It’s nice to read David Bratman’s cover story on San Jose, over at SFCV. He’s right, we are often neglected. I’ve noticed that SFCV doesn’t pay a whole lot of attention to us little folks, and I can’t remember the last time the San Francisco Chronicle wrote anything about us. I’ve also found that sometimes we are not disregarded, but despised. (I’ve heard San Franciscans refer to San Jose as “the armpit of the Bay Area”.)
And of course there are reasons for this.
San Jose is an interesting place; there doesn’t seem to be much city pride here. This city is huge and spread out, and I don’t think we all connect as “San Joseans”. Dan and I live in Willow Glen, a small area of San Jose that used to be its own city. I think we have a bit more identity with this area than the all of San Jose. I have wondered if the demise of the San Jose Symphony was allowed to happen, in part, because there is no San Jose pride. The mismanagement was the bigger culprit, of course, but what if the mayor had jumped in when the symphony was flailing and made more of it? What if more folks in this city actually knew there was a symphony? (Really. I spoke with a number of people who said, “Oh, we have a symphony in San Jose?”)
But I ramble … not surprising, eh?
Bugged
I’ve had a bit of a bug since Sunday. It’s not fun. I tried to play today and started to black out; I’m quite light headed. I ache, but not enough to whine about. (Ah well!) I’m slightly feverish, but it’s only slightly. So I guess I can’t complain. But I’m still bugged. I have to be better by tomorrow, as I go back to playing for Jameson’s show. (Five more performances to go.)
Oh … and while it was Wagner’s birthday yesterday, it was also my friend Pam Hakl’s birthday! Celebrate life, Pam! 🙂
