Pat Taub
Palm Springs Street Poet
I love it when my walks land upon a bit of whimsy and creative fun. A week or so ago while wandering in downtown Palm Springs I spotted the “typewriter troubadour,” offering to type an original poem for $10. I was intrigued but not willing to spend that much money. The poet told me that this is his only job. In that case I hope he gets a lot of $10 takers!
Cohen Hearings
I watched some of the hearings, feeling like I was listening to a mobster given all Cohen’s dirty deals. If he does bring Trump down, we’ll be left with Pence, which could make the plot of “A Handmaid’s Tale,” a horrifying possible! I wish this were all a bad dream and I could wake up to a more benevolent government.
Scene from season 3 of “A Handmaid’s Tale,” which could be close to reality if we have a President Pence!
Movie, The Period. End of Sentence
This week I watched The Period (Netflix), the film that just won the Oscar for Best Short Documentary. It’s a very moving story of a poor village in India where 23 percent of the girls drop out of school when they get their periods because they have no access to sanitary pads. Having learned of this situation, a Los Angeles teacher and her students traveled to Kathikhera, India with a rudimentary pad-making machine, which they taught the women how to operate.
The village women quickly became adept at making sanitary pads, placing them in cardboard boxes stamped with the logo “Fly,” for “rise up and fly.” The pads became an instant profit-making enterprise for the women involved. Now the pads are being used in 40 nearby villages.
Indian village girls laughing with embarrassment over a pad-making machine.
Family Visit
This weekend my son and daughter-in-law will fly from Chicago to Palm Springs, where I’m vacationing and my other son who lives in LA will drive to Palm Springs for a family reunion. Since we are so scattered—both coasts and the mid-West–we don’t get together as much as I’d like. Plans are to see the desert’s spring blossoms, eat out a lot, and take in the wonderful Palm Springs Art Museum.
A family photo from a London trip, June, 2018 where my youngest son is peeking out in a photo-bomb.
