Another ‘Berkeley Moment’
February 2, 2015
Berkeley gets a bad rap from those who have never lived here, but there are some vignettes that capture its essence.
Last Saturday night, just after dark, my wife and I were walking down Vine Street after a light dinner.
Vine Street is a main drag in the City’s ‘gourmet ghetto’ – a block from Chez Panisse, and Saul’s Deli – both icons , but on opposite ends of the foodie spectrum.
We’re just strolling along when we see a young man, obviously a Hasidic Jew, standing next to a parking meter. At the same time another man, slightly taller, but with glasses, and also wearing black hat, rekel (black coat) and payot (side curls) walks out a small door. After a quick hello, he asks me, “Are you Jewish?”
I’d never been asked quite that directly, but since it obviously wasn’t meant in any kind of derogatory fashion, I answered, “Why yes, we are. Is it that obvious?”
Without skipping a beat, the man in glasses responds, “Well, yes it is.”
It was clear that he had a sense of humor, so I asked, “Are you Jewish?”
He smiled and answered, “What gave it away, my glasses?”
Turns out he was just looking for congregants to make a minion (10 men) so they could say their prayers to end the Sabbath (Saturday evening).
But, It’s just one of those “only in Berkeley” moments, that makes the city so great.
And no, I did not join the minion, but that’s a more complicated question.
Thank You, US Postal Service
January 25, 2015
The United States Postal Service gets a lot of grief these days. Derided as the delivery agent for ‘snail mail,’ they are criticized for being too expensive, too slow, outdated and time consuming in the era of instant communication.
I am here to defend them.
Yes, I have tracked letters sent via ‘Priority Mail’ as they traveled to San Diego before reaching their intended destination 10 days later, two zip codes from my office. I can send a package to Hawaii (from San Francisco) in two days, but the same size box to Boston takes over a week.
And yes, grandma, I remember when a first class stamp was 5 cents. I now buy forever stamps in rolls of 100, so I don’t even know what first class postage is. (Great marketing, if you ask me.)
I can text my friends all over the country and within 10 minutes will have a response…any longer and I get impatient. Email, which we all thought was great a few years ago, is now too slow, since most people still have to check before responding.
I tweet to my followers, and most of my relatives have Facebook pages,so we’ll all know who’s doing what. I write this blog so everyone knows how I feel about what’s going on in the world.
But none of those methods can generate the emotions of a stamped letter. Neuroscientists now know that memories are more than just events. Our brains recall all five senses and any of them can spark a memory.
I was reminded of that this week, when a good friend, David Allen, sent me a batch of letters, found while cleaning out his mother-in-law’s attic.
They were written over 47 years ago when I was a freshman at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. In fact, they were written in the first few months of college, when I was really still attached to my high school experience and scared to death about the future.
I remember the onion paper, the smell of the inked ribbon , and the old green and white Smith Corona that I used, to peck out letters to my parents, friends and former high school classmates. I still have the typewriter in fact – even had it reconditioned after I found it while going through my old homestead when my Dad died. I’m told it’s a collector’s item.
The letters were written to David’s wife, Betty, my best friend, and while we were never involved romantically, are filled with good natured banter that would pass for flirtation.
The actual content is really irrelevant: my observations about classes, social life, campus events, and gossip. It was 1967, and I know every campus was awash in protest and politics, but there’s none of that, so I doubt Oliver Stone will need them for some new 1960’s expose.
But for me, they are more important than any email, tweet or text I will ever send. When I re-read the words, and hold the letters, the memories of those years come flooding back. More importantly, I’m talking to my friend, Betty, again, even though she was struck down by cancer 12 years ago.
So, while I can find endless versions of various web pages, and can see the trail of my texts to friends and colleagues, none of them will ever hold the power of the printed word that I can pick up, hold in my hand, and still smell the memories from so many years ago.
For that I thank the US Postal Service and David, who was thoughtful enough to mail them back to me..
Is it Richard Sherman’s Fault?
January 30, 2014
It’s probably unfair to blame Richard Sherman for Jeannie’s death, but I do.
