Do you live in the LA area? If so, and if you're looking for a worthy cause to help support (as well as great time!) check out the website of Laurel Canyon's
Wonderland School.
This Saturday evening, Friends of Wonderland will be holding a silent auction to help support, among other needs, their recent hiring of three full-time teachers in the fields of music, art, and gardening, and the Special Edition of my book,
Beyond The Bridge will be under the gavel. If that doesn't jibe with my main character, Gordon Hammond, I don't know what does! If you've read either (or both) of the first two books in the series, you know that these three subjects are what make Gordon tick. He in fact spends a significant amount of time in Laurel Canyon and falls in love with it. For a while he even entertains the idea of moving there, only one of two places in the entire world that ever nearly lures him away from his beloved Chadwicke Park. What's really awesome is that the organizers of this auction had no knowledge of this little fact when they approached me.
"As you may know, many schools in the Los Angeles area have fundraisers to enhance the education of their children. With the current budget crisis in LAUSD, the funds that we raise are crucial! Fundraisers not only guarantee the much-needed day-to-day supplies, but also basic curriculum, like art, P.E., music and technology, as well as our unique gardening curriculum. Wonderland Avenue Elementary School is proud of the accomplishments of its remarkable students and teachers. Our school is public and located in Laurel Canyon. We serve the neighborhood as well as attracting children from all over the city to our Gifted Magnet program. Our 550 students broadly represent the many cultures and ethnic groups within Los Angeles. We also have a very active parent body that donates time, energy, and resources to our classrooms and both the PTA and to Friends of Wonderland, the school booster club." - Friends of Wonderland
When they came to me asking if I'd like to donate a copy of my book, I leapt into action. How could I not?
Not only have I been a resident of Laurel Canyon, but the state of education in our country is of great concern to me. We need more public schools like Wonderland, but to create and maintain those, we need to donate what we can, and help support them with our time, money, and involvement.
If you'd like more information, check out the school's website, which I linked above. The event, called "All That Jazz", will be held at the famous celebrity A-List venue,
The Sportsman's Lodge in Studio City. Tickets are $85 if bought in advance. At the door they will be $100. Entertainment will be provided by The Looters.
When Jesus sat at the supper table
"One small time," (as my mother told me I used to say when I was a very small child) when I lived in California, I used to be visited every Friday night by my circle of friends (La Boheme) whether I was in the mood or not. This meant a night of drinking and of waking up the next morning to see several bodies strewn around my living room floor.
Even today in the 21st century, our Protestant work ethic continues to set the standard of how we define ourselves both as individuals and as a society. (Don't panic—this isn't a political post. Not entirely.) Based on the Calvinist tenet that hard work and self-sacrifice is necessary to our calling, success, self-esteem, morality, and social acceptability, the Puritans considered it to be a visible sign of the salvation of their very souls, their "rightness with God." Even atheists and non-religious people pick up the cat-of-nine-tails and flagellate themselves into a bleeding state over the sanctity of the work ethic...