Winning Warriors Playoff Ticket: Not a April Fool's Day

In the afternoon of March 31, I received a flurry of emails from the office of City Manager and Human Resources (HR), talking about the lottery for tickets to go to the Warriors Playoff game the following evening. I did not pay too much attention, since they were mostly addressed to all users, until our Director Christopher came down to our office to congratulate me on winning a ticket plus two guests. 

The curtain of a full drama was thus lifted. After sharing the good news with Paul, I confirmed with HR about my intention of going, and listed my preferred email address and cellphone number. As instructed, I would receive an eTicket soon. If not receiving it by 5:00 pm the next day, I should email a designated email address for assistance. 

The next came quickly, but without any trace of the ticket. Since we had invited Jim to a pre-game pizza dinner, and game as a second guest, it was my responsibility to secure a definitive answer by 5:00 pm. In the face of a total silence from the authoritative source, I started to bug people for follow-up details. I started by emailing my other two fellow winners, and managed to wangle a name and address for a personal contact. The contact promised that in the next hour, we would receive our tickets, but without avail. A quarter before 5:00 pm, I finally emailed HR. As if to preempt winners' due anxiety, the HR manager sent out messages stating that the tickets would duly arrive in each one's account before the game at 7:00 pm. She and her department were working frantically and closely with Ticketmaster.

At Woodstock Pizza, I wolfed down my three pieces, while my eyes were gluing to my phone for any glimmer of news. At 6:19 pm, a confirmation email finally came. Three admission tickets were indeed in Paul's Messages. Without further ado, the guys happily gobbled their last bite of pizza and the rest of their beers. We three left Woodstock to go straight to Kaiser Permanent Arena in the rain and under a rainbow. At 6:38 pm, the arena was half full. We were inspected at the entrance, but immediately rewarded with our long-lusted-after t-shirts and a portrait of the Santa Cruz Warriors. Our seats in D-section were decent, according to Jim, a seasoned Warrior fan and loyal attender of games. 

Paul and Jim with new shirts and portrait

At 7:00 pm sharp, the game began with the national anthem. It was a solemn moment with everyone standing up towards the American flag. I have seen similar occasions before on TV, but not in person. This is the second time I had been to a sports event. It was decades ago when Nick bought us tickets to go to a football game between Cal and Stanford in Berkeley. The first game was lost to the guest team, even though there were many highlights of catching up and even scoring ahead ten points and more. 

Scoreboard shows a close match

It was the City's plan to fill the arena with spectators, so as to render support to the first Warriors playoff game against the Valley Suns. The City was certainly not disappointed in its plan. As warned beforehand by our courier drive Jon, the arena was filled with deafening sound and noise from many a sturdy man or woman fan. An extra heavy set man behind our row was thumping and shaking the whole section at the slightest provocation, while his young daughter was constantly shrill with her high-pitched cry for "Defense."

There were many professional Warrior fans. In front of our row, sat three families with a dozen kids, all of similar age. They started by constantly buying snacks, drinks, and memorabilia, but recouped their expenses by catching all freebies thrown in our direction. At the height of 6'6" or more, one of the three men netted all freebies without a miss with his extra long arms waving all directions. It was quite a rare skill.

We left a little before 9:00 pm under the crescent of a new moon, ending two exciting days after winning the ticket. The experience was real, definitely not a April Fool's Day joke!

Myself with our favorite mascot

We Have Got Visas

For two weeks in a row (February 26 and March 3), Paul and I went to the Chinese Consulate located at Laguna and Geary in San Francisco, to apply for our visas to China. We are going to attend the 50th Anniversary Reunion of our Foreign Language Training Class. 

It is no easy task to get the visa yourself. You have to have your most recent visa photos properly taken by a professional service like Bay Photo, fill in the application online, go to the consulate in person to submit your passports, and finally return to the consulate to get back your passports after paying $140 visa processing fee, if your visa is approved. Thanks to Paul's wealth of experience and famed time management, we did everything strictly according to the schedule. To eliminate any hassels in street parking, Paul had even consulted ChatGPT to find the closest garage, namely, Japan Center Garage at 1737 Post Street. Leaving home no later than 6:00 a.m., we managed to arrive at the destination and secure our position in the front middle line that inevitably meandered around the corner to Eddy Street, when the consulate was open for business at 9:30 a.m.

