NB Officials & Rehabs-Ticking Time Bomb?

Look at this young woman's photo and see the article below....then ask yourself how you would feel if this was your daughter, realizing that it could happen here if we're not smart: The Newport Beach City Council, the City Manager (in absentia of mind...

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The Things We Remember

[Student prison, no longer in service, U of Heidelberg]At the 30th high school reunion, I told S that I remembered that in elementary school she asked a question when the Kotex lady showed her film. She didn't remember. Via Facebook, I told A how embarrassed...

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Facebook/Who we were

In junior high, we were S and S and S (same names, two different spellings) and L, and sometimes the other L, who wasn't Jewish. S and L were the original friends, I think. I remember going to S's house (I was one of the other Ss) and sitting on the...

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Familiar/de-familiarization

The things we know. The things we think we know. The things we feel we know. We were talking about Germany tonight. T's next book is about Germany. I thought he also said Europe, but L said he just said Germany. We were in a French restaurant. Butter...

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Bay Area

I read from my book last night to a group at the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Oakland. It's independent, and sponsors many groups and events, with a feminist/progressive philosophy. For those of you who shy away from the word feminist, take note:...

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Self/Hood

I have been in therapy, off and on (mostly on), probably longer than many of you have been alive. The short version is, to quote myself on June 13, 2007: I have "the essential feeling: that I do not deserve to live. That I should perish soon. I was not...

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More progress

I picked L up from the hospital this morning. He was standing outside Fancy Hospital, not in a wheelchair. He is doing fine but has restrictions on swimming, bicycling, driving, picking things up and the like.I had my six-month mammogram and surgeon-appt....

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L's progress

L is out of the recovery room and is talking baseball (he went to last night's Cubs/Cardinals game) and is as well as could be expected after being poked and cut. He's a little groggy but coherent. He's supposed to be released tomorr...

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The shoe is on the other foot.

Defibrillator on left; pacemaker on rightOr I'm wearing a different hat. Or, less metaphorically, L is wearing the pale green Fancy Hospital smock today. He's supposed to be out of the operating room at 11:30 am Central Standard Time. Some of you may...

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From the Desk of Chief Klein

July 7, 2009Dear Residents of Newport Beach:As I reach the end of my 30-year career serving this world class Community, I want to take a moment to examine some of our past accomplishments and look to the future. Now that we have successfully survived...

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Compare and contrast

Very quickly, now:In Sofia, the trash bins on the sidewalk are rusty metal. In Budapest they're nice plastic lined with plastic bags. In Berlin they're plastic with jokey stuff printed on them, such as: Corpus fur alle Delicti.There are stray dogs and...

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From high in the Buda hills...

Budapest is the new Prague, which was the new Paris, which was just plain Paris, and forever Paris because that's what Paris is. And Prague is known for its own magic, which may be what has drawn frat boys from all over the world. In Sofia the people...

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