Dispatch from suburban Los Angeles

Here I am in Lang Ranch Elementary, Thousand Oaks, California. This is where my sister teaches second grade and my mother serves as school librarian (Instructional Media Technician, actually). I just helped out with the second grade holiday party-- everyone's bouncing off the walls because it’s the day before holiday-break and they’re all hopped-up on sugar. It was quite an experience-- the kids really are like a wild pack of animals (but I confess that I really groove on being out of my element, so to speak, and wow am I NOT one of these people who are naturally inclined to hang out with little people). Needless to say, I’m 100% impressed by the work my sister does. Today she’s got a bunch of moms in to help out with the festivities-- the school is in an upper-middle class suburban community so they’re all these real-bourgie-types (and the classroom is a sea of Old Navy labels). It just reeks of white middle class paranoia.