The long journey to obtain our visas is not without its glimmers of joy. Thanks also to Paul's vigilant supervision, Tesla Y drove us tirelessly and safely twice from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, and then from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, right before noontime. It then sat on the driveway, sipping electricity quietly after 9:00 p.m. The other unforgettable moment was when Paul saw the M letter in the entry category. After a closer look, we saw that the visa expiration date as February 3, 2035. It seems that we were granted multiple entries for 10 years! Without further ado, Paul strode to Window One to double-check and received the due confirmation. Wish the staff could inform us of this extraordinarily good news when we had been there to receive our visas. Oh well, maybe it is always better to find out things yourself.

With one month to go before our departure, both Paul and I have loads of work ahead to complete and plan. But we have got our visas!

Name Changes for Gulf of Mexico & Mount Denali

Per my manager's suggestion, I summarized a recent event and posted the summary on Around the Water Cooler, a posting board on our intranet. Below is the full content.

Background

In January 20, 2025, U.S. president Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14172. To respond, the Library of Congress (LC) published LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SUBJECT HEADINGS TENTATIVE MONTHLY LIST 12 LCSH 2 (February 13, 2025). The two proposed geographic names changes are Gulf of Mexico, and Mount Denali. Heated debates and responses have appeared in AUTOCAT, an international electronic discussion list devoted to the cataloging and authority control community. We at CMS have selected a few representative responses and resources for your reference. Thank you.

Deadlines for Public Comments: 2/18/2025

Proposed LCSH change from Mexico, Gulf of to America, Gulf of. Comments are due TODAY. Send all comments on this list to the Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division - Email: listcomments@loc.gov by Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

Proposed LCSH change from Denali, Mount (Alaska) to McKinley, Mount (Alaska). Comments are due TODAY. Send all comments on this list to the Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division - Email: listcomments@loc.gov by Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

Response from PTCP (Policy, Training & Cooperative Programs Division, LC): 2/19/2025

PTCP acknowledges the communications that the Library has received in response to tentative monthly list 12 LCSH 2 (list 2412a). The Library of Congress defers to the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) for place names contained within our controlled vocabularies and classification. For more information, please see our Subject Headings Manual sheet H 690 Formulating Geographic Headings [https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeSHM/H0690.pdf] and visit the BGN webpage [https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names]

Judith P. Cannan

Chief, Policy, Training & Cooperative Programs Division

ABA Directorate, LCSG

Library of Congress, Washington D.C. 20540

Response from SAC (Subject Analysis Committee, American Library Association): 2/20/2025

To: Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division (PTCP), Library of Congress

We are writing to express our strong opposition to the proposed name changes of Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali on Tentative Monthly List 12 LCSH 2 (February 13, 2025), as well as the manner in which this list has been shared to the cataloging community.

The changes are not based on literary warrant, but political concerns. One of the names, Gulf of America, is less than a month old at time of proposal, while the previous name has been in use for centuries. The abrupt creation and implementation of this name change, as well as the unclear nature of its scope create uncertainty for catalogers applying geographic terms. The one-to-one name change is also inaccurate, as Executive Order 14172 states that name is meant to refer to “the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba,” which is not the extent of the Gulf of Mexico.

The name Mount Denali has been used by Indigenous communities for centuries. Changing the name to Mount McKinley contradicts the “nothing about us without us” policy adopted by the Library of Congress respecting Indigenous peoples and place names. According to the Library of Congress’s Interim guidelines for Indigenous heading proposals, “the Library’s guiding principle is to ensure consultation with the described community” to ensure that “the name chosen for [a] heading is the name preferred by the group of people themselves.” As reported by the Guardian, Indigenous Alaskans are dismayed by Trump's renaming and were opposed to the change according to Native News Online.

The change also comes as a departure from Library of Congress precedent in not recognizing politically-motivated geographic name changes, such as “Biafra, Bight of” (instead of “Bonny, Bight of”). The extensive number of geographical names on the list only serve to show the extent of the issue with changing the heading, both in terms of common use and clarity of scope. This change will have negative impacts on our catalogs and create problems for library users, particularly in libraries that do not have the staffing or ability to implement local changes.

