Go Barack! Thank you Gabby!

Posted on January 26, 2012 by sheilawill

Distant, standoffish, that’s how Barack Obama is often described. Not true. He doesn’t bawl or scream but why does that make him unemotional? Did you see the way he hugged Gabby last night before the State of the Union address?

As I keep saying — over and over — Barack is a very decent guy. C’mon, many of you have heard how I walked down the street with him after his electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. He giggled when I asked if he was going to run for president; he hadn’t been elected senator yet.

Nearly eight years later, now president, Barack Obama scored with his third State of the Union address. In a CBS poll released today his proposals got a 91 percent approval rating. Unheard of! Was I totally satisfied with his speech? Absolutely not.

Strangely enough, my favorite part was the ending when the president brilliantly evoked the Navy Seals on their dangerous mission to snuff out Osama bin Laden. Instead of using a patriotism cliche Obama described what it must have been like climbing the stairs in bin Laden’s compound — the dark, the danger, trusting that the guys behind you “had your backs.”

Republicans don’t have the backs of the American people. Campaigning in Florida today, Mitt Romney actually said, “Now, the banks aren’t bad people. They’re scared to death right now like you.” Last time I looked banks are made of concrete and steel; they’re buildings, not people. Who’s cold and distant?

Obama hasn’t screamed, said anything wacky, or called anyone who doesn’t agree with him nasty names. He’s a lot like Gabby, who wrote in her resignation letter, “Always I fought for what I thought was right. But never did I question the character of those with whom I disagreed. Never did I let pass an opportunity to join hands with someone just because he or she held different ideals.”

Then there’s Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer…but that’s a different story. I’d prefer to think of Gabby’s “hope that our government can represent the best of a nation, not the worst.”

I’ll remember Barack and Gabby on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives last night, doing their little hugging dance, both of them smiling — their warmth, kindness and dignity shining through.

Posted in politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

“Out The Window”

Posted on January 21, 2012 by sheilawill

Stunned to find a typo in a Donald Hall piece in the New Yorker, I was also stunned to imagine myself really old.  “Out The Window,” a personal history of the former poet laureate’s winter at age 83, reminds me of a pseudo-pact my Mount Desert Island, Maine, women friends made years ago. 

When we get really old, “let’s buy a big house overlooking the ocean that has a spacious veranda (we said porch, but I like “veranda” better),” we said to each other, laughing. This conversation may have taken place over a few glasses of wine at the Claremont boat house on a summer’s evening. 

If we’re left without spouses or partners, it’s the way to go. We’d each have our own room and our own favorite rocking chairs on the porch to spend hours looking out at the ocean. Mostly, we would be quiet. And maybe Kate would say, “Remember that brick-colored corduroy jumper three or four of us borrowed during our pregnancies?”

“Ayuh,” one of us would say, nodding. Again, silence. 

“When I lament and darken over my diminishments, I accomplish nothing,” writes Hall, a fellow New Englander. “It’s better to sit at the window all day, pleased to watch birds, barns, and flowers.”

Watching the ocean, with all its movement and changes, would be more stimulating  for me. I’m not a poet. I’ve always liked to watch ideas playing out on my mind’s movie screen. 

Maybe I’ll just quietly appreciate how soothing the sea can be. Nowadays, when I visit with my children I gaze at their beautiful faces. I wonder — imagining the old Donald Hall sitting by his New Hampshire window — will seeing become more meaningful than blurting as I grow older, too?

 

Posted in Baby Boomers, Family Matters, Mount Desert Island/Maine | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Another Tempest in Arizona

Posted on January 20, 2012 by sheilawill

My East Coast friends often ask how I can live in Arizona. Good question. Sunshine helps a lot. Here’s the latest controversy — ethnic studies/book censorship. In the wake of this uproar there’s actually a Tucson Republican lawmaker who wants to allow the Bible to be taught as an elective in high school. “State Rep. Terri Proud said that the concept is gaining support among her colleagues in the House.”

Well, yeah, these are the folks who brought us SB 1070 and a bill to allow weapons on college campuses, which thankfully, even Gov. Jan Brewer had the foresight to veto. These are the folks who saw fit to make Arizona proud by naming a state gun — even after the shooting rampage in Tucson last Jan. 8 — while slashing funds for mental health services.

