Starting December with a Bang

The last month of 2023 has started with a bang. On the first day of December at 10 a.m., I was picked up by Gail and Dody to go over the hill to attend Mitch Albom's talk about The Little Liar. Gail was a little stressed over the traffic delay on the Frontage Road. It turned out that her car clock was 40 minutes fast. Thanks to the light traffic on Highway 17, we made it on time for the 11 o'clock event.

Beginning of the Author Visit

Organized by the Santa Clara County Library (SCCL) District, the book talk took place at Orchard City Banquet Hall, 1 W Campbell Avenue. It was a well-attended meeting, packed with people sitting and standing around. Despite his soft voice, Mitch described his own life and charity work in Haiti, and his new book about 11-year-old Nico Krispis in Salonika, Greece in the summer of 1943. Under the controlling duress of German officer Udo Graf, the angelical boy who had never lied was walking around the train platform, telling local Jewish prisoners that they were going to have a better life with new jobs and prospects of family reunions in the north. His lies were stopped by a large man, and by the sight of his whole family rounded up to be sent to the concentration camp in Poland.

The author analyzed in detail about the lies and about forgiveness/hope. According to the author, lies never die, but will creep out every few decades. The "illusion of truth" effect was augmented by Joseph Goebbels' law of propaganda, "Repeating a lie often enough and it becomes the truth." To counteract lies are forgiveness and hope. Also according to him, forgiving hearts expect nothing in return, while hope is a sliver of life and one good thing in our life. 

Albom's Orphanage in Haiti

This is the second time we have attended author visits organized by SCCL. A decade ago, we sat in the same place for The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. It was a resounding success and exerted a huge impact on our awareness of  Asperger's. Gail was the organizer!

After declining a friendly invitation to attend an Aladdin Nursery evening event, Paul and I decided to take it easy after my slow recovery from the RSV vaccination on the previous Wednesday. Around 3:30 pm, we walked leisurely along the railing of Seabright Beach. We saw sparse tourists and locals alike, and an all but empty ocean for a warm and beautiful Saturday, except for a couple of Harbor Patrol vessels. Once we reached the jetty of Walton Lighthouse, the hustle and bustle greeted us, with flags flying, and a bake sale table doing a briskly business. We assumed that dozens of people in their folded chairs on the wooden outlook and along the jetty were family members of  Sea Scouts as shown by a flag on one moored boat boasted. 

As usual, we made our two laps of the jetty. On the last one back, we were indecisive about leaving right away or sticking around to join Sea Scouts families. Strong curiosity got the upper hand. We found one spot on the jetty, but moved towards left a little bit to avoid a view-blocking bush. Our close neighbor were a family speaking English with a foreign accent. Paul thought it was German, and I surmised Irish, until the lady of the family heard us and declared that they were from Germany. 

The anticipated Sea Scouts event turned out to be a holiday Lighted Boat Parade, a 34-year-long tradition in the celebration of Christmas by the Santa Cruz Harbor known to all, except for us two. The parade would start at 5:30 p.m., our friendly neighboring lady told us. Shortly before the opening, a number of lighted boats started to move, perhaps to do their rehearsal run. Then the parade officially started with the Boardwalk boat leading, followed by a slew of brilliantly decorated sail boats. Opposite to them was an ominous but magnificent pirate boat coming into the mouth of the harbor. The crowds cheered on both sides of the harbor. 

In the darkness, one would be impressed not only by lights, but also the familiar music and ingenious designs, complex vs. simple, multi-themed vs. one diamond-colored sail. Seeing us sitting on the cement jetty for a long duration, the kind-hearted German lady offered us hot wine. We graciously accepted. If a multitude of Christmas lights were candy to our eyes, her hot beverage was a real treat to our bellies and soul. She asked us to guess what wine it was. After our several failed attempts, she told us that it was her home-made wine. It was one the most delicious and heartwarming wines we had ever tasted, reminding me of Shaoxin Wine my uncle used to drink.