Furthermore, it is extraordinary for a change to be made this quickly, with one of the citations in the change proposal dated the day the list was circulated, and that being the only day that comments will be received on this portion of the list. This goes against the considered nature of the way changes and additions should be made in a widely shared controlled vocabulary, particularly one that is used internationally. The short time frame precludes consultation or comment both from international bodies such as the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN), and from non-United States based institutions which use LCSH and where no executive order has been issued to change these well-known geographic locations.

The changes proposed on Tentative List 2412a are not motivated by, nor do they provide, improved accuracy, accessibility or discoverability for library patrons, either within the US or in libraries worldwide. As a group interested in the improvement of subject analysis, we oppose the implementation of these changes.

Sincerely,

Subject Analysis Committee of the American Library Association

Additional Resources 

Executive Order 14172—Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DCPD-202500139/pdf/DCPD-202500139.pdf 

Gulf of Mexico

https://www.britannica.com/place/Gulf-of-Mexico-Gulf-of-America 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico

Mount Denali

https://www.britannica.com/place/Denali

Denali - Wikipedia

A Report to Santa Cruz Public Libraries' LJPA Board

The following is a report to be delivered at the Library Joint Powers Authority (LJPA) Board meeting on 6 February 2025 at Aptos Branch Library.

***************************

STAFF REPORT

DATE:              February 6, 2025

TO:              Library Joint Powers Authority Board

FROM:             Christopher Platt, Library Director 

RE:                  Bulletin Publication

...

BACKGROUND

A staff librarian here at Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL), Hui-Lan Titangos, has authored two articles published by the California State Library Foundation (CSLF) that we would like to highlight. Her latest article has been printed as a four-part series in the Bulletin, a CSLF quarterly publication. Hui-Lan has also authored a special edition entitled Harriet G. Eddy and California County Libraries. The Library would like to congratulate Hui-Lan on her professional accomplishments as well as announce them to the Board and the community. These publications can be found at the Library for a further reading.

DISCUSSION

After reading this very article on Laura Steffens Suggett, a friend of ours observed, “We all grew up taking libraries for granted, but of course there’s a lot of history to learn about how they were developed out here in the west.”[i] Interestingly, her comment is a perfect entrée into the story of Laura.

At the turn of the 20^th century, libraries in California were at a critical crossroads. Unlike today, the California State Library (CSL) was a closed entity, serving exclusively state legislators and officials; a handful of tax-supported town/city libraries were in their infancy, barely able to support themselves fiscally or geographically. There were more people living outside the city/town boundary than within. It was not until the ninth State Librarian James L. Gillis (1857-1917) took the office in 1899 when fundamental changes started to take place in California. He modernized the CSL by opening it to all Californians, hiring professional staff, correcting the prevalent nepotism, and establishing library schools. Moreover, he unified a supermajority of new public libraries to the county library system, so as to create a far more financially sustainable model surviving and thriving up to now in the state of California. Despite his untimely death in October 1917, Gillis succeeded in modernizing and developing California libraries, in large part due to his two able assistants, Laura Steffens Suggett (1874-1946), and Harriet G. Eddy (1876-1966) who assisted him in implementing the county library system.

As Second Assistant State Librarian, Laura is one of the most important pioneers in the history of California libraries. She was Gillis’s very first hire in 1902. After graduating from Stanford University and four years’ graduate study in Germany, Laura helped him to transform the CSL into a true leader of all California libraries, and assisted him in planning and launching the California county library system. As head of the Extension Department, she led a series of library experiments to reach out to underserved residents through her four divisions, Traveling Libraries, Study Club, Public Libraries, and Books for the Blind. In addition, she created California’s first union catalog that enabled the beginning of interlibrary (ILL) service in the state. Today, we can still trace her resulting work when using WorldShare of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), or Link+ in California.

To celebrate their lives and achievements for the first time in history, two biographical projects came into being. They are A bright Star over the California State Library: the Life and Work of Laura Steffens Suggett (published in four parts in 2024 Bulletin, #141 through #144), and Harriet G. Eddy and California County Libraries: a New Interpretation (published as 2021 Special Edition). The projects are made possible through collaboration between publisher CSLF, and author Hui-Lan Titangos, a librarian at SCPL.

