Sensory Overload

winter

    Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.
            ~ Pietro Aretino
   
It is winter in Oakland ~ there is no snow, there are no snow angels, no snowmen smiling in the front yard of the house with a white picket fence.  Instead, there is rain ~ gray skies, and days and nights and yet more days of rain; and when there is a break in the rain, you walk gingerly along softened, drenched streets, quietly and softly under the hesitant sun, hoping you don't disturb the warm hazy rays or wake the rain gods ~ and you remember, quietly, alone, to yourself, to love the downpour because the glint of a squeaky-clean world is, maybe, almost, worth that feeling of nearly drowning.

or maybe that is just me ~ because I love the rain ~

This winter ~ now ~ I look forward to Monday and Wednesday nights when I listen to silly Spanish talk-radio on the drive home, to get in the mood for my Spanish conversation class ~ and to the solitary, dark drive home ~ headlights like two daggers cutting through the fog that wraps itself around the hilltop campus, gliding down steep rain-slicked streets, switching back to English ~ music, thoughts, words, alone in the car.

Tonight I caught up with NPR's All Songs Considered January 10th podcast ~ as usual, an eclectic and impressive line-up: Billie Holiday, The Magnetic Fields, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Peter Gabriel, Vampire Weekend, Fire on Fire....and right before the end, an epiphany in the form of a song, 'For Emma' (mp3), by Bon Iver (pronounced 'Bon Hiver', which is 'good winter' in French).  When I heard the song, I was speeding along a dark highway, alone on a damp winter night; my mind swimming in cold murky thoughts ~ somehow, it was all lovely.

So of course I came home to read more about this Bon Iver person ~ real name Justin Vernon.  I know all the Kool Kids, the bloggers and the internet stars, already know all this, but I learned tonight that Justin self-released his album last summer ~ and the album is the product of what sounds like an amazing solitary journey: four months time spent writing and recording in isolation last winter in his father's hunting cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin.  If you don't know about this amazing album, read the hype at Reveille Magazine.   (At the end of the article, there is a link where you can stream the entire album, which is due for a national re-release next month.)

When you hear the album you will agree that "all of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stock piled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song." God I wish I had that talent ~ to purge pain and produce instead something brilliant like this album, or even something simply lovely, or something quietly cataclysmic. ~~  I just had a déjà vu, like I've felt this before and written this before, even this part where I realize I'd felt and written this even before that ~ sigh, maybe the third time is the charm. ~ Justin Vernon chose isolation; he walked through its door. ...... But what do you do when isolation chooses you; when it opens the window to your soul, pulls you through it, then locks the door behind you?  Where's the album that tells you that story?

On this album, Justin's lyrics on Stacks are pithy and potent ~ this man knows what he's feeling, what to say, and how to say it:

This my excavation and today is kumran
Everything that happens is from now on
This is pouring rain
This is paralyzed
...
Whatever could it be
That has brought me to this loss?
...
This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization
It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away
Your love will be
Safe with me

But my favorite is 'Skinny Love' (mp3), where Justin asks you:

Who will love you?
Who will fight?
Who will fall far behind?

~ because I am one of those people, maybe the only one in the entire world, who really believes that these are the questions that truly matter ~ because when someone allows themselves to really love you, and when you allow yourself to love them in return, then everything, everywhere, falls into place.

Because The Plastic Bag Industry Shouldn't Dictate Environmental Policy ~

Last July, the Oakland City Council adopted the ordinance I co-wrote to ban plastic bags in Oakland.  [I also wrote a one-page FAQ about the ordinance.]  In August, the plastic bag industry sued the City on the grounds that we did not consider the potential environmental impacts of banning plastic bags(!).  The Ordinance was to go into effect on January 18, 2008, but the City agreed to delay enforcement pending resolution of the case on the merits in the trial court ~~ oral argument is scheduled for Tuesday, January 29, 2008.

To bring attention to the bullying litigation tactics of the plastic bag industry in killing sound environmental policy as it chokes marine life, Councilmembers Nancy Nadel and Jean Quan will hold a Press Conference on the front steps of Oakland City Hall on Monday, January 28, 2008, at 10 am.  If you're around, please come out to the Press Conference and show your support ~ we will be distributing free Oakland canvas bags (like the one in the photo).  If you have a poster showing your support or bring your own canvas bags to hold up, we'll probably have you stand behind the speakers, on camera!  [Before I attack the plastic bag industry, I do want to point out that one lone 'bag monster' does have its own blog ~ a clever, funny, and very informative site!]