After watching boats made three rounds, Paul and I decided to leave. We needed to conserve our energy for our trip to Filoli scheduled on December 11. Once standing, we saw the true scale of the parade spectators on the land. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of people around us. On the face of a hillside, numerous kids were sitting and watching the ongoing parade. What a turnaround from a quiet and sparse Saturday afternoon! And we were still only at December 2nd. 

Joyful and Musical Weekend

Paul's 2023 birthday was celebrated over a joyful and musical weekend.

On the evening of November 2, 2023, the eve of his birthday, we were at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium to see the 50th Anniversary Tour of Devo, a band from his home state, Ohio. This is at least the second time the band had performed in Santa Cruz. The first time was New Year's Eve in 1979 at the same Civic Auditorium. Paul went to the first concert, but was still full of excited anticipation for its latest and perhaps last performance here in Santa Cruz.

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Waiting for Devo at Civic Auditorium

November 4, the day after his birthday, I joined Tom, Dody, Gail and Dee to see Ain't Too Proud -- the Life and Times of the Temptations at San Jose Center for Performing Arts.

Before the Curtain Rises at Center for Performing Arts

Being a total stranger to American music, I have managed to detect a number of dissimilarities between the two musical bands. Needless to day, both of them are popular and successful, but they attract different audience. Devo is experimental, intellectual, and political while the Temptations is soulful, emotional, and progressive. Devo is an American new wave band formed in Akron, Ohio in 1973. It went to American mainstream music with its single Whip It as No. 14 on 1980's Billboard chart. In general, Devo can be characterized by its homogeneity, with members consisting of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales, and Alan Myers, the fifth member. Fifty years later, Devo is still intact in its five-member band.

Like Devo, the Temptations is also a five-member music group. Formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1960, the original Classic 5 (Otis Williams, Paul Williams, David Ruffin, Melvin Franklin, and Eddie Kendricks) underwent an all but complete lineup change. With Otis being the last original member standing, the other four members succumbed to various misfortunes, such as drugs, alcohol, illness and suicide. 

Gail, Dee, Tom and Dody at the Intermission of  Ain't Too Proud

Apart from birthday immersion in music, we had a joyful gathering with family, and friends. Nick came to join our Friday birthday dinner, serenaded by Lee Anne, Leni and Paul via FaceTime. Our Saturday trip to San Jose was preceded by a lunch at Willow Street in Los Gatos. Yesterday, November 5th, Ed and Fernando treated us to a scrumptious post-birthday dinner at La Posta. It was hard to imagine that we had not see each other for more than half a year. While we were chatting at the dinner table, it gradually dawned on us what family and friendship really meant to us. 

Happy Birthday, Paul! Your birthday has inspired all of the above.

No Longer Able to Keep Them Long Enough

Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL) appears to be unable to keep their directors for long after Minerva Waterman (1876-1952) who held the head librarian position from 1890 to1941, Charles K. Atkins (1920-1997) who was the director of libraries from 1969 to 1982, and Anne Turner (1941-) who succeeded Atkins as the new director from 1983 to 2008.

Compared with their combined 89 years in office, the three subsequent directors only accumulated 12 years combined in their tenures at SCPL. In December 30, 2008 when Turner retired from the position, Teresa Landers replaced her in July 2009, and retired in May 2015. She was replaced by Susan M. Nemitz who became the library director in June 2016 and promptly retired in August 2021. Yolande Wilburn succeeded Nemitz in January 2022, but retired in October 2023 to accept a position of executive director for Evanston Public Library in Illinois. 

For reasons unknown, Turner's famous departure quote stopped being effective, "The town is like Casablanca. You come for the waters and you stay to die." Such ineffectiveness might be due to it's being outdated. The saying of staying to die could be true with the mentality of library directors in the 19th and 20th centuries, but apparently not so with those in the 21st century. Even Turner herself left for San Francisco for her retirement shortly after the passing of her husband in 2012.