We hope that you will enjoy our biographical projects. We also hope that more projects will be added to the list, so that we can remember the past, savor the present, and plan for a better and brighter future. 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________

[1] Bone, Deborah. Laura Steffens Suggett. Email; Sun, 5 January 2025, 10:50 PM

 Report Prepared by: Hui-Lan Titangos, Librarian II

 Reviewed and Forwarded by: Christopher Platt, Library Director

Chasing the Green Sun

Congratulations to Paul who has won his second Photo Contest in GT!

Courtesy of Good Time, 5 February 2025

Paul and I are opposites in many ways. For one thing, he thinks in graphics while I think in words. He is a very determined guy, seldom giving up on his hopes and dreams, while I am easily distracted, often giving in to setbacks.

January 4, 2025, Paul and I went to the Lake Moran Beach for the sunset. Perhaps it was because of the New Year, there were clusters of visitors at our usual perch. A lady squeezed in between Paul and another man with a serious camera. Just as the sun started to dip into the horizon, I heard her asking Paul if he had ever seen a green flash at sunset. Paul shook his head and told her that he had only seen a green cast in the sky after the sunset in his hometown Ohio back in the late 60's.

"No, no," the lady explained. The green she referred to was a flash of green right as the sun dropped under the horizon. In her lifetime, she witnessed it twice, once in Santa Cruz and another time in Oregon. Paul found her experience interesting, even though he had never heard of it. He was unusually quiet on our way back to the Pleasure Point, and then the Hook. The fascinating story apparently was rooted in his head. 

The very next day, Sunday the 5th, we went to Seacliff State Beach for a late stroll and managed to see another sunset. All of a sudden, Paul excitedly told me that he had seen the green flash. As the sun began to make the final slip below the horizon and disappeared into the ocean, he began to back off on his telephoto and used a slightly wider shot. Just as the sun was about to disappear altogether, he saw some green beginning to appear. He kept shooting until the green grew to a large emerald green bright flash in the previous sunspot for a second or two. With a dim blue puff, all was gone. 

Right next to him, I managed to miss the rare green opportunity, due to a untimely distraction to practice panorama shots. Paul contributed this moment to his dumb luck, but I am more inclined to think of it as being a sharpened goal for a new discovery right after his conversation with the lady the day before on Moran Beach. "Fortune favors the prepared," as the old saying goes. It has been proven that it is extremely rare to witness the green flash, it is rarer to have caught it on camera!

According to Paul, "The Green Flash is a phenomenon that sometimes occurs just after sunset or right before sunrise. It happens when the sun is almost entirely below the horizon, and for a brief moment, the upper rim of the sun appears green. This is caused by the refraction of sunlight through the Earth's atmosphere, which disperses the light and makes the green part of the spectrum visible. As the sun sets, the sunlight refracts from red, orange, yellow and then to green, progressing through the "ROYGBIV" colors. It is extremely rare and usually only lasts a couple of seconds. Here, in the last frame you can also dimly see a bit of blue spectrum."

The following is a video produced by Paul Titangos from his series of photos.

Photography by Paul Titangos, 5 January 2025, Seascape State Beach, Santa Cruz, CA

My Friend Ye Zhou

Last week, I was notified via WeChat friends that my former colleague Ye Xinyao, also known as 叶周 (Ye Zhou) in the Chinese literary circle, died of a heart attack on November 28, 2024 in Anhui Province, China. He was 66. 

Through social media, I read that shortly after his retirement, Ye returned to Shanghai, China in early November, to reunite with his former colleagues and friends. He then went on to Anhui to visit the hometown of his father who had killed himself by jumping from a high-rise building on August 2, 1966. As Vice President of the Shanghai Arts and Writers Union, and deputy head of  the Shanghai Film Studio, Ye Yiqun (叶以群) was driven to suicide by unbearable political persecutions and pressures in the turbulent Cultural Revolution. Little did one anticipate, a father's birthplace became a son's final resting place.

