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December looks as though it's going to be a particularly busy month for the club. Kenru and the SHAGGY crew are putting out the big Christmas issue & Art Supplement. There's the Christmas gift exchange in two weeks, and LASFS elections the week after that. All of this is in addition to the usual round of parties, of course, plus various public and private Christmas and New Year's festivities.

One thing I'm wondering about is what kind of politicking the elections are going to bring? For the first time in a long time, the elections look like they're going to be a bit more than just a popularity contest. We may have an Issue -- which will make things exciting, but a bit disturbing. I thought that the club's at-long-last incorporation would get us moving together; I didn't foresee disagreement as to the direction in which we should move, or the speed which we should try to make. I'm particularly unhappy at the way in which the board of directors is being cast as an Entrenched Interest that should be Turned Out. I realize it's more dramatic if we can be cast as a clique of power-hungry fans who conspired to see how much we could Force the LASFS to accept; but honest, gang, we just settled on what we thought would be the best way to get us the clubhouse as soon as possible with as little necessary inconvenience as possible. We argued as much among ourselves as the club did the night it was voted on. Okay, maybe our recommendation wasn't the Only Solution. I notice that the club finally approved everything except the yearly renewal fee, which means that you agreed with most of what we thought the LASFS was going to have to do. I'm satisfied with the outcome of that election. What I'm not happy about is the way some people seem to be trying to turn it into a power struggle between Us and Them, and presenting the Building Fund as an Aristotelian monster in which we must either force ourselves to raise as much money as soon as possible, or bring the project to speed our acquisition of a clubhouse to a screeching halt. These extremes are both silly, and we all really realize it. Why, then, are people going around saying, "If the present administration is turned out, the Building Fund is all washed up!", and, "Let's show the board of directors it can't boss us around!", and "We've got to keep the club from becoming money-grubbing or it'll stop being fun and die out!", and "We've got to stop the cheapskates from keeping us from getting anywhere!" I hear talk of platforms being created and whole slates of candidates being formed, and I think the whole thing is getting carried to ridiculous lengths. This is understandable enough; fans, being the sort of people they are, delight in having an opportunity to carry something essentially trivial like this to ridiculous lengths.

Personally, I hope the Building Fund does not become an Issue. I think the club made a reasonable decision about it when it voted the way it did in October -- not a perfect decision, maybe, but a workable one -- and I'd hate to see the Fund turned into a platform plank or hastily altered to one extreme or another by a New Administration. I dislike the idea of opposing slates of candidates, implying that the club is divided into two warring camps. I don't want a new set of officers who'll move too fast in any direction, nor one who'll provide so little leadership as to let the club practically fall apart as an organization. I'd like to see a mixed set of procedural officers for the next six months; a gung-ho type like Bruce; an anti-bureaucratic type like Lon Bailes, who has worthwhile differing ideas and doesn't oppose the administration just for the sake of being anti-Administration; and others who aren't interested in pushing anyone into or throwing anyone out of office, or in creating Us vs. Them factions, but are just willing to do a competent job of presiding, taking minutes, keeping treasury records, greeting newcomers, and doing the plain work that has to be done.

We've got three weeks left for people to Stand Up and Be Counted. If they're going to take the trouble to Stand Up, I hope they have something really worth Standing Up for.

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Less than half a page left. Hardly worth starting dist'n comments...

I said farewell to a pair of old friends this weekend. My Boy Scout socks. After over 15 years, one of them finally wore a hole in the heel too big to be worth patching. Wore like iron, they did.

I had to come into town on business Tuesday, and didn't feel like fighting the freeway mash back to San Gabriel after work, so I dropped by the Trimbles' and Bĵo, George, and I went up to Hollywood for dinner and a stroll. The Blvd. is in all its Xmas decoration, and we watched the Santa Claus Float drive by, sponsored by one of the clowns from "Land of the Giants" for the evening. We stopped in the new Collectors Book Store, almost next door to Pickwick's; a plush building with some of George's art on display, a table of Arkham House books, and other stfnal & fannish goodies besides a generally increased stock. Bill Blackbeard was there; and Ruth Berman was there the previous time I stopped by. It seems to be a fannish hangout of sorts, which is a pleasant atmosphere, and brings back memories of when the LASFS used to be composed mostly of s-f book & prozine collectors. It was a sharp, brisk (but not uncomfortably cold), colorful night, and we enjoyed being in the Xmas shopping bustle without being pressed to dive into crowded stores ourselves. It ended all too soon.

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"Millions of revolving Christmas trees! I can't stand it!" --Bĵo
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How many fans are joining in the Gilbert & Sullivan group this month? That's always lots of fun. If you can't afford all the operettas, come to one.

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"And they aren't even synchronized." --George
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