Another possible reason that succeeding directors retire so quickly might be attributed to being ill or misinformed about the job by their common recruiter, June Garcia. Santa Cruz people look laid back, living and working contentedly in their simple little houses, and old buildings. Like typical Californian residents, they are neither slow nor uneducated. Their leisurely and relaxed appearance belies a sharp and shrewd mind. They choose to stay in Santa Cruz because they want to hold on to a slow-changing oasis. If any newcomers want to make big waves, they will be confronted with an unpleasant awakening, and endless rail-trail like long debates.

A further possibility might lie in the professional satisfaction and reward of being a library director. But fascination and monetary incentive can only satisfy us human beings to a certain degree. The tiny and unimposing library system can be a true deterrent to new library directors. "It's old and tired," as stated Landers when she was first interviewed on scene by Sentinel, a local newspaper.

A final but not ultimate reason is that it takes a certain personality and lifestyle to be truly at home with Santa Cruz. In our decades’ living locally, my husband Paul and I have seen so many friends and acquaintances coming and going. The quick turnover of library directors is but one instance.

Distressed Surfers and Emergency Rescuers

Despite our utmost efforts in mental concentration and physical exertion in our drives or walks, Paul and I often find ourselves in the midst of unexpected events. For instance, last Sunday, September 3, we turned onto Harper Street, but had to inch forward, as four Capitola police vehicles were parked on the left side of the road, separating two young male drivers who had apparently been engaged in a heated confrontation. As known to everyone, Harper is one of the quietest and most uneventful streets in Santa Cruz.

The next day, we spent most of Labor Day leisurely attending to many delayed projects, such as answering and fulfilling patron requests for Rosanne Parry's titles, re-potting two overgrown orchids, replacing a lost credit card, etc. We did not leave the house until after 2:30 p.m.

Pleasure Point was our mutual choice of destination. It was a pleasant afternoon, sunny and breezy, with enough locals and tourists around. We walked to and from the Hook. On the way back, we saw a Live Oak Fire Department truck approaching. As usual, I waved enthusiastically at the fire truck, and received a reciprocal hand wave back. But not as usual, Paul asked me to stop, for he saw one of their comrades waiting with a clipboard in hand near the cliff rail. 

Paul's prediction turned out to be correct. Before long the fire truck parked a short distance before the popular tanning cove beach, with one fireman quickly taking off his uniform and changing into a wetsuit. He grabbed a surfboard and a red floatation device, and went down the slippery rocks to the turbulent water. Some distance away in the ocean, we saw two surfers remained where they had been stranded for sometime. The high tide and riptide had prevented the two novice surfers from landing. The first fireman approached them and was quickly joined by another one. Instantly, there also appeared a rescue jet ski manned by a driver and rescue swimmer. Two surfers started to move toward the tanning cove, with one on the rescuer's surfboard. The surfers were not alone in such distress. According to the local bystanders, they had rescued five surfers that same morning.

One fireman and the rescue crew on the jet ski remained in the water for a while, for there were still clusters of surfers around. Apparently, they were experienced and supported collectively, except one female surfer who was helped to the cove. After circling several times to make sure that the surfers were safe, both the jet ski and fireman finally left. 

So did we, feeling both secure and immensely grateful to those brave, hardworking rescuers. Meanwhile we are not so sure if it is really a good idea to merge several fire stations into one gigantic organization, especially on holidays when traffic is heavy both locally and on the highways. It will surely slow down the response time when every second counts to save a life. 

Another Busy Summer with Leni

This is a second summer our granddaughter Leni has stayed with us, from June 3rd to August 7th. She has managed again to turn Papou Paul into a slavish milkman, footman, bicycle trainer, and strawberry preparer. As for myself, my role remained the same as a dedicated cleaner, cook and delivery driver.

Shortly after her arrival, we quickly established a regular schedule with Leni. On weekdays, I would wake her up at 7:00 am, feed her breakfast and make her a peanut butter sandwich lunch, and then drive her to the Santa Cruz Boys and Girls Club after 8:00 am. At 5:15 pm, we or I would pick her up at the Louden Nelson Park, and then go home to have our dinner. Before going to bed at 9:00 pm, Leni would take a shower, sit down to have her bowl of strawberry laced with whip-cream, floss and brush teeth supervised by Paul, and then read one to three chapters from Lauren Tarshis' I survived series. 