Upon my graduation from Fudan University in 1982, I started to work for the editorial departments of film journals under the joint auspice of Shanghai Arts and Writers, and Shanghai Film Bureau. Under the same roof, there were two separate periodicals, Dianying Xinzuo (New Screenplays for Chinese films), and Screen International. A year after me, Ye joined us. He was an editor for the former, while I was for the latter. From then to the end of 1988 when I left the department for Santa Cruz, California, I always remembered him as a quiet but upright colleague. I more or less contributed his reserved personality to the shadow of his father's premature death.

Soon after starting my Certificate program in Theater Arts at University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), I was told that Ye came to the States as well. He entered the Film and TV Department at San Francisco State University (SFSU). After the completion of my program at UCSC, I was accepted by the same department in the spring of 1990. Ye and I helped each other by sharing writing materials, and exchanging ideas and experience. As the months went by, I found it harder and harder to commute from Palo Alto to San Francisco. I decided to discontinue my study at SFSU, but to concentrate on working and saving for my library program in the fall at Berkeley. 

Once in the Great Bay Area, Ye and I should be closer distance-wise from San Francisco to Berkeley either by BART or car. As Ye was extremely reticent by nature, I knew preciously little about his personal life, or professional work. Moreover, I was insanely busy pursuing my library degrees, research work, and eventually job-hunting. I learned indirectly that his wife came to join him. They soon had a daughter, Andrea. Together they now lived in an apartment in Burlingame. He found a job at a local TV station after his graduation. 

In June 1996, I left Berkeley for Santa Cruz to join Paul. Towards the end of that year, Ye called me. He and his family had some time to share, and planned to have a holiday season in Santa Cruz. As we had accepted Lew's invitation to spend our Christmas and New Year in Puerto Vallarta, the proposed reunion did not pan out. As usual, I kept in touch with Ye and his family by sending Christmas cards. One day out of the blue, Ye's wife told me by phone that Ye was leaving for China, but she and her daughter decided to stay, now that she was a qualified accountant and felt comfortable living in this country. Since the call, the whole family had disappeared from our life until I saw his group photos last September when Mr. Fan and his wife visited him and another former colleague of ours in Los Angeles. Personally, I always felt responsible for not being able to get together that eventful 1996 Christmas. Things might have turned out differently if our schedules did not collide, and two families had met. 

Following his passing, Chinese media on both side of the Pacific have explored his life. He turned out to be a prolific writer, critic, and TV producer. His literary career peaked since 2017, leaving behind an impressive legacy of published fiction, nonfiction, collections of essays and articles, and media productions curated partly by OCLC, an international bibliographic utility. He was equally well-known among Chinese writers in Southern California and China by holding the title of Honorary President of Chinese Writers Association of America (CWAA) in Los Angeles.

Ye, quiet but with an inner volcano for literary creations, will be missed. He lived a short but prolific life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY BY YE ZHOU

Fiction (长篇小说)

《旧金山的雾》(2022)

《美国爱情》

《丁香公寓》(2014)

Nonfiction (长篇非虚构)

《世纪波澜中的文化记忆》

Essays (散文集)

《文脉传承的践行者 : 叶以群百年诞辰纪念文集》(2011)

《地老天荒》(2013)

《巴黎盛宴 : 城市历史中的爱情》(2015)

《伸展的文学地图》(2020)

Alverda Left Her Heart at Davenport

Yesterday afternoon, a call came in, while I was writing a memorial piece for my former colleague Ye. It was from Luisa, Alverda Orlando's twin daughter. My heart instinctively sank on hearing her voice. I was going to swing by Alverda's apartment to deliver some chocolate, on my way to Ann's home to return her shirt. As there were lots of errands to take care of before Nick arrived, I had to stay home.

Alverda Orlando passed peacefully away at 4:00 am, December 14, 2024 at Brookdale Nursing Home located at #100 Lockwood Lane. The cause of death is pneumonia complications. She was 94.

I knew Alverda when I started to work as an extra help librarian for Santa Clara County Libraries (SCCL) in May 1996. I was relocating from Berkeley to Santa Cruz. Since the opportunity for a full-time position was scarce then, I applied to both SCCL and San Jose State University for temporary and part time jobs. Alverda, retired from Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL), was one of the four fellow trainees at Cupertino Library of SCCL. Upon the completion of two weeks' training, we could be qualified to start our service for elected branch libraries. 

