The Gap between the Filthy Rich and the Rest of Humanity

This is what Javier and I we were discussing last Tuesday: 

The news that the gap between the rich and rest of the world is larger than ever, something that will undoubtedly be exacerbated by the the privileged rich Trump has nominated to ruin the cabinet positions he's nominated them for. (There are more serious things to worry about than that rule about using a preposition at the end of a sentence.)

https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world

My Books Will Not Conform to the Form of a Wreath

What a shame!  I saw the most impressive graphic in that half-off bookstore in Berkeley near Berkley's Rep--right next to the History of Farting.

So I finally got around to trying it with the books I read last year, but they will not conform!

No point in putting on a red bow.  They just don't make it.  But you may notice that among these books, there's no History of Farting.  (Where did it go?  Who has it?)

There is however Frisco by Daniel Bacon, Seeing As How Your Shoes are Soon to Be on Fire by Liza Monroy, Muses by David Hathwell, and Showstoppers! by Gerald Nachman as well as the twelve Jonathan and I read for the JoMama Book Club, ones on the the Camino, and ones like Hello, My Name Is Vegan Freak.  

Time to walk to West Portal, get the streetcar to Powell Station, and see the latest of Susan Jackson's theater offerings for Three Girl Theatre, Miracle Lake.  

If anyone asks me what I'm doing in my retirement, I can say, "I'm arranging books."

I Love Him for Taking Me to She Loves Me

I was passionately in love with Steve when I was sixteen, and at seventy-one  I still love the boy because, even though he's happily married and I'm  coupled with someone else, back in 1963 and/or 1964 he took me to summer stock in North Carolina, where we saw She Loves Me, Kismet, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

From Columbia, South Carolina to Charlotte was somewhere between 93 and 118 miles, and he drove it all in one evening AND took me out to eat.

Last Sunday I saw She Loves Me at the San Francisco Playhouse with the man in my life, my meque--Mejor que un esposo or better than a husband, and I loved it.

I remembered teaching the song "Thank you, Madam, Please call again, do call again, Madam" to the Tongan children when I was a Peace Corps volunteer because I wanted them to sing useful phrases.  (I also taught them "Good night, good night.  Sleep well, and when you dream, dream of me" and "Good bye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, Don't try and stop me, Harris" from Hello, Dolly.)

But I also remembered Steve's taking me to see She Loves Me along with so many others.

Steve took me other places.  In a snowstorm he took me from Hayes, Kansas to Kansas City to see My Fair Lady.

When I was living in Madrid, he took me to The Ritz, Hortchner's and other restuarants there and all around other parts of Spain.

But of all the places he took me, the one I most love him for is summer stock in Charlotte.


And I always will!

Jutta, Who at 17 was my penpal, has turned 70!

 Yesterday, for Jutta's 70th birthday, I sent her the following video, which I also put on Facebook:

https://youtu.be/I8QYPfCSBlU

CCSF Doesn't Really Owe $39 Million, Does It?

http://www.sfchronicle.com/education/article/City-College-can-t-prove-it-taught-16K-10791949.php?cmpid=sfc_em_topstories

Here's a response from Madeline Mueller:

While I was in the middle of writing a letter tonight to the Board of Supervisors for tomorrow's meeting regarding Proposition W,  I was alerted to the nasty piece of work just coming out in the Chronicle. A negative hit piece on the eve of an important vote to support City College. What a coincidence--- NOT!!

We really must sue that newspaper. We can afford to.  After all, Prop B will earn the college around $20 million extra a year in parcel tax money for  the next 15 years. We also have an additional  similar  amount coming in annually forever due to our local sales tax income. 

It doesn't  seem quite logical to me that we are supposed to accept how fragile  the College is fiscally, yet we have two very generous streams of local support which no other college has (and which Sacramento  hates!)

I'm  sending this to many lists. Please  excuse multiple emails.

Here is the personal part of the letter I just sent to the BOS.

"The results of last month's election showed that City College remains the single most supported and trusted public entity in San Francisco despite unfair and frequently illegal attacks against it by various governmental and privatizing forces, along with much completely spurious negative publicity coming from some highly suspicious media sources. This especially includes the latest ludicrous hit  piece in the San Francisco Chronicle regarding CCSF's  online education, considered a model of excellence in the State.

