Boundaries

This is the couch at the AirBnB we are staying at in San Jose. We have to pick the one with banana couch right?We are going a day earlier as we are nervous about winter storms plus the air fare was way cheaper on the day before. It is in a safe neighborhood and one fifth the cost of the room we

will be staying at on the official tour. Plus breakfast is included

On the Berkeley-Oakland CA border, there are two signs. On the Berkeley side:

Here

On the Oakland side:

There

There is a famous Gertrude Stein quote which is being used quite often these days describing several current situations

:

There is no there there

What was she talking about? I have had a history of puzzling over what Stein was trying to say starting with the awful to me To the Lighthouse. But here she is referring to visiting her childhood home in Oakland CA only to find it razed and repurposed as a parking lot or something.

So the sign makers thought it would be funny to put a 'there' in Oakland. So now there is a there there.

Another boundary: racism. I recently referred to the Jewish people (apparently the 'correct' terminology) as The Jews. I meant absolutely nothing negative about this but I was called out. Although I am not Jewish, these ARE my people. I was a tad annoyed at the time but dismissed it as there is no pleasing certain people who want to see me in a negative light no matter what I do. Imagine my surprise the other night listening to my favorite This American Life podcast in which the host Ira Glass admits to being called out for the same sin. And for the record, he is a "Jewish person". He too was surprised as he has lived on this earth for more than fifty years using the same term not knowing that some think it's a pejorative. As he said "I didn't get the memo".

The podcast itself was on the troubling use of language. Basically you can never please all the people all the time. A sex educator found herself referring to people as the penis owner and the vagina owner as some 'males' don't have a penis.

What to do in the doldrums of winter? Still too much snow to trudge around outside though by tomorrow maybe it will be packed down enough to run on top of it. On Sunday night, it was Naomi's turn to drive 130 miles in a blizzard to retrieve her daughter. I was so nervous for her. Lots of accidents that night. I was out too but far from the freeways. My car has this helpful light to tell me when I am in a skid, as if it was not obvious. In my mind, I have a list of things to do now that I can't get to in the summer: do genealogy, organize those photos, organize the kitchen once and for all Just can't get started. What I really need to do is sign up for Medicare (should be easy) and then choose a Medigap program. Steve did a lot of the homework already but I am not sure his choice will be best for me. I have a big pile of plans stacking up. Apparently my birthday is no secret to marketers.