The Lens: The San Francisco Board of Education has become a national laughing stock. As a native, I am used to the idea people have of everyone from San Francisco being a crazy liberal. I used to consider myself on…
Remote Control
The Lens: Last weekend, I was parked in my usual spot in the living room. My son was sitting in the chair next to me. I don’t particularly like silence. I am not a daytime TV watcher, so most of…
Stand On Your Own Two Feet
The Lens: What disaster “territory” do you live in? As a San Franciscan, I live in earthquake territory. As such, I am prepared for a sizable quake – somewhat. Being a native in this city, you’d think I’d have a…
Doing the Right Thing
The Lens: The Magnificent Seven. This last week, seven Republican Senators had the nerve to vote contrary to the popular stance of their party. It was a remarkable crossover, the most bipartisan impeachment vote in history. For some, it was…
What the Heck Is That?
The Lens: Funny how the memory works. One memory leads to another, and another, and so on. I read an article recently about aging and forgetfulness, of particular interest as I get older. There was good news in the article.…
Go All the Way
The Lens: I feel the need for some levity these days. While things are improving, I still find the pure levity I used to enjoy elusive. So, I did a bit more reading of my past writings when my sense…
It’s an Experience
The Lens: Do you like quiet? I prefer a degree of daytime quiet. However, unless I am trying to sleep, I find daytime silence unsettling. I need some kind of background noise. Are you a background noise person? If so,…
Believing the Unbelievable
The Lens: Pandemic Christmas. What did yours look like? Our pandemic Christmas looked drastically different than our usual Christmas. In a typical year, we would spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family, anywhere from 15 to 20+ people.…
Misunderstandings
The Lens: A short read today. I’m on a roll with my Christmas movies. Last night we watched our must-see Christmas movie: White Christmas. It was a long-time tradition in my family growing up, and has continued with my own…