UCSC Graduation Weekend Takes Over Santa Cruz
The roads are gridlocked. Traffic is awful. Everywhere you go to eat has a long wait. It’s that time of the year! Families of graduating students fill the streets of Santa Cruz this weekend, and get introduced to the local flavor of downtown. The junk vendors are out in force along the sidewalks of Pacific Avenue (don’t we have an ordinance that makes vending on the sidewalk here illegal or is that just more lip service from the city council and SCPD?). And yeah, there’s a few sketchy tweekers out on parade too. Most of us that live here are hardly shocked anymore, but all these thousands of visitors might not have the best first impression of Santa Cruz when they leave, and we get one chance to make a good first impression! We leave all our human dirty laundry on display for the world to see, because some would argue that’s the most compassionate approach. We all know that crap is king, give us dirty laundry! (Sorry Don Henley). Congratulations to all the graduating banana slugs, good luck with your future, you’re gonna need it. I leave you with this commencement speech Tom Robbins gave in 1974. An all time great writer giving an all time great speech.
“I am often asked whether there is life after death. Certainly, there is. There is also death after life, and life before death, and death after life. It goes on forever. There’s no stopping it. You will live forever and die forever. In fact, you already have. As for heaven and hell, they are right here on Earth, and it is up to each of you in which one you choose to reside. To put it simply, heaven is living in your hopes and hell is living in your fears. One problem with the notion of Heaven and Hell is that although they are exact opposites, an astonishing number of people seem to be confused about which is which. For example, all over the United States on this very evening, commencement speakers are standing before audiences not greatly unlike yourselves describing hell as if they were talking about heaven. Their speakers are saying things such as, ‘Graduating seniors, you have reached the golden age of maturity; it is time now to go out into the world and take up the challenge of life, time to face your hallowed responsibility.’
And if that isn’t one hell of a note, it’s certainly one note of hell. When I hear the word maturity spoken with such solemn awe, I don’t know whether to laugh or get sick. There circulates a common myth that once one becomes an adult, one suddenly and magically gets it all together. And, if I may use the vernacular, discovers where it’s at. Ha ha. The sad funny truth is adults are nothing but tall children who have forgotten how to play. When people tell you to grow up, they mean approximately the same thing they mean when they tell you to shut up. By shut up they mean stop talking. By grow up, they mean stop growing. Because as long as you keep growing, you keep changing, and the person who is changing is unpredictable, impossible to pigeonhole and difficult to control. The growing person is not an easy target for those guys in slick suits who want you to turn over your soul to Christ, your heart to America, your butt to Seattle First National Bank and your armpits to the new extra crispy Right Guard. No, the growing person is not an ideal consumer, which means, in more realistic terms, he or she is not an easy slave. Worse yet, if he or she continues to grow, grows far enough and long enough, he or she may get too close to the universal mysteries, the nature of which the Navy and the Dutch Reformed Church do not encourage us to ponder. The growing person is an uncomfortable reminder of the greater human potential that each of us might realize if we had the guts.
So, society wants you to grow up to reach a safe, predictable plateau and root there. To muzzle your throb. To lower the volume on the singing in your blood. Capers all cut, sky finally larked, surprises known: SETTLE DOWN — settle like the sand in the bottom of an hourglass, like a coffin six months in the ground. Act your age, which means act their age, and that has, from the moment they stopped growing, always been old. Growing up is a trap. As for responsibility, I am forced to ask, responsibility to what? To our fellow man? Two weeks ago, the newspapers reported that a federal court had ruled that when a person’s brain stops functioning, that person is legally dead, even though his or her heart may continue to beat. That means that 80% of the population of the Earth is legally dead. Must we be responsible to corpses? No, you have no responsibility except to be yourself to the fullest limit of yourself. And to find out who you are. Or perhaps I should say to remember who you are. Because deep down in the secret velvet of your heart, far beyond your name and address, each of you knows who you really are. And that being who is true cannot help but behave graciously to all other beings – because it is all other beings.
Ah, but we must be responsible, and if we are, then we are rewarded with the white man’s legal equivalent of looting: a steady job, a secure income, easy credit, free access to all the local emporiums and a home of your own to pile the merchandise in. And so what if there is no magic in your life, no wonder, no amazement, no playfulness, no peace of mind, no sense of unity with the universe, no giggling joy, no burning passion, no deep understanding, no overwhelming love? At least your ego has the satisfaction of knowing you are a responsible citizen. The only advice I have for you tonight is not to actively resist or fight the system, because active protest and resistance merely entangles you in the system. Instead, ignore it, walk away from it. Turn your backs on it, laugh at it. Don’t be outraged, be outrageous! Never be stupid enough to respect authority unless that authority proves itself respectable.
