As someone who feels uniquely qualified to comment, let me just say that the “Journalist Wanted ” ad does not rate as good journalism, although it is a good ad. It’s an attempt to persuade you of something that is only partly true.

It is not a job. It is a number of jobs crushed into one desk. You are expected to be an editor, a reporter, a proofreader, a volunteer recruiter, a fact checker, a copy editor, a graphic designer and a diplomat. That’s 8 jobs – oops, sorry, eight jobs, because you also have to write in AP Stylebook. So that’s nine. Oh, AND you ‘re also the editor of the CC News website. Which I’m sure is not just another job added on, but another half a dozen.

The folks who run the News seem to be unable to understand that this is not a job that one person can do – at least, not for any length of time, or without going insane.
Not only is the editor expected to do nine jobs, they get less than a third of a paycheck. Why the owners of Community Media expect to get someone whose skill set can cover all of those requirements for a salary you could earn selling shoes or flipping burgers makes no sense.
The candidate will need to have a supportive spouse, or trust fund, because the money they pay at the News won’t buy lunch. It certainly won’t allow you to pay rent anywhere that you could live in Culver City. Realistically, you need a trust fund, because you will be working 70 or 80 hours a week, and your spouse may get resentful over the fact that they never see you. They might even decide that you are having an affair, because it’s just not believeable that anyone should be expected to put in a 70 hour workweek for that kind of chump change.

So, I offer a round of applause to Scott Bridges for hanging in with it as long as he did. While Gary Kohatsu is the interim editor, the paper is in very capable (but already seriously overworked)  hands. Kohatsu is the editor of the Gardena paper for Community Media, and adding the News and Blue Pacific to his to-do list is just obnoxious. I hope Kohatsu is getting combat pay for this, but I doubt it. The fact that the op-ed piece last week came in from Michigan is a good clue as to how much Culver City news you’ll be seeing in the Culver City News for the duration. Another added highlight is that they will be going into the election cycle with an empty desk, so they will be looking to hire someone in a hurry.

To speculate as to who the next ‘Professor of the Dark Arts’ will be, or to get even more honest, the new drummer for Spinal Tap; it will be someone willing to try, who has about half of the requirements for the desk, who does not live in or know anything about Culver City, and who will quit just as soon as they can find another job.

After I had been fired at the CC News, I ran into Ari Noonan at a school board meeting. He said, “I understand you have joined the ranks of former editors of the Culver City News.” I admitted I had. He smiled at me and said “My dear, there are more of us than there are former Mayors.”

While Ari is not famed for his accuracy, the sentiment was sincere. If that wasn’t statistically true in 2009, we are catching up fast.

That this post went viral should not have surprised me as much as it did. It was a well written, first-person essay about being in an historic situation. When I published “Just a Thought – Parade Dress” in September, I just had a feeling that Occupy was going to be more than a blip on the radar.  I feel that its vital to walk your talk. If you believe in something, you live it.

We began to notice Monday that the server was getting swamped. The site was almost impossible to access for any length of time all week – we kept crashing. When the numbers started to come in, it was jaw-dropping. More than 9,000 visits on Monday. By mid- week it was more than 40,000. Comments went on and on.  There are still more than a hundred comments in the queue, but I’m undecided about publishing more.

Where Patrick and I were equally dismayed was that so many commented on Occupy – the legal details of camping on public property, getting arrested as civil disobedience, and enduring mistreatment at the hands of the LAPD.  Not many picked up the second part of the piece about WHY all this is happening in the first place.

Pulling a quote from Paul Simon’s American Tune “I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered- I don’t have a friend who feels at ease – I don’t have a dream that’s not been shattered or driven to it’s knees.” Here in my small slice of America, I’m surrounded by people who have lost all the money they worked for decades to save. I can’t count the folks I know who are laid-off, working part-time, temping, scraping through.  There is a thick demographic layer of grown children, back home with their college degrees, and no hope of finding a job; not a job in the field they trained for, just any job at all. I know someone who is dealing with the terrifying possibility of being homeless. While all these problems need to be resolved, the system must change or we are just treating the symptoms and not the disease.