Sherman is the Seattle Seahawk’s player who tipped a game-winning pass away from The Forty-Niner’s Michael Crabtree in the final minute on the division championship game.
But shortly after that play, Jeannie made good on her year’s-old threat and committed suicide in a lonely extended stay motel just north of San Francisco.
As Sherman was exploding with a steroid induced rant against Crabtree, for a perceived insult months earlier, Jeannie was carrying out a plan she had conceived years earlier. After enduring more than 10 years of worsening depression, she felt she could not endure her own emotional roller coaster any longer.
A San Francisco native, and lifelong ‘Niners’ fan, she no doubt, watched the game, alone, as she arranged her jewelry, attaching notes to the new owners. She had traveled to the Bay Area from her home in Idaho, seeking yet another round of treatment for her affliction.
Maybe it’s not Sherman’s fault. We all share some blame. After all, I watched the end of the game at a friend’s home, less than 5 miles away from her, rooting against the ‘Niners’. As a California transplant, I just could not cheer for a team filled with what I considered a collection of boorish thugs. I’ll leave it to quantum physics to explain, but as the ad says, “It’s not crazy if it works.”
Perhaps, her friends and family should have tried harder to talk her out of her plan. But she made sure no one knew exactly what she was up to. In one of her manic moods, she went shopping a few days earlier, buying expensive new clothes and paying in advance for the alterations.
She kept an appointment with her doctor, listening intently as he explained his new treatment plan. From all accounts she was involved, although unquestioning in her resolve that this time it would work. After all, she had some periods of normalcy, even happiness, just a few weeks ago. We exchanged New Year’s greetings and she was absolutely ebullient that she had turned the corner and 2014 was going to be great.
But, like so many times in the past, it was a false hope, before her last fight from Idaho. She asked that we all respect her privacy as she dealt with the doctor and her inner demons, but that was pretty much the same routine as her previous visits. Hours before we received the call from her husband, still in Idaho, my wife and I had talked about Jeannie and considered, calling, texting, or emailing, deciding that like so many other times, she would let us know when she wanted companionship.
As we left out friend’s home, late Sunday night, we didn’t realize she would be ‘celebrating’ Richard Sherman’s athleticism by signing the papers leaving various body parts to science, particularly her brain, which is now slated for study at Harvard.
I hope it provides some help to another tortured soul. Maybe it will provide some clue of the lasting impact of electric shock treatment, or the permanent changes caused by continual cocktails of prescription medication, cooked up by pharmaceutical companies.
My wife is understandably devastated that her lifelong friend would not even consider some of the complementary techniques that others have found helpful. As best buddies from high school, their lives were intermingled: schools, graduations, parties, trips, vacations. Now, there is no one she can share those memories with.
I don’t know if Jeannie even bothered to take the new selection of ‘miracle drugs,’ before she packed her bags and wrote a final note with a carefully placed arrow pointing to the bathroom where loved ones could find her body.
Mr. Sherman, it’s not your fault, but I need someone to blame.
Who am I?
June 21, 2013
As many of my twitter followers (@eariess) may know I appear on a weekly radio show in Sonoma, CA. As the newest member of the cast, they (Jim and Rick) decided to investigate the interloper (me) for their listeners.
But I also wrote a short note for the hosts newsletter, which I thought I’d reproduce here. (My nickname is Ace–don’t ask why, it’s a long story):
Jim, Rick,
Thanks for the chance to talk to the good folks of Sonoma.
Of course, on the way home, I thought of all the stuff I should have said:
Who is ace?
I am a husband devoted to the love of my life- the Queen- the world’s first Concierge Wellness Consultant
I am a step-dad to two women, who despite my meddling in 10 years of their life, turned out pretty well.
I am, and will forever be, a journalist, newsman and writer, even if I never write the great American novel.
I am a coach who takes pride in helping my clients find the path they want.
I am a photographer, although digital imaging, as it’s called today, will never have the same ring.
I am a gardener, who takes pride in my 100 roses, and the beauty I try to bring to the world.
