The Winter Reader's Theater at the Library

February and March, 2020, promise some interesting one-act plays at the Guerneville Library.
The River Friends of the Library are presenting three plays each month.
Wednesday, February 26 at 7 pm and Saturday, February 29 at 2 pm.
Wednesday, March 25 at 7 pm and Saturday, March 28 at 2 pm.

February starts with "Designer What?" by local writer Christmas Leubrie, memories of halcyon days in S.F.; "Success Story" showcases the good, bad, and ugly, when you are a striving actor; and "The Lottery" is a famous, dystopian view of four leaf clovers, gone amok.

March opens with "Hipster Hobos" possibly set at Coffee Bazaar; "The Christmas Truce" is a reminder that most common people are innately good, even though their leaders may not be; we then have a special featured reading from local poet, Sashana Kane Proctor; and we close with, "Three Skeleton Key", which is pure suspense.

Join the Friends of the Library for auditions at the Guerneville  Library for these six plays on Wednesday, January 15 at 6 pm or Saturday, January 18 at 3:30

Whose the best?

“Whose the best?”  That’s a continuing refrain throughout, “Top Gun”, 1986, Tom Cruise.  I think the movie supports the idea that winning is a team solution and credit to all: all heroes win.

We, here in the Bay Area, have a new hero.  Well, we’ve had many heroes – let me clarify – a new football hero.  Not since Joe Montana, have we had such a hero.  Still, it’s a team heroism.

A real hero, going back to Greek and Roman mythology, must have many flaws.  Jimmy Garoppolo has many flaws.  Just like Joe, we may never see the end of them.  But just like Joe, he was able to overcome his flaws, by sheer talent and will.  Today we watched will and talent.

Jimmy G had a terrible 1^st half, and wound up throwing two INTs, by game’s end.  Yet he acquired a 115 QB rating; threw for over four hundred yards and four TDs.  What explains this mercurial performance?

It’s the same thing that Joe had.

They both saw/see the field, in an instant, and with continuous brain updates; they both had lightening speed brains that could adjust to the field, and defensive conditions; they both could re-adjust the play to what was happening on the field.  These days we might call them robots.  But Jimmy G and Joe had/have GUT WILL to win.

People will still be talking about Jimmy G in thirty years, just as we still talk about Joe.  He’s flawed, but we love him anyway.  He’s trying all the time. He is a great passer, the best in the league, I think.  But it is his game presence that makes him a hero.  He knows, and will run a QB sneak, when conditions call for it.  He can also execute a trick play to a fake back to make the winning score.

We will win the Super Bowl this year.

Juxtaposition: Fact and Fiction

It is interesting considering Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony this past week, to be watching The Adventures of Jack Ryan [Amazon Prime] Season 2 – Episode 6 “Persona non Grata”.

I had to stop watching the Prime episode, halfway through, because it was so probably real in its’ depiction of a situation gone awry, and I wanted to write these thoughts down.  No one’s fault explicitly, but they are evacuating the Embassy in Caracas, because of “bad actors” stirring the pot.  There is potential election fraud and corruption in the government going on.

The bottom line is that the Ambassador (a woman) is dealing with the situation as best she can.  There are rogue Venezuelans, as well as many foreign “agents” stirring up unrest, all with different agendas.  It is a seething cauldron of chaos.

That’s Marie Yovanovitch’s workplace environment, and she didn’t stoop to displaying her dirty laundry, but as a loyal American State Department employee, she just answered the questions asked.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

This is the best modern novel I have read in several years.  I regretfully read less these days [ 3-4 a month, not 6-7 anymore].  But I still read quality (ask about my Senior Center Classics). 

I have followed Ann Patchett since “Bel Canto” and “Truth & Beauty” days.  I have watched her grow and develop as an author: “State of Wonder” and “Commonwealth”.  It is a pleasure to live long enough to see your authors, as well as your kids, become brilliant and well respected.

