Andrew and Chloe

Andrew and Chloe

We attended Andrew Moore and Chloe Miranda’s wedding two weeks ago. It was outside on a beautiful (and windy) afternoon at the Presidio Golf Club. Fortunately, I had a seat at the back on the aisle. I videotaped each of the wedding party as they came to the alter. Some of the children shots are precious.

Favorite stills from the video:

The Word is Not the Thing

Remember semantics? I do. Just barely.

1957 I am sitting in a class at Berkeley High called “Semantics.” Our text was “Language in Thought and Action,” by S.I. Hayakawa. I had no idea what the hell all this was about. Here is what Dr. Google has to say about it:

What is language in action?

Description. Language in Action demonstrates the viability of mathematical research into the foundations of categorial grammar, a topic at the border between logic and linguistics. Since its initial publication it has become the classic work in the foundations of categorial grammar.

What. The. Fuck?

Now, I knew people at BHS who were smart enough to get into the Ivy League. I am sure my Ivy League pals understood semantics. I was in no danger of being admitted to Harvard. For me, it was a muddle.

So, here we are. Bright sunny morning in the spring of 1957. 11:00 A.M. The final exam. The teacher, Dr. Pendleton, hands out blue books. I was intrigued by and terrified of blue books. I had heard this is what they give you in college. College? Jesus Christ. For me… ? Maybe.

We were sitting in a circle. Dr. Pendleton put a chair in the middle of the room. He wrote the one exam question on the blackboard:

“What is that?”

I knew the answer that would earn me an ‘F’: “A chair.” (Remember, the word is not the thing.)

I have been reliving this scene for 67 years. I have no idea what I wrote in my blue book, or what my final grade was. I suspect ‘C.’

I now know the perfect answer to that question. BUT, would I have had the courage to give that answer? My answer would’ve earned me either ‘F,’ or ‘A.’

Looking back on my life, so little riding on an answer in a blue book in one class in high school. Yet at the time it seemed so important. “What if I flunk Semantics?”

So many years later, I wish I’d had the insight and courage to give the perfect answer: nonverbal and  Zen-like. I would have walked to the teacher’s desk handed him my blue book with one word, “Look.” I then would have walked to the middle of the room, sat on the chair without saying a word, stood up and walked out.

Spectacular! So right! Either I would have gotten a solid ‘A,’ or an ‘F.’

All of this is like life. Risk? Choose the Zen answer, or muddle through? Now at the end of my life, I reflect.  Sometimes I took the risk. Sometimes it paid off. Sometimes I fell on my face. Wish I’d taken more risks. After all, what is so bad about an ‘F?’

Someone once said, “To be or not to be. That is the question.” Hmmm? Very insightful.

Coastal Arts League Show

Happy to report that two of my photos have been accepted for an upcoming juried show at CAL in Half Moon Bay  called, “After Dark.“

The show runs from September 26 to November 3.