I am my father’s son, and hope that they have a radio up where he is, so he can listen to me and my good friends entertain a small corner of California.
Thanks,
Ace
You can download the podcast to the show –part 1, the first hour or part 2 ,the second hour.
BTW: The weekly newsletter is worth reading, so if you want to receive it on a regular basis, write to Thisweekinsonoma@aol.com just note that Ace suggested you sign up.
So, Why Does the World Exist?
May 10, 2013
I admit that I started reading Jim Holt’s “Why Does the World Exist?” as penance. Many years ago, Douglas Sturm, my political theory seminar leader at Bucknell University, tried to introduce me to Plato.
Seems I never had time for the deep thinking required and I almost flunked.
So when I saw Mr. Holt’s book on several 10-best lists last year, I decided to get it another try, for Professor Sturm.
I guess it took 43 years before my brain could wrap itself around the concepts but I’m glad Mr. Holt succeeded.
I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to spend some time contemplating our world’s oldest question, but particularly journalists who get caught up in the daily routine of facts, figures and political hyperbole.
Holt’s writing is erudite, easy to read and understand but filled with concepts that most of us never consider, or try to avoid.
At the same time, like any good journalist, he examines the question posed in his title from every conceivable angle. No just as a personal essay, but by interviewing leaders in the field and then explaining what they seem to be saying.
Others have called his book a “detective story” but, like his readers, who want concrete answers, he accepts or rejects various arguments along the way. He reaches his own conclusions, which we are free to accept, or not, and manages to humanize the whole effort with references to his own life and his experience with death.
The journey is interesting, entertaining and, if Professor Sturm is reading this, enlightening. I’m finally starting to understand some of what Plato was telling us. Thanks for whetting my appetite.
Manhunt Management Decisions
April 19, 2013
You wouldn’t think the on-going manhunt in Boston would lead to bad management decisions, but it does. Many of the firms in the Boston suburbs have employees who live in the affected areas. This leads to a decision about whether or not to open.
One Lexington company put out the following statement:
“In light of the current public safety issue arising from the search for the second suspect, please your discretion as to whether you come into work or work from home. There are no warnings about Lexington specifically, but several neighboring communities have been urged to stay indoors and close their businesses. … will remain open today but please do what you feel comfortable with.”
This is a cop-out of the highest order. (excuse the pun) Employees should not even have to make the decision. The company, if it’s really worried about the safety of employees, should just close up for the day.
Why force your employees to make a tough decision and worry about whether they will be docked for a day’s pay. Why create an artificial division between those who ‘made it in’ and those who felt better staying home – whether they were in the affected area or not.
This is just bad management from a firm which seems more concerned with it’s own liability than its employees.
A Real Love Story
February 14, 2013
I’ve been reading all the “most romantic” movie lists. Some are good, many leave me wondering how some folks even define love.
Mom and Dad 1946
My most romantic ‘movie?’
Easy. My Mom and Dad, married 62 years, in love every day from the first time they saw each other. He survived three wounds in WWII while she unknowingly waited for him back home.
Never saw them argue, because Dad knew the two most important words were always, “Yes Dear.” Only disagreement they ever had, they claim, was early in the marriage, when they did argue and dad stormed into the bedroom to pack: Only to emerge 10 minutes later asking if mom would help him fold his shirts.
If that’s not romance, I don’t know what is.
A Good Book Undone
December 24, 2012
Politics has undermined a look of good things in this country recently, but I never thought I’d accuse it of ruining a perfectly good book.
I guess it’s not the politics, but rather author David Brooks, who I should blame for my disappointment in his exploration of what he calls our ‘revolution in consciousness.’
Brooks attempts to meld fiction and science by explaining advances in neuroscience, genetics, psychology, sociology and economics through the real lives of two fictional characters. He follows them from conception to death explaining to us what’s really going on both consciously and sub-consciously.
Anyone who has read the current literature on neuro-psychology, behavioral economics or social theory will be familiar with the concepts, but Brooks does a nice job of translating the theories into real life.