I think this is her finest work to date.  She succeeds at many of the challenges of the modern novel: writing as another gender protagonist, I totally believe her brother’s every thought; handling scene changes in time without totally confusing most readers, she does this flawlessly; pacing the novel, so that dramatic tension grows chapter by chapter, and yet the reveals are seamlessly integrated with the novel as a whole, nothing is totally surprising, albeit possibly unexpected.

The last interesting novel to go into depth about a brother sister relationship that I can think of is “To Kill a Mockingbird”, also written by a woman.  With billions of boy-girl families all over the globe, there have got to be thousands of untold, rich family sagas.

The plot lines are middle-of-the-road: never too rich, never too poor, successful through hard work.  Also “Ye good works precede thee.”

The theme isn’t quite Dr. House’s, “everybody lies”, rather more, “No one ever tells the whole truth.”

And this is the device she uses to slowly unfold the whole story.  Yes, dialogue is the standard way to explain things in a novel, but she does it in such a natural way.  In many of the scenes, my imagery was of my sister and I holding their many conversations, side by side in cars.  She captured the often, mostly unspoken, yet intimate relationship between brother and sister – a bond that can sometimes transcend all other relationships.

I watched the movie DAVE last night

Last night I watched “Dave”, on Amazon Prime; , a 1993 film with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.

A mean & nasty, philandering President has a fatal stroke while dorking his secretary.  But the plot twist is that a talented stunt double fills in, initially fooling everyone, including his 1^st Lady wife.

The theme then switches to what WE really want in a President: compassion, honesty, transparency, street smarts, concern for the Nation as a whole.

At the end, with Hollywood magic, Dave returns to his Temp Service business; and runs for town council – the now ex 1^st Lady joins his campaign.

Antelope Woman v. White Fang Draft 1 Oct 30

I found it interesting having these two Darwinist expositions, separated by a century, focusing my reading this month, amidst our survivalist experiences

Both books take a look at planetary life from hunter-gatherer perspectives: much Indian lore, much POV from animal eyes.

Each book treats time spans differently: Antelope has specific frames relating to US American Indian history – Fang is timeless, taking memory back to cave-man days, … and nights.

Each push separate themes.  Erdrich espouses mystical, spiritual connections between man and animal, in my opinion, drifting towards Voodoo witchcraft; Fang makes these connections genetically necessary, over a vast expanse of history. 

Each book is colorfully written, using descriptive techniques which, while thoroughly enjoyable and definitely making each author’s efforts prize-winning prose, also evokes the feeling that they are paid by the word.

A clear difference in their prose styles is that Louise tends to be cryptic, whenever she has the chance.  If she can obfuscate a situation, she does, creating as much chaos as she can for the reader, leaving as many possible interpretations of what is happening as there are people connected to the scene.  

Jack London on the other hand is a fledgling scientist, always searching for the easiest solution to explain what is happening.  Occam's razor before we knew what it was [13^th Century].

I would describe “White Fang” as a memoir of Fang’s life and adventures, with an omniscient narrator.  Antelope Woman is a spumoni novel told with a disjointed approach that borders on wacko.

Getting Out Day

Power back on this afternoon. Yeah!

First five things I did:

1.      Picked up and listened to my phone messages

2.     Turned on the computer and read Internet messages

3.      Made a pot of coffee

4.     Called around to assure people I was OK.

5.     Took a hot shower

Then I went shopping at Speer’s

a.)  Replenished cat food supply

b.)  Got some beets, carrots, and grapefruit

c.)   Paid full price for a filet mignon steak

d.)  and a nice bottle of Pinot

e.)  and an array of four deli salads

I would liken the adventure of the past four days,

   to being picked up on a bogus rap by the local police,

   on the Friday night just before a 3-day weekend [S-S-M);

   tossed in a cell – with no recourse until the following

   Tuesday court calendar when I would be and was set free.

