Losing Everything: Two Stories.

Last weekend I heard some amazing stories, all of them true.  A couple of them had some striking parallels.

George Takei remembered standing at the front window of his home, watching soldiers coming up the driveway to take him and his family away.  It was 1942, and he was five years old.  Carrying only what they had hastily packed the night before, the family of five was transported to a "holding cell" (actually a stall in the stable of a racetrack) on their way to the first of a series of concentration camps, where he and his family spent the next five years of their lives.

Cora Smith* remembered wading in water up to her chest, clinging to her pregnant mother, as they tried to escape their flooded town in 1948.  The single road out was jammed with vehicles.  Cora, then a grade-schooler, was lifted onto the back of a Red Cross truck to be evacuated with a bunch of other children.  It took three days for her mother to find her again.
* I am not certain I have remembered Cora's last name correctly; I apologize if I've gotten it wrong.

George's memory happened in Los Angeles.  Cora's took place in Vanport City, which is now the Delta Park neighborhood of Portland, Oregon.

Things Superheroes Might Think About...

...While Skulking Atop Buildings Waiting for the Opportune Moment to Sneak Across Highly Visible Passageways to the Tops of Other Buildings, Like, Say, a Gymnasium.

• Wow, the sky's really pretty tonight.  Is that a star? ...Nope. Airplane. 
• Geez, lady, how long does it take to get two kids into the car?
• I wonder how long I can crouch like this before my leg completely stops working.
• You can totally see why this roof leaks all the time.  Whoever designed this building clearly had no concept of how rain works.
• Maybe if I slide over here I can stand up without being seen... oh.  Crap.  There's people on that side of the building, too. 
• Don't all of you nice people want to go home and watch TV now?
• How 'bout... now?
• This is the worst flashlight.  This is worse than no flashlight.  I had no idea this flashlight was so terrible. 
• Are those air conditioning units?  They get air conditioning here now?  Daaang!
• Are these people leaving in shifts, or what?
• Okay, nose.  I get it.  It's cold.  You can stop dripping now.
• Wouldn't it be funny if I called ___ from up here?  "Hey, ___, it's me!  A Superhero!  On top of the ___ building!  Verbal high five!"
• ...Maybe that's not such a good idea.
• I probably shouldn't sit on this rooftop; who knows what kind of gunk it might leave on my superhero costume.
• Are they still standing there talking?  Holy crap.  They're still standing there talking.  
• Screw it, I'm sitting down.
• Is that Mt. Tabor?  Wait, no, Mt. Tabor's that way.  Which one is that then?
• Uhhh...
• Why do I still not know the names of all the buttes in this part of town?
• I really hope whoever's cleaning this building right now can't hear me sneaking around up here, because if I was them, that would totally weird me out. 
• Aaand more people in the parking lot.  Does this place ever shut down? 
• Aww, those ol' trees.  Why are those trees so amazing.  Seriously, they're like... ptschhh!  Art!  Wow.
  
• Actually, they probably grow that way because they're straining for sunlight between two buildings.
• Still, though!  So awesome.
• Hey, I can totally see in the window of this other building!  Which... has... an awful lot of people in it.
• Who are all also presumably going home at some point.
• Erg.
• No way am I sitting up here all night.  I got places to go, supervillains to catch.
• Also, my nose is still dripping.
• Is the coast clear?  Let's say the coast is clear.  Who's gonna be looking this way anyway, right?

Note: This list is purely theoretical in nature, and has absolutely nothing to do with the previous post.

On Ghosts, and the Haunting of College Campuses.

This evening, for the first time since it closed for good, I returned to The Campus Formerly Known As Cascade College.  My current employer is renting space there for commuter classes.  Sooner or later, it was inevitable that I would get invited over there to teach a room full of students how to use their library's electronic resources....

How Much Do I Spend on My Car?

As you may be aware, I've been interested in the simplicity/minimalist/low impact lifestyle movement(s) for a while now.  These folks, as you might guess, tend to be really down on automobiles.  Aside from the obvious stuff about environmental impact, they point at crazy-big numbers that the average American spends on cars: $8604? $9519?!

I've always scoffed (with insufferable smugness!) at numbers like these, especially now that I live close enough to my workplace to commute on foot.  My car is, as of this year, old enough to take into bars with me, so it's all paid for, and insurance is cheap.  I tend to stick to my own corner of town, and my occasional road trips rarely take me more than 3 hours away.  But recently, as I contemplated cleaning out my filebox to make room for 2011's paperwork, I started wondering exactly how much my car does cost me.

Three for the New Year.

Some comics for your 3rd:

 Still wondering, actually.

 Maybe I was, though. Hard to say!

Sometimes I just need to waste some time before I can get anything done.

It's the Year of the Rabbit now, though, for reals. Gung hay fat choy! The intermission between New Year celebrations is over; time to get on with the show.  The days are finally getting longer and we've even got a touch of Fake Spring around these parts. 2011 is drumming its fingers on my doorframe, sneaking glimpses at its pocketwatch: Are you ready yet? We've got so many things to do.