Happy New Year!

Aidan & Kelsey in Napa.

Happy New Year all!

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Reprise and Memory

This is a photo I first posted here on March 10, 2007. It is of my youngest son, Dylan, at a meeting of The Nation editorial board meeting in New York. Dylan somehow ended up 'chairing' that meeting after meeting the great Norman Birnbaum, with whom he discussed their mutual love of history.

Today I learned Norman in gravely ill in a hospital in Washington DC. Dylan is scheduled to enroll in his 4th college in 5 years, SF State, next month, majoring in history.

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FAFSA Time

Over to Bernal today to help my youngest file her financial aid application. She does all the work; I just advise. It is an impressive thing to see her work on it as a 20-year-old.

She leaves for Spain and "study abroad" on Wednesday.

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Old Year, New Year

As 2018 winds down to a close, I am off work and watching lots of old movies and some sports games. This neighborhood is filled with workers rebuilding old houses (including upstairs). It is very loud -- hard to rest -- as this work continues day after day -- even on Christmas.

I was watching the "Concert for George" (Harrison) earlier this morning and then I ate two oysters for breakfast. What a crazy life I lead.

Worrying about my kids always. One is now vaping, although that doesn't worry me particularly. He's gotta do what he's gotta do to get through these days and nights. At least he is not drinking anymore. A tatoo on his arm says "Whatever Gets You Through the Night."

Amen.

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Merry Christmas!

A wonferful holiday yesterday. First breakfast at Bernal, then a lovely visit and a big French meal in El Cerrito!

Optimism

https://www.searchencrypt.com/search?eq=sKiByDu4R60ghxigC9BrSw%3d%3d&ett=1

Stephen Pinker has a new book out analyzing global economic data. It shows that globally the poverty rate has been falling and inequality has too.

We are so consumed, as news junkies, with the temporary chaos that each news cycle produces that we may be missing the larger trend lines.

I'm one who always tries to look on the bright side. This book gives me hope.

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Early Holiday Meal Together

My youngest three took me to Wiz Burger today!

Aunt Julia Meets Bettina Rose

My youngest daughter holding my youngest granddaughter yesterday. Photos by Peter Weir.

Adele

Bettina Rose!

My youngest granddaughter!

Family Album

Not all of us, but most of us were together on Thursday.

Sunday Afternoon

My landlady and her brother stopped by to inspect my laundry room. They determined there is a leak in the pipe behind my drier, which is spreading lint throughout the area.

So they'll be back for a repair.

I'm in a mood where I'm worrying about everything and everyone.

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Here in NorCal

The rains keep falling, the fires are out and the smoke is gone from the air.

I'm taking it easy this weekend, doing chores and paying bills. The upstairs neighbors moved out so there is no more irritating noise of a kid running up there. This old building obviously has no insulation between the floors.

My car continues to be mainly a burden. When I can get it start I just move it side to side to avoid expensive street-cleaning tickets.

Work is complicated. While there are things I like about my new role, there are things I miss too.

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How to Make Pickles

Buy a jar of pickles and eat them, carefully preserving the fluid in the jar.

Buy a small Persian cucumber.

Slice the cucumber and place the slices in the jar.

Refrigerate and wait a week.

You will have some new pickles!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a lovely family gathering yesterday at Laila and Loic's in El Cerrito. There were 17 of us. Kelsey and Aidan drove me over and Dylan drove me back -- in the rain. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day too...

My favorite moment was Uncle Dylan lying on the living room floor playing games with little Daisy.

Rain

Started here overnight and continued until recently. More expected.

Finally clean air!

Seven Grandchildren and Claire

They are in the mountains east of here to escape the bad air at home.

Smoky Air

The sky here and throughout this region is orange. I have a mask but have not used it yet. The latest wildfire near here isn't even that near here, but in the Chico region. Climate change is affecting California palpably.

Sarah and Leif are inland for a soccer tournament but their game was cancelled due to smoke.

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Uncle and Niece

Uncle Dylan and baby Bettina.

The Tree

My Mom in 2002 with the tree where we spread Dad's ashes -- and later hers. Rolling Hills.

Meeting Battina

Happy 20th!

Can't believe my youngest is 20 as of today but she is! Shown here with her Aunt Carole. Happy Birthday Julia!