 Sitting around with a few books to read, a portable transistor

   radio, a hunk of chicken meat cooked on Friday, that got

   worrisomely older every day I had another hunk; a tiger milk bar;

   plenty of water, but only one glass of wine a day.

I expended almost no energy, so I established my next level down’s

boundary level for weight.  I’d worked hard over the summer to

get down to 170 by my school reunion, and I got to the edge

of that last month when I was varying between 170-174.

My variance the past 2 days has been 166-168.

I don’t see how I could go lower – and anyway this is a fine weight for me.

Autumn Love Affairs

I can think of no one more amorous than my two, medium-sized, red butterflies that have hovered around my serenity garden all summer long.  They are almost inseparable.  Today when the male could not find the female for 30 seconds, he went crazy, and burnt up so much energy in his search that I feared he would die in the struggle.  But then she came from around the corner and they intertwined again in a dance of love.

With the many other things going on in the World, it is peaceful to watch the birds and the bees, enjoying their lives.  In a different day and age, my back garden would suffice for a third-grade class in biology, chemistry and physics, certainly social and political science.  Fairy tales capture many of the lessons, but a recent read of John Steinbeck’s, “Log of the Sea of Cortez”, reminded me of the value of tide-pooling (He cruised to Baja) and of the shared brotherhood (regardless of borders) of the acquisition of knowledge and scientific inquiry.

Where was I? (for the Earthquake)

 The simple, and unpleasant recollection was that I was at IBM in Endicott, and flew home to San Jose, to support a distraught English wife, who had probably, made up her mind, then and there, to never stay in such an unpredictable Country.

The more pleasant memory was of the year before, when I was staying, temporarily with my daughter, in South San Francisco, with her newborn baby, Stephanie.  Many barf-on-me-moments come to mind, as I fed and burped my first grand-daughter.

One thing that sticks, is that Halloween, 1988, when I visited my sister, and FORCED her out of her house, to join me in a walking tour of Willow Glen.

Halloween is a kid’s holiday [aren’t they all?]  I had just returned from a decade in England, where I watched the kids there, take to Halloween like a duck to water.  One of our best USA exports.  My energy at being back in home-Halloween-land was unstoppable, my sister couldn’t resist.

Amazingly, the naiveté of young children was contagious.  She had a great time.  We both did.  That was my most memorable Halloween, ever.

Pattie's New Adventure

On Mon, Oct 14, 2019 at 6:44 PM Peter Andrews <tuesdaypeter@gmail.com> wrote:

All was peaceful and quiet at Pattie's house,

 when Peter went off to a GJ meeting in Santa Rosa

   this afternoon at 2:30.

But before he returned at 6:00,

  Correy had come by and decided to stock the

    fireplace with wood from the backyard pile.

She hadn't been here in a week, and didn't know just how

   fast Pattie had become, and with such a passion to run

     free in the yard.

Before Correy knew it, Pattie was out in the yard,

  and couldn't be enticed to come back;  Correy even tried

    to feed her, but Pattie wasn't having any - she smelled birds.

When I arrived home, I searched high and low for twenty minutes, and given up,

 .  I was getting the LOST CAT sign ready

    when I looked out Pattie's favorite bathroom window

     one more time and saw my neighbor.

"Haven't seen my white kitty, have you?"

"Oh, she's right there, below you & me."

"You mean talking with that great big gray Tom?"

The Tom skulked away, slowly.

"I'll be right there - please keep talking to her"

Even I, had a hard time picking her up, to bring her back.

"We were just talking about things", she said.

I fed her immediately,

  and unfortunately, she ate heartily. *1 [see below]

Correy was long gone - in hiding, I suppose,

   in case I'm mad because I found her out

   or that I'm sad because I didn't find her at all.

All is forgiven, Correy

  This cat has a rising thirst for wide-open spaces,

  and we must all be ever-vigilant for another 10 days.

I've almost lost her out the doors three times this week

  and it's a real fight [tooth & nails], when she gets close.

