Tag Archives: Paul

December 4, 2007 · 12:21 pm

Paul’s Computer Drawings

On October 10, 2007, I posted two of my son Paul’s drawings – one from 1999 and the other from his first Palo Alto High School art class, this year. Here are three more images that Paul created on his laptop computer. Paul is 15 years old and spends time each day drawing on his laptop. Since he has a variety of learning disabilities, it is a joy to see him express himself so well artistically. Paul has also discovered SketchUp and is having a wonderful time drawing 3-D images (which are harder to show in a blog).

2007 Drawings by Paul
Paul’s Art Portfolio

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Images Copyright 2007 by Paul Dickinson Goodman
Updated 5 April 2020

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Tagged as Art, Disabilities, Paul

October 10, 2007 · 9:54 am

Paul’s Drawings

My son Paul is just 15 and is taking his first Palo Alto High School art class as a Sophomore. He spends hours each day drawing on his laptop, so we have been curious to see how he does with more traditional art materials like charcoal, ink, and paint. In 1999, when Paul was in 2nd grade at Peninsula School, one of his drawings was selected for a children’s art show at the Animal Art Gallery in Menlo Park, California, – his first exhibit! I include that drawing below with one of his recent pictures. For the spiral picture, Paul’s art teacher asked the students to use black and white to show negative space with a clear center point.

2007 Drawings by Paul
Paul’s Art Portfolio

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Images Copyright 1999 – 2007 by Paul Dickinson Goodman
Updated 5 April 2020

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Tagged as Art, Disabilities, Paul

May 25, 2007 · 5:37 pm

Caboose Move on Front Page

A photo of my family standing on the platform of our caboose is on today’s front cover of our local newspaper, the Willow Glen Resident. Inside on p.18-20, are more color and monochrome photos, nine images in all. The reporter, Mayra Flores DeMarcotte, has been patiently waiting to publish this story ever since February 2007 when she saw our application for a variance presented to the San Jose City Council. Mayra sent two photographers, Jacqueline Ramseyer and Vicki Thompson, to take pictures of the 12 May final move and crane lift of WP668 into our backyard. The name of today’s story is “Home Depot – Willow Glen family purchases 30-ton caboose”.

Two videos of the big move have been posted on YouTube:

“Caboose Move” by Samuel Fineberg (9 min. 24 sec.), 11 May 2007.
“WP668 – crane lifts caboose into backyard – webcam” by John Plocher (1 min 9 sec), 14 May 2007.

What fun!

More story and photos are on the WP668 website.

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Photo Copyright 2007 by Danek Duvall
News Images Used with Permission, Copyright 2007 Silicon Valley Community Newspapers
Updated 3 April 2020

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Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, News & Reviews

Tagged as Jessica, John, Paul, Willow Glen, WP668

May 12, 2007 · 12:02 am

Caboose Moved Today

WP668, our 91-year-old caboose, moved to our backyard today after over a year in storage. We all arrived at 7:30 a.m. to start the job. South Bay Crane & Rigging (408-244-0414, Los Gatos, CA) lifted the 1916 historic railroad car by crane and loaded her onto a truck. At 9 a.m., they drove WP668 three blocks to our house.

The first job was to get the crane into the driveway that runs along our back fence. One of the gateposts and some tree limbs came down but Julie, the crane operator, did make it fit. Then, the crane turned one of the caboose’s truck and wheel sets end for end (we had rolled it in backwards when we moved it out of storage last year). Finally, the crane lifted the 18-ton WP668 body off the lowboy flatbed, over the trees (some more limbs damaged but nothing unexpected), and onto the wheels. Lance, the rigger, went up and over the fence and back to keep the pulling rope stretched in the right direction so that Dennis could direct Julie in how to lower the caboose down with the least damage to surrounding trees. Our friend Chuck Cottam (who designs and installs koi ponds) and my husband John acted as backup riggers. Chuck also wielded the tree saw as needed.

Our neighbors, friends from Sun Microsystems, friends from the Silicon Valley Lines (SVL), and South Bay Historical Railroad Society (SBHRS) model train clubs, and photographers from the Willow Glen Resident newspaper joined our family for the big event. After WP668 was down and secured, we all had a BarBQ lunch, with caboose tours. Some of today’s photos follow. Tomorrow, we replace the fence!

More story and photos are on the WP668 website.

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Images Copyright 2007 by Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, and Danek Duvall
News images Used with Permission, Copyright 2007 Silicon Valley Community Newspapers
Updated 3 April 2020

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Filed under Caboose Project and Other Trains, Home & Family, News & Reviews

Tagged as Jessica, John, Paul, San Jose, WP668

February 12, 2007 · 5:40 pm

Athletics and Disabilities

Today starts my son’s 2nd week participating in track and field as a Freshman in High School. Since Paul has a rich variety of learning disabilities
(social/cognitive, dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc.), sports is one of his hardest school subjects. Paul’s disabilities aren’t visible – he is a tall, hefty, and smart – which causes problems when he does not respond as expected. He went out for track and field because one of the coaches is also his Math teacher. They get along well and Math is Paul’s best subject. We hope that having a coach who already understands Paul will help him stay with running.

