Hugh was an exuberant member of our opening kitchen team 30 years ago at Gramercy Tavern,” Meyer said in an email. “His culinary and hospitality chops were evident from the start, as were his entrepreneurial aspirations. He stood out as someone who wanted to build a business based on his genuine care for people.”
After he left Gramercy Tavern, Groman opened a cafe, Boerum Hill Food Company in Brooklyn, closing it after a few years.
Although same-sex marriage wasn’t legal then, he spent much of his time in New York in a relationship with Rob Berman, who he later called his ex-husband. They remained friends after they split.
In 2001, he moved back to the Bay Area, settling in Berkeley. He founded Hugh Groman Catering in 2001, and certified it as a green business. He founded Greenleaf Platters in 2007 to address the ecological scourge of plastic trays with domed lids, which are then tossed in the landfill. (Greenleaf drops off food on ceramic platters, and picks them up the next day.)
From 2011 to 2017, he also owned and operated Phil’s Sliders, a burger joint named after his father in downtown Berkeley, but closed it and turned the burger concept into part of his catering business.
Food waste was also a big issue for Groman. In 2023, he told Berkeleyside, “I happen to be Jewish and I have a deep, deep resistance to waste. I never, ever want to throw away food.”
Hugh Groman with his dogs in his Berkeley home. Credit: Cage & Aquarium
He also created a company culture where coworkers truly respected each other, believing a tenet he learned from Meyer: that his staff can’t take care of others unless they are well-taken care of themselves. Many of his employees have spent much of their culinary careers there.
His sister, Nina, has been his sales manager since 2006, after she gave birth to her second child.
His executive chef, David Going, and his wife, Teresa Going, head party chef, have both worked there for over 20 years. Their kids came to the kitchen after pre-school.
“He created a place where people wanted to stay,” David Going said, where most felt “‘why would I look for another job?’ This is the kitchen where a lot of people want to finish their culinary careers.”
Going read in a book about emotional intelligence that the most successful people in their jobs may not always have the best skillset, but are the ones who people want to work with.
“Hugh really brought that home for me,” he said. “I had to fire my share of people because they couldn’t play nice with others.”
Groman used his creativity to keep the company going during Covid, and found ways to keep on much of his staff, by offering groceries, catered family meals and gift baskets.
Groman loved the catering industry because it was endlessly creative; every event was a blank canvas for him to put his imprint on, and he relished designing the whole guest experience, not just the menus.
Since encountering his food at a friend’s dinner party in 2008, Jenny Risk had him do her family’s holiday parties every year, as well as other events.
“He brought his incredible magic to whatever he did,” Risk said. Go-go dancing elves and Frozen’s Elsa and Olaf in drag were just two examples of what Groman suggested for her holiday parties; one year it was an “Under the Sea” theme in her front yard with whale sounds piped in.
“Every year our guests would wonder how he’d outdo himself, and it was always slightly on the edge, where we were asking are we being offensive and him, of course, doing it in a way that makes everyone laugh,” she said. “Everyone always wanted more of what he could do.”
That irreverent sense of humor came through in nearly all his relationships; he was always making his friends laugh, and being just slightly inappropriate.
In the early aughts, he performed in an all-male cover band, Mandonna; in 2015, he did a series of cooking videos on Berkeleyside NOSH, and for many years, he did short cooking segments on KTVU, the local Fox News affiliate.
“His segments were always filled with good humor and laughter,” said Frank Mallicoat, the KTVU morning anchor. “He had a devilish personality and a little twinkle in his eye and was always such great fun to work with. One of my favorite segments was New Year’s Eve. He was attempting to open a bottle of champagne when the cork exploded and hit me in the face. Nobody was injured, but the video got tens of thousands of views because it was so darn funny.”
Groman was a member of the Business Growth Network for around 15 years, a Business Networking International chapter, supplying the group’s weekly lunchtime meetings with his catered food. Though he was successful enough as to not always need the referrals that such a group brings, he always told others that they need to stay active in the group and not only come when business is booming, Mavis Delacroix, a fellow member of the chapter, and friend said.
When prospective members visited the group to learn more about it, most often Groman was the one who called them afterwards, to check in or answer any questions.
“Hugh was always the one who made them feel welcome,” Delacroix said. “His business was hospitality and his life was hospitality. He was a master of making people feel welcome and putting people at ease. He also was very interested in seeing everyone in the chapter succeed.”
Groman also served as president of the Northern California Chapter of the International Live Events Association.
He was generous with his time and expertise, picking out used furniture for Delacroix when she downsized after a divorce – he was planning on starting yet another business, Groman Group Interiors – or mentoring other up-and-coming chefs as they entered or changed roles in the industry.
To work with Groman, or know him professionally, was to be his friend. (I was lucky enough to consider him a friend, too).
“He was a mentor and friend and showed me so much kindness, support and love on my journey from executive chef at Back to Earth Catering to starting my business 16 years ago,” said Stephanie Hibbert, who uses the name Chef Stephanie, and now works as a personal chef in the Sacramento area. “He was a great example of how to be a kind leader and how to inspire your employees to be the best versions of themselves.”
In 2001, he met Noah Guynn at the Berkeley YMCA (“a gay cliché,” Guynn said.) From their first date a week later, they were together, having a commitment ceremony in 2007, and a legal wedding in 2008.
“He had more integrity and depth than anyone I had known, and he was more generous with his feelings,” said Guynn. “Though he was incredibly outgoing and loved to be constantly engaged with other people, I was always No. 1, and that was very special.”
While Guynn may have been No. 1 in human terms, Groman deeply loved his dogs. Guynn had three schnauzers when they met, and in their time as a couple, they adopted four other dogs together.
Groman was a regular attendee of Burning Man, favoring costumes that involved furry shrugs and mini top hats.
In addition to his husband, Noah, and sister, Nina, he is survived by his father, Phil, two brothers, Jay and Eron, and seven nephews and four nieces.
Donations in his memory can be made to the Alameda County Food Bank.
As for the 123-employee-strong Hugh Groman Group, the company’s leadership has decided to continue on without their beloved founder; they remain committed to coming up with outlandishly campy holiday party themes in his memory.
“One of the nights right after he died, we had a large wedding,” Ruebner said. “The staff circled up before it started and hugged, and they executed it perfectly. The client never knew, and that’s such a testament to the amazing team he put together.”