As I was walking up Braddock Drive last night,  singing Christmas Carols with my Girl Scouts, I passed a yard that has a tent and a banner up on the fence. “We are the 99% -  Support Occupy.” While the tent seemed uninhabited, it was a potent symbol. The girls did not need an explanation. They were all hip to the movement. Had anyone been living in the tent, we would have serenaded them with “Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer.”

The hits on the site are proof to me that we are all in this. I can’t quite say we are all in this together. My mail was running about 20:1 that Patrick was a hero for standing up for his beliefs and telling the truth, versus the few who though he was a fool or being there in the first place.  The portion of commentators who reviled Patrick for his actions seemed to feel that anyone making an attempt at making the world a better place was an idiot. (I do publish people I disagree with- yep, I do.)

Patrick offered “I’m kinda eager to get back to my regular routine of writing fart jokes, being a husband and dad, and being a UU.  Yes, the past week has been gratifying and humbling and the response from all over has been beyond-unforgettable for me – (20,000 pageviews just from the UK, alone!  10,000 pageviews from Germany!).  At the same time, it’s been a bit overwhelming, and has kinda crowded out the brainspace that I would otherwise devote to my work and my life.”

He added, “I’m sure that I’ll always, in various ways, support the Occupy movement (in whatever form it evolves into), but I don’t want to become its public spokesperson, and I don’t want it to claim a disproportionate chunk of who I am as a person.”

So, as we get into Monday, life will go on, the holidays will arrive, and I hope that we all find more ways to support each other through all the changes we have to face. Occupy your life.

I’m waiting for ( hoped-for)  pictures from Seattle and Portland today as we Occupy the Ports, and I’ve just gotten word that Terminal 5 in Portland is closed by the strikers.

Feel free to forward the link.

It’s going to be a very close race, and while the top three candidates have each put out their best, the bottom two have offered only mistrust, suspicion, and the repetition of misinformation. They are only there to stir up mud. The fact that it’s the very same mud we were given two years ago ought to make it boring, but instead I am filled with awe. Bottom feeders can be remarkable specimens.

Gary Abrams astounds me. While it was reported in the Culver City News that he came in seventh in a field of seven in the last school board race, the fact is that he came in seventh in a field of six; Roger Maxwell had dropped out of the race after his name could be taken off the ballot, and Maxwell got more votes that Abrams did.

Abrams pointed this out at the PTA/LWV forum, when he offered that he “wanted to meet Mr. Rodgers, that guy who beat me in the last election.” He could not even be bothered to learn his opponent’s actual name. At that same forum, Abrams confessed that he could not read the district budget, and then proclaimed it to be full of lies. If you can’t read it, how do you know? It could be full of erotic Lebanese poetry or recipes for a savory pie crust. To say that you don’t understand something and then condemn it is simply to offer your own ignorance.

At the Ask2Know Kids Forum, Abrams completely stunned me by saying that the historical choice for a speaker for the students would be Malcom X. No one could be a bigger example of everything that Abrams is not. I am a huge fan of Malcom in part because he was a man who realized he was ignorant, and he educated himself. All of his success as a speaker and a public figure was because of the time he spent readying and studying. He could have spent his jail time as a hustler instead of an auto-didactic; rather than spend time, he invested it.  Self-education transformed him from a frustrated crook into a cultural leader. We are all the richer for his choice.

So I would ask the Mr. Abrams spend the next two years – if he is planning to run for office again – studying. Learn to read a budget, learn the correct names of the other people in the race, and have something more to offer other than the suspicion that the people in office are not doing what you think they should do.

Or please just sit the next one out.

The other bottom feeder- Robert Zirgulis, seems to be someone who simply refuses to learn. Using the same tactics he has used to lose both the last school board race and the last city council race, Zirgulis is all about smear tactics, finger pointing and catching a ride on someone else’s complaints. His inexplicable love of oil companies hit a new gusher on this round trying to discredit the current school board for not taking an offer from Chevron to put up solar panels, without ever broadcasting the fact that deal would have brought profits only to Chevron, and not to CCUSD. Every major point in Zirgulis’ platform is based on a similar omission.

At the PTA/LWV forum, Zirgulis once again brought up his family’s suffering at the hands of the Third Reich, as he has in every election cycle, but then couldn’t find a reason to support teaching children about sexual orientation and discrimination. Doesn’t prejudice kill people? Does teaching diversity somehow mean we should be tolerant of some kinds of prejudice? That doesn’t fit any logical formula I know.

