Blog Master G

I want to make more of an effort to be involved in my community. I used to be much better at this. In high school, college, and even as a fresh college graduate in San Francisco, I volunteered; I went to community events to meet new people. These days, the extent of my community involvement is the annual interviewing of prospective Vassar students and sending a bit of money here and there to charitable causes. I miss being more active in my community, and I’m on a quest to change that.

The quest includes anything that involves getting out of the house and away from TV or video games. Sitting on the porch and sipping white wine or martinis this time of year is awesome, but does that count as getting out of the house? OK, maybe that’s a good weekend activity.

Saturday we took a step in the right direction, going on a guided tour of “Signs of Spring” in Saratoga State Park. Last night we tried to attend a lecture that was allegedly at the Tang at 7 PM (“Differing Views of the Universe” by two Smithsonian professors), but the Times Union Community Almanac had some piece of information wrong since the Tang is closed on Mondays.

Tonight is the weekly Saratoga City Council meeting, and I think it might be fun to attend. Thursday in the library is a public meeting on affordable housing. It’s an important topic in any city, particularly this one, which is an anomaly among all Upstate New York cities in terms of housing costs (it’s a resort town, after all, known the world round for its health, history, and horses).

It’s a small town and I want to get out there and enjoy it, to be part of shaping its future, to meet my neighbors (we did just this on Saturday while walking down Broadway: we met a fellow ex-city resident and rescue dog owner). It’s a good feeling and I want more of it.

April 15th: You’re Getting Screwed by Molly Ivins

Three years ago today we were getting ready to leave for Italy.