Welcome Home Bettina!

Bettina Rose Weir, the beautiful, arrived home with Mom and Dad today!

Baby Girl!

9lbs 2oz

21 inches

Delivered by c section

8:40 pm Oct. 16, 2018

Comfort Food

Scottish meat pie. Something we ate in my childhood in Royal Oak, Michigan. It is pleasantly bland as you eat it but afterward there is a distinctly peppery taste that lingers in your mouth.

Family

My youngest child, Julia, with my youngest sister, Carole, in a get-together in the D.C. area today!

Way Back: 1970s

Interviewed today by a documentary crew for my memories of the early '70s, focusing on the lawyer and my friend, Michel Kennedy and his wife, Eleanor.

They set up in the KQED newsroom. It lasted a couple of hours and brought up many memories indeed.

When it come to memory, I am often frustrated in not being able to correctly find a name or a place from long ago.

They said I did fine today.

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2nd Time :(

Last night I could barely sleep -- too much tooth pain. Today I found out why -- a cracked tooth.

So after walking to work, I took three cab rides -- first to my dentist, where he diagnosed the issue; then to the oral surgeon, where he extracted tooth #14; then back home.

Pain, swelling, bleeding, lots of pills: These things are not fun. But along the way, I reconnected with my dentist, after a long gap, and I met a new office full of people who help people; plus three taxi drivers.

Those are good things.

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A New Day

Yesterday's hearings were amazing. Today's news? More amazing. One (retiring) GOP Senator stood up and demanded an FBI investigation of the allegations against Kavanaugh; and it is going to happen.

I think there is a good chance his nomination is finished.

Today...

...is obviously potentially one of the most consequential days in modern American political history, right up there with Watergate and the Hill-Thomas hearings...

Things That Give Me Hope

Yesterday I gave modest contributions to a "walk-a-thon" competition that my two youngest grandsons, Leif and Oliver, will be competing in. They both led their grades in laps last year; Oliver in spite of injuring his ankle and limping to the finish line.

That brings me to consider the nature of true competition, as opposed to the false competition capitalism imposes on us, and which victimizes us as we age and become vulnerable. True competition is the drive to compete against ourselves -- to be the best we can be instead of something less.

The vision of little Oliver competing against himself last year inspires me. This is a little boy with a beautiful smile, an inner joy that his mother, Sarah Daisy, cultivates.

I am having a tough time at work, but I am determined to follow my youngest grandson's example and soldier on. I have always been extremely competitive -- not against others but against my weaker self.

I know I can still do better, be better, accomplish more. And I owe that to my family and society.

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Old Folks

At this point in my career, it feels like I shouldn't have to prove anything.

But companies are cruel to older people.

I go in every day, do my job(s), and answer the many questions staffers, interns and others ask. I think I am still doing what I have always tried to do -- help others. After all, I am an ex-PCV. (Peace Corps Volunteer.)

Yesterday it was announced that my digital unit is being dismantled, and the remnants being assigned to other managers. The person in charge is one of the worst managers I have ever suffered under, and believe me, I have seen many bad managers.

Why is this happening? We have built a great team, won every award imaginable and done fabulous work. Because he thinks I am old and vulnerable and he is moving in for the kill.

This world simply makes no sense to me any longer.

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Waiting

I feel like I did many years ago in the hours before Hurricane Katrina hit Mississippi -- a sense of dread. This time it is the Carolinas and Hurricane Florence. It looks like a bad situation but who knows?

I am working from home today and monitoring the situation via CNN, not because I have to but because I want to.

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Happy 24th!

We celebrated Aidan's birthday at dinner tonight with his girlfriend, Kelsey, her parents and younger brother plus Dylan's close friend Meghan. It was a lovely time.

So this was a social weekend from my perspective. Saw everyone in the family except for Julia, who of course is back east at college.

A very satisfying weekend.

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Celebration

Here are some of the grandkids at today's party -- a party that used to be called a baby shower -- at Peter and Clarie's house.

The new little girl who is to join our family is due in about five weeks.

As I have grown older, I have realized how blessed I am. I am not rich, far from it, but when it comes to the people who love me I am the richest man in the world.