One day after the training in the parking lot of Cupertino, Paul asked Alverda if she could give me a ride to Santa Cruz the next day, for I had not driven solo over Highway 17. Alverda readily agreed. That was the beginning of our nearly three decades' friendship. In the ensuing months and years, we carpooled over the hill whenever we could until I started my employment with DIALOG Corp. in July 1997. 

During those unstable but carefree years, our friendship flourished beyond carpooling. I learned tremendously from her, such as her professional reference skills in a public library setting, her research on Davenport and north coast areas, many colorful anecdotes in and outside SCPL, and her keen interest in library history. She was a rare specimen among public librarians, well-read and well-published. She researched, wrote and published well into her nineties, winning many prestige awards and grants, such as the Distinguished Historian of 2001 by History Forum of MAH, 2007 and 2017 Dolkas-Mertz Award, and the 2011 James Dolkas Memorial Fund.

Alverda was warm and generous to a fault. In 2000, she took in Nick to live with her for more than three weeks, when Paul and I visited my sick father in Shanghai, China. Since I started to work for SCPL, She, Nick, and I met regularly for our Friday dinner. After Nick left for college, she suggested that we add Donna and later Pam to our dinner table. Our Friday monthly dinners lasted until Covid-19. Over those dinners, we exchanged our ideas and achievements. With her wealth of experience and knowledge, we three learned and were benefited accordingly. Alverda has forever been our calming and solid rock anchoring our respective lives and challenges. She always has had advice for every occasion. "Anyway," she would start. 

Together with Davenport, we will miss you, Alverda!

Overtaxing USPS: a Comedy of Errors

In an attempt to economize shipping cost, I accidentally managed to overtax the fragile workload of US Post Office (USPS) by combining three transactions into one, totaling a package weight to 24 pounds. 

In November 4, 2024, I wrote to the Editor of the California State Library Foundation (CSLF) to purchase 50 copies of Bulletin that serialized my article on Laura Steffens Suggett in issues 141-144. She graciously accepted my request and delegated the task to her copy editor who finalized a phone order on November 7. I was excited and expecting the package to sit on our doorstep in the issuing days, just like any packages or boxes from Amazon or Costco. 

For some mysterious reason, the expected package after two weeks never showed up. On November 18, I wrote to the copy editor to ascertain if there was any error in our address. He confirmed that the shipping address was all in order, and advised me to contact our local USPS. Per his advice, Paul immediately checked our local office. It turned out USPS was unable to trace a package, if there was no tracking number. Apparently his mail room did not add any tracking number even when the value of package exceeded $400. Worse still, a return address was omitted in the process, so the lost package could not be returned when it failed to be delivered.  In addition, we asked our mailman for help. He has been actively looking for the package on his local route, with no results. 

On November 22, I wrote to the Editor about the troubling shipment. She replied with apologies on December 2, as soon as the holiday closure was over and CSLF was in operation. The very next day, a fresh shipment with the same content was dispatched with a tracking number and insurance for a value of $410. I received a confirmation email the same day, promising the new package would arrive by 9:00 pm on Friday, September 6, but our door step remained empty. The same night I created an online account with USPS. It repeated the same message about 9:00 pm Friday being the delivery time. 

The next day, Paul saw our mailman's substitute and inquired about the second shipment. The substitute mailman kindly provided him with a direct phone number for the regional supervisor. After many phone attempts, Paul was finally able to discuss the issue with the supervisor after 6:00 pm. It seemed that Amazon shipments were USPS priority items. Since our shipment was unusually heavy with 24 pounds, it was apparently considered the lowest among the priority list. Fortunately it was insured and tracked, and would be processed eventually. Thank you, the CSLF Editor, for your wise insight and foresight, or it would have meet the same fate as the first missing package.

The expected shipment that should appear today has been erroneously routed from San Jose to Wyoming, Michigan by a mere act of misscanning. Homer's Odyssey is continuing. Hopefully, the journey will not take as long as Odysseus did.

Trough more than a month long delivery time for a media matter package from Sacramento to Santa Cruz, I have learned my lesson: the weight matters with USPS. Don't ever try to be outsmart the unwritten rule by consolidating transactions, especially during the holiday season. No one wants to break their backs by lifting any weighty objects.  