On the weekend, she would wake up still at 7:00 am, but keep to herself for a couple of hours before rousing one of us. She would like to go the Chanticleer Leo's Haven and then the dog park. Prior to her departure, she apparently outgrew the children park, but dogs remained her constant interest.

Unlike in the previous summer, Leni has grown into a more mature student. She is able to listen and learn. She has obtained her Advanced Swimming Certificate issued by the Boys and Girls Club; learned to ride her bike with Coach Papou. To our great delight and surprise, she actually read 11 books this summer, of which eight were from Tarshis' series. By the end of her stay, Leni was duly rewarded with gift books, certificates and Penny ice-cream coupon given by the Summer Reading Program of Santa Cruz Public Libraries (SCPL). The only snag is that she did not really enjoy the library ice-cream, for the coupon was run out last Wednesday when she signed off. At the time of this writing, the coupon in question is still in the mail via SCPL's office mail.

While in Santa Cruz, Leni might feel bored, as she has often claimed, but by no means idle. She went to the Boardwalk twice, once for bowling, and then other riding rollercoasters last Thursday, totally exhausted  and excited. She strolled along the West Cliff and East Cliff with the Municipal Wharf in between. She took the water taxi in the Santa Cruz Harbor, and revisited Santa Cruz Natural Museum, Monterey Bay Sanctuary Exploration Center, and finally Monterey Aquarium!

Reunited with her parents and little brother, Leni is now home, leaving behind her two slaves bemoaning and reminiscent of a fast and busy summer just gone by. In our quiet house, the doting Papou especially misses her laughter, singing, dance, and intense attitude toward art creations. Paul and I also find ourselves adaptive and flexible to her whims and whimsical ideas by not taking offence, when she wanted her Mommy and home on Liberty Drive. What a magic girl in a magical summer!

A Second Chance for the Pillars of the Earth

More than a decade ago, I made my first attempt at reading Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth (1989), after hearing that it was one of the annual readings by our late brother-in-law Bob Reedy. A year and a half later saw the miserable failure of my effort. Into a tome of 1011 pages, I covered no more than a mere 20 pages. Partly, it was because of my ignorance about the cathedral building; partly, it was because of unbearable hardship in 12th century England, but mainly it was Tom Builder's fruitless search for work and ambition to be a cathedral builder reflected too closely to my own life and career.

Last month, I decided to try Follett again by listening to his Fall of Giants (2010) on eAudio, and surprised myself by actually enjoying it. July 8th, 2023 marked not only the revival of our book club after nearly four year's inactivity, but also my renewed effort at the Pillars, for it was the club's choice of the month.

This noon, I completed my epic journey by completing approximately 41 hours' listening. It was not without trepidation and anxiety when I first started, but it is with a full triumph when I finished. The Pillars of the Earth unfolds like a human life, from childhood, youth to maturity in an anarchic society ridden with extreme betrayals, disasters, turmoil and violence, during the time between the sinking of the White Ship and the killing of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. No wonder I wanted to find a way out on more than one occasion. However, curiosity won the upper hand about the fate of different characters. 

According to Ken Follett, the book took him three decades from the start to finish. His readers will find themselves taking a similarly long time to reach the end when Jack Jackson is finally able to move on, the 66-year-old Philip becomes Bishop of Kingsbridge, and King Henry repents publicly for his order to kill Becket. Follett begins by telling a story of cathedral building, but ends by tracing a familiar tale of human life. That is perhaps one of the reasons that Bob chose to reread each year.

Goats Are Finally Here at Neary Lagoon!

After a long-anticipated wait and media hype about the unaffordability of hiring goats to clean grassy areas in California, many people in Santa Cruz, myself included, gave up the hope to see goats this year chewing away unruly yellow bushes along the two sides of the Neary Lagoon wood ramp. In addition, the City Parks and Recreation Department kept unusually quiet about any possibilities.