Tucson is different than the rest of Arizona, I tell my East Coast friends. John Pedicone, Tucson Unified School District’s superintendent says legislation to allow a Bible elective “strikes him as an unnecessary bill.” Democratic Rep. Steve Farley opined that maybe students should have “some fundamental knowledge of the Quran as well.” Proud responded that the Quran “hasn’t influenced Western culture the way the Bible has.” Yesterday’s Arizona Daily Star’s editorial made the case for real legislative concerns.

Shutting down TUSD’s ethnic studies program came from state government. Education was in the local domain last time I checked. But so-called conservatives in Phoenix stuck their nose into Tucson’s business. Aren’t conservatives supposed to be about limiting the long arm of government, or does that only apply to what they don’t like?

When have students protested en masse when a course has been taken away? They did for the TUSD ethnic studies program. Education is always about wheeling a “little pushcart” into the classroom, “offering my wares along with the others, leaving students to make their own choices,” as the late historian Howard Zinn wrote in his autobiography, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train.” (I’ve probably used this quote before; I’m glad to repeat it).

Education is not about imposing — or disallowing — ideas in the classroom. And that should be true for the Bible or Quran, which are already included in the study of religious systems in European History classes.

Why are options, different perspectives and ideas so scary? What are people so afraid of in Phoenix, or for that matter, everywhere?

Posted in Bopping Around Tucson, Fight wimpiness, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Empathy is the key: Obama will win

Posted on January 12, 2012 by sheilawill

Give the prez a second term! I contend there may be a silver lining in his numerous attempts at compromise. If we look closely enough he’s a guy who can empathize. He doesn’t have the stomach for the mean-spirited politics thrown his way, much of it growling racism. And now the Republican presidential candidates are eating their young. They’ve been so mean for so long that they can’t help savaging each other.

Mitt Romney is slipping and sliding all over the place in addition to extreme flip-flopping. What, Mitt’s been afraid of getting a pink slip? Enjoys firing people who provide services but don’t live up to his standards? Does he promise to never again strap his dog to the family car on a vacation trip to Canada? He can’t even empathize with his dog, let alone understand the pain of a real working person who can’t find a job. Pink slip, my ass.

Remember when former Texas Gov. Ann Richards quipped that George Bush the first was born with a silver spoon in his mouth? That’s no less true for Mitt.

Last night, I listened to his New Hampshire primary victory speech for a few minutes, but turned it off as soon as he started blabbing about Obama’s “failed presidency.” Here’s an appropriate retort for Democrats: how about the failed Republican Congress with its approval rating of 9 percent?

If you can’t take the serious stuff, check out the Borowitz Report, which will definitely keep me laughing during this election year:

JANUARY 11, 2012

Romney Vows to Undo Everything Obama Has Done: ‘I Will Make Bin Laden Alive Again’

Calls Slain al-Qaeda Leader a Job Creator
Posted in politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Houston is so big and the world is so small

Posted on January 7, 2012 by sheilawill

Sitting across from my 31-year-old son in Agora, his local coffee shop in the hip Montrose section of Houston, sipping Texas country pecan coffee, all is right with the world. At least in this little part of Houston. It’s my first time here. I’ll be back, not only to visit Ethan as he pursues his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology at Rice, but for the fantastic restaurants, free art museums and the Robin’s Nest Bed and Breakfast where I’m staying.

On Thursday, my first day in town, we drove down to Brazos Bend State Park, home to hundreds of alligators, from a five-month-old baby under a foot long to a humungous immoveable gator lounging in the lake.  Ethan hasn’t gotten around the city much since his arrival in August, and he also wanted to explore natural places outside of town. I was game. We walked six or seven miles around the park, marveling at the prehistoric-looking creatures.

Although alligators reminded me that life has existed on this planet for thousands of years, last night at the Poison Girl bar showed me how small Earth is. Sitting around the table drinking to Ethan’s birthday were his new grad school friends from Turkey; Columbia; Orange County, Calif.; Amherst, Mass., China, and one Texan.

