Goodnight Arline

Last Sunday, Arline Welles, one of my longest library friends, passed away. The sad news was announced on Facebook. 

I knew Arline not long after she began to work at Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL) in October 2000. As she worked at the Library Administration, I was practically adopted by her whole department. Every Tuesday at 10:00 am, we would repair to the Goodwill Donation Center and Store across the street. Our frequent starting point was Collector's Corner. After nearly a decade's treasure hunting there, our living room is all but a miniature replica of the now defunct Collector's Corner with porcelain cats everywhere. Since Arline's retirement in December 2010, I have simply stopped frequenting the Goodwill. It is just not the same without her company and advice.

Arline was one the most energetic people I have known. We had parties at her home on Swanton Road, in Davenport. I was in awe of her unique trailer, and natural gardens around. After retirement, she left Santa Cruz and purchased a house in Stockton. As her daughter relocated from Livermore to Florida, Arline sold her house and followed the daughter, and rebuilt a gorgeous home and garden in Port Charlotte. A few years later, she returned to California, apparently devastating hurricanes, both natural and political, did not agree with Arline. She restarted her retirement in her third home in Ukiah, until Pacific Meadows in Carmel beckoned in 2022. The 200-unit affordable senior apartment complex is one of Clint Eastwood's local land preservation and community development efforts. Several of us visited her in March 2024, and again in August of this year.

Arline at Woody's, Carmel, 22 August 2026

Arline was also one of the most creative and single-minded friends I have had. She could always cultivate a beautiful garden out of a piece of forgotten land, whether it was in the wild Swanton Road, in the less stable environment in Stockton, or in disaster-prone Florida. Arline tried knitting with me, but soon changed her creative outlet to glass jewelry making. She bought a kiln and created countless stunning glass earrings, bracelets, necklaces and other products. She would present her art creations at different fairs and art festivals around the State of California.

Arline was definitely a free spirit, living on her own terms, not succumbing to outside pressure or medical threats. She retired, moved in and out of Santa Cruz when feeling ready. The only compromise she ever made was when she wanted to change her full-time employment to a part-time one, in order to save gas and concentrate on her artwork at home. Our mutual colleague Heidi and I intervened, with the final encouragement from Assistant Director Susan Elgin. Susan made Arline's new schedule an everyday affair, coming to the office for four hours a day, five days a week. 

Goodnight, Arline! Have a freer time in Heaven.

My Encounter with Year 2001

My earliest acquaintance with the year 2001 goes back to October 17, 1989 when my classmates and I were watching Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a Space Odyssey (1968) for our Film Experience class at the Science Building of University of California, Santa Cruz. At 5:04 p.m., while Dr. Heywood Floyd was addressing the meeting attendants, his voice suddenly began to quiver, the screen darkened and finally total darkness descended on us. We all stumbled out of the building, while seats and walls were shaking violently. We did not see the end of 2001 until December 1989.

For some unknown reason, the year 2001 continued to embody ominous events. On the morning of September 11, 2001, while I was preparing for my late Tuesday night shift, our family friend Lew called to tell us to turn on the TV. Paul and I helplessly witnessed two hijacked UA airplanes striking both North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, which marked the beginning of an unstable time of chaos, recession, wars, and power grabbing politicians.

On October 18, 2001, just a month after 9/11, another tragedy struck my family. My father passed away, and he was only 69. He was a man of fierce brilliance, vitality and loyalty. His untimely passing caused irrecoverable damage to our mother who was never the same since.

To commemorate his passing, my department at Santa Cruz Public Libraries gave our family a gift certificate to San Lorenzo Lumber and Home Center. Paul and I chose a bare root Fuyu persimmon tree that year. Twenty-five years later, it has grown, and borne heavy fruits each year, attracting squirrels and birds alike. The onion bags represent our feeble effort to dissuade them.

Courtesy of Titangos Photography

A Busy Saturday

It has been some time since I experienced a Saturday so packed to the gills. Last Saturday, August 22, was definitely one of them.

At 8:45 am sharp, Paul woke me up to be ready for the 11:00 am rendezvous at Gail's. We were going to carpool to Dody's house, so as to be driven to Carmel to have lunch at Woody's, Carmel. It was one of our monthly lunches in Santa Cruz or Carmel since this past June. Our host Arline who resides at the Pacific Meadows next door, has not been doing too well these days.