So be your own authority, lead yourselves. Learn the ways and means of the ancient yogi masters, pied pipers, cloud walkers and medicine men. Get in harmony with nature. Listen to the loony rhythms of your blood. Look for beauty and poetry in everything in life. Let there be no moon that does not know you, no spring that does not lick you with its tongues. Refuse to play it safe, for it is from the wavering edge of risk that the sweetest honey of freedom drips and drips. Live dangerously, live lovingly. Believe in magic. Nourish your imagination. Use your head, even if it means going out of your mind. Learn, like the lemon and the tomato learned, the laws of the sun. Become aware, like the jungle became aware, of your own perfume. Remember that life is much too serious to take seriously – so never forget how to play. Looking at you tonight, I know you are going to do just fine.”
Tom Robbins speech to the Off Campus School in Oak Harbor, Washington on June 7, 1974.
Santa Cruz is Going to Need Another Hospital
Among other things, with all the crazy amount of new development going on in Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz is going to need another hospital. Has anyone tried using our one hospital (Dominican) now? It’s overwhelmed already. And as we expect to add another couple thousand new people to our city’s population, it only makes sense that necessary services to support this spike in population should also increase accordingly. Has anyone at the city or county level discussed the need for a new hospital in Santa Cruz? They should be. It’s a commitment to the community. I know hospitals aren’t exactly profit machines in California. They’re being run like a business and struggling with their bottom line of turning any profit. Our local hospitals aren’t making any money servicing uninsured migrant workers, one reason that the hospital in Salinas struggles to remain open. Dominican suffers from much of the same fate, in addition to being the de facto mental health and drug addiction treatment service provider in the county. Overloaded! The county needs to step up and do more here. Like start thinking of building another hospital in Santa Cruz.
Suspect in Capitola Woman’s Murder Arraigned in Santa Cruz
After a two day preliminary hearing this week in Santa Cruz County court, Judge Nancy de la Peña ruled that a 54 year old El Cerrito man charged with killing his girlfriend and hiding her body beneath a pile of rocks will stand trial on charges of murder, burglary and vehicle theft. The 61 year old Capitola woman was reported missing by her family after she failed to arrive in Hawaii for a planned flight. Her remains were located January 2nd at Tilden Regional Park near Oakland. The suspect was a founding member of the band Mr Bungle.
Help on the Way
Last Sunday around 4:30PM, Cal Fire responded to a cove south of Davenport Landing Road after a private helicopter called 911 to report seeing “HELP” spelled out in rocks on the beach. Turns out a kitesurfer got stranded along the beach and signaled for help using a pile of rocks. The kitesurfer was not injured and was airlifted off the beach to safety, according to a Cal Fire CZU Unit report. Assisting agencies included Santa Cruz County Fire, Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit Copter 612, Santa Cruz Fire Department and California State Parks. Well, roll away the dew!
The Answer is Blowing in the Wind
This past Tuesday, the Santa Cruz City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance banning gas powered leaf blowers in the city. As of January 1st of this year, the state of California passed Assembly Bill 1346, which bans the sale of new gas powered leaf blowers in California but does not regulate the use of the gas powered leaf blowers already in use. That regulation falls now to local governments. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to phase out gas blowers earlier this year, and will consider a similar ordinance to prohibit them countywide at their June 25th meeting. Exceptions included in the proposed city ordinance include parcels of 10 acres or more, the maintenance of DeLaveaga Park, Depot Park, Harvey West Park, Neary Lagoon, San Lorenzo Park, the Rail Trail, University Terrace Park, Riverwalk, and West Cliff — and that the ordinance does not apply to the use of gas powered leaf blowers by emergency responders responding to an emergency or to save lives or property from imminent danger of loss or harm. Enforcement would be facilitated by the city’s planning department, and would include a warning for first-time violators and escalating fines for repeat offenders. The City Council voted unanimously to move ahead with the ordinance, and a final vote on adoption will take place at their meeting on June 25th. Good riddance. I hate those things.
The Weekly Stroll
Friday afternoon I took a stroll through San Lorenzo Park from the county building to the pedestrian bridge. And I have to say I was pleasantly impressed with how clean and free of human rabble it was. What a difference it makes getting rid of the seemingly never ending bum camp that was squatting in the benchlands. It’s amazing how nature can reclaim itself given the chance to do so. I have no idea when it will reopen, but when it does the city better have a good fucking plan to keep it clean and safe. We got our jewel of a downtown park back. Sort of. It’s a good start. Let’s not blow it again.