Monday's Press Conference will focus on the use of litigation tactics of the plastic bag industry to stall environmental measures.  But I want to also mention the very important environmental issues we highlighted in our June 2007 Press Conference, when we talked about why this plastic bag ban ordinance is so important:

• Every year, Californians use 19 billion plastic bags, and throw away 600 bags per second – creating 147,000 tons of non-biodegradable waste.
• These “free” plastic bags actually cost millions of taxpayer dollars each year in litter abatement, collection and disposal costs, landfill costs, street-cleaning costs, and contaminated recycling processes.
• Almost 10% of the oil consumed in the United – approximately 2 million barrels of oil per day – is used to make plastic, including single-use plastic bags.
• Petroleum-based plastic bags do not biodegrade, but instead persist in the environment for hundreds or thousands of years, slowly breaking down through abrasion, tearing, and photo-degradation into tiny toxic plastic bits that enter the food chain when animals mistake those materials for food.
• Beyond the economic costs, plastic bags are also a blight to our parks, neighborhoods, creeks, lakes, and the Bay.
• Not only do plastic bags get caught in trees, telephone poles, storm drains, and waterways, but approximately 100,000 marine mammals and turtles die each year from ingesting, or getting tangled in, plastic marine debris.

At Committee in June and at Council in July, we had scores of supporters come out and speak in favor of the ordinance.  The compelling data convinced the City Council to do the right thing and adopt the ordinance.  We made it through the first hurdle.  But now we're spending taxpayer dollars fighting this lawsuit and cities across the country are watching ~ policy aides from Hawaii to Texas to Florida have called me to discuss the importance of this legislation and the devastating effect this lawsuit will have on environmental legislation if the plastic bag industry wins.  Several other municipalities are so intimidated by the mere threat of a lawsuit, and the cost of potential litigation, that they are holding their legislation until they see how Oakland survives this lawsuit. 

I should note here that the plastic bag industry did not sue San Francisco ~ it sued Oakland, even though our ordinance was modeled on (but not identical to) San Francisco's legislation.  We are clearly seen as the smaller, more vulnerable municipality, with scarcer resources to fight this litigation.  That alone, that tactic, is infuriating.  I should also note that no grocery store owners spoke out against the San Francisco or Oakland ordinances ~ the California Grocer's Association and the plastic bag industry are the opponents.  In fact, some smaller grocers have stated that when the big chains comply with the plastic bag ban, it will drive up demand for alternative bags and drive down the cost of compliance, making it even easier for them to comply (many of whom are eager to do so ~ after all, local shop owners know that Bay Area shoppers are environmentally conscious).  This is a case of David versus Goliath ~ the single stone needed to stop this particularly nefarious Goliath is this lawsuit against Oakland ~ we just have to win; the fate of local environmental legislation across the country depends on it.

There are so many frustrating elements of this plastic bag ban issue and the reasoning of the plastic bag industry in their lawsuit.  For one, they are corrupting the good intentions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by claiming that our proposed ordinance constitutes a "project" under CEQA, thereby triggering environmental review.  Generally, actual construction or traffic projects, or physical changes to actual land parcels, are "projects" which require an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under CEQA.  However, even if our proposed ordinance were considered a "project" under CEQA, an EIR would be wholly speculative because they are asking us to essentially predict consumer behavior.  In other words, the plastic bag industry is claiming that if we ban plastic bags, then consumers will use paper bags or compostable plastic bags instead, and that will have an adverse environmental impact.  But, says who?  Who says that's what consumers will do? 