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Surprises

Yesterday, out of the blue, my youngest texted me that she was listening to our latest Bay Curious podcast, "East Bay Walls." I didn't know she was even aware of this work, let alone would spend time with it.

She's in college near Baltimore, starting her sophomore year. Her probable major is Peace Studies. I've been contacting friends about informational interviews she might be able to get to explore career options in that field, which are numerous in the D.C. area.

It gives me great pleasure imagining my daughter traveling the world, trying to help make it a better place.

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End of Summer

When I was young, back in Michigan, Labor Day weekend was he last of the "big three" (the others being Memorial Day and the 4th of July) when our family would go camping and celebrate summertime.

Before we bought into Rolling Hills, we would often go to Ludington State Park. There, we would catch fish in Lake Hamlin and collect blueberries on the Island Trail. At Mud Lake in Rolling Hills, we would catch fish and collect blackberries and apples.

We always had enough to eat.

The thing that always struck me on Labor Day weekend was nostalgia. Summer was coming to a close and very soon we would be back in school and experiencing increasingly cold weather.

Since I arrived in San Francisco in 1971 I have become accustomed to a very different climate. Here, it is cold in summer (fog) and warm in the spring and fall. Winter is normally the rainy season but we often have droughts.

I realize all of these tendencies are threatened by climate change. Humans have altered our environment so radically that who knows what kind of places these will be in the future.

But for now, for me, Labor Day still signals the end of summer, even though here it is more the beginning of summer, actually.

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Political Developments

Well, it was quite a week, with the conviction of Trump's former campaign manager and the guilty plea by his former lawyer/fixer.

Nancy Pelosi visited our station and denounced Trump's "culture of corruption."

The extent of that corruption is just becoming apparent. Younger people ask me whether this is worse than Watergate. As I think about it, this is much worse than Watergate because in that case, no one accused the President (Nixon) of being personally corrupt.

Rather, he presided over and directed a coverup of a burglary.

Trump, by contrast, appears to be mired in many layers of corruption. I fear we have a President so evil and compromised that there may be little we can do to correct the situation.

Impeachment may be the only solution. Pelosi said the Democrats need 23 seats in this fall's election to take back control of the House. It is the House of Representatives that can issue an impeachment order.

(The Senate has to convict.)

I can see no other course than impeachment now. A sitting President cannot be indicted, apparently.

Trump's arrogance is apparent. He thinks he can get away with anything and maybe, sadly, he can. If the Dems fail to retake the House, he will have at least two more years to continue this horror show.

Meanwhile, Special Counselor Robert Mueller continues to close in on Trump. As a former investigator myself I recognize his strategy. He has charged and/or convicted the lower level people around Trump to flip the higher-ups. He already has Cohen, the lawyer, accusing Trump of crimes in his payoffs of his mistresses.

Trump must feel like a caged animal now, with the walls of the cage moving in on him.

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Family Party for Julia

Lovely Julia (with the short hair) goes back to college on Tuesday and we had an unusually big family party last night, where all six of my children and their partners and all six of my grandchildren were in one place at one time.

It is a remarkable family -- multiracial, multicultural and with so many personalities and inclinations. Laila and Loic and their three kids are panning to move to France for six months a year from now, where the kids will go to schools where the only language is French. Loic has always spoken to them in French, so they understand it, but they rarely speak it...except when they are in France.

What an adventure! They are all dual French and American citizens.

Sarah's three boys started school this past week; Laila's son and two daughters start tomorrow.

A great deal of attention last night was paid to Claire's belly, where she and Peter have a little girl growing, due to be born October 14.

Aidan and Kelsey arrived, as did Dylan and Meghan at our party eventually after they had a birthday party for Meghan at Dolores Park.

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I Wonder Why...

...on weekends, when I do not have any real deadlines, I wake up so early. And on weekdays, when I have to go to work, I can barely wake up in time to get to work.

It's a puzzle. I suppose it is so exciting to have my time as my own that sleep ends early on Saturdays and Sundays. I feel a freedom that on Mondays through Fridays I cannot feel.

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Nice Party

Lunch with old friends yesterday, some of whom I have not seen in years. Bagels, lox, fruit, and many other treats. I find that every work day is a struggle -- to get up, go there and endure. But I will continue as long as I can, because they need my support.