Purpletop vervain (Verbena bonariensis) at Woody's, Carmel

On our way to and back from having lunch with Arline, we three, Ann, Gail and I, were treated with Dody's encyclopedic knowledge of Carmel. It turns out that she lived and worked there for five or six years in the early 70s. She knew almost every street, shop, and school in Carmel which had preserved itself so well that everything stayed pretty much the same today. She drove us to a shopping center where the Barnyard still stood tall and proud. It is Dody, instead off Meg Waite Clayton, that should write Typewriter Beach. By comparison with Dody's guided tour, Clayton's description of Carmel is at once anemic and weak. 

After Paul picked me up at Gail's driveway around 3:00 pm, we both breathed a sign of relief, once home, thinking we could now relax and go on with our weekend routines. Little did we know that it was only the beginning of a busy Saturday. 

Awaiting me in WeChat was another message from my sister. In addition to the recent passing of my late uncle's wife Aunt Yao, and hereafter funeral, my mother's youngest sister was ill and in treatment. It seems to answer the saying that misfortune never comes alone. We were all mourning for Aunt Yao who was so beautiful, gentle and kind to our family throughout her life. Meanwhile, we are especially close to our little aunt. She used to babysit me by reading to me many bedtime stories, while my grandmother and sister were out of town to visit my uncle in Shanxi. 

I gathered myself together by starting to clean our house, and laying dinner components. As soon as I completed my last touch, my brother Ying called from Hong Kong. I motioned to Paul to have his dinner without me, and spent the next 45 minutes on the phone. We did quite an unusual amount of reminiscing, including my newly awakened understanding of our big niece relocating to Seattle, and the subsequent move of her parents. It seems that history does repeat itself. I could see my reflection nearly four decades ago in her coast to coast relocation. Sometimes we just have to follow our hearts, despite unknown consequences or successes. 

Now that the cat was out of the bag, Ying imparted some inside story of my little aunt's condition. He had been aware, under oath, of her illness in as early as last April. Fortunately it was caught in the early stage. Both of us let out an another sigh of relief. 

As usual, Ying is reliable, supportive, and understanding. I shared with him Paul's new venture with Good Day Mockingbird. 

The moment I finished the last bite of my late dinner, the phone rang again. It was Nick with his two kids. We used FaceTime for another hour or two, and had rare sighting of Lee Anne who is a birthday girl today. Happy Birthday!

What a busy Saturday fully packed with news and events, sad and happy all at once! That is life, I guess.

See You Next June, Paulie!

Eight-year-old Paulie went home with Baba Nick last Monday evening, August 3. A summer with the Boys and Girls of Santa Cruz County officially came to an end.

As usual, having Paulie is a refreshing learning process for Papou Paul and me. He is a bright boy, open and friendly. But he has his own unique foibles. Visiting the Mystery Spot was his first field trip this year. Instead of experiencing strange natural phenomena, he insisted on shopping in the gift shop, a family tradition. But he did not have a single cent with him, for this trip was approved unexpectedly without our prior knowledge. As a result, he cried all the way, thus ruining the pleasure of fellow companions as well as his own. He was penalized to stay indoors for the next week. Typical of Paulie, he behaved stoically and obediently to wait out his punishment. Perhaps, such a punishment is worthwhile, for the rest of summer, he received nothing but highest praise from director Alice and staff members. Even the inability to go to the Boardwalk due to the limit of age 9+ did not dampen his spirits, although he suffered from a mysterious stomach bug that very day, according to a call from his nutritionist. I picked him up at 3:00 pm, in order to allow him to avoid the return of excited Boardwalk customers.

Writing Words Field and Cloud in Chinese

At home, Paulie showed a first-time interest in language learning. Owing to the influence of his classmate/friend Jonathan, he wanted to study Chinese, so he could visit China soon. Together we all but completed Book 1 in My First Chinese Word series. Frustrated in the complex strokes of characters, he would moan and complain, but finished his writing assignments nonetheless. Now that Paulie is home, Baba Nick will take over the baton of teaching.