The great shaming of lawyers in this race brings to mind the famous Shakespeare quote “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” (That’s from Henry VI, Act IV, Scene II- there’s my auto-didactic extra credit for the day. Will Power, baby!) It was such a popular joke a few years ago it wasn’t hard to find someone wearing it on a t-shirt. What most don’t realize is that the character who speaks those words (whose name really is Dick) is a bottom-feeder, a petty thief turned politician, looking to find more ways to get himself dishonestly ahead.

It’s going to be a very close race for the top three. They have great credentials, huge community support, and lots to offer. The nail biter may come down to how many votes are wasted on Abrams and Zirgulis, neither of whom is in any way prepared to work on a team, to create policy or to address the needs of the students.

As I have published previously about all three front runners, I don’t need to add any of that in here. Every concerned voter in Culver City already has their ballot marked- probably many have already mailed them in.

In favor of Mr. Abrams and Mr. Zirgulis, I do have to say that anyone who is willing to put in the time and effort to run for office has enough candlepower to shed some light on something. So, go find a volunteer slot somewhere (Mr. Abrams, I know you have won awards for this – keep on keepin’ on- ) and offer your energy to make a difference in the world. Come up from the mud into the next level of evolution and put your efforts into something that will be helpful. You may find yourself filled, not just with a feeling of connection and accomplishment, but a sense of peace.

This movie is not over, and the suspense continues to build.

The practice of having coffee and questions with the candidates is really small town Culver City at it’s zenith. At each one of these gatherings, there were a dozen or two interested voters who came to ask the candidates about specific issues.  What I noticed – what really annoyed me- was that at all these coffee parties, most of the questions were about information that had been easily and readily available for months if not years. Anyone with just the smallest amount of curiosity could have gone to a school board meeting or called the district. Questions being asked were so simple, it was a bit scary.

What is a charter school ? Who decides what teachers to hire? What factors are involved in creating the budget?  (Gasp – sigh- really? You don’t know?) Well, then I guess it’s good that you are asking now.

I moved from annoyed to understanding when I noticed my mind had wandered back into the rotation of wondering if I should call that guy or text him, and did I lock the back door or take the bread out of the freezer? The reason we are asking these questions in the weeks running up to the election is that the rest of our time is take up with, y’know, life.

Which is why we need coffee. Very strong coffee.

At a modest house in mid-city last Sunday, Scott Zeidman did a great job answering questions, giving details and offering his perspective. With the women getting far more attention, Scott seems to feel that his outstanding record and his incumbency does not offer an easy win. Having seen Scott handle many issues (and many district parents) with aplomb, I can’t imagine not having him on the board.  He has been essential to all the progress the board has made in the last two years, and there has been a lot of it.

At a more luxurious Lindberg Park address, Laura Chardiet offered smart and thoughtful answers to a more demanding and educated group of voters. Questions about permit policy and crowding were asked, and concerns in regard to the financial support of the state were voiced. Former board members interviewed her with intent. Without the benefit of board experience, the candidate still had a secure knowledge of procedure and policy. I’ve never seen Laura confront an agenda or marshal support for a vote,  but there’s not a doubt in my mind that she can do it.

Nancy Goldberg spoke at a pleasant Carlson Park home to voters who seemed to each have a specific complaint, (not really questions, more like gripes-) which she agreed with or demurred. I was not just surprised but shocked at her admission of innocence about things like budgets and policy. With her supporters all talking about how great it would be to have a teacher on the board, we already have two. I know Nancy wants to do the best thing for the community (and I personally think she is a treasure,)  but serving on the school board just is not it.

I want our school board to walk in the door with their pencils sharpened and their notes ready; we have  things to accomplish. Electing someone so that they can get up to speed just isn’t the way to be functional. We’re in mid-crisis with our finances, and there won’t be any let up. Problems need to be resolved now.

Everyone who has a stake in the success of this district- that’s all of you – needs to be able to see what is best for the kids is what is best for the future. Any relay team is only as fast as the slowest runner.