July 10, I went to the Lagoon for my normal Monday walk, and was pleasantly surprised by the sight of hundreds of goats already munching at the end of the ramp's right-side. I took several deep breaths of familiar goat smells, and marveled at those efficient and content grass cleaners. "They managed to settle on a price," a smiling man in a wheelchair told me. The same evening, I shared the news with both Paul and Leni, and resolved to take her there after the Boys and Girls Club this week, in case those goats would complete their mission ahead of schedule.

Goats working away at the right side of the ramp July 10, 2023, Neary Lagoon

We eventually made it late yesterday afternoon, having waited a long time for Leni to get her cherry slush treated by the club at the 7-Eelven at Laurel and Chestnut. To my slight disappointment, she was not as interested as I had hoped. She just charged forward along the ramp from one end to the other, and then turned to the concrete ramp on the lagoon. Understandably, she was more fascinated by ducks and other waterfowls. 

Leni and ducks July 11, 2023, Neary Lagoon

After counting more than 100 of them in a short stretch, Leni changed her mind and wanted to double back to revisit goats, instead of exiting from the other end of the concrete ramp. Maybe the observation of waterfowl sharpened her sense of animal appreciation. She was in no hurry to leave, but lingering to see goats drinking and dueling, or little kids and lambs crying for their mothers. She was reluctant to leave the scene after 7:00 pm when it was getting dark with an encroaching fog. 

Leni and goats July 11, 2023, Neary Lagoon

It dawned on me that Leni's change of heart had a lot to do with up-close and personal experience. We tend to dismiss people or events when not directly involved or invested. If only we come a little closer, more details and relevant features will be revealed. Being an eight-year-old, Leni is easy to cross that line, willing to accept those working goats like family members. Since she can do it, why not us?

Our Outstanding Volunteer Suzette

Suzette MacMillen, our library volunteer, has been chosen as one of the three most outstanding and longest serving volunteers in the 2023 City of Santa Cruz CitySERVE Program. She was officially acknowledged and thanked by Mayor Fred Keeley at the May 23, 2023 City Council meeting's presentation of  Outstanding Volunteer Recognition. 

It is not the first year that Suzette has been recognized. She has been awarded as an Outstanding Volunteer by the City from 2013 to present. She is known for her dedication, punctuality and reliability in her weekly attendance.

Suzette has been volunteering for our department since 2012. She diagnoses and mends damaged media items. In addition, she works independently with library vendors by compiling lists and ordering replacements. She has saved us tremendously both money and time by giving damaged materials a second life, benefiting at once the environment and county taxpayers.

Prior to her volunteer career, Suzette was a full-time employee for the library from 1889 to 2011 when it underwent drastic staff cuts and reorganization, due to a major budget shortfall. She began her first four years at Boulder Creek Branch, six years at B40 Branch, and subsequent years at Technical Services (currently known as Collection Management Service) where she retired.

Being widely-travelled in her youth, and well-read and well-versed in world politics all her life, suzette maintains a positive outlook toward the library and the community she has been serving. Her excellent work ethic, sense of humor and enthusiasm to learn are great qualities for us all to emulate.

Congratulations, Suzette!

Those Ten Years: Changes and Stagnation

Last Thursday, May 4, a former classmate initiated a series of reminiscent messages about the tenth anniversary of a class reunion in Atlantic City in May 4-5, 2013.

Atlantic City 2013
Courtesy of Titangos Photography Studio

It took me by surprise to realize that the last decade flew more swiftly than any decades. Such a lightning speed might be due to Covid-19. It might also be due to a succession of major events that had occurred. In our family alone, we lost many dear family members and friends in the last five years, such as the passing of Lew, Bob, Mother, Chippy, Bill, John B., Ray and Kumsil, and Uncle Luo. We miss all of them daily and dearly.

Meanwhile we celebrated two weddings in December 2017 and December 2021. We also welcomed four youngsters since 2015. In addition to weddings and births, we had three graduations, from Columbia (Masters for Eric, 2021), Berkeley (Ph.Ds. for Stephanie & Tyler, June 2022), and Stanford (Masters for Emily, June 2022). There will be more births and graduation in the near future.

