Zig Zag

I've shown you these vehicles before--well, Boz showed them to you. They're a popular mode of transportation on our block, though some little legs will soon grow too long to push them.

I'm thinking of safety today, and the people who protect us, and the odd, awful story of a man who lost his hold on himself, hell only knows why. What unbearable heartbreak, that police officers die for us. How I dislike being glad that the perpetrator is dead.

I don't care what anyone says. Hand guns and automatic weapons are for murdering people. If we don't outlaw these guns, we need to change our laws about murder.

For instance: If you pass the background check, you are obviously allowed to commit murder, but who are your victims, legally speaking? Should there be priorities? Like, for example, schoolchildren are #1, law enforcement officers #2, families of the above #3, etc? Or maybe your own family gets first priority, your spouse's family second, and so on.

It's going to take Congress a long time to iron all this out.

Gratitude can't begin to describe what I feel to the officers who died, and to those who live on. That's much too simple. I am also grieving, and angry, and glad this one's over. There will be a next one, and a next one, and a next one, before we get this thing solved.

Wubbada-Wubbada

all photos by John Sandel

I've dug in my heels. I refuse to raise the debt ceiling at our house. The people who live here have to learn to live within their means. Screw the consequences.

There will be no new sod in the back yard this summer. Suffer! There will be no beach vacation. Whine all you want, but it's not happening. Pay off last year's jaunt to Perris first, then maybe we can talk about Pacoima in the fall.

Some say I'll have our old people eating dog food. Well, at $2.20 a can for the prescription stuff, one old person in particular is going to have to come out of retirement and learn a marketable skill. I've cut spending to the bone. Now you're going to have to raise some revenue.

You may fight me tooth and tooth on this, but I've got a can opener and opposable thumbs and I don't care if you are a card-carrying member of the Flea Party, because I'm the president of our United Fates.

Election Day over in the UK

I know it has nothing to do with Poland...but just got back from the UK and here are 2 posters for today's UK general election. A new PM or no new PM? That's the question!!

Celebration Day

Forgive me for indulging in a photo that could have been taken in any city, if it weren't for the fact that few people besides my husband are likely to have a "Local 3 Gore for President" 2004 campaign button. I think we got that while passing through Eureka, California (a great town). During the 2000 and 2004 elections we happened to be on the road. This time, we made it a point to be here in Pasadena. Not that we believe in jinxes or anything.

We're having a few neighbors over for brunch this morning to watch the ceremony on TV and toast our new president. In preparation I went back over to Wayne Nelson's store on North Lincoln Avenue to buy t-shirts so John and I could dress appropriately. Guess what? Wayne's in Washington for the inauguration. Another person I featured on the blog, Alice Gandy, wrote to let me know she was going. TWO Pasadena Daily Photo stars are at the inauguration today. I'm bursting with - not pride, but joy. What a thrill for Alice and Wayne. I can't wait to hear their stories.

I'm a little concerned, though. My friend Lisa gave me the Bush's Last Day key chain in the center of the photo. It was supposed to count down to today and for a while it worked fine. But about two weeks ago it went haywire. I don't know what happened. Maybe I walked by a magnet or Mercury is retrograde or...I don't want to think about it. Not that I believe in jinxes or anything.

Chicken Rights

I took at least a hundred photos at the anti-Proposition 8 rally on the steps of City Hall yesterday. It was a peaceful part of a nationwide protest. The sign in the photo above refers to Proposition 2, which passed.

I think I'll let the signs do the talking.
In Pasadena, 57% voted no on Proposition 8. I love this town.

Proud Again

Proud the voting went well - imperfect, but well. Proud so many people got out and voted. Proud of Senator McCain's gracious speech - last night he sounded like the McCain I remember. Proud we made history by electing the first African American president. Proud we elected the right president for our times.

Proud to be an American.

Barack and Wayne and You and Me

I thought about simply encouraging you all to get out and vote today. I thought about not mentioning my choice in a candidate, although anyone who reads this blog knows I'm voting for Barack Obama. Then I thought, if I can inspire one person to go vote, I've got to do it. And if I can't inspire you, maybe Wayne Nelson can.

Several months ago Mr. Nelson hired artist Harmon Mandigo to paint this mural on his Altadena clothing store, Wayne's Fashion. The Pasadena Star-News did a story about the mural and quoted Nelson as saying, "I figured I'd do whatever I can to help..." (I'd like to read the rest of the article but the charge for reading archived articles on the PSN website is unbelievable, outrageous, even despicable. But I digress...)

Timothy Rutt of Altadenablog was the first to post about Wayne Nelson's mural. I found it while tooling around Angela Odom's State & Lake. (I particularly like her photo.) I hurried on over to be third in line.

Nelson's small shop at 2808 N. Lincoln Avenue in Altadena is a busy place. The shelves are piled high with all things Obama. When I arrived the store was packed with customers buying Obama t-shirts, hats and buttons. People want to represent. But Nelson was able to take a minute to pose with his prized mural. He even took a picture of me with it.
We are excited, Wayne and I. We are two seemingly different people brought together by our hopes for America. We like Obama's message of hope and tolerance. We like his world view. We like the way he's taken the high road during his campaign, unlike the other candidate who degraded his own once-decent reputation by stooping to lies, insults and racial slurs.

We believe a President Obama can return America to decency in the eyes of the world and in our own, and lead America down the high road as a great nation once more.

