POTUS?

Why would anyone WANT to be President of the United States?  The question boggles the mind.  It seems that no matter what he does, Barack Obama can't catch a break.  Case in point, his response to the Malaysian Air tragedy.  He was on the news within 24 hours with a measured response, but that wasn't good enough for some Faux News pundits.  They cited Regan's response to a similar event, conveniently forgetting that he waited almost FOUR DAYS before responding.  Sheesh.

I often wonder why some of our brightest minds would WANT to take on the job.(G.W. Bush notwithstanding , who seemed to view the job  as part of the family business and ran it like the frat-boy son who leaned on his dad's advisers rather than make decisions himself). Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar.  Obama is a constitutional lawyer.  In this day and age when social media allows all kinds of things to be distributed in the blink of an eye, it's hard to get people to look with a clear eye at the truth.  Photoshopped pictures of President Obama are the worst.  It's a good thing that legitimate news has pictures of him wearing sandals or there would be a whole RAFT of photo-shopped cloven hooves. 

I think Obama is doing the best job he can, considering members of Congress are acting like Elementary School bullies.  They would all get an "F" on the Report Card entry "Plays Well with others"

Being productive

There's an Eagles' song that has been rolling around in my head that begins "Tell me the truth, how does it feel, like you're rolling so fast that you're spinning your wheels"  I feel like that today.  I have yet another busy week on my plate, yet I feel like I am not getting anything done.  I am also thinking of J. Alfred Prufrock "and how should I presume and where should I begin?"  Sometimes when there is so much, we are frozen into inaction by the sheer mass of it.

My constant philosophy has been to "take small bites"  ultimately, isn't that how we get rid of any task, by doing small parts of it and little by little we chip away at the stone.

The thing MOST weighing on my mind is my commitment to McGroarty Arts Center.  The Board, of which I am a member, has been challenged to raise $25,000.  There are ten Board members.  That means I am trying to raise $2,500.  It's not easy.  A lot of my friends HAVE donated, ( thank you) in response to my offer to make cookies, make  dinner and Chris is writing a song for one person ( yes, he IS working on it and we will be looking at it this weekend when we are home to see what we need to do about it)  I am about 1/4 of the way to my goal.  Frankly, McGroarty needs help and I don't know where to go with this.  I suppose I should take my own advice about letting the Universe do it's thing.  I have put it out there, now I need to see what happens.  Still if you are reading this blog and you want to donate something, in exchange for cookies or dinner or a song, let me know.

I am going to try to remember to just put one foot in front of the other today.  Little by little I will get the job done.

Monday morning

Where do the weekends go?   It seems as we get older, time goes faster.  Isn't it still Sunday?  Nope, it's Monday morning and I am trying to collect my thoughts as I look at yet another super-busy week.  My husband says I need to slow down and I tend to agree with him, but as usual my commitments are all converging this week.

I am already looking forward to Friday.  This makes me think about what my father used to say about wishing your life away.  You look so forward to something that you forget to live in the now.  There is a philosophy  (it MIGHT be from Yoda) that says, there is no past, there is no future, there is only now.  My husband is very good at living in the now.  ME?  I'm a planner.  Always have been.  I plan things out and have an alternate plan in case something goes amiss with the first plan.  While that makes me very good at my job, it sometimes gets in the way of life.  So this week, I will try to relax and breathe and "do what comes next" and try not to worry too much about the future.  I will let the Universe do it's thing.  I will "let go and let God" as the saying goes.   It's hard for me to give up the illusion that I have some sort of control, but when I do, things seem to work out anyway.  I will try to enjoy the small things and work through some of the problems that are causing this week to be a bear.  I am certain that things will work out, I just have no clue how. I am just grateful to have an understanding husband who is a good sounding board for my frustrations who is willing to pitch in to help me "get the job done"

What is success?

Today marks my 38th year as an employee of the City of Los Angeles.  I got the job, two weeks out of high school when the GUY they hired ,to adhere to their Affirmative Action goals ,NEVER came back after the first day.  I had scored a perfect 100 on the test, but alas, as a white female could not be hired because they had too many white females.  Nevertheless, eventually I got the job and am still here, not doing the same job, but here.

