The Eclectic Linda

Mensagenda, the monthly newsletter of Minnesota Mensa, will have a new editor starting with the May issue, and I’m it. The chaper’s board approved the appointment at its meeting Monday (Feb. 1)

I’m very pleased to have this opportunity. There’s no money involved, but it’s a way to keep my hand in, and to learn some new skills about layout programs (I have a copy of Pages for my MacBook). The current editor uses PageMaker, on a PC, but that program hasn’t been supported for several years and there’s no version that will run on my laptop. So I’ve been learning as I go, but that’s fun.

Up to a point, anyway, and only so long as it works.

Thanks to the board members for their vote of confidence.

I did a piece on a proposal to reduce funding for additional lab periods for science students  at Berkeley High School, and was no end pleased when the Breitbart site bigjournalism.com posted it Wednesday (Jan 27). Take a look and let me know what you think.

When I was working at the Los Angeles Daily News, I went to a Peter Paul & Mary concert at Universal Amphitheatre. It must have been 1993 or 1994.

Their politics were as loopy as ever (sorry, I know lots of people agreed with them) and Mary was — well, there’s no other way to say it, she was fat. But it was all magic just the same.

In one section of the program, the members of the trio came out separately, to sing a couple of solos, and to share some personal reflections.

Mary, who grew up in Greenwich Village, recalled the time when the trio was just getting started, in the early 1960’s. Once, she recalled, she rushed home all excited, to tell her mother about the great gig they’d just landed at a Village club.

“Oh, Mary,” said her mother, with weary patience. “Get a real job.”

One of the stories I’ve read in the past couple of days mentioned that the trio had been practicing in the Travers’ home for months before they began to catch on, which may explain Mom’s lack of enthusiasm.

Obviously, being Mary of PP&M was a real job. The trio broke up for a while during the 1970s, but began giving reunion concerts around 1978. I saw them twice more, at Wente’s Vineyard in Livermore, Calif., in 1996 and at Fiddler’s Green in Denver a few years later, after I moved to the Rocky Mountain News. They were still giving concerts as recently as April of this year. A wonderful run for any musician.

I’ve kept my 1960s’ folk LPs, and I even bought a turntable with a USB port so I could listen to them again.

Magic.

This message received and quoted (absolutely sic) by a member of the editorial writers’ listserve (many of whom double as letters editors)

To the Editor, ,
******************************

It is important that you write the letter in your own words. Nothing is more persuasive to the media, lawmakers, and the public than the experiences, opinions, and feelings of concerned citizens. To help get you started, we’ve provided simple talking points to the right (click the talking point once to add it to your letter), but please remember to use the words that mean the most to you.

REMEMBER: DELETE THESE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE WRITING YOUR LETTER AND INCLUDE YOUR DAYTIME AND EVENING PHONE NUMBERS.

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Sincerely,

[Your Name]
Contact Phone: [Your Phone Number(s)]

The listserve member who forwarded this enlightening missive included the name and address of the clueless signatory, but I refrain, to spare his blushes. Not that ()he likely would have them. Somebody who used to send me messages had in his sig line, “think about how stupid the average person is. then remember that half the population is stupider than that.”