4. It’s statistically impossible to have a “complete” collection of Star Wars’ action figures, yet you keep trolling Target and Toys ‘R’ Us, every single weekend.

9. A woman called from Michigan on the anniversary of John Denver’s death upset at the Monterey Police Department for covering up his murder, and went on at length about the CIA taking Denver out for his environmental activism and liberalism in general.

8. A young man burglarized a vehicle, then proceeded to smoke marijuana inside of it. Upon leaving, he forgot his wallet (and ID) inside the car.

7. A man was brought in to process a minor traffic warrant. When the fingerprinting ink pad ran out and the officers struggled to get it out to be replaced, one officer asked the other for a knife to pry out the pad. The man offered one—the same knife that had been stolen from the vehicle of one of the officers present. The man was arrested for possession of stolen property.

6. This summer, a man wearing suspiciously full sweats and a big jacket was approached by officers while hurriedly leaving a Long’s. A search of his person revealed over 300 packs of different types of batteries—over 50 pounds. He and his partner also stole aspirin. They planned to sell both the batteries and the pain relievers at flea markets. He was ultimately arrested for shoplifting.

4. A man was arrested and booked for public intoxication after he left his hotel room for ice and was so drunk he forgot which room was his and was reported for pounding on the door of another guest’s room. He was completely naked the whole time.

3. A female was booked for DUI and asked if she could call the woman who she rear-ended because the woman was nice and would probably pick her up from jail; the officer on-duty informed her that she knew the nice lady and that the lady didn’t want to talk to her—this “nice lady” was the officer’s mother.

7. Crash. Complicated and thought provoking. Intertwining storylines often don’t work, but this movie is masterful in pulling the storylines all together and demonstrating the subtle and overt racism that exists on many levels in many ways.

6. Grizzly Man and Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. Both movies portray men who spend their lives trying to help animals in the wild. One difference: the parrots don’t eat their champion.

3. Good Night, and Good Luck. The understated portrayal of Edward Murrow by David Strathairn gave the very timely issue of media responsibility more impact.

8. “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia. Funny how a guy who is so intimidating could make this song—another silly novelty. Luckily it did better for 50 Cent than Get Rich or Die Trying. Did anyone see that?

7. “Pon De Replay,” by Rihanna. This Jamaican songstress blew up the dance floors with this song. Any idea what “Pon De Replay” means? I have no idea. Hot song though.

6. “Obsession (No Es Amor),” by Frankie J featuring Baby Bash. All right, Frankie, here’s a hint: Girls don’t like it when you’re obsessing over them. Get over it, unless you want her to think you’re a creepy guy who has no life.

4. “Gasolina,” by Daddy Yankee featuring Pitbull, N.O.R.E., & Lil’ Jon. Reggaeton definitely blew up in 2005. After years of working in the Caribbean, Florida and New York, the sound finally reached nationwide playlists. Props to Daddy Yankee—even if you don’t understand or speak Spanish, chances are you still sang along to this song. Lil’ Jon did! Unleaded please!

3. “Don’t Cha,” by Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes. “Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me.” OK, if I hear one more girl sing this out loud my head is going to explode! Why are girls always comparing themselves to each other?

2. “My Humps,” by Black Eyed Peas. Where do I begin? Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas should get an award for the most mentions of fashion brands in a song on this one. Is the song corny? Yes. Was it another female anthem? Yes.

1. “We Belong Together,” by Mariah Carey. All I can say was this was and pretty much still is a monster! I have never heard a song requested more than this. It was number one in the country for 12 weeks in a row. Mariah definitely came back in 2005.

2. Where is the point where you can stand where the waves are crashing so loud that it feels like you’re meditating but you’re really just standing there?

9. At a Capitol press conference jammed with news photographers, intentionally gesturing with my hands at random after realizing that the cameras would snap in unison each time I made a gesture while speaking.

8. Receiving a small bronze pig on a pedestal from the California Dental Association titled the “Glutton for Punishment” award for authoring bills that expand dental care and patient safety protection.

7. Managing 100 hearings as Assembly budget chair, including hearings across California that racked up nearly 3,500 miles of travel, leading to the first on-time Assembly budget vote in five years.

6. The disturbing discovery at a Central Valley transportation budget hearing that some rural roads are being “unpaved” and let go to gravel to save on maintenance.

5. Realizing the very conservative Dennis Mountjoy had inadvertently voted for my Civil Rights Act of 2005, later signed by the Governor, which protects gay Californians against discrimination by businesses.

3. The governor signing my first-time Homebuyers bill, which specifically targets only three areas in California—one of which is Monterey County.

2. Joining Dave Potter and other Monterey area officials at a Caltrans Roadside Trash Awareness event and tossing bags of roadside trash into a dumpster that happened to be right in front of a “No Dumping” sign.

1. Standing on the Capitol steps in Sacramento summer heat with Santa and his elves—who were complete with green pointy shoes—to highlight the North Pole meltdown due to global warming.