While people are already voting by mail, the election will be taking over all the headlines for another three weeks. While there is still laundry to be done and phone calls to be returned (ok, ctn, just txt,) we can’t get too distracted by life. As Molly Ivins, the late liberal pundit from Texas noted, “Politics is not a sitcom you can decide you don’t much care for.” Attention must be paid.

May I suggest some very strong coffee ?

Part of the culture of vacation is travel, and in that I am equally lucky. There a camp in the San Bernadino Mountains that is our home away from home, and for the last two summers, I have spent every possible moment there. The site is delightful. Six thousand feet up, the trees are tall and green, and the sense of peace that fills me there is unique. This year is a milestone, and De Benneville Pines will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Thursday, July 28. A major feast is planned, and I consider myself fabulously fortunate to be a part of it.( Are you DeB alumni? Feast on Thursday- email Janet James-you should come!)

When I was invited to teach yoga for “Family Camp” last year, it was a life saver. Not my favorite little wintergreen candy, but the one that they toss out as a floater when you are drowning. I was in the 17th month of my 18 month long divorce, and at that point, I had no idea if or when it was ever going to end. My ex-husband’s refusal to move out or negotiate anything had me feeling like a citizen of Stalingrad during the siege. My usually deep resources of mental health and good humor were so spent, I was empty. It was mile 24 of the marathon. The chance to be somewhere else was like manna from heaven. To the mountains, to DeBenneville, to teach yoga? Yes, please.

As a part of the staff, there were meetings to attend, and structures to organize. My dear friend Tom is proud to be considered the honorary ‘mayor of DeBenneville’, and he gave me some sage advice. Tom is always pleased to walk the perimeter of the camp, savoring the energy of the place, and he reminded me to sing. I remembered how to sing. My wonderful Amy, who is the dean in charge of the week, kept us all talking and connecting. I talked, I listened, it felt like a language I had forgotten I was fluent in. The amazing Matthew started us off with the question “How do we create community?” By the end of the week, there was hardly a dry eye in the crowd as we met to say goodbye. To be a part of that was beautiful. I felt like we had been adopted into a new family.

Teaching yoga offered lots of little power surges, when someone would sit next to me at breakfast or stop me walking up the stairs and say “I loved your class! I have not felt this good in ages!” It was healing in ways the word ‘healing’ can hardly describe. Teachers really live for those moments, when students get enthused.

So this week is a kind of homecoming. Where I had gone last year, exhausted and in despair, I get to return in health and happiness. While I have not yet found answers to all of my questions, I have answered enough of them that I can put my pencil down and stare out the window for a bit. Look at the tall pines, listen to the breeze blowing, and and just be.
When we get back, there will be more concerts, more theater and more fun with all of our Culver City friends. I’ll be back with all my regular yoga classes, and in the studio. Writing more, and commenting on life in the city. One of the best parts of traveling is coming home again. To have more than one place to call home, it is glorious in ways the word ‘glorious’ can only begin to reflect.

Summer is my favorite festival; at least until autumn arrives.

It was not just about solar panels. It was about power.
Everyone involved – Todd, Ali, Pat, Kathy, Steve and Patti are all folks who are comfortable with responsibility – or should we say, power- and yet their collective ability to toss a simple pragmatic beach ball around the room was lacking in finesse. Or success.

It put me in mind of another evening at the city council, when a resident, Rich, had come to speak about the choice of trees the city was going to plant on Sepulveda Blvd. While the staff at city hall had presented two different species, Rich felt he had specific knowledge as to why neither of these were appropriate choices. The staff member under whose authority the trees had been chosen, (that would be Sol,) spoke about what factors had been considered. Rich was not satisfied and while decorum was maintained both seemed frustrated, if not totally disgusted.

This one was about trees. Which can obscure the forest.

We are (really, Culver City, you know this) blessed with a population so educated, so talented, so experienced, so very good at what they do, it’s boggling. We have truly amazing volunteers. The people who show up to run the bake sales could write a book, either about baking or sales or both. I would not be surprised if one of them already did. The folks at the fundraiser yard sale have more advanced academic degrees and marketing know-how than the execs running Target. The amount of talent walking around in sneakers on these streets is just mind-blowing. The folks who put their shoulders to the wheel to make things happen deserve to be listened to with more than grimacing impatience.