Paul was on the wrestling team in 8th grade last year. His team mates wrestled to win but Paul wrestled to learn how to be on a regular sports team. He set himself goals for his matches like: 1) don’t quit, 2) don’t bleed. Paul’s approach has much in common with the Athlete Oath for the Special Olympics:

It has been raining hard all afternoon but the coach told Paul last week that “Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor hail…”* will stop training runs. I just talked to Paul on the phone and he said he was “wet, wet, wet, wet, wet,” after running for hours in the rain. But he stuck it out!

* motto used by the U.S. postal service, adapted from Herodotus

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Tagged as Disabilities, Paul, teaching

December 23, 2006 · 9:45 am

Last 2 Fruitcakes in Oven

After decorating the Christmas tree, our family held its annual fruitcake assembly and baking party last night. My son Paul mixed pounds and pounds of dates and nuts and candied fruit in a big new gardening bucket I bought for the purpose. After much discussion, raisins and apricots were left out but dried figs were added. We have used the same recipe (from Mrs. Benziger of Knoxville, Tennessee) all of my life but the particular mix each year varies by the taste of the cooks. Everyone wore a tea cosy or Santa hat for the event.

My daughter Jessica and mother chopped and measured and mixed and discussed modifications. We baked one of the cakes in a rose-shaped Bundt pan this year. The tips of the petals are dry but otherwise it worked well. My daughter is brushing honey on the top now to moisten it. There is one big round fruitcake but the other 6 are loaf shaped. The last 2 loaves are in the oven now. They take over an hour to bake and no one wanted to stay up past midnight for two more to cook.

Today we visit the Dickens’ Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Jessica has assembled a costume of sort-of Victorian clothes since she likes to dress up. My mother is looking forward to sitting down with mulled wine and listening to sea chanties and bawdy songs in Mad Sal’s Alehouse. I plan to spend some of my fair time shopping and some listening to the songs or maybe watching a play by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Library, Service, Crafts Fair, Lessons and Carols, Christmas Tea

Yesterday was back-to-back events and activities:

9:30-10:30 a.m. Library. Worked with my daughter on the book
catalogue data entry at the
All Saints’ Episcopal Church Library. We spent most of the
$1000- we earned during our annual used book sale on buying 32
more Anchor Bibles from
amazon.com and
Christian Book Distributors. Before we unpack all the new
books, we have been putting the rest of the almost-2000 book collection in order.
This includes shifting books around to make room and getting
lots of books off the book cart and back onto the shelves.
Jessica is our fastest at data entry so she is working on that
while I go through adding spine tags, re-attaching card pockets,
putting the fiction collection back in alphabetical order, etc.
10:30-11:45 a.m. Church service. We sadly said goodbye
to Rev. Kathy McAdams who has been with us for four years as
both Assisting and then Acting Rector. We are very pleased to
have Rev. Ian Montgomery is our new Rector.
11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. Hospitality. It was my family’s turn
to provide drinks and snacks after church. John baked two
Bundt
cakes (one in the shape of a rose and the other a Gothic cathedral)
and we also provided carrots, cookies, and other munchies along
with coffee, tea, and pink lemonade.
1-4: p.m. Crafts Fair. While John stayed at church to
help our friend Laura Biche (the Hospitality Diva) prepare for the
afternoon Christmas Tea, the kids and I went to the
annual Peninsula School
Craft Fair. My daughter and son both attended the school and Jessica
has sold her beadwork at the Craft Fair in prior years. We saw lots
of old friends, had homemade soup for lunch, and did some shopping.
4-6 p.m. Lessons and Carols, then Christmas Tea. We attended
the afternoon Lessons and Carols service with amazing music by the
Al Campbell and the choir plus Bible readings. Afterwards, everyone
went into the parish hall for Christmas Tea. John and Laura had baked
scones and everyone had brought cookies and little sandwiches and an
amazing Princess Cake (green marzipan with a lovely pink frosting rose
on top).
6-7:30 p.m. Cleanup. John and Laura and her son J.R. and I
washed and polished and scoured and swept and folded until everything was
tidy and sweet. Laura took home two huge armfulls of table linens and
kitchen towels and stuff to wash. J.R. put away all the chairs and tables
and swept the hall. John was, as usual, master of the commercial dishwasher
which is so big it has its own room off the kitchen. When All Saints’ rebuilt
its parish hall ten years ago, we put in a huge industrial kitchen. This
is used partly to support the
Urban Ministry’s Downtown Food Closet and partly to serve the parish
itself.

I washed and cleaned so much yesterday that my hands sting today. But I am
wearing my new labradorite ear rings and pendant from the Crafts Fair and
yesterday was a lovely day all in all.

Tag Archives: Paul

Paul’s Computer Drawings

Paul’s Drawings

Caboose Move on Front Page

Caboose Moved Today

Athletics and Disabilities

Last 2 Fruitcakes in Oven

Library, Service, Crafts Fair, Lessons and Carols, Christmas Tea

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