THREE YEARS VIRUS FREE

My life is so different now! On May 12th I walked twice as far as the first year in the American Liver Foundation's Liver Walk in the San Diego Zoo, 3K. (Monkeys interested, meerkats suspicious, big cats bored.) Then I walked another 1K around the park and the neighborhood. Art classes, volunteer work, study groups - I have the nerve to complain that I get tired sometimes! At my age, 70, it's great to be getting stronger and more active.

Progress

Six months ago I ventured to volunteer, 3hours a week, at Uptown Faith Community Services Center, which helps homeless people and folks with low incomes. Uncertain whether I had the stamina to keep a commitment, I was encouraged to try because I had managed a few months of occasional help in the religious education program at my church, First Unitarian Universalist of San Diego. Soon I learned that my church was one of the sponsors of the this social justice work. I became liaison between the church and the Uptown board. Of course, one can't just go to the board meeting once a month. So once a month there is also a subcommittee meeting that targets the needs of the direct service center. Occasional meetings to report to the congregation. Plus a great deal of thinking, planning, suggesting, writing, emailing, trying to raise funds, raise consciousness, gather more volunteers, obtain donations in kind, seeing that these donations reach the center. It turned out that I had been missing having a consistent purpose and goal in my life. I have a passion for direct help, and informing people. I can do it. Now I do have the stamina. Terrific people have become my colleagues and friends. During the same period, some concepts from art class have sunk in. I can continue to learn and improve. I love the process. I'd say I've made some progress.

Holidays

In October I reached the age of 70. My son and daughter-in-law threw a party for me at their home. People said nice things, and I cried. Let the love in. Thanksgiving brought my sister to be my first guest in this apartment. Slight snag: the borrowed aerobed filled all the living room floor space, so I had to deflate and fold it every morning. We had a lovely dinner at a friend's home, and visited several museums. Yes! San Diego has art museums. Building toward Christmas has been frazzling and fun. I just started volunteering at an organization that helps the homeless. Art class continues to challenge and fascinate me. Women's support group anchors and connects me. Over my shoulder I can see the full moon shining through mist in a pale purplish sky. Things could be worse.

Being Young and Not Sensible

Yesterday I relived an event when I was seventeen, when I felt humiliated, furious, and very, very stubborn. I believed with all my heart that my life depended on breaking conventions, on not doing what was expected of me, on finding my own way despite difficulties. While I recognize some of those feelings as close to a child's tantrum, I respect their power. Strong, absolute emotion did help me stumble on my own path, however clumsily.

So, when I picked up a copy of Spin Magazine while waiting for a haircut, I didn't reject completely the destructive posturing of some of the interviewees. For one thing, they are not in the world to please me. There was an article I could identify with, about hip-hop and rap in Tunisia, which is credited, along with communication facilitated by Facebook, with focussing dissatisfaction with the regime and helping topple it. The singers themselves had no idea what would happen, but found themselves revolutionary icons. They were defiant and true enough to themselves to risk saying what young people were feeling. Another Tunisian rapper said he is all about the music and not politics. He already had hostages to fate, a family to support.

My Dad once protested that I could only learn by running my head into a brick wall. Hmm. I do have some neck injuries.

Book Review: The Summer Without Men

BOOK REVIEW: THE SUMMER WITHOUT MEN, BY SIRI HUSTVEDT, PICADOR PAPERBACK, NEW YORK, NY 2011

“I need a pause,” announces Mia’s husband of 30 years, then leaves. The writer lets the reader look over Mia’s shoulder. She reacts in a briefly catastrophic way, then takes a summer to think and heal. Her mother lives in a retirement home, where Mia visits and grows closer to a quirky set of old women. At the same time, Mia interacts with twelve-year-old girls taking her creative writing class. Both groups revive memories, themes of identity, thoughtful exploration of what it has meant to Mia to be a woman.

Hustvedt’s writing by turns evokes laughter, sadness, perspective, ironic recognition, and haunting love. She can certainly turn a phrase! At 182 pages, this is a quick read that I look forward to savoring again.

Book Review: The Latte Rebellion

BOOK REVIEW

THE LATTE REBELLION, BY SARAH JAMILA STEVENSON, FLUX, LLEWELLYN WORDLDWIDE LTD., WOODBURY, MINNESOTA, 2011

TYPE: YOUNG ADULT

High School Senior Asha gets tired of racial slurs and being excluded from ethnic clubs at school because she doesn’t fit neatly into one category. After all, lots of students at her school have heritage from more than one continent. In fact, they’re just plain brown, like most people on earth.

The Latte Rebellion starts as a gesture of defiance and a money making scheme. Asha and her friend Carey hope many kids will buy a T-shirt that proudly proclaims the value of being “Latte,” mixing coffee and milk to produce something delicious.

Their idea sparks a movement that spreads nation-wide, and immediately goes far out of their control. Asha is surprised to find herself a spokesperson, involved with college activists, and almost expelled from school when action and reaction get too hot for the high school administration.

College admission worries, themes of loyalty, betrayal, confusion, forming one’s own values, and, of course, cute guys, make this story appealing to older teens.

International Day of Compassion

International Day of Compassion in Honor of Dr. Patch Adams -- what a great idea!