I’d been anticipating this moment for 33 years but did not expect that, when it finally arrived, I would feel only fear. Initially, there was elation. Out of a clear blue sky dropped university admission for the Kid, our fifth and youngest. Math, long her bete noire, had long seemed an insurmountable obstacle. But now, […]
Hindsight, famously, is 20-20; the future, a vision for 2020, say, is by nature hazy. All I know at this juncture is that I’m the only person in the family to have fallen both up the top step of the stairs and down the bottom one. Face plant, about four in the afternoon, onto the […]
I was 16 years old, in 1979, when I walked off a part-time job directing parking for people who wanted to go out and kill their own Christmas tree. I’d been a Golden Bears fan for 11 years by then, and in all that time the team had come up empty. So it was that, […]
The Tulare City Council passed Ordinance 19-12 allowing for the permitting of up to three recreational cannabis dispensaries at its December 3 meeting. Two medical marijuana dispensaries already exist in the city. With Councilmember Greg Nunley absent, the council voted 3-1 to adopt the ordinance. Councilmember Dennis Mederos cast the dissenting vote. Councilmembers Carlton Jones […]
The current naked emperor (Where, oh where, Devin Nunes, are the nude photos I’ve so long been juicily anticipating?) throws the term “Never Trumper” about as if that’s some type of pejorative. Nothing could be further from the truth–or more ridiculous. Remember the bumper sticker that read “NObama?” All those types were clearly “Never Obamans.” […]
And now Mister Bruce Greene comes prancing to the fore, via his attorneys, attempting to subpoena documents from the Valley Voice and its writers in the discovery phase of his defense in the suit brought against him, and his law firm, Baker & Hostetler LLP, by the Tulare Local Healthcare District (TLHCD) dba Tulare Regional […]
I can’t get Mick Jagger’s voice out of my head. “You can’t always get what you want…” And now it seems we’re actually living in an era that could reasonably be called The Big Chill–except for climate change, and the fact that our entire state seems to be ablaze. And how can any reasonable solution […]
My genius father invented this game when he was barely 30 years old. I know you’ve never heard of it–how could you have, unless I’ve mentioned it before and have forgotten about that?–but, for myself and my two siblings, it was epic. Picture the scene: You’re a young dentist with a thriving practice–not to mention […]
So the Kid and I are running errands. We’re about halfway through, going down a busy street, stopping at many lights. At one of them, I notice a 26.2 sticker on the SUV in front of us. I know she has no idea what that means. But I do–and as a Dad brace myself for […]
Some weeks back I was required to scale a cyclone fence–which I accomplished, but not nearly so artfully as I ought to have. Because, now–at 56–I’m suddenly old. This came to me in a rush as, precariously, I straddled the razor-sharp fence top six or seven feet up. As you age it’s easy to delegate […]