[Part 1 of a 2-part series on my love-hate relationship with Twitter] Twitter was the topic on NPR’s Here and Now show last week. Host Robin Young said “Twitter changed the world in 2011.” She was referring to the Arab Spring uprisings (how the use of Twitter helped topple tyrannical governments) and Occupy Wall Street [...]
During the past several years I’ve implemented a Thanksgiving Day tradition that is so simple yet rewarding I wish I had done it years earlier. It’s called “Hiding Out”—a no-fuss/no-muss way to celebrate any holiday Here’s how it works: * You don’t go anywhere. * You don’t have company over. Hiding Out has many advantages, [...]
The Oglala Lakota of the Great Sioux Nation are some of my favorite folks. I totally get them. I bet they would get me, too. For y’all that don’t know the history of Native Americans vs. the “white man”/federal government, Native Americans basically were annihilated/way of life decimated. If they didn’t succumb to diseases that [...]
The sad and unjust story of Mr. Troy Davis is a sad commentary about an unjust America. It reeks of racism, a lust for blood, and a corrupt justice system. This story threw me for a loop—as the execution of an innocent person is as repugnant as it gets for me. Mr. Davis was convicted [...]
According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, between 3 and 6 billion trees worldwide are cut down per year—for fuel, lumber, and paper products. This rate is not sustainable. Also not sustainable is a person’s high-tech lifestyle without countering it with high-touch components—such as interaction with real-live people, nature, and/or spirituality. We need [...]
When I was growing up I obtained advice from “older” women: Ann Landers, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and Amy Vanderbilt. From Ms. Landers I learned that it is OK not to answer nosey questions. She advised that if someone asks you an overly personal question, your answer should be: “Why do you ask?” That’s a great [...]
This week-end is the 33rd annual Gilroy Garlic Festival. The fragrant town of Gilroy is located 30 miles south of San Jose, California. At the end of July, 100,000 garlic lovers descend there and savor various forms of tons of garlic-infused food. I drive through Gilroy on my way to work. You can smell [...]
Diana Nyad, the ultra long-distance swimming champion will soon test the outer limits of perseverance—in an amazing physical and mental feat. She is planning an ocean swim: Cuba to Florida. That’s 103 miles! Are you kidding me? How long will it take? About 60 hours. That’s 2 ½ days! Are you kidding me? Diana is [...]
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the female gender—girls, young women, aging women, wussie women, and kick-ass women, like: * Jaycee Dugard being robbed of her girlhood in such a horrific way and how she survived and triumphed; * A recent high school graduate named Devyn who I first met at the L.A. Times [...]
“Ode to Baseball” – A San Francisco Giants Fan’s Lamentation
To the tune of legendary crooner Mr. Tony Bennett’s theme song: “I left my heart in San Francisco Bruised, bloodied, and broken, Not on a cable car going half-way to a star, But in the AT&T lot with a *$30 parking token.” I hope that’s NOT my theme song for Baseball Season 2011. But it [...]