point of view

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Point of View: Something We Can Do!

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Sacramento LGBT Center

Something a little different today, For the last few months, I’ve felt as if I was trapped in a never-ending vortex of horrible news, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I have felt depressed, dejected and powerless, as I’m sure many of you have too. Then ever so slowly, things have started to shift. More people standing together and fighting back. And there have been glimmering signs of hope. Then a few days ago, this landed in my email inbox, from my friend Luis at the Sacramento LGBT Center: “On March 24, the federal government abruptly … Read more

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Point of View: Putting On a Book Festival

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Sacramento Book Festival Logo

About a year ago, I was asked to participate in a local book festival. It was a trial “pop-up” event – twelve booths attached to an existing farmer’s market. There were about twenty authors there, and although it was never really busy, we all sold a decent number of books. It was clear that there was a hunger for this kind of event here in Sacramento. Flash forward to today. We’re a month-and-a-half out from launching our second annual Sacramento Book Festival on May 31st, and this one’s gonna be way bigger – 140 authors, bookstores, local writing and literacy … Read more

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Point of View: What a Real Man Is

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smug man with crown on head - deposit photos

This week a new word popped into my awareness, one that’s probably been circulating for a while, and one that comes from a worldview that has become almost omnipresent in its injection into our daily lives. See, it’s the straight white men who are oppressed. Women, gays, democrats and trans folk have been telling them for far too long that they can’t just be men and do manly things, like oppressing women, gays, democrats and trans folk. It’s really unfair. And now the combination of our hyper-masculine co-presidents, the crypto bros, the Andrew Tates of the world and all the … Read more

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Point Of View: Let the Rain Wash Me Clean

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teen in the rain - deposit photos

I was sitting at my desk about half an hour ago, when I heard something outside. I opened the blinds and peered out, and a decent rain was falling out of the sky. Within a couple minutes it built into a thunderous crescendo, pummeling the roof above, like a hundred drummers beating on tautly stretched hides. It was mesmerizing. The rain has passed, and now there are patches of blue sky outside. And while we know the rain will come again, maybe as soon as this afternoon, for now the air is crisp and clean, and the world feels new … Read more

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Point of View: Selling Books at a Time of Existential Threats

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This is Fine

We’ve all seen the meme. In a world that seems to be burning down around us, it captures that horrible frozen feeling many of us have that the forces moving around us are just too large to comprehend, let alone combat. Have you seen the whole original comic strip this came from? It’s by artist KC Green, and there’s a great interview and explanation here at The Verge. This is the world we as authors are living in. Lately a new version has been making the rounds, where “This is fine” is replaced with “Buy my book”: And here’s a … Read more

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Point of View: Picking Up Where I Left Off

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man on a cliff with an umbrella - deposit photos

December was a rough month. January was a rough month. February was a rough month. March… well, we’ll see. So far it hasn’t been grand. I like to write a bit every day, but lately life, stress, and the pile-up of things to do has gotten the better of me. I’m lucky if I can manage to write once or twice a week. Which right now is just enough to keep my blog serial Down the River going. Part of it, too, is a schedule in turmoil, and persistent insomnia that leaves me unwilling or unable to get up early … Read more

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Point of View: Adrift

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adrift - deposit photos

If you’re anything like Mark and I, you’re probably feeling a bit lost at sea right now. Our new Administration here in the US has turned everything upside down – black is White, Zelensky is Putin, and all the lies are now true. Or at least they will be once they finish beating us over the head with them. The weather here in Northern California is vacillating between super cold and rainy and too warm for February, suggesting a hot summer to come. I’ve now been looking for a job now for sixteen months. I interview, they love me, they … Read more

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Point of View: Finding the Cracks

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cracks - deposit photos

It’s a time of mass destruction. The forces of chaos have been unleashed in our world, fighting wars, causing chaos on our social networks, and chewing away at the very foundations of the U.S. Government. It’s easy to fall into apathy in the face of all this, to conclude that all these things are way too big for any of us to comprehend, let alone do something about. This is part of the playbook – we are meant to feel overwhelmed, defeated, demoralized. But we are far from helpless. In the political sphere, the system (and the many people who … Read more

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Point of View: It’s Okay to Be Scared, But Let’s Flood the Zone Our Own Way

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holding hands - deposit photos

I made it exactly one week with my pledge to take a break from my Point of View columns. But given all the recent events, I couldn’t stay silent. I needed to reach out and gather you all in my arms and tell you: It’s all right to be scared right now. I am scared shitless. The non-stop torrent of bad news, as Musk sticks his fingers into agency after agency, stuffing AI into their core coding and demolishing some of them singlehandedly with seemingly no recourse, is truly frightening to behold. And Trump’s non-stop attacks on his enemies, which … Read more

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Point of View: My World Has Gotten Smaller (And That’s Okay)

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tiny house - deposit photos

My world has gotten smaller these last few weeks, as I’ve turned off news notifications, pulled the curtains closed, and endeavored to focus on those things that are real and true. I’ve made no secret of my personal beliefs on this blog. I’m an unabashed liberal who thinks we should be doing all we can to make the world a better place – for minorities, for the poor, for the middle class, and for just about everyone else except for the billionaires. This last week unleashed a flood-tide of horrible news for people like me, as rights were rolled back, … Read more