Some classmates seem to be on a ten-year hibernation immune to tragedies and happiness in their daily life. They are characterized by a pronounced stagnation. Ten years later, people like Jimmy and Leon still worship the same success icon in Willie with an equal fervent zeal. Another unchanged topic is the courtship between two admired couples, Willie and his wife, and the instructor and his student wife. Apparently, these two topics have indeed survived a whole decade unscathed.

Despite a common belief that history is written by the victors, I managed to cut through the verbal torrents with my appreciation for Yvonne and her husband Frank who had greeted, fed and housed two couples on the eve of the reunion. Surprisingly, Leon and wife, one of the two couples, conveniently forgot this trifle incident. 

Over the weekend, I exchanged my thoughts with my sister who commented that it had always been a prevailing atmosphere on WeChat to admire the successful and downtrodden the unfortunate. Her warning rings true and familiar!

 

Travelling April

April 2023 has turned out to be a traveling month with our trips to southern and western states. With a couple of weeks in between, we were out of town at both the beginning and the end of the month.

It is nice to travel and see family members and different places. But it is even nicer to have a new appreciation for our daily life, such as the local weather, mountains and ocean, roads and houses, and most comforting of all, our soft bedding. All of sudden, these ordinary aspects have assumed a new and mystique appearance only to people with fresh eyes.

The other beauty of travel is help one to build up a certain degree of tolerance to otherwise intolerable events. At our breakfast table, I happened to glance at a joint guest commentary in yesterday’s Sentinel, called There's much more to the story of Santa Cruz libraries. I could not help but recall a related Sentinel article dated April 6, 2010, County Libraries on the block: closing neighbor branches could save $16M annually, staff says. The very La Selva Beach Library, a featured branch in the commentary, was one of the neighborhood branches to be chopped. The little branch would not become "the go-to spot for families, remote workers, and those needing internet access," if a former director and her administration had succeeded in executing their plan. It has survived, thanks to the tireless campaign of local residents for their library, as reported in La Selva residents rally around the library, another article in the same local newspaper seven months after.

Owing to the immune system recently fortified by traveling, I chuckled at the guest commentary. What can you do with people who speak out of both sides of their mouths, and who can use the executioner as a shield to get their own agendas fulfilled, without leaving any incriminating digital footprint? It is a true art perfected through a lifetime.

March Madness on CAT

 This year's March Madness started off with a bang from March 6's antisemitism/hate uproar on OCLC-CAT, an online listserv for catalogers worldwide to help each professionally. 

It began with an innocent question from a librarian at the Master's Seminary Library at Sun Valley, California, on how to create original records for a couple Festschrift (plural: Festschriften). Shall she add an added author field for the honored? Minutes later, she received helpful confirmations from UCLA and University of Washington libraries, to create a 700 added entry for the honoree ($e honoree).

An hour later, the tide turned when Liu Xiping, a librarian from University of Houston posted the following,

"I would be really careful not to mix the author with the dead people. Besides what Christopher said about using the fixed field, I usually don't do anything because it's not worth it and no one is searching by the dead people for the resources. Unless like Adam suggested, the book talks about these dead people's works, for example, the history and criticism of a dead monk's theological work. In that case, I would add the name of the dead monk in the 600 field, subdivided by history and criticism, to bring out that part of the content, so it can be indexed properly by the system."

Half a dozen librarians wrote back to clarify the broader usage of Festschriften, but the Houston librarian did not back down, "I said the works that I have been working with so far are for dead people. It’s not a narrow interpretation. It’s one half of the interpretation of festschrift. Come to face it. The other half will be dead one day and it will all be a festschrift for the dead for future readers."