Paulie is well-versed in animals, a special trait since age three when he came to stay with us for over two months. This summer, he covered 24 books on mammals, marsupials, and rodents. He was fascinated with National Geographic Kids' Go Wild. As our local library did not have complete or enough stock in the series, we resorted to Link+ to obtain the needed titles. Paulie was willing to participate in reading aloud with me. His division of labor was him reading the right side of the book. In addition, he showed his partiality to Dr. Seuss by reading his The cat in the hat, How the Grinch stole a Christmas!, and What pet should I get?

Swimming Class at Simpkin

Courtesy of Titangos Photography

Paulie was active in physical exertion as well as in mind. His Papou signed him up for a two-week Simpkin's swimming class. After the class was over, they made several trips to the pool themselves for further training and coaching. Before dinner, there would always be a scooter practice on Chanticleer Lane, rain or shine.

Evening Scooter Practice

What a great summer, what a good beginning in a boy's life! See you June 2027, Paulie.

Happy Birthday, America!

Cowered by the valiant Memorial Day travel effort by Don Miller, editor of Santa Cruz Sentinel, Paul, Paulie and I learned our lesson by staying put this July 4th which happened to be a big 250th birthday. After a brunch of hot dogs, the three of us ventured out to as far as Pleasure Point. It was a calculated risk. The Point might be a ground zero for fireworks after dark, but could be quiet in the daytime. 

Two Paulies at the Point

As usual, the Point never disappoints us with its beauty, hospitality and vitality. Crowds of people were seen gathering there, chatting excitedly, while a couple of sheriff's deputies were busy dissembling a mobile signage unit. A first-time Pleasure Point mini parade just completed, we were told. A slight regret washed over us, but did not stick. 

Pleasure Point Bouncing House

Turning around, we saw a colorful bouncy house standing right there. We could not be more pleased, for Paulie had been bugging us to buy one every time we went to Costco. Losing no time, Paulie dashed over and jumped at in for at least three sessions, surviving both an accidental shutdown (powered turned off by a parking truck across the street), and rowdy teenagers. 

Paulie Bouncing Solo

After the bouncy house, we did our usual Point to Hook, and back to Rockview walk, fully soaked with sunshine, ocean breeze and contagious joys about America's 250th birthday. Before evening fell, we left the Point reluctantly. To continue our festive spirit, Paul charged our bubble machine for Paulie to enjoy in our backyard. For dinner we treated ourselves to the traditional corn on the cob meal, ready for the fireworks! 

Backyard Bubbles & Frontyard Fireworks Watching

Happy Birthday, America!

Goats Are Back to Neary Lagoon

As soon as we were back from Madison, WI, in June, I walked to Neary Lagoon to see if there was any goat action. As luck would have it, I saw a City Parks and Recreation colleague setting up chicken wire fences along the wooden ramp. 

"Are goats are coming?" asked I.

"Yes, they are coming this Friday. But they are not goats this time, but sheep," the colleague informed me. 

I was overjoyed nonetheless. Since 2016, our family has been following those diligent goats that tackle and clean wild grass and bushes in Neary Lagoon. As long as they can graze, I really did not mind if they were goats or sheep. "How long are they going to stay," I asked again. "Until next Friday," he replied. I thanked him profusely, and left fully content. It turned out that we had goats after all this year. Moreover, two Pauls and I returned to the Lagoon more than once. 

This Year's Goats

We loved to see our browsing friends for multiple reasons. Annual grazing goats have been the Lagoon's maintenance guardians for many years. They do a much more thorough cleaning job than humans. After goats who have stripped and uprooted weeds and shrubs, the land has a better chance to recover and be nourished with goats' rich droppings. Their work not only benefits the land, but also provided a golden opportunity for winged creatures, particularly countless swifts who were darting from one direction to another, delighted at catching disturbed insects that had nowhere to hide, but to be devoured. 

Leni in July 2023, Neary Lagoon

Visiting Goats is an integral part of our family tradition. Since 2023, Paul and I  have been taking Leni, and now Paulie to the Lagoon, in order to let them learn firsthand about their four-legged friends, in addition to their pet hamsters and rats. Two siblings have indeed developed a tender love for those lovely animals, their habitats, family bonds, and love.