First, as we explain in the June 26, 2007 Staff Report we presented to Committee, our ordinance doesn't promote the use of paper or compostable bags but rather encourages retailers to provide incentives for shoppers to use canvas bags.  Indeed, it's an ideal marketing and branding opportunity ~ even Safeway and Long's now sell reusable bags with their logos on them.  Second, you can't assume (especially in the Bay Area) that shoppers will simply choose paper or compostable bags rather than bring their own canvas bags - the plastic bag industry does not present any evidence to support that claim.  An EIR would cost Oakland taxpayers over $100,000, and we would have no more information than we do now.  The plastic bag industry knows this ~ if they win, and if we have to conduct an EIR, not only is the implementation of our ordinance delayed, but countless other cities will be intimidated into not adopting plastic bag bans.  That has already happened in Fairfax, CA, where the Town Council repealed the plastic bag ban it unanimously approved last July, because it was bullied into doing so under threat of a lawsuit by the plastic bag industry.

What is even more appalling is the fact that the plastic bag industry is bullying its way into dictating environmental policy.  About three years ago, San Francisco officials began developing legislation to reduce the blight and pollution caused by single-use plastic bags (in San Francisco alone, 50 million to 150 million bags are distributed each year!), by imposing a tax on petroleum-based plastic bags.  The intent, of course, was to encourage shoppers to simply bring in their own bags ~ much like most Trader Joes and Whole Foods customers already do.  The supermarket chains asked San Francisco officials to instead give them one year to investigate the issue ~ they promised to keep track of how many bags their stores distributed and they promised to work with San Francisco to reduce the use of plastic bags by 10 million.  However, when the year passed, and San Francisco officials asked for the data, the supermarket chains refused to reveal the numbers, saying it was trade secret information.  Even worse, instead of working on the actual problem during that year, the California Grocers Association and the plastic bag industry actually lobbied the California legislature to pass AB 2449 ~ an insidious bill which explicitly forbids cities from charging fees for plastic bags!

As I explain in the Supplemental Staff Report I co-wrote for the City Council on July 3, 2007, all AB 2449 really did was to implement a pilot program, in effect from July 1, 2007 until January 1, 2013, requiring large supermarkets in California to offer in-store recycling of plastic grocery bags in exchange for the pre-emption of local ordinances mandating a bag tax or other recycling efforts.  The plastic bag industry and the grocers association sponsored AB2449, so the bill was by no means built on a foundation of altruism or actual environmental concerns, but rather on protecting their bottom-line: profits.  So, the bill is woefully inadequate in several key areas: 

• There is no requirement in AB 2449 for plastic bags to be made out of recycled content;
• There is no requirement in AB 2449 for an affected store to reduce their plastic bag usage;
• There is no requirement in AB 2449 to provide incentives for shoppers who use reusable bags or any requirement that consumers use reusable bags, although the bill does require stores to make reusable bags available to customers which may be purchased and used in lieu of paper or plastic carryout bags;
• There is no direct appropriation for enforcement or education contained in AB 2449. However, the measure does stipulate that any civil penalties collected pursuant to the bill may be used for enforcement of this bill.

As much as I wanted to tear apart AB 2449 in that Staff Report, I had to be diplomatic and write:

The proposed [Oakland] plastic bag ban is a parallel, complementary approach to AB 2449. This state law requires grocery stores to provide recycling bins for the collection of plastic bags – after the fact, after the plastic bag has already been manufactured and discarded. The intent of AB 2449 is to keep bags out of landfills. AB 2449 is therefore a downstream approach that addresses end-of-life of a product once it has been produced. The plastic bag ban Ordinance addresses the much more highly leveraged upstream arena of generation and consumption – and seeks to stop plastic bags from being manufactured in the first place.

All California cities should pass Resolutions asking the State Legislature to repeal AB 2449.  And just this past Tuesday, January 22, 2008, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors did just that ~ the Board passed a Motion (which was introduced in December) to instruct the Chief Executive Officer to include in the 2007-2008 State Legislative Agenda the sponsoring or pursuit of legislation to repeal AB 2449.

The fact that there is only one U.S. city (San Francisco) with a plastic bag ban, while the rest of us are literally held hostage by the plastic bag industry is shameful.  A growing list of countries and foreign cities from Australia to Zanzibar have already banned plastic bags, including China, Denmark, Ireland, South Africa, Taiwan, Singapore, Melbourne, and a number of East African countries.  The U.S. should now join the one-quarter of the world's population that has banned this toxic pollutant.