I'm still frustrated at the clinic's poor coordination after the Doc said

  next week and the admin scheduler said No, two weeks.

*1 Note: She ate her tuna appetizer - licked the plate clean

               Then

                Did not come to Peter with a purring Thank You

                  for rescuing me, finding me, bringing me home,

                 But when straight to bed,

                    perchance to dream?

*2 Note:  Half an hour later, she's back for more.

                    "No more wet food , Pattie, but here are the

                       kibbles you like"

                   She drinks water and eats at the kibbles,

                    at first eyeing me like I'm a hated predator

                     [eyes up - eyes down - at every bite - up - down]

                     finally , she makes a power move,

                      Turns 180 degrees, butt to me, and continues eating,

                        "I DO NOT FEAR YOU  -  I do what I wish".

              and she retires to bed, yet again, by herself.

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

I regretfully chastised one of my fellow book-clubbers here for not sticking with this tome of quasi-memoir.  I foolishly bragged that this mish-mosh of gibberish was post-modern literary style, and would soon clarify, like a sixty-year-old Margaux.  I was dead wrong.

Much more like my neighbor’s backyard red, aging doesn’t improve its taste.  Arundhati Roy apparently did not invest her initial fame and fortune into improving her literary skill, but rather, sowed her wild oats gathering stories from far and wide throughout INDIA.  Nothing wrong with that, she earned the time to search for truth.  I always ask the question, though, why did this author write this book?  A lot of effort to complete authoring a book, but easier after you’ve got a Booker Award.  So, was it for money; rekindling the fame-name; or a story that burned to be written? 

Well, it certainly wasn’t the latter, big story.  I can picture the scene in her publisher’s office.  “George, I’ve made you millions and I need an advance.” Hati, it’s been twenty years – a whole new generation, and they don’t know your name.  What are you working on these days?”  “George, I’ve been writing all along – I have file cabinets full of characters, scenes, scraps of stories.”  “Hati, put it all together, I’ll advance you $1,000 a page.” 

And so, we wound up with 441 pages of the toilet flush from Hati Roy’s commode.  She’s got the potential to be a great author, and certainly the creds to be a good one now.  But that isn’t her life’s goal.  She’s spent the past twenty years pursuing her life’s goal.  She’s done a pretty good job of it.  Hasn’t been killed but hasn’t completed her time on Earth.

Why are WE here?  We’re here to support her crusade for change in INDIA.  To re-supply her with money to continue her good works.  That’s it.

Obviously, the Library management and the Foundation bought into this appeal.

To go into any of the “normal” novel-style analysis, like for instance,

   Do we discuss motive and influences behind?

     “Anjum, who now lives in Delhi in a tin shack she has built”

Is a waste of time because they all disappear,

  Since this is more vignettes of a memoir of Hati’s youth.

Maybe this prose is closer to poetry, a series of pleasant (although sometimes not),

    but comforting phrases   -   that give us hope.

Why Do Female Cats Need Hysterectomies?

Why not tubes tied?

Or IUDs?

Or pills?

Or Why not fix all male cats? Numerous methods.

I take Peppermint Pattie to the nice Vet in Occidental next Wednesday for spaying.

Wiki and the internet avoid the above alternate solutions to unwanted children.

Peter’s Folly – Phase II

I’ve arrived at the mid-point, I guess.  Basic construction is complete, but many of the finer details I will address this winter.  This construction is a cat staircase, nothing more nor less.

The design of the spiral staircase blends well with the raised garden cabinets used for vines in my backyard area.  There are three stair step levels, and then three landings – two for the cat and the highest one is my bedroom/breakfast balcony floor.

That first jump is over 2-1/2 feet and the next almost two feet as well.  Big jumps, even for a cat, but I can always add a small platform.  These platforms are made of soft redwood fencing boards.  Their texture is rough and uneven, perfect for cat-scratching and clawing; also good for helping the climb up the staircase.  There is a flower bed planter box along side the stairs, with a trellis going up one side.