A Family Proposition

When I saw little Hannah Hernandez carrying her Vote No on Prop 8 sign at the Farmers' Market yesterday I trotted after her family to ask if I could take their photo. They were happy to pose, just as I'm happy to say I oppose Proposition 8.

Proposition 8 would amend the California state constitution, eliminating the right of same-sex couples to marry. Californians will be voting for or against Prop 8 Tuesday in the general election. If you're not from California you may think we're all fine with the idea of gays and lesbians marrying, but the issue has been hotly contested.

The Hernandez family of Altadena reminds me of another Altadena family I know, where both parents of beautiful children happen to be women. I don't see why those parents and children shouldn't have the same rights as others. Or what about the gay couple who lives down the street from us? They've been a couple longer than John and I have, they keep their place as nice as we do. Well. Nicer. America is where discrimination is supposed to be illegal, not legitimized. I think San Diego's Mayor Jerry Sanders said it best: "No matter how people feel about marriage, using our state constitution to discriminate is wrong..."

I thank the Hernandez family for standing up for their beliefs. Plus I really like Hannah's boots.

Hungry for Change

As did many Americans, these Altadena citizens spent last Sunday raising money for Barack Obama's campaign as part of a nationwide bake sale. I heard about it through MoveOn.org and went to check it out.

It was over 100 degrees out, but that didn't dampen the spirits of these neighbors. You could pay what you wanted to, and I got chocolate chip cookies, cranberry bread and a bumper sticker for $40. I call it a bargain.

Small groups and small donations like mine have put Obama where he is. This bunch started at high noon and planned to stay until 4:00. By the time I got there at about 1:15 they'd already collected a fat wad of money. Hope was high and there was talk of Obama as "our president."

*****
In posting this I devoured the last chocolate chip cookie and thought, "maybe I should give equal time, go find a McCain event to post about." And it struck me that if you read Pasadena Daily Photo, by the very nature of blogging you're going to get my view and only my view of Pasadena.

There are a lot of blogs in Pasadena. They cover all kinds of subjects: food, politics, homemaking, the arts, you name it. I hope if you want to know about Pasadena you'll read them. But I suggest you begin with Pasadena's other daily photo blog, Ben Wideman's The Sky is Big in Pasadena. I don't know Ben's politics, but he and I are different people. He's relatively new to southern California, he sometimes posts from far afield, he's younger than I am, and he's a guy, so right off the bat you're going to get a different point of view. Plus it's a darned good blog. So there ya go.

I'm Not a Budget Cut

Friday I arrived at Longfellow School too late to see the full demonstration against Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed school budget cuts. Citizens, parents, teachers and children had been outside all day in the hot sun, waving signs and chanting. I'm told the protesters filled the lawn from one end to the other, while motorists passing on Washington Blvd. honked their agreement: "Don't Cut Our Kids Short."

Already, the kids in my neighborhood sell candy and magazines door-to-door just to go on a field trip. When I was a kid I was a student, not a salesman. How can we give them so much less than what we had?

The smiling man in the middle of the photo is our new Pasadena School Board President, Tom Selinske. He's only just been elected, and he's jumping in feet first. Which is good, because his hands are going to be full. The Governator's got his hands full, too. A budget's a complicated thing and California's in deep financial trouble.

Some might say what happens in Pasadena's schools doesn't affect me because I don't have kids. But good schools in my town raise my property value, and in the bigger picture they enhance my quality of life. When I become a demanding and feisty old lady, I don't want a bunch of drop-outs hanging around, looking for feisty old ladies to pester. I want educated people policing my streets, governing my city and especially managing my health care.

I sound selfish, don't I?

I can help by voting to allocate money to schools, when given the opportunity on a ballot. What else can one person do? Your thoughts?

Persist

I heard on the radio that Congressman Adam Schiff of the 29th U.S. District—that is, our Congressman—is responsible for a bill signed by President Bush yesterday. The "Rim of the Valley bill authorizes a study of adding 490,000 acres of public and private land along the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys to the 153,000-acre Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area," according to the Fresno Bee.

I got myself on Adam Schiff's mailing list. He sends emails with questionnaires, asking how I want him to vote on things. It takes about a second so I fill them out. Then I can see results on how other constituents responded (am I in the minority? the majority?). In the follow-up, he tells me how he voted.

I like the guy. He's accountable. And he usually votes the way I tell him to, so what's not to like?

In the radio interview, Representative Schiff said he's been working for years to get this bill passed. It'll be another two or three years before the study's finished, then it'll take more time before any of the lands studied will actually be added to the National Recreation Area. But he's willing to persist.

Thanks, Mr. Schiff. You keep it up and I'll keep voting for you. Heck, maybe I'll vote for you twice next time, just for good measure.

Polish Election Day

Today, here in Poland there is a snap election...called 2 years ahead of schedule. Some are calling these elections the most important since the fall of Communism in 1989. The poll was called after the collapse of Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczynski's coalition government in a row over an investigation into corruption.

Kaczynski is still running for Prime Minister with his PiS party...but there is strong competition from Donald Tusk and the Civic Platform party. Kaczynski is incredibly unpopular...but that does not mean he will not win again. To their credit the PIS party has Radio Mariya and its "army of mohair berets"...old OAPs who have been 'brainwashed' by the station to vote for PIS. If the turnout is as low as it was two years ago (60% failed to vote)...they may just win again!

Election fever has gripped Poland in the past month, and there are campaign posters everywhere. It's even surprising to see some displayed in shop windows!