Friday afternoon stroll through San Lorenzo Park
In My Ear
Last week my friend Eric told me about this amazing band he just saw play up in The City at the Great American Music Hall (one of my all time favorite places to see a band). A band from Canada that I’d never heard of called The Sadies. I listened to a bunch of their stuff on YouTube and loved what I heard, then he tells me they just played in Santa Cruz! What?! Next time they come around I hope I get to catch them locally.
The Sadies – “More Alone” LIVE at Moe’s Alley, Santa Cruz, CA. 6/6/24
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10 Responses
Thanks for the Dump…A Dump has never been so satisfying…
Thanks Johnny!
You are so right about another hospital… and medical care. A couple of years ago Kaiser pulled the plug on a full medical hub…with overnight surgery in Live Oak. The opposition was intense. At that time I wrote the county and expressed my concern about needing more medical care with the dense housing being proposed… just got crickets… so what are they going to do…Kaiser was willing to provide this and was shut down.
Thanks Nancy!
SC joining the ranks of elitist communities complaining about blowers!
Waking me up at 9 AM?
10 decibels lower than gas!
Blowing “contaminants” 100% the same.
Cost approximately 6k subsidized by tax payers.
Time to complete job, double so landscapers will make less or be replaced by hungry newcomers working for peanuts.
Co2 give me a break, ridiculous and political.
Both my grandfathers were gardeners so I know how it works nobody will pay double.
All the problems in SC and council wasting time on this!
So you love gas leaf blowers? What else do you love? Screaming babies? Barking dogs? Train horns? The asshole neighbor setting off fireworks next door? Jackhammers? Thanks Tom!
YOU ARE COMPLETELY RIGHT ABOUT YOUR WRITING FOR THE NEED FOR ANOTHER HOSPITAL IN SANTA CRUZ. I WORKED AT DOMINICAN FOR 22 YEARS AND I WATCHED IT GO FROM A CARRYING HOSPITAL TO A CORPORATE CONVEYOR BELT WHERE THE PATIENTS COME IN ON ONE END AND FALL OFF ON THE END WHERE YOU PAY. Many people are unaware that the DIGNITY corporation just fired the entire radiology department’s reading radiologist. They fired RMG and all their radiologist in order to save money. I worked with these radiologist closely, and I was told by one of them that the hospital wanted them to cut costs and the way they care for our patients. The radiologist refused to compromise their ethics and were thus fired. I hear now that they have some radiologist reading, offsite, all the imaging done and sometimes cases can go unread for days! I recently visited the hospital again to talk to friends and see how things are going and I am horrified. The ER was overflowing with patients waiting for a room upstairs for ongoing care. This made it extremely crowded in the ER for the patients that came in for emergency care. All the staff that I worked with that are still there are counting in the days till they can retire. The work atmosphere is horrible , they are overworked and don’t like watching the patients suffer from these conditions. It’s taken a toll on the caregivers who actually care about their patients. Santa Cruz has another hospital facility on Frederick Street that they are not using. When I was working at Dominican, I went there often to do certain exams and x-rays. They can reopen that as well as build more facilities for our growing population. All of the employees at Dominican have always considered the Dignity slogan “human kindness” as a joke and a slap in the face from the corporate bean counters , those weasels have put profits over patient care and employee satisfaction. I weep for our aging population having to deal with corporate “Dignity Health Care”!
Thanks Ed!
Ben, Thanks for bringing up the hospital issue, this has been a subject of conversation for years with family and friends. I’ve had 3 trips to emergency at DH in the past 2 years. I spent 8 hours there with what was acid reflux not a heart attack like I thought. During my wait 2 different homeless guys came in an ambulance. Both were called by their first name by security. The nurse told me they and others are regulars. Appeared to be schizophrenia in the 2 I saw. My dad at 98 went by ambulance as he was declining from congestive heart failure. He spent the night in a bed in the hallway along with 5 others because they were overcrowded. My wife went in last week, it was slow, after 4 hours in an emergency room they transfered her to a single room in the patient area. The nurse commented she was lucky they were slow because people often spend 2 nights in the emergency room beds, not conducive to a good night’s sleep and minimalist rooms with no bathroom. (She was also diagnosed with cancer, not ver lucky). I know you follow police scanners and my son in law works for AMR, how many times last year were ambulances turned away by DH? We don’t have a crisis brewing, there is a crisis. A natural disaster and we’d look like a 3rd world country with response and ability to care for those in need.
Whatever happened to Sutter building on the old drive in site? Scotts Valley also seems a good candidate for a new hospital.
Not sure the good it will do but I’m going to write the Supervisors and see what they say.
Not expecting much. McPherson probably won’t answer and Cummings I may have to go to the Parrish and by him a drink for his answer.
Thanks for your weekly insights bringing much needed reality to light in this paradise we’re fortunate to live in.
Thanks Brian! Local healthcare borders on awful.