I never thought I would be with the City all that long, but it has been a good career for me. I have enjoyed, for the most part, the jobs I have done ( we won't talk about the disastrous eighteen months at Transportation, or as I refer to it " A Season in Hell")  Last summer, I met up with an old friend from Elementary school.  I had not seen her since the 5th grade or something like that and it was nice to reconnect, or so I thought.  She has a nice house and a nice life in the Bay Area.  She asked about my life and I told her that I had gotten married for the first time at nineteen "But you were so smart" she exclaimed, as if getting married put the brakes on my future.  I told her that I had finished college and had been working for the City since I was eighteen,  She seemed to believe that this was not success.  That conversation last year got me thinking and with the anniversary of the beginning of my career path I have been ruminating on the meaning of success for myself.

I think everyone has a different idea of what success means to them.  For some, it's a big car and a big house and a beautiful spouse and designer children.  Isn't that what the media programs us to believe?  Some girls think if they don't have a boyfriend by High School, they are failures.  For me, I would like the house and the dog and the yard, but I am successful, even if my childhood friend doesn't think so.  I have a husband who is my partner and my best friend.   We live in a cute, comfortable apartment and we have great friends.  I have a job that both aggravates and energizes me.  I work with some wonderful people and the work we do MATTERS.  I volunteer my time at a local non-profit, as I don't have a lot of money, but I can give my time.  I have a wonderful daughter and son-in-law, who are giving me a grandson to love in a few months.  I never wrote the Great American Novel, I don't think  I have that kind of work in me.  I am writing this blog and YOU are reading it! (thank you).  I am happy, which is really the point of living, isn't it?   There's a James Taylor song in which he declares "The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time"  I couldn't agree  more.

Departures

I learned yesterday that the long-time drummer for my favorite band, America, had suddenly left.  There was no announcement from the band , just a change in lineup on their webpage and the rumor mill began immediately.  Was Wil sick?  What happened?  Details are sketchy, but the most persistent rumor is that he was "let go"  WHAT?  After 41 years, it's "Sorry this isn't working out'?  There are more questions than answers.

It got me thinking about the current "corporate culture"  where employees are commodities to be traded or discarded as befits the Corporation.  It's what happens when "Corporations" are legal defined as "people"  It's hard to bring a sense of loyalty to any endeavor when you know you can be jettisoned on a whim. That happened recently in the City, where there were layoffs and people showed up to work only to be met by the supervisor and told they had 15 minutes to get their things and leave.  This was an HR decision and I know that some supervisors were in agony about how it was handled.  When there was a change in leadership in the Foundation, they fired almost all of the former director's employees and they had Security escort them out.  That was cruel in my opinion; as if these people were any kind of threat.  Shameful behavior.

I wonder if this isn't a product of the "Me Generation" mindset.  We raised children to believe that they were the most important beings on the planet, forgetting to instill in them a sense of Community and relationships.  Were we so busy getting them "Things" we forgot to get them what really mattered?  Chasing the almighty dollar and forgetting to feed the soul?    I put a good deal of energy into Non-profit work, that supports my Community and I do see kids and parents coming, but the kids are being dragged there and I think it isn't something they would seek out on their own.  I wonder as we "Baby Boomers" age, what the state of non-profits will become.

On a side note, I went to the opening of the photo exhibit "Defining their Identity" at Central Library this week.  It's a fascinating exhibit, culled from photos of the Valley Times, a newspaper based in the San Fernando Valley, which folded in the early 70's. The speaker, former Councilwoman Joy Picus, said something that bothered me.  She was talking about Baby Boomers and how woman were tricked into giving up their jobs to become homemakers and mothers.  Here's how I feel about it.  After the war, when the men came home, they had seen terrible things.  They wanted children, because children are hope for the future.  Having children gave us hope that we would continue.  I don't think having children subjugates women. I don't think women of my mother's generation were "tricked" into having them.  Women had fought the war at home and wanted children for the same reasons the men did.  Hope. 

Go see the exhibit.  It's at Central in the History Department.  They are in the process of digitizing the entire collection, which has a lot of amazing photographs.  I am sure there will be more exhibits to come!