For the cat, step two provides a view of the narrow passage between my house and my neighbor’s.  There’s the cover of the trellis vine to watch the bird feeders along the fence line.

Or, saying goodbye to the neighbor’s house, the cat can jump to level three, which affords the initial view of y backyard.  This is a nice resting spot after having done three big jumps.  A backward reflection on what a climb we have made is shown next, looking down, which people say we should never do.  Nonetheless, it provides perspective.

The steps are necessary in their own right.  It’s not just to get to the landing decks for wonderful cat views of the world.  I’ve always hated cat doors (others come in unwanted).  An I won’t put up with lengthy, midnight arguments about nocturnal freedom.  So, my solution is the deck off my bedroom, which has French doors that I leave open 99% of the time. 

If the raccoons can make it to my bedroom deck, then cats can do so as well.  But I’ve made it easier for them with the stairs, and a lot more pleasant with the two special lounging cat decks/landings.  You can see on the left that the Sun Deck will be a bright and spacious area for enjoying the backyard vista.

Of course, the best view is from the Observation Deck, one more landing up.  It isn’t as roomy as the Sun Deck, which also has rain protection.  Even though cramped, I already know that Peppermint Pattie, the cat in question, loves the views from each of my highest windows: back yard, side yard, and front. 

She is currently awaiting a surgery (of a private nature), and when the healing from that is done [Halloween ?], we will have a grand opening.

2-legged friends are restricted to the very top deck, which is my bedroom balcony.

This construction work has been labelled, “Peter’s Folly”.  Not just because it’s for a 6-month old kitten, but also because the whims of all cats are capricious.  It may never be used, but that is the prime characteristic of “Folly’s”.  The second reason for the “Folly” nomenclature is that while photographing the “contraption” from my normal deck, I was loathe to notice that that there was only a two-foot difference in height between the two decks, across a span of a dozen feet.  I could have laid a 1” X 12” twelve-foot board across the span, which would have allowed the cat to quite happily use the back porch steps and then cross the gulch on the pine board bridge, suitably outfitted with guard rails.

Wonderland IV

One, of two items, that I will comment on to close out Summer 2019 in Monte Rio is today’s Wonderland stage production at Michael Tabib’s Russian River Hall.

This is the third calendar year Rhian Millar & Paul Dubray have done one of their periodic Russian River documentaries.   They locally stage a variety show to exhibit the talents of an “in- focus” River town.  They record the sound for a later broadcast on KRCB radio and edit a video; for I assume, an eventual Russian River documentary – that is Rhian’s profession.

It was a sentimental performance for me today.  Nostalgia for me watching many of my KGGV radio peers participating in a talent review: Damien Olsen co-MC-ing with Paul; Sadie Damascus doing her Laughing Lady schtick; Pat Nolan & Gail King reading poetry. 

This all in a venue 100 meters away, and me sitting in a small section surrounded by luminaries: Dan Fein, Ann Erickson, Cynthia Strecker, Jane Kleimo, and John Schubert.  This was a turnout of Monte Rio’s Who’s Who.

Library Stewardship

Managing your relationship with the community

Posted: 06 Sep 2019 03:28 PM PDT

I've written in many places about one of the key shifts in librarianship. We are moving from being library-centric to being community-centric. This movement is based on two core ideas: first, that libraries will perform better when they understand the environment in which they operate; and second, that true advocacy is about solving problems together, about helping to build an agenda for the community, then helping to get it done. Libraries that make their communities stronger get stronger support from the community.

So how can directors systematically inform themselves about community players and issues in the first year, especially in a new town? (Assistant Directors moving up within the same organization might have a handle on this, or might not.)