Sharon, who gave herself an American name when she arrived in Houston from a small city near Shanghai, wanted to see where we were from in Maine. She patted me on the back and pointed to Mt. Desert Island on her iPhone. “Where on the island is your house?” she asked in perfect English.

All the world’s a stage for curious, ambitious young folks. I so enjoyed talking with Ethan’s Turkish friends about scary terms like “terrorist” tossed about by the powerful in all countries to scare the populace, keep them under control. The “word” in the United States used to be “communist.” There’s always a word, but the way to break the “word” down into reality is to exchange more words with others. I love that.

When I was in college the choices for a semester abroad were London or Paris, neither of which I could afford at the time. And I was afraid to leave my U.S. cocoon. Breaking down borders through travel, technology and study can only help our beleaguered world. Even at my — ahem — advanced age I want to get out there.

Posted in The Rest of the World | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“The Joy of Quiet” in the desert

Posted on January 3, 2012 by sheilawill

I keep forgetting how much I love hiking in the desert. Every new year I vow to get out there at least once a week. But I don’t. I forget. My favorite part of hiking — houses out of view, feeling like a pioneer in Tucson. Crunching desert dirt under my feet the only sound except for birds chirping. Today the Rincons, Douglas Spring Trail to Wild Horse Trail, around four or five miles on a gorgeous 77-degree day. The perfect start to 2012.

Reading “The Joy of Quiet”  in yesterday’s NYT egged me on. I was struck by a remark attributed to French philosopher Blaise Pascal who lived in the 17th century:  “All of  man’s problems come from his inability to sit in a room alone.” Wow. Head to the hills. This afternoon I sat on a rock, with nobody around, and felt like a puppet. I could resist the strings trying to pull me up to be on my way or focus on the lovely quiet.

Being in nature feeds me, sustains me as much as chocolate. Gotta do it more.

Posted in Nature Girl | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The year I went gray but still wore sequins

Posted on December 31, 2011 by sheilawill

On the eve of 2012 it’s okay to eat as much chocolate as I want. Alternating between the raspberry and ginger dark chocolate that Dan presented me with on Christmas morning, that’s how the day is — one bite in the past and another that’s more zesty.

Raspberry: Subtle. Fading memories of arriving in Tucson on Jan. 1, 2000 to teach for a semester at Catalina Foothills H.S.  Raspberry spring. Arab spring, all the turmoil but hope for a new beginning in oppressed places. A hidden raspberry purple streak in my hair. A tragedy in Tucson almost a year ago. I’ll be in Houston with Ethan in his new life, celebrating his 31st birthday. Always hopeful about the future. Have to be when you have children.

Ginger: more pizazz, looking ahead to new adventures. Social Security this year — venture out into the world or be more practical, save for quiet within. (maybe some of both?) I’ll wear my sequined gray sweater tonight for dinner with friends. They’re going to grill steak and lobster tails — first time I’ve ever eaten lobster outside of Maine — but I’m told it was flown in from Maine (like me). Celebrating the incoming 2012 like the 1 percent, in the Foothills overlooking the twinkly city lights.

Here’s to chocolate and champagne, children and friends, books and bikes, health and happiness, raspberry and ginger, equality and justice for all!

 

Posted in Baby Boomers, For Love of History | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Stephen King is a good guy

Posted on December 27, 2011 by sheilawill

I’m reading my first Stephen King novel, 11/22/63. With my holiday gift certificate “burning a hole” in my sequined backpack, I biked to Antigone Books today as soon I found out they were open. After years of avoiding King’s scary stuff, “11/22/63” was different.

Fifteen years ago, when I owned OZ Children’s Bookstore in Southwest Harbor, Maine,  King lived in Bangor (still does), an hour’s drive down the road. Kids would come in the store looking for “Carrie” or “The Shining,” and we would try to point them to less horrific tales.

I finally wrote to King, commending him for major contributions to pediatric wings in Maine hospitals, his unending support of little league baseball fields, and other civic-minded ventures. But I said I couldn’t, in good conscience, sell his books to kids. They could check them out of the library; I didn’t support censorship.

King wrote back, sending a signed copy of “The Eyes of the Dragon.” His then 13-year-old daughter was too scared to read his books too, he said, and he wrote the fantasy for her. We sold the hell out of it.

