An August Update

Time is racing. This is a fast-paced age of electronic devices, smart automobiles, wireless signals; the airwaves crackle with information; teens send text messages to friends sitting two feet away; phones moonlight as cameras and video recorders, game stations. We beat boredom over the head with our electronic clubs. We obliterate silence. So busy without, we no longer recognize the quiet voice within. We become strangers to ourselves.

Well, that's some heavy, depressing stuff for a Sunday morning, with a thick marine layer hanging over Fat City. I have not posted on this blog for some time, but with Summer quickly slipping past I thought I should write something and zap it into the electronic universe.

Gabriel, my dear son, spent the first few weeks of his summer vacation in theatre camp -- Santa Barbara Summer Stock -- and did two performances of the Sign of the Seahorse. He learned his lines well and delivered them clearly and in character. Since camp ended, Gabriel has been hanging out with his Nana & Tata, drawing, watching movies, doing some 4th grade level math to keep his brain sharp. The breathing issues he had for most of the last school year have vanished.

Miranda, dear daughter, just completed her first ever camp experience at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Considering that she has never been in an organized nursery school or preschool setting, she did great, trotting off with her fellow campers and counselors as if leaving Mom and Dad was no big sweat. Miranda still pitches wicked tantrums, though she's slowly learning that screaming and stamping her feet do not persuade us to give in.

Terry, dear wife, is the consumate mother, still working part-time at Magellan's Travel, then shifting gears to take charge of the kids in the afternoon. What she does is amazing, and the kids reflect her effort and devotion. There is no gig as challenging as the parent gig; it's constant, every minute, all-consuming.

I was in Las Vegas the first week of this month, serving as a delegate to the California School Employees Association annual conference. I'm not a Vegas person and six days there -- even staying at the comfortable Paris hotel -- was more Vegas than I could handle. I read somewhere that Vegas is the American city that most accurately reflects our society at this time, just as New York and Chicago reflected where we were in the past. Vegas is a city built on vice, a shimmering illusion in the desert, with pyramids and pirate ships, gondolas and knights. Over the past two decades, no city in the nation has grown as fast or as steadily as Vegas. The city is a money machine, churning day and night; visitors pour into the city by car and plane -- they come from California and Manilla, Arizona and Denmark. Strolling through the Paris casino I saw people sitting transfixed before slot machines. It was the same at Bally's and Treasure Island, lights and noise demanding attention and cash.

I spent most of my free evenings in my room, reading Naked, a very funny book by David Sedaris. I had a couple of workouts in the hotel "spa," paying $25 for the privilege.

The CSEA conference passed smoothly, with the election and installation of new state officers, and a lot of discussion of the political challenges facing working Californians in this November's special election. Our celebrity governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has shown no inclination or interest in legislative horse-trading, preferring instead to take his causes directly to "the people" in the form of ballot initiatives. Unfortunately, none of the initiatives address the fundamental, structural problems facing the state, like traffic congestion, illegal immigration, education funding, or the legacy of Prop 13.

It will be a busy fall for all union activists as we work to defeat the governor at the polls, and hopefully send him back to Hollywood. We will be out walking precincts, phone-banking, and talking to fellow members at our work sites. A lot of people are still unclear about the special election or the measures that will appear on the ballot.

Well, that's the quick and dirty. My beloved, high-priced New York Yankees are playing decent baseball but still find themselves 5 games behind Boston in the AL East, and a few games out of the wild card chase. New York has suffered all season from a lack of pitching talent and depth. Randy Johnson has showed his age, Carl Pavano and Jared Wright have spent time on the DL, and Kevin Brown has been injured, as always, and ineffective. The middle relief corps is shaky, at best.