Adventures in Onionism

I spent the 16th to the 22nd on a Big City Mountaineers trip to the Lillian/Jackass/Chittendon/Vandenburgh Lakes area in the Ansel Adams Wilderness & Sierra NF. The kids were (mostly) from an Oakland org called What Now America? (the name makes no sense to me either, and I even had the founder try to explain it to me.) There were 5 adults (one team leader with WFR training, one guy from the org (WNA) that already knew some of the kids, and three regular volunteers) and 4 kids (usually 5, one couldn't come at the last minute). I don't think it was a radically life-altering experience for anybody, but I do think it was definitely a good experience for everyone in terms of character-building. Along those lines, it refreshes my anger that Boy Scouts is a bunch of bigots, because if a week-long trip can help kids out, then imagine how much seven years of this stuff could do for somebody. Despite the trails being lower, dryer, and dustier than I'd prefer, and despite only h...

Chron columnist Mark Morford wrote an OK column on the Boy Scouts today. I guess I harp on this because it makes me really sad. I'm proud of being an Eagle Scout, and if there were any sort of volunteer organization I would love to get involved with it'd be the Boy Scouts, except I never will because they discriminate against gays and atheists, and I can't try and change them from the inside because I fall into the latter of those two categories. I assume there's a substitute ( Campfire USA? ) but it's not the same. Oh, and BSA has a trademark on the word "scouts," so that complicates matters if you want to form some sort of substitute. If only they had the male analog of one of the Girl Scout slogans: "Every girl, everywhere." On a more positive note, I met my Little Brother for the first time last week, and I started helping people file their taxes this week. I'm excited about both of those things, but that's probably the last you...