7. Halloween Misfits Tribute Show. Local punk bands pack the Cherry Bean on Ghoul’s Night Out for two-and-a-half hours of Misfits sing-a-longs.

10. David Gitin’s packed-house poetry book release of Passing Through at Morgan’s, which had people hanging from the rafters and pressing their noses against the windows.

7. My co-director and I hosting the annual poetry festival and student competition, “Poetic Voices,” featuring Jimmy Santiago Baca and the winning student poets, and—after failing to send out any press releases—having a standing-room only crowd attend the event.

6. The publication of a new literary journal, The Monterey Poetry Review, which once again proclaims to the world what wonderful writers we have right here on our doorstep.

5. The revamping and revival of Ping-Pong literary journal out of Emil White’s little cabin in the redwoods (aka The Henry Miller Library), Big Sur’s only magazine for poets, prophets and ping-pong balls. Henry Miller would be proud of the newest issue, set to be released next Spring.

4. The Central Coast branch of the California Writers Club starting a biannual poetry/short fiction competition in conjunction with the Homestead Review, thus continuing the legacy of its founder, Jack London.

1. Novelist Stephen Elliot reading about his own childhood abuse, and balancing this heartbreaking tale with a new short story at the Henry Miller Library during the Fall 2005 launch party for the Homestead Review. He made us laugh so hard, we cried.

10. Not all theatre people are leftist, gay, or gay-sympathizing, alcoholic gadabouts of questionable morals…though if you aren’t, it makes the rest of us suspicious.

5. Musical actors are not always chipper and perky; tragedians are not always brooding and morose. Although each can still annoy the hell out of the other.

3. We all weren’t bad at sports in high school—but in Drama Club, you get to stay out late, dress up, you don’t have to worry about who’s winning, you interact with members of the opposite sex, and you have very little chance of breaking both knees and thus wrecking your chances of a scholarship.

1. Directors are not delusional dictators who clamp down on actors with an iron fist using abuse and threats of firing…directors get producers to do that stuff.

10. Water: We don’t have a water problem, we have a water distribution problem. All the stalling has created a bureaucracy that is going to tax the populace about 2 to 3 billion dollars once the infrastructure is built and implemented.

8. The mistreatment of the residents of Carmel Valley Village Rippling River Resort: Stop talking (“We are here to help you,” they say) and give these folks $10,000 each to spend as they see fit on the complex that has been neglected.

7. False prosecutions in Monterey: Why don’t we hear about a local investment counselor being arrested at gunpoint in 2002 in front of his family for what ultimately was a false prosecution that forced him to post $100,000 bail, pay over $130,000 to attorneys, see his character assassinated in the news, and finally have all 11 felony counts dropped?

6. The dangerous intersection on Fremont Boulevard near Trinity in Seaside: site of a hideous collision with a pedestrian several years ago, it remains an extremely treacherous place.

5. The handling of the abduction and murder of Christina Williams: Why and how did two suspects witnessed by more than 300 people remain at large? Why weren’t these men found and brought to trial?

4. The death of Mike Echols in Monterey County jail: Was the author of two bestsellers, who addressed issues like priest molestation well ahead of its time, murdered in jail? A victim of corporate medical malfeasance and financial greed? Something else?

3. Access to public records: While Water Board director Molly Erickson and attorney Michael Stamp have made much headway, public access protected under the Freedom of Information Act continues to lose substantial ground.

2. The Marina Traffic Court: Everybody expected more tickets to pay for the “thingy.” Nobody expected a payment line that winds around the block, in the rain, waiting to pay, pay, pay.

1. The mushroom factor: We are kept in the dark and fed shit. We are spiritual beings, born into a conspiratorial world, living in a drug culture in a fear-based society. We live in an age of reasoning when there is none; information can be found on the Internet at a time when knowledge has been made secret. Be vigilant in your search for truth.

10. The ongoing replay of all the famous faces—President Bill Clinton, actor Edwards James Olmos, singer-actress Selena and the Dinos, actress/singer/model Odalis Garcia, and singer Bobby Pulido.

7. The Toughest Chicano, Joe Kapp, former Super Bowl quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings turned motivational speaker, passing out his lived and heartfelt messages to many young students and adults at Chapala over dinner.

6. The meetings, fundraisers, victory parties, and forums for individuals like Mayor Anna Caballero, Sheriff Mike Kanalakis, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante and Sen. Barbara Boxer that help make Chapala an unofficial city hall.

10. Victory for Measure V. Salinas city voters sent a resounding message that they are willing to contribute more than they already do to ensure services—especially libraries—that give kids and families a bright future.

9. Defeat of Measure C. Voters throughout Monterey County just said NO to bad planning. An overwhelming majority (75 percent) knows that county Supervisors’ decisions to relax standards for traffic and water to allow the Rancho San Juan development was (and is) a sell-out of residents’ interests to an out-of-town developer.

8. Defeat of all the statewide special election initiatives. California voters clearly showed displeasure at the Governor’s unnecessary use of taxpayers’ money for an election designed to hurt teachers, nurses, and the average citizen.

