Mills Art History Professor Moira Roth invited my class, Art of the 20th Century, out for a pre-Convocation breakfast in the Tea Shop at 9 a.m. on Friday, September 27. There was already an ongoing breakfast for the graduating Class of 2014 happening that morning in the Student Union but I was curious as to what Moira had in mind as she had always talked about having delightful luncheons and picnics with various art historians and artists during class time.
Only one other student, Katlyn Marchini, and I were able to make it and boy, were we both surprised to see what Moira had prepared for us.
On top of a plain wooden Tea Shop dining table, Moira unrolled a blue and green paisley floral-print tablecloth, four muffins, a loaf of challah bread, cute matching ceramic plates, paper cups, sparkling clementine juice, and little butter knives that helped set the festive mood. Needless to say, the spread was really something.
She also went above and beyond by creating and printing out a leaflet, which she dubbed a “Cyber Breakfast” for the rest of the class, with meticulous details that noted that she got her bread from the Nabolom Bakery in Berkeley “where she goes every morning” and even the flavors of the muffins: “Lemon/Poppy, Pumpkin/Walnut, Blueberry [Cobbler], and Cranberry/Orange/Walnut.”
You can read the PDF here:
I thought the conversations were incredibly interesting and had ranged from working in our respective fields (Katlyn at the Rare Book Room in the Library and me reporting for The Campanil) to our unique names to Pokemon (because my last name is similar to the name of the psychic Pokemon, Mew).
I wasn’t recording the discussion like I usually would with my interviews but it went something like this:
Me: “So there’s this character named Ash Ketchum—”
Moira: “Ketchum?”
Me: “Yeah, like ‘Ketchup’ but it’s pronounced ‘Ketchum.’ And he has to catch them all! In his world, he and other kids have to go around finding small creatures — but they can be big too — and he catches them with a Pokeball.”
Katlyn: “And all of them fight each other.”
Moira: “Oh! That sounds absolutely delightful.”
After the breakfast ended, Moira asked an unsuspecting student, whose name I forgot to jot down, to take a photo of us. Here it is:
I have to say, another year’s ordinary Convocation event was made enjoyable by having attended Moira’s breakfast.