Thoughts on Stephanie Plum and Kinsey Milhone

On road trips, Chris and I listen to books on tape.  We particularly enjoy the Stephanie Plum series, by Janet Evanovich; not so much for the stories, but for the reader , Lorelei King, who makes the characters come alive.   We are as far as number nineteen and we started discussing the characters and where they have come.  Chris said he really liked Ranger and I had to concur.  It' silly when you start talking about the story arc and how you hope it will turn out, isn't it?  For me, I hope Stephanie DOESN'T  wind up with Joe Morelli.  In my mind, Ranger is better for her.  He cares about her and seems to respect her intellect.  He accepts who she is, and doesn't want to turn her into a little housewife, when that is not her bent.  Let me say that there is nothing wrong with being a housewife, if that's what you want to do.  It's being forced into the mold that would be wrong.  Sure, Stephanie is not a bad-ass bounty hunter and she seems to be extremely lucky in her adventures, but in all of the books so far, she has not expressed one iota of Domestic Godess-ness.  He idea of "cooking "is a peanut butter and pimento sandwich.  Ugh.  She does clean up the place but not on a regular basis.  She takes her laundry to her mother.  You see where I am going with this.  Joe Morelli seems to think she will change if he marries her, something he is currently "road testing" in his mind in the book we are "reading".  He has told her TWICE in this book so far that she need to change jobs and suggests traditional "female" jobs.  I am liking him less and less as he begins to treat Stephanie like a sex toy rather than a partner.  Maybe I am projecting.  Years ago, I knew far too many "macho jerks" who thought once they did the woman the favor of marrying her, her body belonged to him to do with as he pleased, no matter what she wanted or didn't want.   I never had much patience for that kind of behavior.

Still, I hope that Evanovich won't go the "safe" route and marry Stephanie off to Joe at the end of the series, whenever that happens. Unlike Sue Grafton's  Kinsey Milhone series, which is wheezing and chugging to the end of the alphabet, Stephanie's series is numbers and can go on and on until she gets a walker.  I hope that Evanovich doesn't do that.  The Kinsey Milhone books got dull and predictable and mean-spirited somewhere around the middle of the alphabet.  I stopped reading them for a while and recently tried to pick them up again. I realized that I didn't LIKE Kinsey anymore.  She's really judgmental; every woman is either too fat or too thin and every man is over the hill or looking to jump Kinsey's bones.  Even her landlord Henry has become a pill.  These books are not a place I want to spend a lot of my time; and really that's what a good book does.  It takes you to another place you want to spend time hanging out in.  They make you laugh, make you dream, quicken your pulse or challenge your intellect. Anything else is a waste of time.

babies

There's a song by Sonny and Cher- YES Sonny and Cher- called "turn around, in which Cher sings about how fast her daughter is growing up  ( turn around and you're two, turn around and you're four, turn around you're a young girl going out of the door")  I am experiencing that kind of pang these days, as my daughter, my babygirl, prepares to become a mother herself  in September.  It seems like just yesterday, she was a babe in arms herself.

When she first got sick,my mother made baby gifts for both her granddaughters to give to them when they had children of their own.  I gave Kate hers yesterday.  Inside was a soft multicolored knitted baby blanket, along with a note from my mother, telling Kate how much she and my father loved her and asking Kate to share that love and stories of their lives with her children.  I am still crying as I write this.  I wonder what she was thinking, knowing that she would not be there to hold Kate's children, yet sending out a message of hope and love.  My mother's strength amazes me and I am missing her worse these days.

As we wait for  "Little Bob" to make his appearance, I can only hope to be half the woman my mother was.  Her love of family still resonates and I will be sharing silly warm stories with my grandson so he has a sense of who he is in the world.

"Yellow" Journalism

I found myself thinking about the term a few weeks ago.  I don't remember what made me consider it; maybe a terribly slanted news story from Faux News, maybe just a conversation about Teddy Roosevelt, but anyway my mind wandered down the path of how journalism has changed and not changed over the years.

I get tired of "newspeople" whose only credentials are a pretty face and an empty mind.  More and more these days, the stuff you hear on network news is opinion, not fact.  I know that facts can be bent and shaped.  I rarely watch network news these days.  Here in Los Angeles, every "newscaster" seems to be auditioning for a part in a film, not reporting the news.  I try to read a variety of news sources and make up my on mind about the truth.

The term "Yellow Journalism" was applied to the Hearst Newspaper Empire.  I like to think of him as the Rupert Murdoch of his day, rich and clueless but forcing his vision of the world on an unsuspecting mass; the story about the Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill, for instance.  Picture it in your mind if you have heard about it.  Do you see men on horseback charging up the hill?  Yes, you do.  Did you know that only Teddy Roosevelt had a horse?  The rest were left behind in some huge logistical boondoggle, along with about half the soldiers.  BUT when they story came in, Hearst wanted the drawings ( no photos at that time) to be more dramatic so he commissioned someone to FAKE them.  Sort of like what goes on on the Internet these days.  A juicy rumor is SO much better than a dry fact.  People delight in spreading malicious gossip and outright lies.  I rarely read some of the poison being slug about Obama these days.  I can't remember if the hate-mongering was so fierce for Bush.  Probably not.  I don't think "liberals"  called for him to be shot or equated him with the Devil.  I am glad there are photos of Obama in bare feet or some "Christian" agency would probably claim he had cloven hooves.