7. Jim Colangelo hired as city manager in Pacific Grove. A man of intelligence and integrity was chosen by PG to help guide the city’s future. He comes with a strong track record of including the public in policy-making—always a welcome, and sometimes rare, priority in democratic governance.

6. Supervisor Dave Potter speaking up. After years of trying to change the indecision and bad decision-making by his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors on land-use issues, in 2005 Dave Potter saw the need to speak up for the public’s right to take back their responsibility to govern. He urged a no vote on Rancho San Juan and is supporting a yes on the general plan initiative in June 2006.

5. Assemblymember Simón Salinas’ courageous vote on gay marriage. 2005 saw Simón Salinas put his personal experience of (and personal distaste for) discrimination into action for another marginalized group. His vote for equal rights for gay people was a strong expression of solidarity with fairness and a rejection of mean-spirited bigotry.

4. US Rep. Sam Farr fighting for us all. In sharp contrast to the Bush administration, Farr continues to legislate honestly and in the best interests of the country and the Central Coast. This year, among many other things, he fought for support of local agriculture, peace in the Mid-East, against drilling in the Arctic refuge, and worked successfully with local officials to increase affordable housing.

3. City of Salinas’ affordable housing ordinance. With incentives encouraging the construction of maximum numbers of homes at below market rate (20 percent to 35 percent), Salinas has the most progressive housing policy in Monterey County. The process for devising the ordinance was encouraging also: months of give-and-take between city planners, for-profit and nonprofit developers, affordable housing advocates, and pro-development and responsible growth interests.

2. Community General Plan Initiative announced. After six years, $6 million, and decision after decision by the Board of Supervisors putting private developer interests above sound planning, concerned citizens have announced a ballot initiative for June 2006. It establishes the essentials of good planning and increases affordable housing, with any changes to its policies subject to voter approval. Over 15,000 signatures were submitted on Dec. 12.

1. Clean Money Act for California elections. Imagine what would happen if elected officials and candidates were not dependent upon huge private contributions to fund their campaigns. They could campaign and then legislate by talking to constituents—not big contributors—about their needs and concerns. It’s happening in Arizona and Maine, and the result is bipartisan problem-solving.

10. In South Carolina, vacation houses required to turn off outside lights at night still leave them on, scaring female turtles from coming ashore. Later, hatchlings go toward the lights and get run over.

9. A community of orcas was declared endangered by the state of Washington. Because pollution from the whole food chain gets concentrated in the bodies of top predators, a dead orca can be called toxic waste.

8. The benzene spill from a Chinese factory, which flowed downriver into Russia, shows how cheap imported goods come at the expense of the environment and people working dangerous jobs.

6. Critically endangered northern right whales are regularly killed by cargo ships because they can’t hear the propeller, located 900 feet behind the bow. Alaskan humpbacks need similar expanded protection.

4. The Navy’s low frequency active sonar (LFA) sound blasts burst whale eardrums, separate calves from their mothers, and drive whales off their feeding grounds. That’s illegal under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but apparently the Navy is exempt.

3. Remember in Cannery Row, when Mac and the boys bag hundreds of frogs in Carmel Valley? Them frogs are endangered now, but apparently so are golf courses, since the new Del Monte Forest development would mess up some of the last local red-legged frog habitat.

2. The drilling of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge can’t solve our energy problems. And if the crown jewel of our refuge system is allowed to go, no wilderness will be safe.

1. Violent animal deaths on all roads, all the time, as we invade every habitat in our worldwide development binge, reveal that we accept daily animal carnage as the price of convenience.

10. Trails. Believe it or not, the rest of the country does not have miles of excellent, barely-used trails in places like the Fort Ord backcountry or Del Monte Forest.

9. Monterey winter. Freezing your butt off when the damp cold sets in and you can’t shake it from your bones. It’s nothing to miss sadly but to be missed gladly.

8. Monterey winter. When the sky is clear, clear blue and the sun shines on Spaghetti Hill and you say to yourself: This is winter. I’m in California. It feels good.

5. Old times. It’s so old there. You can look across the bay at Monterey on a day when the sun breaks up the fog, a sailboat crosses with a fishing ship and you can convince yourself that you’re in a place you’ve never been. Like off the coast of Greece or something.

3. Spaghetti Hill. Living there you have a lot, but hearing “Taps” from the Presidio at the right time on the right night can make you smile or make you cry. Or just make you pause to stop and think.

1. Morning. I miss being able to wake up early on a Saturday morning, look up at the sun from my front porch and have to decide if I want to go to Big Sur and hike, head to the beach, drive up to the Paris of the West along the California coast, or do all three.

6. Cheap Shot: A grateful nation will hail President Bush for finally accomplishing the nation’s highest priority: tax cuts for the rich. It will be hard work, however, and he will deserve a long vacation.

3. Nightmare: Finding Osama bin Laden, the one guy we know for certain is a terrorist with a proven record of committing unspeakable atrocities against America, still won’t be a priority.

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