Egret Ballerina Soaring to the Sky

Ever since the result of Election 2024 was announced on November 6, the whole country has been thrown into a hurricane. People are either exhilarated to high heaven, or diven down to a bottomless black hole. In the between space, very few people can remain long. Paul is one of the few, with his egret ballerina winning this week's Photo Contest in Good Times. The ballerina, along with his series of bird photography, has reflected his equilibrium of mind and soul, "I have done my civic duty to cast my vote, and now I am living my own life."

Paul's soaring ballerina captures the recent anchovy rush in the Monterey Bay, which has been attracting numerous cormorants, egrets, herons, pelicans, seagulls, as well as families of sea lions, and individual harbor seals and sea otters. The feeding frenzy has delighted aquatic fowl and marine mammals alike, but has also kept city and marine workers busy, trying to be the cleaning agent between nature and living beings on the bay.

Congratulations, Paul! Your new work has been well received in FB.

A Sad Farewell to Masako

Through my former classmate Cyrus, I learned about the unexpected passing of Masako Kasai on September 26, 2024. Instantly I felt a profound sadness. Luckily, Debbie came to visit Paul and me in Santa Cruz that Sunday, September 29. We were joined by more friends during 2024 Open Studio pre-exhibit hosted by Santa Cruz Art League. All these gatherings provided us with much needed reminiscent opportunities. 

Masako was one of our original study group members at Berkeley. Never working in a library prior to 1990, I was floundering after missing nearly a month's time when the Library School started its session. It was the study group that rescued me from deep trouble, thanks to a long tradition of Berkeley campus to encourage students to free form their study groups, so as to help each other. Before long, I was in a group consisting of  Cyrus, Laura and Masako. Both Cyrus and Masako had been cataloging for years for GTU (Graduate Theologian Union) and East Asian Library at Berkeley. I benefitted tremendously from their expertise and handheld patience. In preparation of our Pacific Rim Library project for Buckland's Library Management class, our group was augmented with two more members, Elizabeth and Debbie. 

Masako at Koyasan Saizen-in Temple, 2019

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217188302314187&set=t.100000792644087&type=3

After a full and intensive academic year, most of us graduated with our Masters degree. Elizabeth moved from San Francisco to a small town in California while Laura went to work for Library of Congress. Debbie stayed on to finish a couple of more classes, whereas I continued with the Graduate Certificate program in the face of a statewide hiring freeze. However we had weekends and holidays to ourselves. We four permanent members would choose a fresh restaurant for our Friday night dinner each week. Very soon, we tasted nearly all the eateries in Oakland, Berkeley, Albany and El Cerrito. Whenever we made a poor choice, we would excessively express our disappointment. Only Masako could laugh it off lightly. Unlike the harried usual me, Masako always remained her calm and elegant self. She told me that she and her husband immigrated from Japan in the early eighties. They had two daughters.

In the mid nineties, Masako moved with her husband from San Rafael to a castle-like building perched high in Napa County. While beautiful and secluded, the new residence became a challenge for professional careers other than the wine business. Masako quit her Berkeley position to work for a law firm in the City by long daily commute. But the law firm job did not last too long. A few years later, it started to lay off its employees, among whom was Masako. 

Masako in December 26, 2018

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217092064390121&set=t.100000792644087&type=3

Masako contacted me to see if I knew someone working at San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). Doris, one of my Extra Help colleagues at Santa Clara County Library, happened to be a fulltime librarian there, and she just chanced to find out that her library was indeed looking for a Japanese cataloger. With Doris and my aggressive nudging and pushing, Masako applied and got the position. She worked and retired from SFPL. During the time she was working there, Masako and I would meet for lunch or chat in her workplace whenever I had conferences or workshops in San Francisco. She and I had been exchanging Christmas cards ever since I moved back to Santa Cruz from 1996 until 2023 when she was apparently too sick to reply. I always treasure her beautiful cards.

Over the years, Masako also visited my family in Santa Cruz with Debbie and Cyrus until I was told that she had developed Parkinson's disease which eventually claimed her life and smile. We miss you, Masako! Please rest in peace. There is no more long commute and illness pestering you.

Masako Kasai (1948-2024) 

Courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/calimakiroll