Tag Archives: John

October 5, 2014 · 8:11 pm

TechWomen Potluck

This afternoon, long-time TechWomen mentor and supporter Shannon McElyea generously hosted a potluck garden party for mentors and STEM Emerging Leaders from the Middle East and Africa. The TechWomen ELs have been in America just a few days – going on tours and discussing their plans in workshops. This was one of their first purely social events – and for many, their first-ever potluck. The American custom of building a meal around whatever food each person wants to contribute took some explaining but we all had a good time.

During this next month, I will be the Professional Mentor for Seham Jaafreh from Jordan – working together at Everwise. Everwise has already posted a blog post welcoming the TechWomen – as has the US State Department. Lucy Keoni will be working with Seham and me as Seham’s Cultural Mentor. The three of us were delighted to meet today and are enjoying planning many activities and visits in the San Francisco Bay Area.

John and I drove four lovely and lively Emerging Leaders from Zimbabwe back to their hotel after the party.

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Filed under Mentoring & Other Business, News & Reviews

Tagged as Africa, John, Jordan, Middle East, technical women, TechWomen

September 1, 2014 · 6:31 pm

Home Winemaking

Our friend Murf just held one of his home winemaking parties in Boulder Creek, California. John, Paul, and I got together with a group of family and friends in Murf’s combination HO scale model train layout and winemaking room to help clean equipment, roll barrels, fill and cork bottles, and taste some chemistry. The Cabernet Franc from the last party and the Merlot bottles from yesterday are delicious and will keep this group in table wine until the next party. We are discussing Zinfandel and Barbera grapes for the next buy.

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Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as John, Paul

August 8, 2014 · 11:07 am

21 Years at the Lair of the Bear – Camp Blue

Last night, we celebrated Paul’s 22nd birthday at the University of California’s Lair of the Golden Bear Camp Blue. We have been Lair campers since before Paul could walk! We started in 12th Week and have slowly moved to earlier weeks as school start dates crept back into August. This is our second year as 9th Week campers. My niece and nephew start classes on Monday. Paul starts at San Jose State University in a few weeks.

My brother Pete, sister-in-law Julie and kids, with friends Steve and Olivia and their son are also with us. This week, other members of the family have been going on hikes, running, and swimming in Pinecrest Lake. We also went rafting on the Stanislaus River out of Knights Ferry. Our immediate family has mostly been playing board games and enjoying Advanced Lounging with Electronics. Jessica and Matthew celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary with pinatas full of candy and little plastic dinosaurs.

Jessica and I have been in email communication from Camp Blue Lodge with Susan Rodger (Professor, Computer Science at Duke University), collaborating on the design and content of our Notable Women in Computer Science and Wikipedia poster for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, to be held in October 2014. GHC14 is almost sold out – as it has been every year since at least 2009.

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Filed under Home & Family, Hopper - Anita Borg Institute, News & Reviews

Tagged as Geeks, Jessica, John, Lair of the Bear, marriage, Matthew, Paul, Pete, San Jose State University, University of California

August 7, 2014 · 10:18 pm

Moby Dick, or, the card game

This week my family has been playing “Moby Dick, or, the card game” almost daily at the University of California at Berkeley’s Lair of the Golden Bear Camp Blue. This game was a Kickstarter project by King Post that I invested in last year. I gave it to my son-in-law Matthew, who loves games of all kinds. “Moby Dick” is great fun – we plan to buy more copies! The card graphics are interesting and well-executed. The game play is fast and dependent on both luck and strategy. An added benefit is that the classic 1851 whaling story Moby Dick by Herman Melville is one of my favorite novels.

Matthew, Jessica, Paul and I made some rule changes to improve play:

You cannot progress past the first chapter until a whale has been fought (this allows players to get some oil – so that more sailors can be hired).

Any time there is an uneven number to be distributed, we roll a die to see which player got more.
We designated any sailor without a specific name as a forecastle sailor.

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Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Jessica, John, Lair of the Bear, Matthew, Melville, Paul, University of California

June 30, 2014 · 7:27 pm

Drawings vs. Cartoons vs. Caricatures

My mother, Eleanor Dickinson, sketched my husband John Plocher during Sunday brunch last week. I have been thinking how different even a quick fine art sketch is from a cartoon or caricature. John had a caricature drawn at a conference last year by Jon Casey and has been using that image for his web thumbnail image. I experimented with the Avachara self-portrait website. While the Dickinson portrait and Casey caricature both show recognizable aspects of John, the Avachara image somehow manages to include all characteristics without being a likeness.

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Tagged as Eleanor, John

June 29, 2014 · 9:59 pm

Paul’s Graduation

My son Paul has graduated from Foothill College! Hooray! We are so proud!

On Friday evening, he walked with his fellow Studio Art graduates, then we celebrated with a wonderful late dinner at Sienna Bistro in Willow Glen. On Saturday, Paul enjoyed a day of video and board games and BarBQ with friends and family at home. Paul starts his studies again in August at San Jose State University where he wants to earn a degree in studio art with a teaching credential.

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Filed under Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Eleanor, Foothill College, Jessica, John, Matthew, Paul, San Jose, San Jose State University

June 22, 2014 · 6:06 pm

Tartan and Pipes for Baptism

Last year, my friend Laura and I bought tartan sashes at the Scottish Games. I discovered then that my Dickinson family may be historically associated with the Paisley district tartan. Laura’s family has connections to the Boyd tartan.

Today, in honor of the baptism of our Rector’s daughter Olivia, Laura and I wore our tartans to service. Rev. Channing Smith and his wife Mary were delighted to be baptizing their baby, so the Stewart Tartan Pipes and Drums marching bagpipe band were on hand to lead us out of church. Two of the drummers in the band were women!