in good times, in bad times

my friend rustico, who i hadn't seen in more than 4 years, recently asked me if going to berkeley made me more liberal and more politically active, and i said yes, because it had. but now that i've thoroughly marinated on that thought, i've come to a more thoroughly marinated conclusion: that it wasn't just the fact that i had been accepted into berkeley and managed to stay there for the full 4 years that had made me more into these things, but in fact it was the people that i hung out with at berkeley that changed me... which makes perfect sense, and now i'm gonna personally screen all of my kids' friends so i can shape them into what i want them to be. muahahahahah!

but in all seriousness, i am forever grateful for being able to meet and get to know and get to learn from people that i can call my friends. i feel, dare i say it, privileged for being able to know these people... aren't you jealous of me? you should be.

example: mr. g is my friend teaching math, geometry to be specific, at a public high school in oakland. if you actually read his blog, it's amazing learning just how education policies affect the school systems and how it affects the teachers and how it affects the students. i mean, seriously, shit is nuts. and i just feel so dang lucky to know the guy. and it's not even that mr. g is like this uber-idealistic-berkeley superhero, i mean, he's not your ordinary joe, but mr. g is also mr. i-want-a-rock-band-set-just-like-everyone-else.

sorry if that shit was corn mushy.