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Lunch

Aidan and Kelsey came over today and we had lunch. It is so sweet when I see one or more of my kids and their partners, if any.

July Birthdays

Yesterday we gathered at Peter and Claire's to celebrate our three July birthdays -- Peter (37), Luca (10) and Leif (9).

Saturday Post

Aidan and Kelsey are back from Europe -- I hope to see them soon. It sounds like they had a great trip.

***

The place I work has become so political it is almost unbearable. People are jockying for positions and power, and in the process, they are affecting me and my teams.

My digital news team has been ripped away from me and given to someone else, a person with no news experience. I love this team, which I have carefully built up, led and I hope, inspired. Now they are going to report to someone else.

As a form of compensation, I am to be named Investigative Editor, but with no team. Just an empty gesture. I feel ripped off, sad, angry and unable to do anything about it.

After all, I have three kids in college. I need to keep going to that awful place. But except for the occasional investigative project I will have nothing to do.

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World Cup!

France wins.

Happy Bastille Day

Thinking

About a year ago, on what I think was a Wednesday, I spent the day working from home. I spent it thinking.

We in the news media had become terribly dependent on social media, especially Facebook, for the distribution of our content and the traffic to our websites.

I did not come up with any brilliant ideas that day but I did develop a heightened sensitivity to the problem.

About seven months ago, my engagement producer came to me with a proposition. She wanted to issue a #metoo call-out on our Facebook page to gather stories from those in our area who have been victims of sexual harassment.

I approved that. As the results poured in, we noticed a pattern. Some of the victims talked about being abused by their yoga instructors. Yoga is a huge industry in the Bay Area.

I authorized her to investigate these allegations. Today we have a 6,000 word-plus article we are preparing for publication with three shorter profiles that tell the stories of four women who say they were abused by their yoga teachers.

The first piece will probably appear next Thursday. It has cleared Legal so we can name the perpetrators.

During the process of overseeing this investigation, I have come to realize this is actually the new engagement strategy we need. Rather than relying on social media to serve us, we can use social media to yield investigative journalism.

Stay tuned.

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In Paris

Aidan and Kelsey!

Happy Holiday

My two youngest, Julia and Dylan, came by for lunch at Cafe Taboo today. It was so great to see them -- Julia for the first time since she got back here for summer vacation. Dylan, for the first time in many weeks.

I hope everyone has a great fourth!

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Thinking of My Brother-in-Law

Dr. Mark Richardson is in the hospital in Michigan, on a ventilator. He didn't wake up yesterday morning. Today he has opened his eyes and nodded at nurses.

He has been in poor health for several years. My sister Kathy has been at his side much of the time as has been my nephew Mike.

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Hard Week for Journalists

The mass shooting at a Virginia newspaper shook up many people in the press this week. The attack illustrates something that is becoming prevalent in the Trump era -- an anti-press hysteria whipped up by the person at the top.

This attack does not seem related directly to that -- the shooter had a long history of animus toward the newspaper in question. But who really knows?

A tone has been set, by Trump, that makes all of us feel like we have a target on our backs. "Enemy of the people," he calls us. The day may soon come when we are in fact the last best hope the people have...

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Little Things

Reflecting on the past week, which had some difficult moments, I'm instead inclined to feel hopeful. I woke up very early today and took care of various tasks around here that have been begging for my attention.

Laundry, dishwashing, etc. Little things.

It's the little things that fill our days, whether at work or home.

My older kids and their families are vacationing at Cayo Costa off the coast of southern Florida. I love that place. From the photos they are sending me they seem to be catching some pretty impressive fish!

Like everyone else, my heart is broken over the horrific breaking apart of families at our southern border. This is not the action of the country I love. This is the action of a vicious, heartless dictator.

Among the little things many of us do is follow the news. It is very hard these days to follow this news.

I'll watch other things on my TV this weekend. Casablanca, for one. I need to get some perspective.

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Downturn

I'm basically being destroyed at work by bosses who don't fundamentally understand what I do or how I do it. I lead teams. We do great work. I delegate authority. We get it right. We win awards. I make the tough decisions.

They want to relegate me to a lesser role. At this point in my career that feels terrible. Like career death.

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Happy Father's Day!

Lovely breakfast with Peter, Claire and Aidan at the Atlas Cafe.