December 1: World AIDS Day…Here’s to all my friends that are no longer here: Dennis, Rene, Leonard, Eddie, Efrain, and so many others. Living through the AIDS crisis, especially in the 80s and 90s, was such a nightmare. Thank God Ruben and I made it and didn’t get sick. Our generation of gay men was decimated.
When I lived in Ann Arbor (’87-92), ACT UP was formed by Larry Kramer in New York, and there were big, dramatic acts of disobedience practiced across the country, protesting the federal government’s lack of concern about the disease. I bought an Act-Up t-shirt with a big pink triangle in support of the cause. It was a tank top and after a while it fit too tight, so I gave it away eventually. I also coordinated UA Library participation in the Tucson Aidswalk in the early 90s. We raised a lot of money for a couple of years there. This year’s 37th annual Aidswalk is scheduled for December 6, 2025.
December 3, 2025:
Library funding at the national level is an issue near and dear to me. I’ve been going to Washington for the past three years to participate in ALA-coordinated meetings with elected representatives on Capitol Hill to urge them to continue to support the Institute of Museums and Library Services and other related programs that benefit the public. It was a real shock when Trump took the funding away. This is such good news!
For immediate release | December 3, 2025: ALA welcomes reinstatement of all federal IMLS grants to libraries.
Washington – Today, the American Library Association (ALA) greeted an announcement by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that it had reinstated all the agency’s grants, including those to libraries and library organizations across the country. The grant reinstatements come as a direct result of a November 21 federal court decision in a lawsuit brought against President Trump by 21 states.
ALA President Sam Helmick said, “ALA welcomes the good news that IMLS is restoring all federal grants that had previously been terminated. This means that libraries across the country will be able to resume vital services for learning, imagination, and economic opportunity.
“Restoration of these grants is a massive win for libraries of all kinds in all states. Every public, school and academic library and their patrons benefit from the research findings and program outcomes from individual library and organization grantees.
“We are breathing a sigh of relief, but the fight is not finished. The administration can appeal court decisions. Congress can choose to not fund IMLS in future years. ALA calls on everyone who values libraries to remind their Congressmembers and elected officials at every level why America’s libraries deserve more, not fewer resources.”
On March 14, President Trump issued Executive Order 14238, which directed the elimination of the agency. Subsequently, the Trump Administration began mass termination of the agency’s grants.
On November 21, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island struck down the Trump Administration’s attempts to dismantle IMLS. The decision was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 21 states. The agency’s reinstatement of grants follows that ruling.
In parallel to the states’ litigation, ALA also has led efforts in Congress and the courts to preserve IMLS. ALA filed its own lawsuit challenging the Administration’s actions in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which remains ongoing. ALA also mobilized thousands of contacts from library supporters nationwide urging Congress to protect IMLS.
December 4: My brother Rudy’s birthday. He’d be 77 today. This photo was taken in 1969, I think. Rudy coached a little league team at this time. My brother Fred and a bunch of our friends from the neighborhood were on it.
Media
December 4: My mom’s sister Dora Sainz passed away on this day in 1994. She was quite a lady!
December 5, 2025: During a protest that occurred after an ICE raid, Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva was pepper-sprayed by ICE agents and treated quite rudely. This occurred outside the restaurant “El Taco Giro” on N. Grande Blvd.
December 6: Happy Birthday to Agnes Moorehead.
Deccember 6: In memory of Roy Orbison.
Here’s a great live version of Pretty Woman. Chet Atkins and Bruce Springston share guitar riffs. It’s pretty incredible.
December 6 is also National Miner’s Day. I’m including a photo of my dad at San Manuel. He worked there a long, long time.
Here’s a song by Marta Lopez, who wrote the following corrido during the Phelps Dodge Copper Strike in Clifton-Morenci, Arizona. Teatro Libertad, the theatre group I belonged to back in the early 1980s used to sing this song during our play, La Vida del Cobre.
December 7: Pearl Harbor Day. The USS Arizona was one of the major battle ships struck down by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona Collection is housed in Special Collections. It has a lot of photos of the ship and the men who lived on it. For more information about the ship’s history, visit my blog post about it titled, The Life and Legacy of the U.S.S. Arizona / Exhibition, August 29, 2016-December 23, 2016.
December 8: John Lennon dies
December 8:
In memory of my grandfather, Antonio Palacios Diaz, 1885-12/8/1954
December 9: Brokeback Mountain premieres on this day in 2005. I loved the movie. The tragic ending hit me hard.
December 9: Happy Birthday, Dame Judi Dench, who turns 91 today. ! What a fabulous actress!
December 9: Happy Birthday, Billy Edd Wheeler! (December 9, 1932 – September 16, 2024). Wheeler was a folksinger/songwriter from West Virginia. His songs addressed themes about the environment and coal mining, and were recorded by the likes of Judy Collins and Judy Henske, as well as many others. Here’s my favorite:
December 10: Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin. 12/10/67.