Maybe we can do that soon, with the support and smart business sense of national chains that promote progressive environmental policy:  Just last week, Whole Foods, Inc., announced that it is phasing out the use of plastic bags in all of its stores nationwide by Earth Day, April 22, 2008.  Locally, City Car Share, which helps reduce air pollution and gasoline consumption by reducing the number of cars on the road through car sharing in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, now provides reusable bags for grocery shopping in all of its cars.

Oakland is fighting a big fight on behalf of a lot of other wealthier cities ~ if you can, come out and show your support.

The Art of Tea ~

Over the past few years I've slowly discovered the quiet, calming delight of tea over coffee.  I still need my morning Americano to jump-start the day, but a few times per day and often at night, I also need to slow down and enjoy a moment of quiet, best done with a cup of tea ~ Jasmine tea is my favorite, but this has made me reconsider ~ ;-). 

Last year for Christmas, I received a beautiful green tea pot and tiny tea cups as a gift ~ there's nothing sweeter than sipping tea and nibbling ginger snaps late on a cool Oakland night.  I'm lucky enough to live in the Bay Area where tea and the culture of tea have seeped into a part of the daily ritual for many people ~ along the way I have found myself finding contentment musing over a pot of tea at various tea shops.

When I lived in San Francisco, I spent many rainy days studying for the LSAT at Samovar Tea Lounge in the Castro; in law school I spent countless study hours with Jee and Quyen at Téance in Albany (sadly, now closed) and at L'Aymx Tea Bar (the original location on Piedmont Avenue, and now the new location close to home, on Lakeshore Avenue) in Oakland.  ~ The few times I am able to get out of the Bay Area, I like to find the local tea shop and sit a while ~ in Chicago, it was the lovely Tianguis, run by the very lovely Irasema ~ even Fresno (Teazer World Tea Market) and Houston (Té House of Tea in the Montrose) have charming tea lounges ~ and you can't drive through Encinitas without stopping at Pannikin Coffee & Tea.  More recently, I am a big supporter of the new Numi Tea Garden in Oakland and the very cute Julie's Coffee & Tea Garden in Alameda. 

When I think of the different tea shops I've been to, I don't just remember the tea and the atmosphere and the service ~ but I remember who I was with, what we talked about, how I felt about them and the tea and the day. 

So, as my taste for different tea leaves has grown, it didn't really occur to me that the easy availability and (semi-) reasonable prices meant that the ancient craft of farming tea has been taken over by mass production, even in China.  This is the focus of the film All in this Tea, by Less Blank and David Lee Hoffman.  Apparently, the film goes beyond the beauty of the art of tea to show why the craft should be honored and preserved, and to discuss quality over quantity, fair trade and organics, and sustainable development.  SFGate gave the film a great review (which doesn't mean anything but I like that the little man is out of his chair). 

The film will be screened this Wednesday night, January 9, 2008, at Numi Tea Garden in Oakland (2230 Livingston Street).  A $5-$10 donation will be requested.  Go if you can! ~ Either way, please leave a comment telling me about your favorite local tea shop ~ if I can, I'd love to check it out!

at any age ~ at every age

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.
    ~Emily Dickinson

After the torrential downpour we had yesterday, I woke up early this morning, to a break in the storm and a glint of soft sun peeking in through the white curtains.  I drove for a bit, zig-zagging around fallen tree branches, sinkholes in the middle of some streets, water bubbling up through others, and rushing rivers of rainwater cascading  through the gutters.  The town I was in shimmered and the yellow trees glowed.  I was glad to be out driving, heading over to the senior home where I am a ball-toss volunteer ~ helping a group of seniors get warmed up for the day. 

The ball is actually a balloon, since most of the seniors have had a stroke or other medical ailment that has left them pretty fragile.  The first time I was in the room, I felt incredibly sad at the sight of some of the seniors slumped over in their wheelchairs.  But AO had said "HI" to me, smiling brightly and putting me at ease.  So, when I returned this morning, I was happy to see them all.

A handsome man walked in with his daughter, Sara, who is maybe 12 years old.  I thought they were there to visit a family member, but the man was simply dropping his daughter off to volunteer and he would return in an hour.  I asked Sara if she was volunteering through her school ~ "No ~ I like volunteering with old people," she said with a smile.  So, we tag-teamed, grabbed two balloons and got to work.