I propose a method that can be personal or institutional. Either approach begins the same way: work up a list of community movers and shakers. Who are the influencers in your community? When you're still new to a place, finding that information may seem hard. But a simple exercise, conducted once with staff, once with the board, quickly generates 40-50 names. The exercise is this: as you think about these broad areas of the community, who makes a difference? The categories are in alphabetical order.

§ Business. Who are the main employers, or activists within the business community?

§ Civic. Every community has civic groups like Rotary, Optimists, or the Lions.

§ Education. Who are the prominent leaders--principals, superintendents, communication directors--in the community?

§ Elected. Who are the key elected officials?

§ Faith-based. Who are the leaders of some of the larger or influential churches, synogogues, mosques, or other houses of worship?

§ Government. Who are the non-elected, or appointed officials who get things done?

§ Media. Some of my most enlightening interviews have been with people who do interviews.

§ Non-profit. There are many, many not-for-profit groups, often with deep expertise about various issues.

The second step is to interview them. If done on a personal basis, call them up, at least one a week, with maybe two weeks off in a year. That's at least 50 people a year. Schedule two a week and you can meet 50 people in six months. Introduce yourself and say that you're the new director, and would like to pick their brains about community issues. I recommend having that discussion either in their office, or on neutral ground, like a restaurant. Some directors bring lunch-for-two with them to the interviewee's office. (If being done on an institutional basis, I recommend sending two reference librarians out to conduct an in-depth reference interview at the person's place of business. Obviously, this is more formal.)

What do you talk about with them? These three questions, with probing, will easily get you through an hour lunch:

1.   As you think about your constituencies (and getting clarity about those constituencies is part of the probing), what issues do you think they will be most concerned about over the next 18-24 months?

2.   What decisions do you think your constituents need to make over the next 18-24 months, and what do you wish you knew before those decisions?

3.   Who else should I talk to?

The third step: Make notes. If done on a personal basis, I think it's enough to keep the information in your contact database. What is their contact information (preferred name, email, phone, full titles, etc.)? When did you meet with them (and who paid after you pay the first time)? What did they tell you about their family, or hobbies? What were their answers to your interview? What immediate upcoming project are they working on (that maybe you need to track)? I also recommend calling this out on your calendar: "community interviews (or CI or whatever tag that makes sense to you), with the person's name. Together, contacts and calendar can provide a searchable record of the process.

If done on an institutional basis--as the beginning of a planning process, for instance--this note-taking should take place on a more formal, shared, internal tool: a relational database, a blog, a series of staff debriefs.

Fourth and finally, stay in touch. Depending on the other demands on your time, it's probably wise to book a follow-up meeting, no more than six months from the first, and preferably quarterly. This gives you a chance to report back on your own progress, and to ask follow-up questions. Staying in touch might also be noticing community news that matters to that person. For instance, an interviewee might mention an upcoming fundraiser; after seeing that the event was successful, the director might send a congratulatory email or phone call.

This staying in touch not only keeps you out of the bubble (where you only hear what you already know or believe), it might also lay the groundwork for lifelong friendships.

Taken together, this approach for the first year director accomplishes three purposes:

1.   It builds relationships with the powerful. You will know their name and interests. They will know yours. (Be prepared to share, succinctly, your own personal information and institutional issues. But this is more about listening than talking.)

2.   It orients you to community issues. Most people  do not seek that, and even more rarely, do so systematically. Be forewarned: If you thoughtfully interview 50 movers and shakers, you're liable to become one.

3.   It lays the ground work for significant institutional contributions to the community. There is both an opportunity and a threat here. The opportunity is that you just might find an issue that the library can significantly assist with. The threat is that you might find so many that it's overwhelming. Then the task, institutionally, is to pick a project that not only really helps the community, but deeply aligns with library values, direction, and expertise.

The bottom line is this: public library directors cannot be successful if they don't know their communities. And building a network of contacts and supporters is a shrewd investment of time that might be useful in many circumstances (funding crises, intellectual freedom challenges, or simply identifying potential partners ).