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A Sad Use of Privilege We Americans tell ourselves that our society is a meritocracy, and in some instances, this is the case. During my time in the United States Army, I experienced an American institution that recognized and rewarded merit. But the recent college admissions...

This Aggression Will Not Stand  They are more aggressive than our cop cars. Their garish, neon color makes our black and whites (plus red, white and blue) look like muted Cézanne’s. They have crossed the border, multiplied, and are crowding out our locals. Walls won’t stop them....

A Timely Vacation    Sad and Mad desperately needed to get out of town. They poured through brochures highlighting exotic locations until they mutually agreed to visit the land that promised to take them beyond the irritations, resentments and upsets that were a constant part of...

Kiss a Frog The City Council just kissed a frog. Frogparking has been hired at $1.61 million dollars to install and advertise a smart parking system that will enable drivers to find and pay for open parking spaces via a mobile app. Some council members rejected kissing to close...

A Panjandrum’s Panglossian Proposition There are movies about some catastrophic disaster impending and the people in charge aren’t telling the common folks. There’s the risk of panic and lamentations that common folks can’t handle the truth. This makes for great fiction. But it...

Overwhelming Meaning I did the Palm Sunday marathon, scurrying between Laguna churches as they began their Easter Week. Thanks to a Laguna service starting every half-hour from 7:30 a.m. forward, I got to sample six churches, though not able to enjoy the whole service. It was an...

Local Accountability As my husband, Emil, did in his first column for “Common Sense,” I too would like to thank the Indy in my first column for giving us both the opportunity to discuss issues of interest to the “other side” of usually liberal Laguna. We both have different...

No Threatening Political Language in Laguna Politics is a contact sport. Candidates understand there is no trophy for simply showing up. With these thoughts in mind, is it any wonder chants like “Lock her up” and “AOC sucks” are heard at GOP political...

Read the Personals   BUICK LE SABRE, Year 2000 – Custom points all over this excellent machine – owner/driver has all records. Asking $5,000 in a cashier’s check. Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Let me drive her to you. #DreamCar   MASSIVE YARD SALE – Five families have joined...

Read Me For $185 An Hour If you are not getting paid $185 an hour to read this column, you’re not a consultant for the toll road. Nobody was paid that kind of money for producing it. If you are getting that kind of money to read this, a Starbucks gift card would be nice. One of...

Palm Sunday I write as the Indy traveling correspondent to little Midway, Utah. It’s a picturesque village high in the Wasatch range of the Rocky Mountains. Swiss emigrants helped settle Midway in the 1860s and the Beautiful Wife, you’ll recall, is half-Swiss. Which half I can’t...

Pick Up “Hi, beautiful. Who’s your plastic surgeon?” Slap. “Good talking with you.” I never had a good pick up line. I found myself saying over and over, “Sorry for taking up your time.” I don’t think I’d be married today if it weren’t for my wife’s slight hearing loss in her...

Update from the Chamber As we conclude the first quarter of the year, the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce is content with its overall progress. We hosted our first Breakfast Panel with StuNews, Firebrand Media, and KX93.5 FM to discuss new and cost-effective ways of promoting...

Flutter It started out as a typical day. I was sitting in my favorite chair on my favorite deck. I’ve christened this area the poop deck. Strike that. The seagulls did the christening. My grandkids love saying poop deck over and over because there are not a lot of places where...

Carmageddon is Coming “What destroys the poetry of a city? Automobiles destroy it, and they destroy more than the poetry. All over America, all over Europe in fact, cities and towns are under assault by the automobile, and are being literally destroyed by car culture. These words...