The volunteer coordinator, Melissa, turned on the CD player and Nat King Cole began crooning 'Unforgettable'.  I didn't know whether to feel it was cruel or sweet to play that CD, which would end an hour later with the song 'Too Young'.  Then Melissa explained to us that HW shrieks to get attention and RT will say she has to go to the bathroom even when she doesn't really have to go, so we should just go get Melissa when that happens.  She gave us a little more information about each senior ~ packaging each one into a one-sentence personality, or identity tag.  It's true that at first it's much easier to remember people as "shrieker" and "red sweater" and "sleeper" than their names ~ but I felt a little awkward, standing in the middle of the room where they could all hear us ~ until I noticed many of them were asleep, or simply not paying attention, anyway.  I wondered if they would be annoyed with me interrupting them to throw a balloon around.  I wondered if they get annoyed by the chipper voice the nurses use, as if they are speaking to children.  I wondered if they were lonely.  I wondered if I would get to know any of them, and come up with my own way of identifying them.  It made me think of how I "package people" to remember them ...... but that's another blog post for another time.

I started talking first to MI, feeling it would be a little too forward of me to just walk up to her and toss a balloon in her face.  Melissa opened the curtains and the streaks of sun gave way to sheets of rain.  MI said something about the intense weather and I told her I had been driving in it yesterday ~ she asked what it was like, driving in such a storm ~ "We're so sheltered in here that we forget what the real world is like."  And she laughed a little.  I asked her if she would like to play "volley-balloon" and she smiled and said yes.

The balloon toss isn't just to kill time while Melissa prepares snacks and movie time.  Arthritis and strokes have left some of the seniors with limp arms and hands ~ the balloon toss helps them try to reach up and use those arms, it helps them loosen up joints, and I guess it does help them pass the time.  MI was pretty limber and she punched the balloon pretty fiercely a few times.  When she missed she would say, "I'm sorry," and after a while, we actually enjoyed a conversation as we punched the balloon back and forth.  She sang the lyrics to "Mona Lisa" and later she told Sara she was really good with the balloon.

I gave MI a break and walked over to AO, whom I had met a few weeks ago.  She remembered me and smiled when she saw me, which warmed my heart.  At first she favored her right arm, leaving her left hand resting on her chest,  but after a while, in her excitement, she started using both arms and I felt incredibly useful today ~ she even used her legs a few time when the balloon went low, and we laughed and called it balloon soccer.  By now, most of the seniors in the room had been watching, and started looking interested in the silly game.

I looked over at RS and asked her if she would like to play, too.  She turned her head sideways, to give me a sly look, and she flashed a wry grin, then wriggled her fingers(!)  She was hilarious.  Sometimes she would fake me out and instead of punching the balloon back at me, she would just catch it and hold onto it, to watch me stumble around as I waited for the return volley.  She'd peek her face out from behind the red balloon, and giggle.  I immediately adored her.

Then, when HW shrieked to get my attention, RS frowned but gave me the nod to toss the balloon to HW next.  HW was pretty low-functioning, physically.  She was difficult to understand and I wondered if behind the huge glasses and the muddled speech she was totally lucid and thinking, "I'm not a toddler! You don't have to say 'Good job!' to me when I bat the damn balloon!"  Her right hand functioned better than her left and she would give me the "ready" signal by throwing her right arm into the air ~ I would basically gently toss the balloon right into the palm of her hand and let her SLAM that thing right into me.  Then, in her excitement, she started using her limp left hand ~ and she started raising her left arm as the "ready" signal ~ smiling each time I grunted "UUUUFFF!" when I caught her return volley.  After a while, I went back to MI ~ MJ, who was in the wheelchair next to her and who hadn't said anything the entire time, quietly inched forward in her wheelchair, letting me know she wanted to be next.  MJ had been sort of slumped in her wheelchair, looking down...until I tossed the balloon to her ~ her eyes lit up, she giggled, she smiled ~ but she never said a word.

By now I was working up a sweat ~ really.   Because they have little control over their arms and the force they use, most of the shots they made were widely random, bullet-like shots ~ I had to dance side to side to catch many of the shots, and after a while I found myself dancing around to the beat of the music, singing along to some of the songs with them.  I'm sure it was a funny sight, but we had a lot of fun.  I know I'll never look at a red balloon the same way......

