We met Lane Tobias during the fight to save the Ocean Beach branch library back in the fall of 2008. He enthusiastically joined our staff as the youngest blogger at the time and wrote for us for a year and a half. One of his posts about the lack of food stamps in San Diego County remains one of our most popular articles of all time.
Alas, Lane, originally from New Jersey, and his partner Carianne, had to permanently return to their roots this past week, and are currently driving across America as I type, driving back to the East Coast with their possessions and their cats. We always enjoyed his avatar – always got a chuckle from simply glancing at it – and we publish it here in its full regalia for all to see. Check Lane’s writings out – and if you want to see more – go to the sidebar and click on his name.
We all wish you luck, Lane, in your graduate school endeavors. Remember us – write us when you get the chance. Here is a sampling of his very versatile blogging over the past year and half:
Writings about Ocean Beach
End of my first year in OB – ‘Thank you Ocean Beach’
Vendorland at the Fair – Street Level
Late Night Talk Show “Matt Cook Live” has OB Buzzin’
Getting to Know Your Community…
Local Artists’ Collective Putting OB Art Scene Back on the Map
Should OB Have a Town Hall Meeting on the Homeless Youth and the Police ?
The San Diego County Food Stamp Debacle
Food Stamps in San Diego County – a Disgrace! – Here’s how to get them:
Food Stamps in San Diego County – Part Deux
Urgent Action: Needy Families Will Suffer Significant Consequences
Lane’s Other Bloggings
Oscar, Progressive Politics… a Sign of the Future of the Film Industry? Bravo!
Act of Civil Disobedience Thwarts Big Oil from Buying Up Utah Wildnerness
A response to today’s shooting at the Holocaust Museum
Protests in Iran an Inspiration for Apathetic, Apolitical Generation of Americans
Labor Day 2009: A Social Worker’s Reflection On Why We Do This Work
Bye bye Lane. Another good blogger bites the dust.
Lane Tobias, Top Banana.
He’s a banana, look at him move. Good luck with your future endeavors, Lane – best wishes on the next step of your journey.
Good luck, Lane. Enjoyed your writing.
Hope you stay in touch, will always remember your help in that big huge giant turnout 10 to 8 planning board election.
Adios Lane! Good Luck back East.
Lane,
Best of luck in the future.
Thanks for your involvement in the Ocean Beach community.
Your a good man and will be missed.
OB is like Hotel California…..”you can check out, but you can never leave.” (Eagles, 1976 ~ in case you’re too young to remember. Were you even a little green banana then?)
Remember all that was good and righteous in OB. Here’s my personal thanks for all you did to make it a better community for all.
may your new town, new school, and new home be as warm and inviting to you and Carianne as OB is and, hopefully, will remain.
Lane Tobias–you gave voice to those who had none. Keep up the good work. Karma is golden! Many blessings to you and Carianne on everything you do in the future. You both always have a place to stay if you come back to visit!
I am not sure how I missed these kind comments, but it could have something to do with the difference in time, the move, whatever. Either way I am grateful for the time I spent in OB and the amazing people I met -especially those i met through the OB Rag and in the community at large who care for OB as if it is a child. I will certainly attempt to contribute to this blog in any way possible; my foray into public policy at a university known for progressive curriculum in the field will provide plenty of fodder for conversation. I also happen to reside in Jersey City, NJ, a stones throw from Manhattan but also situated in a state undergoing many of the budget woes under a heartless governor that was seen in California during my time as a social worker there. In many ways, I have never left. And the power of the internet will allow hopefully allow that to continue.
What I am seeing now is a community in transition. OB is undergoing gentrification that is subtle, but obvious, particularly to those who have known it for generations. The community I am currently writing from has undergone its own transformation over the years, from generation to generation, but has managed to hold onto much of the diversity that once made it a prime spot for immigrants and blue collar workers over the last 200 years. My hope for OB, and this is surely possible with the array of concerned citizens that I’ve encountered over my time there, is that somehow the community will find a balance between the seemingly privileged infiltration that has been front and center (both in local culture/politics, a la “the sticker controversy” and real estate) and the old mentality, that in a smaller but certainly prominent sense, is still alive and well in OB even amongst the younger generation.
Thank you all for being family.