There is a new newspaper in town, starting up in a few weeks.  We already have tow, one that states they are the good news in town and one that delights in attacking everyone and anyone, except those in their circle.  They make no bones about it.  It's sad, really that people feel the need to attack one another in print.  What good does it do?   That particular paper, when I moved up here ten years ago had IN ALL SERIOUSNESS a recipe for squirrel stew.  This is a small town.  I wonder what we will do with THREE newspapers, since they say that print media is on it's way out.  Should be interesting, if nothing else.

Not enough coffee, not enough sleep

I got home late from a very long and strenuous Board meeting at the Center last evening.  I came home with more questions than answers and that coupled with a very late bed time is going to make for an interesting day.  We discussed the direction the Center will take in the next few months and the next few years.  The Board is a passionate bunch; each of us has an idea of the Mission and how we will fulfill it.   Mostly, we discussed the fact that in the past, the Center had received numerous grants and now those have dried up and we need to determine how we will continue to grow our programs in lean economic times.   We love where the Center is now and would hate to lose the momentum we have built.

Things that are bugging me:

The term "makerspace" which seems to be a library term for mixed purpose areas in the library.  It just sounds... stupid.  I seem to be easily annoyed these days, but some of the faux "touchy-feely" terms like "sharing" for "Telling" and "re-purpose" instead over recycle or reuse.  Honestly, sometimes I feel like I have fallen into George Orwells' 1984, with all the double-speak I am encountering these days.  I wonder if the generation that is creating this terminology has even READ the classic cautionary tale.  I may have to re-read it.  I know I was surprised when I read Fahrenheit 451 at how much "futuristic" stuff in the book had actually come to pass.

I saw something being offered on the Publisher's Clearing House website that made me go WTF!  It said "show your patriotism every day" and it was a flag themed DOOR MAT!!!!!!   Unclear on the concept of honoring the flag does not even begin to explain it.  Wiping my muddy shoes on the flag????   Now, admittedly, this was just a few stars with red white and blue swirls, not exactly stripes, but the mat does suggest the flag.  Just wrong, in my opinion.

I seem to be forgetting things lately and I worry that I have Alzheimer's- no joke.  My mom had it and I saw here slip away from me bit by bit.  I think I just need a vacation, where I am pampered and brought a flow of tropical drinks.  Sigh.  I think about that, but think I would be uncomfortable with that kind of attention after a day or so.  Maybe I just need to lose myself in a good book!

Post 4th thoughts.

I live in Sunland-Tujunga, well Tujunga really but they refer to it as Sunland-Tujunga.  It's a "small town" tucked into the middle of Los Angeles.  We are part of the City of LA, yet seem to feel that we are not part of the City, if that makes any sense.  Every year, we have a Fourth of July parade, down the main drag, Foothill Blvd.  I never had the energy to drag my tail down there in the ten years I have lived here.  Until THIS parade.  A friend of mine was the Grand Marshall and some other friends were marching along as part of the McGroarty Arts Center group, so we went.  It was nice to see our friends and to cheer them on.  It was truly a small town parade.  Nothing screams  "Happy Independence Day" like a red white and blue goat.  I think to get into the parade you just had to pay the fee, as there were cars that looked like they thought they were going to the Von's and got stuck in the parade line.  I loved it when the biker group ( who probably weren't part of the parade to begin with) cut off the pro-life group.  "Colorful metaphors" erupted from BOTH sides.  Ah  good times.

As I am wont to do on the 4th, I thought about my early American ancestors, what they did and why.  I am descended from Jacob Myers, who was with Washington at Valley Forge ( allegedly in a "sick tent" but there nonetheless.)  We tend to make more of them than they were, people fighting for their livelihood.  Were they fighting for Truth Justice and the American Way?  Probably not.  They probably just wanted the British to go home and leave them to their farming or their business.  They were ordinary people, doing what needed to be done.  They were not pure saints and I suspect that the motives of those long ago patriot/politicians who started the whole thing were more economic than anything else.  I seem to remember there is a school of historical thought called "Economic Determinism"  which says that EVERYTHING that ever happened is a result of people trying to change their economic status or to defend their way of making a living.  It's more complicated than that, but that is what it boils down to ( I WAS sort of paying attention in Coach DeJohn's AP History class all those years ago) But, as I always say, the winner's write the history books.  There are two, possibly three sides to every story and the truth lies somewhere in between.