After, we signed the Volunteer Book and I noticed how many volunteers visit this senior center.  I flipped through the pages and noticed the people who visit every week for the "Best Friends" activity, or to play Scrabble with the seniors ~ Melissa told me there are a couple of Scrabble-Shark seniors who play for blood.(!)  Word in the halls is also that a new guy was a friend of Hemingway, and is actually a character in one of Hemingway's stories ~ so next time, I'm going to seek him out and see if he'll chat with me.

Later, after some aimless driving, I ended up at Caffe Trieste in Berkeley.  I walked in just as another ocean of rain let loose from the sky ~ it was crowded and steamy and I wondered where in the world they fit the band when they have music there.  I sat for a while and couldn't help but overhear the older woman next to me giving a brain-download to a younger woman, the new teacher who would take over her fifth-grade class, as they went over the class list: "This little guy is such a creative soul; this one here will raise her hand all day and interrupt and want to answer every question; this little one is borderline-autistic, but I wouldn't say it like that to the parents;" and so on.  She was packaging each kid for easy identification for the new teacher ~ and I wondered if the i.d. makes the kid or the kid makes the i.d. ~ in other words, if the i.d. predisposes the teacher to fit the kid into a certain box, before the kid has even had a chance to explore every corner of the box and see if he in fact wants to be in that particular, or any, box. 

And I was left wondering what box I'm supposed to fit in ~ what "new" I'm supposed to be tomorrow ~

It's not what you do, it's how you do it

Sometimes when you least expect, in fact even when you actively fight against it, a tiny lesson with a huge impact sneaks inside you ~ past your defense mechanisms, through your tough facade ~ and wraps itself around your weakened spirit.  And when this lesson is something you already knew, it's that much more, well, enlightening ~

Tonight after work, when everyone else seemed to be running around getting ready for some huge storm that is heading our way, I went to the downtown Oakland YMCA, which you know is one of my favorite places.  Someone recommended I try the Feldenkrais class, to help regain strength in my back.  I wandered into the exercise studio and had second thoughts when I saw it was a dark room, two students (including me), and the instructor.  Before I could sneak out, though, the class started ~ and I lay there in the dark, wondering how in the world I would get through an hour of the instructor softly asking us to "imagine the connection your ankle is making with the floor," and so on.

So, for the first 10 minutes or so, I begrudgingly went along with her instructions ~ then a few more students walked in, and the instructor turned on a couple of large heaters.  The thing is ~ the thing is ~ it all started making sense, feeling right.  The heaters hummed and cast a huge orange glow, waxing and waning, bright then dim as their huge round faces smiled first to the left then glided quietly to the right, casting a long thin shadow on the ceiling.  I lay there, the shadows looking down at me, gliding across the ceiling with an "I told you so" smirk. 

The instructor explained how Feldenkrais requires only tiny movements ~ nothing vigorous. ~ When all you know is that anything good takes hard work, requires breaking a sweat, well, laying there quietly in the dark felt ridiculous.  We lay on our backs and crossed our legs and leaned them to the right ~ tiny movements, but it was hard on my back.  Then we uncrossed our legs and pointed our arms up towards the ceiling, as if clapping ~ and shifted to the right then to the left.  We went through a series of small, ordered movements.  She told us how the movements were not random but ordered lessons, laying out a story.   She explained that the order in which we did the movements encouraged a softening of the chest, a readjustment of habitual patterns, a gentle shakeup of how we organize our bodies in certain movements ~ a chance to do things a little differently for a lot of difference.

If you know me, if you really know me, you know that I'm about to say: There's a metaphor in there somewhere.

And there really was ~ we went back to the first round of movements and I laughed out loud when my body went farther than it had before, when it felt freer and better and lighter.  She told me that you don't have to push far to make big changes ~

I sprinted out of the room, smiling as warmly and widely as the huge beaming heaters, and I bumped into Brooke, who teaches the deliciously agonizing Step class.  So, I joined Brooke's class and at the 30-minute mark, someone panted and reminded us that the class is now 45 minutes long.  We turned up the music, shouted a lot, and shimmied through the cool-down.  Then I slipped my headphones on for a run on the treadmill and a spin on the machines for another hour plus ~ listening to Ira Glass.  I'd write about the 'Home Alone' episode I heard, but someone else wrote a much better post about that.