Paulie Feeds His Favorite Doe 2026

It is always exciting to see our annual grazing goats return, but sad to see them leaving when the two sides of the wooden ramp become poignantly quiet and empty. Only their dark droppings, and stripped twigs remind us of their quick visit and thorough cleaning work. 

See you later, our friends

NASIG 2026: A Year in the Making

On the night of June 5, Paul and I landed in San Francisco Airport. We both heaved a sign of relief and triumph, while waiting for our shuttle to the Burlingame Airport Parking. A year of patient planning and efforts finally came to an end. 

For some reason, the NASIG 41st Annual Conference (June 1-5, 2026) holds special significance to us. Unlike worthy undertakings such as the magnificent Yellowstone as Dr. Sawhney had kindly suggested, the trip to Madison, Wisconsin embodied several milestones for both of us. It is another great test for Paul's endurance after our March visit to Dallas. It is also a dream coming true for me, after writing about American political scientist and the first legislative reference librarian, Dr. Charles McCarthy (1873-1921). His profound influence over the California State Library is detailed in A bright star over the California State Library: the life and work of Laura Steffens Suggett  Since our conference took place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Union, we saw first hand Dr. McCarthy's alma mater where he received his Ph.D. in 1901, with the Wisconsin State Capitol Building in the not so far distance. 

Wisconsin Capitol Building 

I picked out and attended a series of interesting workshops such as 

• Cataloging Comics and Zines
• When the Past No Longer Serves You: Updating ER Workflows and Procedures
• Teaching Old Data New Tricks: Using AI to Solve Legacy Metadata Problems in Serials and Government Documents
• AI-Suggested LCSH Creation for Print Library Materials Cataloging Workflows
• Impact of Transitioning from IP-based to Federated Access: a Case Study on Reducing Support Requests
• Understanding Wikipedia's Epistemology, etc.

A Team Working on AI-Suggested LCSH Creation

NASIG is not all about attending sessions, and meetings. It is truly fun to mingle with other attendees at its reception evening, ice cream socials, and vendor interactions. If you can form an intimate circle of like-minded folks, it will be incredibly inspiring. We are fortunate to have formed such a group that consists of David F. from University of San Francisco, Paul and me. Three of us sampled many an eatery along State Avenue, and beyond like Ahan Restaurant at 744 Williamson Street, where David treated us both. 

Paul and David Studying Ahan Menu

We were finally picked up by the parking lot shuttle, and then FSD-ed to our house. Mountains of work was awaiting us. At the Work-front: I was embracing meeting preparation for the June cataloging meeting, weeding, and spending against multiple deadlines of fiscal year. At the Homefront, Paulie was coming to live with us the day after. He is to join his Boys and Girls of Santa Cruz County. There would be more challenges and joys, as usual.

End of the Old Guard: Rene's Retirement

On 16 April 2026, we had a retirement party for Rene Belling after her 37 years' working at Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL). It is truly a giant milestone to any new comers. 

Courtesy of Mike Zulim

Rene's retirement marks the end of the old guard at our former Processing Team which consisted of four full time employees, two for print and two for media at Technical Services (TS), now Collection Management Services (CMS). Since December 1999 when I started working at TS, the team had been reduced to two people who later morphed into copy catalogers. Rene was the last standing old guard after the retirement of her book counterpart Jeff in 2023. Now the team is succeeded by two young catalogers who are assisted by a team of ad hoc processors. 

Rene, in floral blouse, with three CMS managers, Shelley, Sarah and Margaret

 Courtesy of Mike Zulim

In honor of the end of an era as well as her long service, Rene invited all SCPL's old guards, local and mobile. The guest list included three directors, three CMS managers, and her coworkers within and outside CMS. A retirement party turned into an unintended SCPL reunion. Everyone in the department was asked beforehand to contribute, either cash, food or labor. For my contributions, I donated some cash, two army-sized trays of chow mein (chicken & vegetarian) and a big bowl of home fried rice. Looking around so many hungry mouths, I was a little relieved to see my noodles and rice having some mileage, before they totally disappeared. 

Victor with his ubiquitous trivia game

 Courtesy of Mike Zulim

As usual, there was a farewell choir and Victor's trivia quiz. My saving grace was the presence of ex-Head of Cataloger Dody and Collection Development Manager Gail. We three chatted at our table and decided to depart before the quiz winner was announced. The glory belonged to the winner and party honoree. 