On the 4th we also get to play my favorite game "Gunfire or M-80?"  Last night at around 11 o'clock, the game began again.  I hope the morons finished their stash of  fireworks and we can play again. NEXT YEAR.

I took on a challenge

So....  Most of you know I am on the Board at McGroarty Arts Center.  I have been for eight or nine years and I work very hard in support of the Center, even if I am not the greatest at fundraising, I think what I do contributes greatly to the health of the Center.  Unfortunately, we have hit a fiscal snag and the Board has been "challenged" to raise $2,500 each AND to bring one person who may want to either join the Board or provide major support to the Center to an event in August.  If you know me at all, you know I am uncomfortable with this.  I honestly don't know where to begin or how to start.

I will tell you that I got involved with McGroarty Arts Center after I moved up to Tujunga in 2004.  My former Brother-in-Law was and is a teacher at the Center and I had been a nominal "Friend of McGroarty" prior to my coming up here to live.  The thing that appealed to me most was the Mission of providing affordable arts education to our community. In a time when schools are cutting back on exposing our children to the arts, I think it is imperative that we find a way to provide an outlet for creative thought.  Math and Science are all very nice, but we need the arts to give our lives balance.  When you hear about McGroarty, you only seem to hear about the world class ceramics program, but there is so much more.  We have painting and music and dance and drama classes.  We have Tai-Chi classes.  The problem is, if we don't find a way to raise funds, we are not going to be able to provide this.  It's pure economics.

I need to try to come up with some fundraising ideas, to get my portion of the challenge completed.  It is hard for me to ask people for money without something  tangible in return.  We have a tile wall project.  Here's the breakdown for a tile which will be affixed to the  wall that lines the staircase from the lower parking lot:

$300 Community Level

·         5” square tile inscribed with donor name or dedication of donor’s choice
·         Artist-designed and hand-painted

$500 Vision Level

·         7” square tile inscribed with donor name or dedication of donor’s choice
·         Artist-designed and hand-painted
·         Enhanced with relief work or carving

$1000 Legacy Level

·         14” square tile (approx.) inscribed with donor name or dedication of donor’s choice
·         Artist-designed and hand-painted
·         Enhanced with relief work or carving

·         Designed to reflect donor’s wishes—includes one face-to-face meeting with your tile artist

 

   All donations ARE tax deductible.

I am thinking of hosting a dinner or something like that.  Not sure right now what I will do to raise my portion of the challenge.  If anyone has any ideas, I would appreciate it!  I need to raise the funds by August 15. 

Tuesday morning

Well at least this morning I was not treated to an early morning flood in my bathroom.  I thank heaven  for small favors.  Still, I would give just about anything to be able to crawl back into bed and SLEEP all day.  I have been running too hard and I need some down time.  My sweet husband said we need some "us" time.  It's been a little hectic around here. I plan on doing NOTHING this weekend.  Maybe a bit of housework, some laundry, but I have a book or two to read and I need to knit something FAST for my grandson-to-be.  I am a quick knitter so once I START I should be ok.

I am pissed off about the ruling the Supreme Court handed down regarding birth control.  Funny, that ONLY women's reproductive rights are addressed, not any of the other religious beliefs that might be addressed regarding medical issues.  I see a whole BIG can of worms here, but hey it's ok to try to keep women "in their place" and hide behind "religious freedom"  it's scary and we need to rise up as women and say ENOUGH! 

I was watching Rachel Maddow last night and she pointed out that this Congress has done the least work of ANY Congress in history.  Boehner must be so proud ( sniff)  Is he a member of the "Do Nothing" Party?   The Tea Party wants so badly to undermine Obama that they are RUINING THE COUNTRY.  Cutting off their nose to spite their face.   We need to throw the bums out.  We need to get politically active.  Stand up.  Make them accountable for their actions.  I LOVE how Boehner said he is going to sue Obama.  Just WHO do you think pays for all that legal stuff anyway?  WE DO!  Get to work and in the words of the President "Pass a darn bill!"

As we approach the celebration of the birth of this country, I can't help but wonder what our Founding Fathers ( and MOTHERS, thanks Abigail Adams)  would have think about the current state of this nation.  I am descended from a Revolutionary War soldier, Jacob Myers.  My family history goes all the way back to the group that came over from England with William Penn.  I am still proud to be an American, but wonder what the American people need to do to fix what we have allowed to be broken.