That does not mean they are always right, or that advice from the floor should automatically trump the work of the paid staff. There are good reasons why the staff has been hired to perform their jobs, and respect should be given to them as well, if not first. There simply needs to be a better balance. When someone with experience, professional background and smarts is there to see that something that concerns the community is being taken care of, that’s important.

I do not offer my applause the people who just complain and don’t address whatever they consider to be the problem with their own efforts. Anyone can accuse, kvetch or just whine, and it accomplishes nothing. (And then they ask for more time to speak – sigh- )

I do include all of our elected officials in the volunteer slot, as they do a heroic amount of work for next to nothing. What we pay our politicos wouldn’t buy lunch in any larger form of government. But anyone with a name-plate and a seat on the dais does not need more microphone time; they have that.

As the financial crisis grinds on, and the people in Sacramento continue to make things worse, we need our volunteers.  Finding 6 billion dollars does not mean that we are saved; it just means we’re only chest deep rather that up to our eyeballs. While we step into another week of financial matters at City Hall, another round of negotiations and cuts at the School Board, it’s a moment to reshape the power play.

The people in our community who step up deserve to be heard. The help that they offer to our understaffed, overworked employees really is more than priceless. That does not give them the right to take over. This is not a game of “Capture the Flag.” But it is about how we play with each other. It is about power.

We elected people to take care of this- making sure that the staff is handling the practical matters, and negotiating the kind of community support that will give us the results we want. But it is also the responsiblity of each individual to add their best, and not fall into blaming and name calling.   This is not an “us versus them” issue. We are all “us.” All of us.

So if we take away all the titles, and just use the names we would use in the sand box, does that make it easier to recognize that we are human?

Solar power for the schools is going forward. Trees will be planted. There will be a filing of the correspondence. With the a bit more patience and a bit more respect on both sides, we can do much more with so much less rancor. Let’s start now. Wanna play ?

At the city council on Feb. 14, another discussion of the prospects for Parcel B went through the same sieve. In asking the council to approve of a “request for proposals” process Redevelopment Agency Director Sol Blumenthal stated “ I don’t think the agency can be accused of acting in haste.” Andy Weissman noted that this was his third decade of looking at the possibilities for the parcel, from his time on the planning commission to his current seat. Ken Kaufman, owner of Rush Street, noted that when he signed his lease in 2007, Parcel B was a part of the enticement of opening downtown, with the promise that something would be built there.

“Do something.”

Both the council and the board have to consider carefully. Beyond the time and money already invested, they need to be able to see how to please as many people as possible while offending or alienating as few as they can. But anything left to constant discussion can’t be resolved, and cannot be built. The time for more information and more input really needs to be over.

Change is a challenge to human nature, and these changes that we ourselves create (as opposed to those we simply accept from the outside) are really daunting. Why? Then we are left with no one to blame but ourselves. In example, the previously approved design for parcel B (dubbed the Red Box) was so disliked, Mehaul O’Leary tore up a picture of it during a previous council session, to much applause, and everyone agreed it was better that that particular monster was not built. (Whew- we almost had a decision and some action.)  Still, the most perfectly located piece of real estate in town, really in all of West Los Angeles, is a temporary parking lot.

The winds of change are blowing at hurricane speeds.

Crossroads received a note this morning from the the school district’s Environmental Sustainability Committee Chair Todd Johnson that the CCUSD just lost out on $220,000 as the solar power incentive is now dropped to another level. The people who got in line ahead of us will be cashing in on that slice.

There are times when it’s prudent to wait, when the thing to do really is to gather more evidence or simply weigh the options. That time is behind us. Now, while we have a school board dealing with the next oncoming financial crisis, now is the time to transfer to sustainable energy and save money. Now, while we have just a few moments before the train arrives the east side of town is changed forever, now is the time to put up a Parcel B building that will accent downtown in a way that works to show Culver City to it’s best advantage.

No more studies, no more meetings, no more surveys or workshops. Whatever we decide to do, the moment has arrived to do it.

Do something. You will be so very glad that you did.

This is about guns, about craziness and about people.

In August of 1976, a crazy man named Cato Wilson decided that doctors were evil, and so he went out and got a gun and shot up a medical clinic. Dr. Clement Greene Martin took bullet from Wilson’s M-1 carbine rifle point blank in the chest and died.

Dr. Martin was my father.