Brooks, who is a New York Times columnist, write in a clear and linear style like may journalists, and his work is both believable and entertaining.
His biggest problem is his detour into politics. While Brooks is known for his conservative views, they are not the problem. My issue is with the method. The female character Brooks creates overcomes a poor childhood to excel in school and career. There is no inkling that she has slightest interest in politics but then suddenly at the height of her corporate career, she is named the head of a national presidential campaign, which lands her a job in the White House. Her husband takes a job in a Washington ‘think tank’ and becomes the mouthpiece for Brook’s views about governing, politics and the American political system.
Just in case you weren’t sure what he was doing, the charcater emphasizes that the only person who agrees with him is an ‘unnamed’ New York Times columnist.
The whole chapter seems contrived and out of place and detracts from the excellent work Brooks does to bring both his characters and scientific theory to life.
Despite this flaw Brooks work is very readable and is an easily understandable look at the science. Especially outstanding is his look at death and dying on the final pages.
So, you can skip chapters 19 and 20 if you don’t want to let politics ruin a good read, but certainly the other 20 chapters are well worth your time.
The Week in Review
December 9, 2012
Jim Levy, AKA Jimmy The Kid, writes a weekly summary of the news based on his radio show in Sonoma, CA.
The column includes links to listen to his show, as well as a great recap (with commentary) of what’s going on in the world.
I’m a semi-regular on the show so I thought I’d start posting his newsletter on my blog so everyone could benefit from his wisdom. If you want to get the newsletter on a regular basis drop him a note at Thisweekinsonoma@aol.com .
Click here to download the newsletter as a PDF file;
Dr. Weil Loses His Way
November 20, 2012
Dr. Andrew Weil’s latest book tour stopped in San Francisco last week. He’s on the road to promote his latest literary effort, a cookbook – True Food – based on recipes he cooks at home and are served in his emerging restaurant chain.
Dr. Weil and a fan at his recent lecture and book signing event in San Francisco.
As part of his Weil Lifestyle campaign the book purports to establish a new healthy lifestyle and healthier recipes while rebutting the myth that ‘health food’ has to be bland or worse.
Dr. Weil was interviewed at Herbst Theater by fellow cookbook author Molly Katzen who spent an hour fawning of the integrative health guru while leaving it to the audience to ask controversial questions. Dr. Weil’s book offers recipes based on his own food pyramid which, while different from the hated FDA guide, leaves out very few foods that have led to the United States obesity epidemic.
In fact , Dr. Weil probably is a pretty good representative of the US population since he clearly doesn’t skimp on any meals. A doctor approaching obesity levels may not be the best spokesman for a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Weil said he was also scouting sites for a new restaurant – one featuring good healthfood similar to the locations in Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix. The fact that the Bay Area has been a leader in the trend Dr. Weil promotes doesn’t seem to rate a mention even though places such as Cafe Gratitude, Planet Organic or Gather are way ahead of the good doctor.
Dr. Weil was asked about supplements and admitted that, aside from a daily multi-vitamin, most folks can get all the nutrition they need from a healthy diet. This does seem to question the range of supplements marketed and sold by Dr. Weil on his own website.
Dr. Weil also took a minute to chastise the assembled group for the failure of Proposition 37 the GMO labeling question of the November ballot. “How you could let that fail?” has asked.
No one rose to answer, but I would note there were several folks in the room who had worked very hard to get the proposal on the ballot and promote it’s passage. No doubt a few of them were a bit insulted that someone from Arizona, who did nothing to oppose the $50 million ad campaign put on by the Monsanto and Dow, would criticize their efforts.
Dr. Weil clearly does not oppose GMO food, preferring to wait for more evidence before branding it unhealthy. Of course, some folks would rather that it get proven healthy before allowing it in the food chain.
I’m afraid Dr. Weil has lost his way by promoting a food pyramid that would do little to improve the health of most Americans, selling suplements that he admits are mostly unnecessary and declining to oppose foods that have been shown to be unhealthy.
I’m sure it will do little to hurt his image or his income.