Big Sur and California Love

I went back to California to visit my family, and also bring my dog Sandy home. 

I would say that California is the most beautiful State in the continental US. Last time I visited, I went to LA for a wedding. I didn't realize that I had forgotten to write about that here. The wedding was for two of my friends from law school. The bride chose peonies as her bouquet, which, since a painting I did of peonies, has become my favorite flower. 

The bride is Korean and the groom is Chinese, so they did a Korean ceremony, Chinese, and western one. The Chinese tradition (which I didn't know about) had the young couple offer tea to their elders. For the Korean one, the groom has to carry the brides mom on his back and walk around a table, to thank her for raising his wife. Then he has to carry his wife, and then his own mom, around the same table. 

There were three outfits. The main ceremony, which was held in a botanical garden south of LA, had the bride wearing white. It was beautifully done. After the ceremony, the party was in a garden area, with Christmas lights. Food trucks from in and out burger and Korilla were there, and there was a dance floor. It got a bit cold, but it was so nice to have the dance party outdoors. The bride, who was raised by her mom and grandma, had said to the groom that she knew he was the one when she asked him if he could love her mom and grandma as his own, and he said yes. The groom said he loved how the bride was so caring, and when someone broke his toe during basketball, she threatened to go look for the perpetrator and stab him. Their vows were really cute, and it's a reminder that it's often such small things, or unexpected things, that can touch people and make them feel loved. 

This time in California, we drove south to Big Sur. Big Sur is so pretty. Despite how developed California is, when you drive along route one, there is something very wile looking about it. I know it's not the case, but the California coast looks like it has been untouched. I hope that we do a better job to protect the earth that we live on, because I do hope that if I have children, they will be able to enjoy such a beautiful view too. 

The coasts curve, and the water glitters under the sun, a deep blue green that looks unreal--as though someone turned up the "saturation" meter to maximum. There are many hiking trails, but we only did a few. 

Pride Parade 2016

I usually don't like to talk about politics in this blog, but given the past year, I suppose it's inevitable. What continues to baffle me about the US is the gun violence. I recall one article from the Onion, which said something along the lines of, "there is no way to stop this from happening, says the only country where this keeps happening."

People continually cite the second amendment, the right to bear arms, as critical to this country--to protecting democracy and freedom. Especially in light of America's independence having been gained through a war (though this is also the case for many other countries), there is supposedly a fear that we may need to defend ourselves in case the government crosses a line (i.e. turns into a tyranny or dictatorship). I don't think that argument has merit, because should some crazy dictator take over the government and have access to the US army, they will have access to an arsenal that is beyond the range of any sort of gun that is on the market--the US is one of the few countries in the world with nuclear weapons. We have biological weapons, chemical weapons. Hand guns, and even assault rifles, are not going to save anyone from a crazy uprising.

People also argue that, even if we have strict gun control laws, people will be able to obtain guns on the black market. This is the worst argument. That's like saying, we shouldn't outlaw murder, because people will murder anyway, that we shouldn't outlaw rape, because people will rape anyway. Our society is a framework that should protect people, including through legislation. While we cannot ensure that the laws and policies that exist will protect every single individual, we also cannot do nothing. The laws in place, and the punitive system in place, though flawed, still serve to protect people, and fewer people are hurt because of their existence.

The last point that some people make, concerning their right to bear arms, is that they need to protect themselves from individual threats, such as a robbery, attempted murder. Some even argue that they want guns to protect themselves in case a mass shooter comes their way. You want to own a gun to protect yourself from all the other people who might own guns? The leading causes of death in the US are heart disease and cancer (which together, amount to more than one million deaths per year). Car crashes cause about 30,000 deaths per year in the US. These causes far exceed the likelihood of a person intentionally killing you (accidents on the other hand, including accidental gun deaths, are quite high on the list). Maybe instead of investing in gun ownership, a better way to protect your life would be to cut out fatty foods, or exercise on a regular basis. Few proponents of increased gun control are actually advocating for an entire ban on guns, rather it's a limit of types of guns. At the moment, the type of guns that are available for sale and ownership are beyond just hand guns or hunting rifles. 

It should be noted as well that, when the Constitution was drafted, the types of guns were limited. Technology today has created a broad array of weaponry that the drafters did not envision at that time. We need to update our laws to reflect the current reality.

In any case, every year New York has an enormous Pride Parade. This year was their largest one, probably in great part due to the recent shooting in Orlando. I think something like 300 groups participated. Almost every culture was represented (there was even a Taiwan float!). It has become a very commercial affair too though, with a lot of the floats sponsored by banks, credit card companies, and retailers. The parade started around 36th and 5th avenue, and went all the way down to West Village. There were several floats that paid tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting.

We bought colored hair chalk, which sadly does not show up on dark hair, but used it to color one of our dogs. I grew up with a dog who was very shy, but this dog loves to be the center of attention. As we were walking, people would gather around him to take photos, which my dog would have hated. We underestimated how popular he would be, but I think he had a good time. Afterwards, we rinsed off the hair chalk (which was far harder than putting it on in the first place since he struggled like crazy to escape from the bathtub), and he slept for the rest of the day.