Every time it happens again- a crazy man with a gun opens fire, I feel the same wounds in my own life reopen and bleed a little more. Not only for the victims and the loss but for the insanity that causes someone to go and get a gun, and think that murdering some figure of authority – an elected official, a doctor, a civil rights leader – will somehow solve their problems or ease their pain. Mental illness is painful.

As we talk about the life and death of Dr. King, and we talk about the bloodbath in Tuscon, we are talking about the ease of guns and the difficulty of insanity. We need to know that racial hatred and political vitriol is insanity.

We need to change our culture. We need mental health to be taken at the same level as physical health. If people were as confused and ashamed of cancer as they are of depression and schizophrenia, we would have far less treatment, and a much higher death rate. The death rate from mental illness is not counted only in the number of homicides, but suicides as well.

I had another relative, technically a cousin, but we called him Uncle John. He was so angry, so mistrustful and so paranoid, my siblings and I used to refer to him jokingly as “The Prophet of Doom.” He was not amused. He was given to quoting the Bible in a thundering voice that trembled with rage. We listened to him rant, our arms crossed over our chests, snickering quietly in the way that children do. He kept turning up the volume of his delusions until the night his paranoia became so overwhelming that he cracked up. He was the one who called the police, reasoning that those around him were obviously insane since they would not agree with him. When the cops arrived, it was clear who was crazy, and he was taken away in handcuffs, and admitted to a mental health facility. The darkness that engulfed him was one from which he did not return.

When I published the essay “Gunslingers” last year, a large part of my intent was to remind the community that the beloved and respected Albert Vera had become a crazy man with a gun. The posthumously understood fact that Mr. Vera’s heart problems were preventing adequate oxygen from getting to his brain was a classic example of physical illness begetting mental illness. We know how a lot about how brains work.

I hold great hope for the recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, as she is now breathing on her own, and I know that the brain has many ways to heal. I even hold out hope for the recovery Jared Loughner, but the light there is not as strong. We know a great deal more about the brain than we know about the mind, and he may be damaged beyond repair.

When I hear about someone whose life is over because of a crazy man with a gun, that person is a member of my family. When I hear about someone who has lost all connection to reality, that person is a member of my family.

The hardest news to take was Christina Green, because there are no members of my family that I value more than little girls. When I listened to the President offering her eulogy at the memorial service, I sat down in the middle of my kitchen floor and cried like a kid.

You might have noticed that my father’s middle name was Greene, so the 9 year old who is no longer with us could be a member of my family in more ways than one.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been in his seventies this January. Imagine what his courage and his faith could have done to change the world, if not for a crazy man with a gun. Now imagine what a difference your courage and faith can make in shifting the assumptions in our culture. Mental illness is an illness, just like leukemia or influenza.
If we can get help to those who are suffering, then we may not have to suffer because of it. Make treatment easier to get, make guns harder to find, think of one action you can take right now that will make a difference.

We shall overcome, one day.

It’s been quite a year.

As Culver City Crossroads modestly celebrates its first birthday, I am pleased to look back over my shoulder and see the turf that has been covered. There are 730 posts on this site for your perusal, anytime. We have had new posts up at least five days a week and sometimes six and seven. We have been able to break some very big local stories: the resignation of Mark Scott as city manager, the death of Albert Vera, and the crowning of King Niko as a few examples.

Our contributors have all been stellar. The news, features, columns and events have come from sources throughout the community, and writers like Elizabeth Coombs, Scott Wyant, Gabby Friedenthal, Frances Talbott-White, Chris Ferreira, Mary McGrath and Elisabeth Hebert have all added to our depth and briliance. Photography from Robert Rissman, Joanne Tortorici Luna, Peter Jennings and many others has brightened the site and added a key element to each post. AS the seasons have turned, our real estate advice from Natalie Bergman ended and real estate advice from Heather Coombs-Perez began. My most luminous gratitude goes to Katie Malich and Bob Eklund, who have been with us since the start, and have never missed a deadline, or even needed a reminder. With such good food and so many beautiful things in the heavens to admire, stellar is the perfect adjective.

Our sponsors, who have been so supportive, have often been pleased and surprised at the audience we reach on a daily basis. While we offer support for the things that make our community what it is – the Culver City Education Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Culver City Julian Dixon Library, the Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, the Downtown Business Association, and the Mamie Clayton Museum and Library, to cite a few examples – our definition of community is still growing.

