Our longtime friend Steve Lipoma, a woodworking artist who has won awards at the San Diego Fair, came up last week for the first time in six months (along with our good friend Eric Leatherman). He surveyed the remains our old oak tree, and his wheels started spinning on what he could do with some of her remains. He’s renting an apartment in Scripps Ranch, … Continue reading Lemons to lemonade….or a dead tree into works of art

Twenty-five years ago this month, Steve and I were looking to buy a home in the mountains. We found a fixer-upper, old miner’s cabin in Descanso that met our criteria: relatively flat land, fenced yard, large kitchen, garage storage, etc. Yes, it’s a fixer-upper, and we’ve done some work, and still have more to do. But the one thing we both fell in love with … Continue reading Treehugger

There is a poem by Linda Ellis called “The Dash” http://lindaellis.net/the-dash/the-dash-poem-by-linda-ellis/ that resonates with me. Perhaps it is that I spent a good chunk of my most recent vacation in cemeteries visiting the graves and crypts of many dearly departed loved ones. I know it is also because I have reached an age and deeper understanding about my own mortality. It is sooner rather than … Continue reading What are you doing with your Dash?

One of my FB friends, Candy, recently wrote that she raised her heroes. Even though I don’t have kids, I get where she’s coming from. Having worked at SDSU for the past 15 years, the best part of my job, by far, was in meeting young students who overcame hardships, adversity and plain bad luck to rise to the top. My job has allowed me … Continue reading Heroes Come in All Shapes, Sizes and Ages

Recently there was some backlash against two high-profile women executives: Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and Marissa Meyer, CEO of Yahoo. Being very successful women in roles of leadership, they are encouraging all women to push forward and work their butts off to be successful, as they have done. As someone who has been working since I was 17, and someone who has always taken … Continue reading Work to Live or Live to Work

That’s my favorite line in “The Shawshank Redemption.” All of us start the road to death from the day we are born. If you’re lucky, you get 80 years to figure things out. But that’s not guaranteed for any of us. During the past four or five years, we’ve had a lot of death. Most recently it was my 95-year-old uncle, but previous deaths ranged … Continue reading Get Busy Livin’ or Get Busy Dyin’

  SDSU has designated areas for free speech. As a journalism major, I would argue there is nothing greater our Constitution guarantees. But what happens when it turns into harassment? Where do we draw the line? When is it considered hate speech? Case in point: we have this extreme fundamentalist who has been coming to campus since I’ve been there, and maybe years before. He … Continue reading Free Speech: Loving and hating it at the same time

It is now official. After an adult lifetime of working since I was 17 years old, including 15 years at San Diego State, I have put in for retirement from my job at SDSU. That’s a total of 40 years in the workforce. I need a little break. For those of you who are professional contacts/colleagues and may be interested in my current job as … Continue reading Transitions 101