The debate would have remained within the boundary of academia without the Houston librarian's message, "I searched in OCLC with the subject heading "Festschriften" and did find some work honoring their husbands in the 19^th century​‌. I'm pretty sure the husbands were all active and alive at that time but they are quite dead now. I have never heard people ask such question as "Do you have the xxx Festschrift"? Is this a smart Jewish way of asking research questions? We the common people only know to ask "Do you have books on the history and geography of Palestine?" There are quite a few in OCLC that's a Festschrift and worth celebrating, like you explained. "

A librarian from Yeshiva University did not agree, "Hey, my husband was just honored with a Festschrift, and he is very much alive! A Festschrift is very often a collection of articles on the subject interest of the xxx Festschriften. Often it’s written by colleagues and students. We find it useful to have a heading Festschriften. [Name] because people will come in and say, “Do you have the xxx Festschrift?” Festschriften are usually in honor of a person in academia who is celebrating a significant milestone birthday or is retiring, etc. A book in honor of a dead person I would characterize as a memorial book.

The Houston librarian was cautioned about her anti-Semitism remark of a smart Jewish way of asking research questions, but continued nevertheless, "I meant every word I said to the original sender. By the way, the original sender didn't say anything yet about being offended. So weird. Are there any Palestinian librarians on this list? What's their take on my reply and my 'antisemitism'? As long as there are people who continue to ask 'Do you have the xxx Festschrift', I will continue to ask mine 'Do you have books on the history and geography of Palestine?'"

The accusation and criticism intensified especially with a a long message from a Marist College librarian who was going to report to OCLC about the Houston librarian's attempt to justify this by focusing on the supposed big vocabularies and smartness of the (presumably) Jewish people in question is also—you guessed it—antisemitism. It plays into "bookish" and "model minority" stereotypes often leveled at Jewish Americans, among other groups. Furthermore she was going to report her to the OCLC listowners. 

The Houston librarian did not back down, 

"I have every reason to believe that the original sender posted these comments towards me because of her associated demographic background and I responded in a corresponding way so she can get my message. The silence so far from yhe sender proves that I was right and she deserved every word that I said. The question that I asked was based on fact. Please stop associating “big vocabularies” and “smartness” with only the Jewish people. There are smart people with big vocabularies in every demographic group in the world. I have never seen other people to use it as their shit on other people and to praise themselves in such a brazen way.

"My examples with the Palestine set as a warning to the original sender so she can be careful of what says to me in the future. You can elaborate however you want. Comments like this even with big vocabularies are a pile of garbage to me.

"Feel free to report to OCLC as your time allows. I didn’t know you work for a Catholic University. Do they allow for capital punishment for spewing hatred? I think you and I can finally agree on one thing: there is enough hate in this world and I don’t want to see it anymore.

"Are there any Palestinian librarians on this list? What's their take on my reply and my "antisemitism"?

"As long as there are people who continue to ask "Do you have the xxx Festschrift", I will continue to ask mine 'Do you have books on the history and geography of Palestine?'"

The Houston librarian was reported to her employer, the Dean of University Libraries and Elizabeth D. Rockwell Chair. The saga of March 6 anti-Semitism uproar did not stop with the dean's apology, or removal of the Houston librarian from OCLC-CAT. Two days later a Hebraica Cataloging Librarian at University of Pennsylvania compiled a chronological list of OCLC's negligence in responding to the incident. Another University of Washington librarian questioned that “Should there be a review process for metadata created by someone who has insistently and repeatedly expressed hate on a professional listserv? Do we have a collective responsibility to do an ethics spot-check when something like this occurs?” But sanity prevailed, "Isn't correction and education the answer?" 

The Houston librarian was banned on March 7, but resurrected on OCLC-CAT with her personal email address on March 14. She was spotted and taken off right away by a couple of sharp-eyed subscribers. On March 20, she popped up on AutoCAT, another listserv, with another personal email address. After due deliberations among participants, she is allowed to stay as long as she remains professional. Both OCLC-CAT and AutoCAT have been peaceful ever since though. Hope it is the same with the world arena. There is enough global aggression to be No. 1 and Mr. RIGHT. Hope the Houston librarian will learn from the past.

In Memory of Uncle Luo

On the eve of this past Lunar New Year, my oldest cousin informed us that his father Luo Chunming (1930-2023), the elder brother of my late mother, passed away in Shanghai, China. He was 93. 