December 11: Happy Birthday, Big Mama Thornton
December 12: El Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe
Here are Lola Beltran and Lucha Villa singing to the Virgen. From the movie, Mexico de Mi Corazon…
December 12: Vicente Fernandez dies on 12/12/21. He was born on February 17, 1940. He was 81 years old.
Here’s one of my favorite Vicente Fernandez tunes.
December 13: My grandfather, Donato Rascon, Sr. dies at the age of 41 in 1937 in Superior, Arizona.
Also on December 13th: My nice Michelle is born. She is my sister Irene’s middle daughter. We were four years apart in age.
December 14:
December 15: Happy Birthday, Lady Mary from Downton Abbey (Real name: Michelle Dockery, born on December 15, 1981.
Check out the following clip. It has two great scenes, from Downton Abbey, of course.
December 15: Today is the the 135th anniversary of the passing of the great Indian leader, Sitting Bull, who was killed on 12/15/1890. The great Hunkpapa Lakota leader led his people to victory during the Battle of Little Big Horn.
December 15: Remembering the great Glenn Miller, who died during World War II on this day in 1944.
December 15: Happy Birthday, Tim Conway!
Check out the following clip from the Carol Burnett show. It’s hilarious.
December 15:
Bill of Rights
1791 US Bill of Rights is ratified and becomes Amendments 1 through 10 of the US Constitution when Virginia gives its approval
December 15: Gone With the Wind premieres on this day in 1939. It’s an epic film that one must see at least once.
December 16: The Boston Tea Party took place in 1773. Ruben and I love visiting Boston. There is so much to see and do there. Last time we visited we walked the Freedom Trail. It was very interesting. There’s history on every corner of this great city.
My crazy, fun-loving cousin Martin Olguin died on December 17, 1994, just a day before his mom’s birthday. He was only 37 years old. Rest in peace, primo.
December 18: Happy Birthday to my Aunt Mary Olguin. She was my mom’s youngest sibling and was born on this day in 1932 in Superior, Arizona. She is shown here with my dad’s youngest brother Rafael, or Failo as we all called him. They dated briefly. The photo was taken either in the late 40s or early 50s, before both moved on and married other people.
December 19: Happy Birthday, Phil Ochs, born on December 19, 1940. He committed suicide on 4/9/76. he wrote some great music.
December 19: Work update–Today was our last day at work for the year. We are now in our winter break period. The University will be shut down until Monday, January 5. I finished out the year by completing the processing portion of the work I’m doing on the William Wilde architecture collection. It was a big project that included 10 boxes and hundreds of files. All I have to do now is to include the drawings inventory and then I have to write the narrative for the collection. Then it can be turned on and made live! After that, I plan to finish my work on the architecture libguide. I should have it done well before my final review for the year. These were two of my main goals for the year. The other was to manage Libanswers, and I’ve kept up with that work quite well.
Personal update: I’m working hard at getting a grip on my finances. I received my very first social security check this month, and with the increase in income, I’ll be better able to pay off my debts, and more quickly too. It’s been a real eye-opener seeing where our money goes on a weekly basis. As a result of this, I’ve stopped spending like I had been. I have not been eating out every day, nor have I been buying books, music or film. Ruben and I don’t go out to eat as much now, nor is he going to the store every day like he had been doing. This is all good, because we are spending less money. Everything is so expensive nowadays.
December 21, 2025: Happy Birthday Jane Fonda.
Also on December 21: Emma Goldman, along with 250 other “alien radicals,” is deported to Russia by the US government at the urging of J. Edgar Hoover. Ms. Goldman was way ahead of her time. I read her autobiography titled, “Living My Life” back in the early 90s.
December 24: Happy Birthday, Richard Elias! Looking good, ese.
December 24: It’s Lalo Guerrero’s birthday too!
December 25: Merry Christmas!
December 25: Remembering Dean Martin on the anniversary of his passing. (6/7/17-12/25/95)
Happy Birthday, Annie Lennox. Born on December 25, 1954.
December 27: Happy Birthday, Dad!
December 28: Happy Birthday Maggie Smith!
December 29: The Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890 took place 135 years ago today.
December 31: Natalie Cole died on this day in 2015. She was one of my favorite vocalists.
I love this song…
Final thoughts for the year…
Today is Wednesday, December 31. I have been at home since 12/22, as the University is closed for the holiday break. I have spent most of this time with Ruben, but he’s also been working. I don’t go back to work until January 6, next Tuesday. Although we did attend a family gathering at Ruben’s brother’s house and we had dinner with our friends Ernie and Nancy, we haven’t done much else. It’s been a quiet holiday. We didn’t shop at all, nor did we do much other than go out to eat every now and then. I must admit we have been eating well. My sister gave me a dozen red chili tamales that one of her daughters had made, and man, they were delicious! I hadn’t had such good tamales in a long, long, time.
It’s been a rough year, a tough one to get through. Trump. He’s managed to survive scandal after scandal. He’s ruined our country as much as he could this past year and he’s not done. But neither are we. We will continue to resist tyranny and fascism. We will rise in victory, and it will be soon. 2026 will be a much better year for democracy in the United States.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