Our table doing trivia (Dody, Michael and Gail)

Happy Retirement, Rene! Farewell to the old guard!!

Overusing Localities in Recent Titles

There has been a trend to overuse local references when writing about a story or incident in a particular place. Examples of such phenomenon are too abundant to list them all.

Courtesy of https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Cannabis-author/dp/1954118627

Recently I have read two books in a row that demonstrate this tendency, i.e., Meg Waite Clayton's Typewriter Beach (2025), and Scott Eden's A Killing in Cannabis (2026). The former has literally exhausted place names like Carmel, while the latter, has exploited to the last drop place names like 38th Avenue (Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, California). The writer's reference to 212 Fern Street, the late Tushar Atre's cannabis business site, is truly unprecedented. A palm-sized building renovated from an automotive shop has suddenly been elevated to an enormous business empire building. The author mentions the street number countless times in a 370-page book. I would totally surrender myself to the description, if Paul did not have his studio right across the street for more than 20 years, or if we did not shop at Santa Cruz Costco and pass it by it weekly. 

Courtesy of https://www.amazon.com/Typewriter-Beach-Meg-Waite-Clayton/dp/006342214X

Meg's Typewriter Beach followed suit by referring constantly to Carmel-by-the-sea and Carmel Point. The word Carmel alone has been used 90 times, whereas Point, 62 times, in a 305-page book. It was, however, surpassed by Nina Simon's Mother-daughter Murder Night (2023). Elkhorn Slough, or simply Slough, is used 99 times in a book of 357 pages. Such a fondness for overusing local references might be characteristic of any out-of stater or transplanted authors, perhaps in order to endear themselves to both local readers and publishers. 

Courtesy of https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65646968-mother-daughter-murder-night

There is a commonality to all those titles with distinctive real places: powerful Silicon Valley tycoons, LA high-powered real estate moguls, or reclusive Oscar-winners descending upon, residing at, or immortalizing humble places like Fern Street. While in awe of recent titles for local authenticity and colors, we are wondering if there is an underlying insecurity or lack of deeper knowledge of local history. Heavy makeup is always a tell-tale sign of the desire to hide. More often than not, overreliance on limited named places shrink the universe of a character or story. No wonder, most activities conducted by Gemma and Sam take place no further than the Point in Typewriter Beach.

Visiting Dallas in March

Paul and I visited Dallas from March 5th to the 11th. It was an overdue visit, as we did not go last year, when it coincided with our busy preparations for the 50th reunion in Shanghai in April 2025.

Unlike the scorching August heat that we often experienced in the past 30 odd years, the weather in Dallas this time was actually quite pleasant. We were even drenched by a couple of heavy downpours. As the main freeway I-635 has more or less been restored to its normal state, the travel time was significantly reduced from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to our hotel adjacent to the LBJ Freeway.

The main purpose of our visit was seeing and spending time with Paul's sister Crissie who resorts mainly to a scooter to move around her apartment. To go out for a dinner or other entertainment, she needs to get help into a wheelchair, for her battery operated scooter is simply too heavy to be transported with a vehicle. With the combined effort of her daughter Nikki, Paul and me, we managed to have dinner at Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe, a Greek Restaurant. Two days later, her plan to visit a dinner-theater was aborted, due to her miscommunication with a receptionist. Hence, we settled on dining with at her Sunrise facility.

We saw Rob and Nikki, two of Crissie's five children residing in Dallas. Despite torrents of change in their respective lives, they both seemed to cope well with their new situations. The relationship between the two appeared to be thawing as well. It is so good to see them taking extra care of their mother by visiting her more often, and reinforcing their bonding. This is particularly true of Rob who shares the same intense interest in tennis as his mother. He is like a walking encyclopedia powered by AI on tennis, in the know of many nuances that would escape most of us laymen. It turns out that tennis, like golf, goes on all year round. Crissie, on the other hand, watches major tennis matches with gusto and a good memory. She is watching less news this time than before, which is beneficial to her health.

Rob watches one of tennis matches at Indian Wells 2026

A week in Dallas came and went before our eyes. The week back home was quickened too with a week long heat wave, work and family calls. There has not been a dull moment.