When I run into people who ask, “How’s the blog?” I tell them, “Great, but it’s not a blog. It’s a newsmagazine.” Still, I find that term to be too clunky and a poor definition. While I don’t want to run a “newspaper” or even a “magazine” in the 20th Century sense of the word, just calling it a website is so bland it’s flavorless. Like adjusting the seasoning in a soup, it’s just not quite there yet. Good, but we want great.

When I began, I was going to call it Culver City Cornucopia, but my excellent webmaster, Eric Gerds, (without whom all of this would be much, much more difficult, if not utterly impossible – oceans of gratitude to Eric-) gently pointed out to me that I was possibly the only person he knew who could spell the word cornucopia. “Let’s make it easy to find,” he suggested “and we’ll get a lot more readers.”

We have readers. That is the object of the game, and whenever I check the stats, I feel like we are winning. Still, we are at a distinct crossroads between the 20th and 21st century. When I bump in to someone at the grocery store and they give me an earful of what they thought about a post, I always ask them to write. “It’s super-easy. Just click on the comment box. I would love to have what you just said in print.” Well, they may be reluctant, or just shy, but I intuitively feel that they just are not comfortable with the speed of the technology. Letters to the editor are supposed to take hours to write, and rewrite and edit. Just popping a sentence into a box and clicking – no, they would rather tell me about it at the library. So I encourage all the readers, don’t just share it with me, share it with everyone. The 20th Century is not coming back. (More good news!)

I started this project in a moment that can only be described as bleak. After 11 months as the editor of the Culver City News, at 10:30 a.m. I was told that I was fired and I given 20 minutes to clean out my desk. At 1:30 p.m. I was sitting with my laptop, setting sail under a new masthead. The next morning, I got up and taught yoga. Life moved forward.

Still, Culver City Crossroads has a way to go to reach our ideals. A few examples of success stand out in my mind, but none so clearly as Baby Colin. When we asked for some help for a little boy who had been relocated without so much as a box of diapers, help poured in. The awesome Culver City Moms Club gave clothes, toys, and of course, diapers. As of this writing, Colin is doing great, “growing like a weed in the sunshine” according to his family, all of who are grateful to Culver City for the generosity and the love.

At the other end of the road, the death of Albert Vera was a huge event for the whole community, and many of those who wrote in had memories to share. We were glad to provide a place to share them. While Vera is gone, his influences are still felt in the community, and there will undoubtedly be more news on that next year.

In the 20th Century, a newsmagazine would simply publish facts (this happened, that happened) perhaps a few columns of opinion (here’s what I think about what happened.) The idea here is to give people a place to connect, to find out what is going on in the community and what they can do to make a difference. Make it happen. Healthy School Lunches by Maggie Memmott Walsh is one example of how to do just that.

We have a good community, and the way to keep it good is to keep it growing. We want your words, your photos, your videos and your comments. We want you to feel impelled to get involved. We will keep changing until we find a flavor that’s perfect.

We also need your support. While the Google ads are cool and fun, we would like all the advertising to reflect local businesses. We do get donations from readers, but only a small percentage of our audience has contributed. While we are considering delivering to your in-box on a subscription basis, we don’t want to limit readers to those who subscribe. For now, we will stay on the honor system. This is an issue that is changing throughout our culture, and as the 21st Century decides how it will support online content, we invite Culver City to be in the vanguard. Like the Bike and Walk master plan, like the AVPA,
we can give the world a great example – local news getting local support. For all of our other local media that have corporate backing, community support is just frosting. For us, it’s the whole cake.

So, happy birthday to Crossroads. It’s been quite a year.  Now we have 731 posts.

What a wonderful world.

photo from JT Luna

Just when I thought Ballona Creek was going to bust out of her concrete bed, the Goddess Iris showed up in her finest. While many parts of LA County are still deluged (and the rain has begun again in the darkness) this was a fine way to end the afternoon in Culver City.

If you listen very closely, you can hear Judy Garland saying “A place where there isn’t any trouble…Is there such a place, Toto? “  (Editor’s note- this ain’t it, but we love our myths and our movies.) Stay warm and dry.