It might be time for a regular column/post. I found inspiration from a speaker (Dave Barry) at the Fox Speaker Series (Redwood City, California). Once a week, on Saturdays, reflecting on the previous week and perhaps looking ahead to the upcoming one. As an experiment, I will commit to this for the next four weeks. Let’s see how it goes.
COVID-19 seems to be abating, but outdoor masking remains somewhat popular in pockets of the San Francisco Bay Area. I saw an individual driving a golf cart on a community college campus avec masque bien sur. Another was running by himself, masked, with no one in proximity. Apparently, pandemic habits are hard to break. In contrast, during a recent trip to Arizona, few masks were to be seen outside of the airport. And, this was before the end of the mask mandate. Suffice it to say that a negative COVID-19 test upon my return was extremely satisfying.
The end of the current school year is quickly approaching. Monday was my last day of law school instruction. I posted the final exam and am looking forward to reading the responses. High school final exams are around the corner. Acceptance letters for the Class of 2026 have arrived, for the most part I believe. I watched an interesting documentary, Try Harder, on Lowell High School, the crown jewel of San Francisco’s public education system. Mind you, I grew up in San Francisco and attended high school (1987-1991) there. I had applied to Lowell and two private schools; thankfully, I was accepted by all three and chose one of the private schools. The state of San Francisco public high schools was somewhat abysmal in 1987. Lowell was the lone shining light, with selective admissions since 1966. It was a pressure cooker back then. It remains so now, I am sure. The high school I attended was a pressure cooker as well. I am first generation, an emigre from the former Soviet Union (Ukraine), arriving in late 1979. Academic success was paramount.
As some know, Lowell’s current freshman class was admitted via lottery, I suppose to the benefit of some and to the detriment of others. Here’s an article on the current state: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/The-fight-over-Lowell-High-School-admission-is-16972784.php The future is probably still up in the air, but, regardless, students are stressed, at least qualitatively more so than we were more than thirty years ago, ancient history, I know. Certainly, it’s more complicated and competitive now. I had applied to three UCs (University of California campuses) and was accepted to each. Unsurprisingly, Stanford said no. Four schools, two applications. Freshman tuition was $2,000. Different world. If you are a self-motivated aspiring lawyer, add four years of pressure-cooker college and three years of pressure-cooker law school. If you aspire to work in a large law firm, add another five to ten years of pressure-cooker billables, super-demanding (and potentially unreasonable) partners and clients, etc. When does it end? It’s a journey. Most likely, your choice of college will not make or break you. Perhaps your choice of school might facilitate landing your first or second job out of college. Beyond that, and certainly when reviewing resumes, it does not matter, at least to me. What you did during that (or any) time and your intellectual curiosity and rigor are far more important. To be clear, you need to do well (in whatever endeavor), and certainly to the best of your ability. But, as intimated above, that’s only part of the picture.
On the subject of intellectual pursuits and activities, our Fiero Book Club met last Sunday to discuss Putin’s World (Stent). Fabulous discussion, cut short only by my free version of Zoom. Time to upgrade. We will be discussing The Castle (Kafka) in May. I promise lighter fare in June.
No hikes, with the next one not until late May (Santa Cruz).
Switching gears, to coffee, of course, I was pleased to pick up another gem from one of my favorite roasters, Liminal Coffee. This one is from Peru. In general, coffee beans are more expensive now compared to a year ago, but still much more reasonable than buying $4 premium drip coffee at my local coffee shop. This bag was $21, good for about a week of coffee. Regrettably, I cannot say the same about the other items at the local farmers’ market. $10, for two oro blancos and two navel oranges. Delicious, yes, but ouch, says the wallet. I understand that vendors need to raise their prices. Somehow, I need to raise mine as well.
Last, but not least, let’s talk about social media. A recent Atlantic article on this topic is excellent: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/
I can still tolerate my Facebook “news”feed; besides, where else can I post my superb canine photography. I have deleted Twitter and LinkedIn from the phone; it may be only a matter of time before I delete both apps from all devices. Practically, if an app is not on my phone, I will not visit it. It’s liberating, to put it mildly. I did discover, recently, the polling function on LinkedIn; one of my favorites was a poll I created where I asked for the best Ted Lasso character (Ted won, barely, over Roy). Besides that, it’s hard to say that I have found much practical use from that platform since joining in 2004. Time to move on, as they say.
Comments welcomed and have a great week.
The Peninsula Hiking Club 