Age 93 is an impressive longevity. But judging by the life span of his 102-year-old mother and his robust health two months previously, Uncle Luo does seem a little premature in his passing. One cannot help but wonder if it has anything to do with the abrupt opening of COVID-19 restrictions and lack of medical supplies and hospital beds in the city. 

An architect by profession, Uncle Luo had two passions in his life: playing soccer with his circle of friends, and drinking Chinese liquors alone or with company. Watching him sipping away at the square table in his dinning room, I was often wondering if the latter passion had anything to do with his disappointment at his career or personal life. From 1949 to his retirement in the 80s, very few professionals were highly regarded by society. His other disappointment might lie with his children. With the exception of his eldest son who eventually became the associate dean of the Shanghai Railway Institute, the other three sons have not been inclined academically, or professionally.

Not unlike an uncle's key role in Navajo way, Uncle Luo had played an essential role in our life. Unrelated by blood, my mother treated her step brother more than a full-blood one. Throughout her life, she respected and consulted him on every important issue. Their close relationship was deeply rooted from the beginning. Uncle Luo was the only one who had showed sympathy to my 11-year-old mother when she first came to join her father after losing her grandmother, the sole caretaker. Her father had married his widowed mother.

Uncle Luo's support did not end with their childhood. It is he who made it possible for us to have a brand-new house in 1957, after my parents were squeezed out from their own apartment by a free housemate. Teamed with my paternal grandfather who was a contractor, he designed an imposing blue-bricked two-stored duplex on the family property right behind his house. On hearing that there was a potential opportunity for me to study foreign languages upon my graduation from high school, Uncle Luo gave me all his help, which opened the gate for us three siblings to have inspiration for higher education.  

The respect between my mother and Uncle Luo was mutual. My uncle admired my mother's extraordinary capabilities and uprightness. I vividly remember one incident during one of my home visits from university. For some stubborn reason, I was arguing inconsolably with my mother on a minor topic, and soon joined and backed up by my sister and brother. Uncle Luo got wind of it and came to intervene our loud quarrel. His words were brief, but sobering, "You three are obviously correct, since you have received proper education. But it does not give you the right to prove that you are correct at the expense of your parents." From that point on, we never had similar arguments ever.

The last time I saw Uncle Luo was at my mother's interment in December 20, 2019. He paid his last respect to his beloved sister at the Lexiang Cemetery, Shanghai.

Winter Storms In Santa Cruz County

After years of drought and water shortages, our prayers for more rain has finally been answered: California is now drenched with rain, and Santa Cruz County is flooded in many areas. So far, there have been six storms in the last two weeks, with a year's rain compressed into two weeks, as reported by KION today.

Thursday, January 5th, 2023, was the last day of my two-week vacation. Paul and I decided to walk in Capitola Village, thinking that it would not be too busy, for it was still a weekday under a cloudy sky after an overnight rain. We were surprised to see our usual out-of-the-way parking lot almost full. Vehicles and people were scurrying around like little figures in a fast-moving film, in and out incessantly. Once out of our car to saunter to the beach's cliff-top railing, we were further surprised to see brown waves pushing in forcefully, one after another. Straight ahead, another big surprise was in store for us: the Capitola Wharf was broken into two parts with its two tattered ends mashed to pieces. The damage explained the restlessness around us. Without further ado, we turned around and went home for a neighborhood walk. Little did we expect that it was only the beginning of the winter storms in the County of Santa Cruz. Later we learned that many businesses along the Esplanade were battered and inundated with huge ocean waves.  

The damages were equally severe on West Cliff Drive, especially between streets such as Columbia, Woodrow, David Way and Sunset, as we witnessed on our evening walk the next day. The lower lands and mountain areas have not fared better. There were floods in Watsonville and Felton, and mudslides in San Lorenzo Valley. 

Winter storms in Santa Cruz County have made national and international headlines. As a result, calls and messages poured in from our concerned family members and friends. According to The Sentinel, Governor Gavin Newsom came to visit hard-hit Capitola. The only exception is a group of my former training class mates that are still engaged in their endless Sino-U.S. bickering, even though they call themselves disaster/bad news chasers.