there's gold in them thar hills

On this day 161 years ago, gold was discovered in the hills of California, sparking a gold rush that started the state's amazing journey into what it is today.

I wonder what might have happened instead if James W. Marshall, the man who discovered the gold because he wanted to widen his sawmill's water ditch, had not contracted malaria while he was living in Missouri and not moved west to improve his health.

We would be living in a completely different world today, as the Gold Rush not only changed the direction of the state, but of the country and of the world as well.

mama i'm a big girl now

I was going through my old files and found this video which I have completely forgotten... The song must have struck a chord with little Miss Gracie here. I enjoyed watching it this time as much as I did when I recorded it four years ago.

the eve of tomorrow

It's ironic that one of the brightest moments for this country is going to happen during one of the darkest periods in its history: in the midst of one of the worst recessions on record, torn between two grossly mismanaged wars, and debilitated from eight years of incompetent governance.

This, of course, is the way I see it as I sit in the break room at work, with an empty plate of quiche and a half-full (or half-empty?) reusable bottle of filtered water. Easy to be critical when you're not the one at the wheel of the bus.

Tomorrow, the new president will be sworn to office to tackle the daunting challenge of steering the country to recovery. Every now and then I still am stunned by the fact that I am almost as old as this guy. Well, one or two years, maybe, but still I cannot even start to imagine the immensity of what this man is taking on.

Last night I woke up at two in the morning and somehow ended up thinking about where my life, our life, is headed financially. I got so stressed I couldn't go back to sleep. We are neither in the worst nor in the best situation just like the vast majority of the rest of the country today. But the news, being hyper-available like it is these days, has this hypnotic draw that pulls me in every time I turn on my iPhone and drag me down to depths of fear where I have never been before. Michael and I both have relatively secure jobs -- knock on wood -- so I shouldn't be worrying like this.

Today, as I read an email at work reminding us not to view the inauguration on company computers because it would eat up a large chunk of bandwith intended for healthcare tasks, I thought about what Obama might be worrying about when he becomes president. Granted he has a bunch of good men and women appointed to support him, his job is still a big one. Then I looked at my issues: mine are less than a speck of paprika on his butterball turkey... whatever that means. (Okay, I just made it up.) I cannot start to imagine the enormity of this man's responsibility. And the whole country -- no, the whole world -- is watching.

So tomorrow I will celebrate and watch (not on company computer). And I will keep on watching the day after tomorrow, the following week, month, year.

As everyone else should.

All the time.

johnny b's burgers and brew

I made two discoveries today:

1. I can't fake understanding football.

2. There is a great hamburger place in downtown La Mesa called Johnny B's Burgers & Brew.

It was a drive-by discovery. I was driving my MIL (mother-in-law) -- in town for a winter visit -- around downtown La Mesa to look for her walking club's meeting point when I spotted this place. When she asked where we might go for a late lunch, I quickly drove back to the corner of La Mesa Boulevard and 4th.

It was right in the middle of the Chargers-Steelers game when we walked in. Being football-ignorant, I hesitated at first, but my MIL seemed to like the atmosphere so we walked in and picked a table out on the back patio.

First, the staff was quick and very friendly. Maybe we were an odd pair, me and my MIL, or maybe it was because I was the only one in a red shirt when everyone else wore a blue jersey with a big yellow lightning bolts so the staff was nicer to me, an obvious non-fan of the sport. Nevertheless, the service made me decide I would like to come back another day.

Click here to read the rest of the post on yelp.com.

living healthier

Every January, my chiropractor asks me what kinds of changes I am doing in my life to make it healthier for the coming year. For the last couple of years I have told him the same thing: to exercise at least three times a week and get more sleep.

I have never succeeded in doing either one. I wonder if he knows that I have been giving him the same response every time.

So the other day, when he asked me the "new year question", I said I will eat more fruits and vegetables and less red meat.

I think this one will be easier to do than the sleep-and-exercise illusion that I have been fooling myself with for the last few years.

new year

The year 2008 is gone, and with it went a few things that made it a year I will not forget. Big or small, these events have in one way or another shaped that year and forged how I am to face this new one.

The birth of my baby sister's daughter, Julia, marked a curious family milestone -- the only male grand baby in our family is mine, mine, mine: my dog Elijah T. Doolittle.

The California Supreme Court decision on the unconstitutionality of the ban on gay marriage made me feel that I finally belonged to this society that declares itself to be diverse and tolerant.

Old friends and acquaintances, ghosts from the past -- elementary school, high school, and college friends -- coming back into my life through this amazing (or scary?) phenomenon called The Internet, showed me that people are never really gone from your life, and how interesting it is to revisit those old times with a different lens.

Singing at the 2008 Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses quadrennial festival in Miami made me see what has been obvious all these years -- that there is something that I get, after all, out of this involvement with the Chorus. It is intangible, it is big, and it is good.

The election of Barack Obama restored my faith in the system... whatever one's definition of that word system may be. That someone who is an outsider in so many ways made it to the top showed me that something is somehow working right.

The passing of Proposition 8 that amended the California constitution's definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman, effectively invalidating our six-month-old right to marry whomever we loved woke me up to the fact that I cannot be complacent about the freedoms that I enjoy, that they can be taken away justifiably or unjustifiably.

That a friend was sent to prison showed me how precious our relationships are, no matter how mundane or ordinary they might appear to be; that at the end of the day what matters most are the ties that bind us together, who we are, and not what we do.

The past year I was once more made to see the contradictions we face while we live on this earth: while I make the calls on direction that my life is taking, there are many things bigger than myself that I can't control. But big things that I can still influence by doing my small part.

So, here comes the new year. Fasten your seat belts.