Around Town Around Town (June 15, 2005)

JOB'S JOURNEY ... Morbid for some, inspiring for others, Apple Computer founder and CEO (and Palo Altan) Steve Jobs delivered the commencement address at Stanford University over the weekend. The speech was framed around three tales from Job's life. "That's it. No big deal. Just three stories," he began, according to a transcript provided by the university. The first was when he dropped out of Reed College ("one of the best decisions I ever made"), the second was when, at 30, he was fired from Apple ("the best thing that could have ever happened to me") and the third was his bout with pancreatic cancer last year. Many listeners later recalled the third the clearest. Jobs started by recalling a quote he read when he was 17-years-old: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." When he was first diagnosed, he continued, his doctor told him to get his affairs in order, "which is doctors' code for: 'Prepare to Die.'" The ordeal ended thanks to surgery, but it left its indelible mark. "This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades," he said. Death, he continued, "is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life." Jobs told the grads that since their time is limited, "don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drowned (sp) out your own inner voice, and most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

HE'LL FLY AWAY? ... What's the significance of 2017 anyway? That year turned out to be surprisingly important at last week's Palo Alto City Council meeting. First, more than 50 airport enthusiasts spoke, concerned the facility would eventually close since its lease expires in 2017. Then, the City Council agreed to let City Manager Frank Benest stay in his home, which is partially owned by the city, after he retires, until as late as 2017. The synchronicity led Mayor Jim Burch to joke that Benest would take the last flight out of the airport, on his way out of town.

ARCHY RALLY ... Leeron Morad, a 2003 graduate of Gunn High School, wants you to know that not all Palo Alto youth feel about the city like the increasingly vocal anarchists do. "People in Palo Alto, the teenagers definitely believe that Palo Alto did something very good for them, gave them lots of opportunities and ability to succeed," Morad said recently. To prove that point, he is gathering dozens of his friends and likeminded folks in front of City Hall on June 22, to thank the city. The event will start at 1 p.m. "We hope this protest will be a different representation of the youth in Palo Alto" than the recent anarchist rally, he said. Three days later, on June 25, the anarchists are planning to hold a second downtown protest, this one protesting the Iraqi war. The first anarchist gathering, a "reclaim the streets" rally on May 20, caused minor damage to a few downtown shops and closed University Avenue for about an hour. Two protestors were arrested. Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson said the city seems to have been chosen as the site of the latest gathering "because they believe Palo Alto is a soft target." She noted that two officers who attempted to infiltrate the group were "burned," or identified. But the chief said the anarchists hoping to inflict damage may be in for a surprise since there will be "a large number of police officers available, including a San Jose horse squad" trained in crowd control. "We have a history (in Palo Alto) of helping people express their First Amendment rights," Johnson said. "But even the ACLU does not condone people trying to do damage."

NEWLYMEDS ... It was love at first cadaver for Angela King and Ross Fleischman. The two lovebirds, who were married on Saturday before graduating from Stanford Medical School, first met in anatomy class when they were "two bodies apart," according to a university press release. The relationship "blossomed when they scheduled a group study session in which they were the only two to show up."

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