Just a thought by Judith Martin-Straw
Just a Thought- Crime Scene Part 2
I’ve survived a number of crimes. The idea that once the event is over, it can all be filed way doesn’t take human nature into account. I’m happy to identify as a survivor rather than a victim, but that’s learned behavior. Every few years it seems I get to learn it again. Everyone feels afraid sometimes. After the night of the helicopter, it has taken me a little a little longer, [...]
Just a Thought- Crime Scene
Do you ever get that feeling when you know someone is watching you, and you can‘t see anyone there? It’s fun to do the news, but it’s not always fun to be the news. Not since the morning I woke up to discover a broken water main had turned my street into a lake have I felt so odd about reporting on my own adventures. Since the alleged suspect (see, I’ve learned to speak police) has [...]
Just A Thought – Power/Play
There was a tense moment a few months ago at a school board meeting, when the discussion of placing solar panels on the school grounds got very heated. The head of the sustainability committee, Todd, was trying not to show how exasperated he was with the assistant superintendent of business service, Ali, over the lack of progress. Several members of the school board (Pat, Kathy, Steve) added in [...]
Just a Thought- It’s Not About the Benjamins
I was once listening to an interview with author Michael Crichton, and he was speaking about the arc of his success. To go from being a medical student living on a thin margin, to being a successful doctor, to being a very successful author had taken him from dealing with daily scarcity to living in opulent abundance. “The difference between not having enough and having enough is huge,” he [...]
Just a Thought – Do Something !
At the school board meeting on Feb. 8, the discussion of capital projects came up late in the evening, after an already emotional agenda. Proponents of the new sports complex, advocates of the needed renovations at the Robert Frost Theater, and parents passionate about solar power all spoke to the board. Seasoned community activist Alan Elmont framed it this way; “You are the third school board [...]
Just a Thought – For Hope, Health and Healing
Once again, we are commemorating the life of an American leader, whose great work was ended by a crazy man with a gun. Once again, as everyone knows, last week a crazy man with a gun opened fire at a political event and killed people. 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 [...]
Just a Thought – What a Wonderful World
Last week, I went to look out my front door to survey for storm damage, and I was met by a huge double rainbow arched over the wet street. This kind of thing keeps happening. In the moment when I expect things to be difficult, they unexpectedly show themselves to be wonderful. It’s been quite a year. As Culver City Crossroads modestly celebrates its first birthday, I am pleased to look [...]
Another Good Thing Happens
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, [...]
Just A Thought – Drug Problem
Just because I am writing about news in Culver City does not mean it’s a good thing that so much of it happens in my neighborhood. When I woke up a few weeks ago to find that I had a lake lapping at my front lawn that was surprising, but both the Public Works department and the water company were fast and efficient in taking care of the mess. The drug dealer in my neighborhood is not really [...]
Just a Thought – Curtis Massey, Karen Bass and Lenny Bruce
At the City Council meeting last Monday night on Nov. 22, there was a moment so absurd that it was farce. I realized it was farce when I saw that everyone involved was taking it so seriously. Think about this - if you were killed in an amusement park, would you want a roller coaster named after you? For the last two years, Culver City has revisited the death of Police Lt. Curtis Massey [...]
