Author Archives: Pam

To Create

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Pam

My god, what a life I’ve had! Taking the long view, the wide angle, the perspective of almost 60 years, now I can see what a charmed and fascinating ramble it’s been! I remember as a young woman of 21 … Continue reading →

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Hating the Others

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Pam

The air is thick with it here in America, a swirling mass just out of reach of reason, a nauseous wave of vague gray haze that reappears no matter how often we cleanse our collective lens: hate. This is not … Continue reading →

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Rest In Peace Matthew

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Pam

For gay people in America, the day that Matthew Shepherd was murdered is remembered as starkly as the day John Kennedy was killed, or more recently, where we stood on 9/11/01 when the towers fell. Twenty years ago in October … Continue reading →

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Sexual Abuse

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Pam

Sigh. So–sexual abuse of women is a front page headline–again. This is starting to feel like the fight for gun control, like a hopeless fight against something so deeply entrenched in our male dominant culture that it flags on the … Continue reading →

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Annual Compliance Tests

Posted on October 5, 2017 by Pam

I’ve worked in corporate America for most of my life. It’s been boring but relatively lucrative, providing a degree of security that made it worthwhile. Throughout my career (31 cumulative years at more than a dozen different companies) but especially … Continue reading →

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A Reluctant Activist

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Pam

It Was Hot Yesterday, I stood outside in 105-degree heat for more than three hours, along with tens of thousands of protesters outside the Phoenix Convention Center. There with two friends, I was surrounded by an extremely diverse cross-section of … Continue reading →

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The Civil War is Over

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Pam

There’s violence and debate in America today, incidentally around Confederate War memorials. Of course, these memorials were just the trigger for a much deeper and more complex racial hatred, but the removal of these memorials was the catalyst. I was … Continue reading →

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Penny Taylor – Lucky #13

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Pam

I’m embarrassed to admit that before today I didn’t know who Penny Taylor was. I was joining friends for my first Phoenix Mercury basketball game at Talking Stick Arena and when I got there, the first thing I saw — … Continue reading →

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Women’s March – Phoenix, Arizona

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Pam

Music: All Rise, Blame Sally

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Dear Mayor Schaaf

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Pam

1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza 3rd Floor Oakland, CA 94612 officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com phone: (510) 238-3141 fax: (510) 238-4731 TTY: (510) 238-3254 Dear Mayor Schaaf, I’m leaving Oakland. After two years in Oakland, CA, I’m leaving. My time here has been horrendous … Continue reading →

Posted in Living in California, Politics | Leave a comment

Necessary Imports

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Pam

Every Trump supporter I’ve seen interviewed or read interviews with seemed to have one main complaint that they believed Trump could fix (because he loudly told them he would): they want better jobs that pay more money. Some of them … Continue reading →

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Free Press = Freedom

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Pam

These attacks on the free press by our current president are disgusting, deviant, and devious. This is an industry that is devoted solely to finding and reporting the TRUTH. For any real journalist (and I am aware that there are, … Continue reading →

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Leaving California

Posted on August 12, 2016 by Pam

I’m leaving California. Six years after this journey began, my California adventure is coming to a close. I came, I saw, I conquered. And now I’m leaving for reasons I’ll explain below. I’ve seen so many wonderful things in six … Continue reading →

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Another Death on Bart Tracks

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Pam

Luckily, I was planning to work from home today. Because when I opened up my news app, the first thing I saw was this: This is my Bart station. And this is the third time this year that someone has … Continue reading →

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Let’s Get Political

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Pam

I was looking at a photo on Facebook this morning. It was an image of Obama standing in the White House next to a small African American schoolgirl. He was writing something to give to her as she stared up … Continue reading →

Posted in Living in California, Politics | Leave a comment

A Sad Day for Bart

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Pam

Today is a very sad day for Bart…a Bart police officer fatally shot a fellow officer while searching a suspect’s apartment. That’s what the news outlets are reporting. A thousand questions lie behind this story that demand answers. There aren’t … Continue reading →

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How to Ride BART

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Pam

How to Ride Bart – Part 1 Catching a ride on a Bart train is a confusing and mysterious process, vaguely described on the Bart website but mostly left up to erstwhile riders to figure out. Eventually, even the dumbest … Continue reading →

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The Bart Vapors

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Pam

It happened again this morning. I’ve seen it happen a few times now. It’s almost happened to me, but I’ve learned to control it. So it’s cold this morning, 40 degrees, really cold for this part of California. Everybody bundles … Continue reading →

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The Daily Bart

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Pam

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Welcome to the Daily Bart. If you’re lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you’re well acquainted with Bart. We love it and we hate it, but we use it–some of us … Continue reading →

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Plugged in and Tuned out

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Pam

Almost everyone on Bart is plugged into some type of mobile device – phones  and tablets of every brand. I’ve seen gray-haired grandmothers, white wires sprouting from their ears, tediously pecking away at a tiny touchscreen. Headphones are also popular; … Continue reading →

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