 Shame on the Chronicle  for sinking  again to publishing false news about City College. It would seem, however, that San Franciscans  know better (!)

Over 200,000 San Francisco voters (an astonishing number!) recently passed Proposition B for CCSF by  a "super majority" of almost 80% of the vote. This vote of confidence is unique in San Francisco and indeed in any California city. It should serve as a warning to anyone who tries to NOT support City College. 

Breaking the promises made to help CCSF  students, which led to the passage of Proposition W, will not likely be tolerated by San Francisco voters. They will no doubt correctly view  not following their vote as an attack by Mayor Lee against a much beloved Institution.

 In the late 80's, City College won 3 campaigns against anti-City College challenges  attempted  by the then Mayor's Office,  which also led to that Mayor's  defeat in retaining his position. With current voter numbers still so strongly in favor of City College, this could certainly happen again."

Madeline Mueller 

Music Department  Chair

CCSF

A Christmas without Joseph?

   Joseph's gone missing!
I'm not doing much decorating this Christmas--just a yule log in the fireplace  (2 over-sized battery-run candles), a wreath on the door, and the Nativity scene, which I got out a couple of days ago to follow Advent.

The tradition is to have Mary, Joseph, and the animals in the manger awaiting Jesus, who won't be there until December 25, followed by the Wise Men, arriving from the East on January 6.

Last January 7th, I wrapped each figure of the Nativity scene  in a separate piece of paper--the same paper I've wrapped them in for years--and put them in the red square box labeled JOY.

 So this year I unwrapped each figure...but no Joseph.      To Be continued

Salutations: The Society for Conventional Correspondence

I had a great time last night at Salutations, the "Society for Conventional Correspondence." (They're talking about LETTERS. Remember those--from back in the days when Facebook and Twitter didn't exist?)

Those of us participating read a letter we'd received or one we'd written on the topic of travel. 

I read my letter to LIbby--the cut version. I'd already sent the full letter to her, but I had it in my computer too--all illustrated--and I left out about three minutes, reading five.  

Of course it was about my vegan pilgrimage, and after it was over the two young women you see in this photo told me, "We're with you on the vegan.  We're both vegans."  So nice to hear!

The guy you see is William, who had a lot of funny things to say about the way we'd imagine Paris.  He wanted us to imagine while he read his mother's postcard from Paris:

"Dear William and Michelle.  Everyone here speaks French, even the children."

I told him about Jean Cocteau's belief, when he was a child, that people speaking a language other than French on the Metro were just pretending and making it up as they went.

Lovely Alexandra Brown  from Chronicle Books was the MC.  (They're promoting some physical letter merchandise created by Lea Redmond.)

The person in charge at Green Apple made an announcement about an  upcoming community read at 7:00 PM on Friday about the election, or so I thought.  But now I think it may just be a discussion of Angela Davis' book Freedom Is a Constant Struggle.

 Someone named Ana Lisa read s.t. she wrote about her dad's advice after making 50 flights in less than 3 weeks. 

Someone named Erin read a letter from her college boyfriend--very short.  (The letter, not the boyfriend as far as I know)

Someone named Erik read a letter he'd written while in Vietnam after rescuing a biker left on the road.

Someone whose name I didn't catch read a funny piece answering the letters to the Corinthians. 

For some reason, when he spoke right after me, he presented a riddle:  "How do you find a vegan at a dinner party?  Don't worry.  The vegan will find you." 

Someone named Rickie, whose dad writes letters and encloses $125 towards her student debt and a gift card for Whole Foods, read a note her dad wrote her before their trip with her sister to Capetown and  the note he wrote following it.

Someone named Matt, who works at Green apple read a letter from 1937--one that had been on The Road Show and included a description of his grandfather's dinner with Amelia Erhardt., 

Alexandra read a letter from her buddy from elementary school; the letter was written from Nicaragua.

William read a brief postcard "The people all here all speak French, even the children"  and made lots o funny commentary.  

These readings are at the Green Apple annex on 9th Avenue, where le Video was for so many years.

http://hoodline.com/…/salutations-the-society-for-conventio…

The next topic, coming up around Valentine's Day, will be love.