One election year, King, a loyal Democrat, recorded one of those robo-calls that I hate. But I didn’t complain because he was so cheerful, ending the message with “Go Red Sox.”

When my niece, now in her early 40s, attended college in New York, King’s son was a fellow student. He would go through the dorms announcing that his dad was sending their private plane to pick him up for vacation; anybody who needed a “ride” home to Maine was welcome.

Lately, King has been contributing/raising money for low-income Mainers whose heating costs have skyrocketed while state assistance has been drastically cut. My favorite story about the Kings’ generosity goes back some years to the Bangor Public Library’s fundraising campaign for major expansion. King’s wife, Tabitha, gave about $1.8 million to the effort.

Her comment: I don’t consider this a donation; I consider it a debt repaid. Anyone who loved to read as a way of surviving those long, frigid Maine winters can appreciate her sentiment.

Stephen King and I are around the same age. We were teens when John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, a horrific event in our history. I’ve only read the first 50 pages of “11/22/63,” when the protagonist high-school English teacher first returns to 1958. What might have been if the Kennedy assassination had been thwarted? Would there have been a Vietnam war?

An alternative history? Where will King go with this, not his typical horror story? The only one of his books I have read was  “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” which was terrific. We share a love of politics, a hope for a more compassionate United States.

And these days, it’s American politics that’s a horror story.

Posted in Baby Boomers, For Love of History, Tucson Festival of Books/good books | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Calling bullshit on the small-minded newt

Posted on December 21, 2011 by sheilawill

Oh please, what is it with the American Family Association? How could they possibly endorse Newt Gingrich in the Iowa Republican caucus? What happened to family values?

newt, a noun — a small rough-skinned amphibian with lungs and a well-developed tail, typically spending its adult life [conniving] and returning to the water to breed

“She’s not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of a president. And besides, she has cancer,” the newt reportedly told L.H. Carter, a former campaign treasurer.  (Gingrich has denied saying it and dismisses Carter as a disgruntled campaign aide.)

In the 1990s, he rounded up his Republican cohorts to impeach Wild Bill for cavorting with a young intern in the Oval Office, while he was having an affair with his own young intern.

What bullshit.

What’s his real first name anyway?

Newton — as in fig newton, square, filled with sticky paste, easily crumbles

 


Posted in politics | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Neshama Carlebach: Soul-singing rock ‘n’ roll

Posted on December 18, 2011 by sheilawill

This week I read that Neshama Carlebach is one of the world’s leading Jewish entertainers. I never heard of her before she came to Tucson. I may have thought of Woody Allen as a Jewish entertainer; his primarily Jewish humor often defines his films. And there’s Adam Sandler’s Chanukah song. Funny stuff that happens to be Jewish, at least that’s how I see it.

Generally, I don’t think of entertainers as “Jewish entertainers.” That seems like Jew counting, which understandably is part of my job writing/editing for a Jewish newspaper (more on that later). But at the Arizona Jewish Post, we never want to overdo it: True Jew-counting is when there’s a major accident and we receive a story about how many Jews died, as if that made it news. Ick. Kinda like my view of entertainers — we’re all human beings — there’s no need to further identify them. That doesn’t cut it.

The Tucson Weekly highlights Carlebach’s Jewish soul music. “Singing is like praying twice,” her famous rabbi father/entertainer, Shlomo Carlebach, said. For me, singing is singing. And Nesahma rocks.

Carlebach performed with the Green Pastures Baptist Church Choir last night at Tucson’s Fox Theatre. (For Maine friends it’s an art deco Tucson landmark like the Criterion in Bar Harbor. It reopened a few years ago after a multi-million dollar renovation, so it doesn’t smell all moldy.)

At the New Orleans Jazz Festival back in the 90s, I spent a whole day in the gospel tent. I got so carried away — or lifted up, some may say — by the music that jumping up and shouting “praise the lord” seemed natural, although I had never done anything like that before. Was it praying or just appreciating the rockin’ music?

If you’ve read my previous posts I’m probably repeating myself, but sometimes I wonder how I landed in my third career at the Arizona Jewish Post, the center of  Tucson’s Jewish world. There may be more to it than I consciously realize.

Posted in It's only rock 'n' roll | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment