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.

Cars ( not the movie)

Well, we bought a "new" used car.  We had to.  My beloved Saturn, with too many miles on her to think about, finally gave up the ghost.  We took her into the shop and they told us how much it would be to fix her THIS TIME and I just finally said "enough"  I loved that car!  It was "my" car, even though I bought it with my ex after he totaled the other brand new car we had bought a month before.  My ex had the singular distinction of having been in an accident in every car he had ever driven.  I think that's some kind of record. I am a little more careful behind the wheel. 

Still, I need a car I can count on to take me out to 29 at a moment's notice, as I await the arrival of "Little Bob"  I could not depend on the Saturn anymore.  The AC went out in 2008 and I really don't mind driving a car without it, but NOT with Kate and the baby.   My first car was a VW Bug, nicknamed Hans, or Hansel, because he left a trail of oil wherever he went.  I got so good at adding oil I could jump out of the car at a stoplight and pour a can into the car before the light changed.  It was like being on a Pit Crew.  I loved THAT car too.  We sold it to a friend who made it into a Baja.  It was sad....

I remember being in High School and my mom letting me take her Candy Apple Red Maverick to school as long as I picked her up from work on time and put gas in the car.  Gas was around 33 cents a gallon back then so it was not a big deal!  I was remembering the feeling of freedom when I first got my license and my car.  My folks bought me the Bug when I started college.  Bugs are incredibly fun to drive, at least that's how I remember it. It was a stick shift and I remember going up a VERY steep hill in Downtown LA one day, panicking as I hadn't really mastered the "start on a hill" thing yet. There was a traffic officer at the top of the hill, directing traffic.  I believe she saw the terror on my face as she waved me through the intersection.  I can sill remember the relief I felt and the cheers of my friends who were riding with me!

Growing up in California in the 60's and 70's I was and I am fully immersed in the car culture.  I remember "cruising" Van Nuys Boulevard, although not so much as I thought it was a waste of time.  I go to car shows and races and I "oooh"  and "ahhh" at some tricked-out ride.   I am looking forward to a long relationship with my new car, I had the Saturn almost 14 years.  I am singing Neil Young's "Long May You Run" in her honor today.   We are going to try to sell it, it's a great "project car" for someone who has the money.  It's a v-6 L300.  They don't MAKE Saturn's anymore.

Music videos and Friday ramblings

The Library made a "music video" recently.  A lot of staff participated in dancing to the song "Happy" by Pharell ( go here to view it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOChp9C7DVc  )

It was fun and silly and it really showcases the Central Library. It says "Look at how much fun Library people are!  We are not the stereotype you believe us to be.  Come on down and see what the library has to offer."  But a few people are grumbling about it.  Wasting tax dollars?  Excuse me?  It's a few moments out of our workday.  I know I was on my break when I filmed my bits.  Quite a bit of the filming was done in the early morning, before the real work day and the work shift started.  Now people are worried that some government waste watchdog will publish some kind of exposè  on the library.  Seriously, it's not like we are cracking bottles of champagne and drinking on the job. It's not like we do this every day. We are just having a bit of lighthearted fun, showing off the building and it's biggest treasure, our staff! 

Last night I dreamed I was in a band called "Paper Cameo"   Weird.  I don't know what we did, but I woke up thinking it was a cool name for a band.  I am NOT a musician, by any stretch of anyone's imagination.  I like to sing and have fun doing it but I have neither the talent nor the discipline to take it to the level past my kitchen ( where I do an awful lot of singing while I am cooking)  Maybe it was being in the video that did it.  I am in another music video you can see "America and Friends at the Ventura Theater"   I was in the front row, against the rails and I am "dancing" and singing along.  I wound up in a few shots, as I knew they wanted to get people enjoying the show and I did my level best to ignore the camera not look into it and do the "Hi Mom" thing that a lot of people around me were doing.  That too was fun!

I am looking forward to a three day weekend.  I took Monday as a holiday, as for me- it IS!

deconstructing

I'm out in 29 Palms again, doing some heavy lifting.  I am helping my daughter and son-in-law get the house ready for the arrival of their son.  Yesterday, I bit the bullet and went through my Dad's clothes.  It was hard, but I just put my head down and kept going.  Danny encouraged me to stop, but I told him that I had to do it now or it would never get done.  I made it without too much drama.  I promised the kids I would find a place to donate everything to.  I need a place that will pick up here in 29, so if anyone knows someone like that, please message me.  We have some furniture too.  Most of the stuff is "Danish Modern" it's all over 50 years old which technically makes it a new antique or something, but we are ready to give it away.  None of us have any room for it anyway.  Still it's hard to see my childhood there and to get rid of the leavings of our lives.  I want to keep it all, to hug it to me tightly and not let go, but that is not practical.  I live in a small apartment with scant storage space for the things Chris and I have collected over the years.  Still I am bringing back a few things and will take one or two more when I come back in two weeks.   The target is to get the room ready before mid July.

We are helping our neighbor do the same thing, clean out his storage unit before the end of the month.  He, too, struggles with memories that tumble out of a box of shoes or a cap that he once wore.  I am trying to be firm but gentle with him, knowing that this is a difficult but necessary step in the process of getting on with our lives.  A friend of his told him just to get rid of everything, but that seems unnecessarily harsh, especially given his reaction to finding a cherished item in a box.  I tell him that if he can't deal with parting with it just now he doesn't have to.  He can take it home and keep it until he is ready to let it go.  He is making good progress with the unit and I hope that what we are doing will help him along.

Still, as I go back to the house to sort through another part of my family's life, I hope I have the courage to let go.  The past can be wings or it can be a millstone.  It's really up to me to decide which it will be.

Post dinner party thoughts

I have some pretty smart friends.  This week, for Chris' birthday, I had a few friends in for dinner and conversation.  It was fascinating although it DID make me realize just how much I don't know about things!

We got into a discussion about "A Streetcar named Desire" and whether or not it could be updated.  The consensus was that Antebellum  New Orleans was a major character in the film and if it WERE updated, it would not be the same thing.  I DID discover later that Woody Allen's film "Blue Jasmine" is an updated version of the play, but as I don't really LIKE Woody Allen, I never saw it.  I think I need to see both the classic film and the Allen movie at some point. 

Talking with my friends about language and film just made me realize how much more I need to learn about things that interest me.  I don't feel "stupid" when someone talks about things I know nothing about.  I sit and listen and make a note of things I want to look into.  There is so much I don't know!  My Dad used to say "You learn something new every day"  If you stop learning, you stop growing.

Things ARE getting better here at Casa Myers as some of the stresses of our lives have begun to smooth out.  I love having people in our home, sharing a meal and conversation is one of my favorite things to do.  I love it when my friends, who have never met, become friends at our dinner table.