For some time now, certain Boulder-ites of my acquaintance have been arguing the case for their … town? is Boulder a town? … being the center of the hip world. Or is it hippie. I am confused. But aren’t we all … the adrenaline crash, well, let us just respect that adrenaline is a powerful, powerful drug. Kindness starts with the self.
But you can see how stressful this has been, living through a Historic Moment and all. People are handing the let down in all different ways. Some are listless, some depressed. Some are in wonder that Arianna can go on—I notice more celebrity crap turning up on her front page every day—but wasn’t the Huff Po the perfect vehicle at the perfect moment.
Cranking up the ol’ MacBook (Pro) first thing in the morning was faster and more fun—what in god’s name did Sarah say this time—more comprehensive-at-a-glance than any five newspapers. I mean, so long print. And I say that as a writer. (Who used to dream of paper, but that’s another story.)
But a fully linked newspaper is, admit it you geezer, the whole gobbet, the whole … Wait—what was it McLuhan said? He said we would bathe in the media. He didn’t know about the intertubes, of course, but he rather presciently said we would bathe in the news. Rather than poke along line by line.
And honey, we are immersed. Not that this takes the place of line-by-line. You know, reading. Sometimes one likes it big, fast and overwhelming … and sometimes one likes the extreme pleasure of long, slow and careful.
Boulder. So I’m like, did Prince Charles* come to the school garden in Boulder? Did Maria Shriver step through the school garden in her exquisite stilettos in Boulder? I think not.
Oh, right: rest of world? The schoolyard edible garden is the brainchild of Alice Waters, our own little royalty. The garden was there before, but now it is … meaningful.
My ten-year-old cousin was on weeding rotation, the day Maria Shriver came. The most fabulous shoes she had ever seen, appearing in her line of sight. Heels, she said, that kept sinking in the dirt, but Maria Shriver is nothing if not a good sport, and made no show of it.
We also have something called Slow Food. Which may or may not be patented by Alice Waters, but I am of the opinion it is crock-pot renamed. I could be wrong.
In Berkeley, we are busy blocking troop trains—alright, that was a while ago—staging tree-ins, voting against the neutron bomb, and rarely dining at Chez Panisse. The poodle always stays home.
(*I believe Camilla was there too, but really, who gave a shit.)
