Meet Me

Close up photo of Lance Zaal

As an only child, I learned to entertain myself. That made comic books and reading easy, but it did not keep me from exploring outside, and maybe playing with rattlesnakes a couple times. Yes, southern California had a wilderness; and no, I’m not that old.

I grew up hiking and swimming, but the ocean was my favorite. Swimming, sailing, or even in rivers or lakes. At 12, I started scuba diving.

My favorite tv channel was always history channel, because I thought that what happened before me and how it made where I was now was a really cool concept.

I’ve always been curious about things and so grew to love learning as a way to scratch that itch. We’re all slowly dying, but at least when we’re learning, we’re dying more slowly. Physical fitness and heath are very important to me, because I’ve been through a lot in 40 years and I want to enjoy the rest of however long I’ve got in the best way I can.

It’s not a coincidence, but I love film (the fun one: movies/productions, not photography film) and my great grandfather worked for warner brothers. He was in Philly on business in the 1920s and visited a speakeasy one day (or night?) where he met a fun lady. She immigrated through Ellis Island from Germany during WW1 with her two siblings, although sadly her father was forced to fight and died before he could leave, and was now a friend to, and dancing with, Frank Sinatra. The two had fun that day. They also had a child, so when she told him the news, he brought her to him in California. His career would have him meet Charlie Chaplain, Grauco Marx, and many other early Hollywood actors; and worked on films like the Great Race.

One of my favorite TV shows is Breaking Bad. Some of my favorite movies are Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tombstone, Hitchcock or Christopher Nolan films, Lord of the Rings.

My favorite Christmas movies are it’s a wonderful life and Elf.

Comedy movies: horrible bosses, anchorman, tropic thunder, and the other guys.
Comic movie: Blade

Som of my favorite historical American figures are Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, FDR, and Ben Franklin. But Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas were courageous underdogs who fought and made a difference, and you can’t deny they are badass.
Classical figures: Spartacus, Plato, Hannibal, Alexander.

I love good food, design, art, architecture, standup comedy (Chapelle and Tosh), traveling (preferably not to war zones), history, music.

What about your politics, Lance?
I like to think I don’t have politics, I have an open mind and values, open to new information, changing circumstances, and understanding that I will never know enough without walking in others’ shoes. The last thing any of us should do is align or identify with a single political party instead of our principles and American values – a la the constitution and liberty. Policies should always trump parties.

George Washington and I would agree that today’s partisan fighting is an American tradition older than the constitution. But we should, hopefully and eventually, evolve over a couple centuries and return to civility and respect for each other. Recall the values that make America great, remember that we are on the same team, and planet. We also must recognize our weaknesses without reservation, discuss what the important issues are and then focus on solutions to them.

Each representative should take a page from FDR’s playbook, and in a digital age of social media, use it to communicate with the people at least once per week or month as FDR did during his fireside chat radio broadcasts. Most publicly traded companies have quarterly earnings calls with their shareholders; why not require it for others?

Leaders are only as good as the citizens who vote them into office. Instead of always ridiculing them, more of us should look in the mirror and ask how we can be better citizens and voters, because reality cuts both ways. Unfortunately, real criticism doesn’t, but we’ll all be held accountable regardless. Government and the people are a partnership and law creates balance. I believe in the right of all people to peace, security, and to live their lives freely.

Some people say that too many voters focus on what they can benefit from today and in the next election cycle, and the grandkids pay for it. But I think they’ll just make their grandkids pay for it and so on.

If I’m writing a Yelp review about education, I’m labeling it broken and antiquated, with undervalued potential. I’m mostly taking about the critical k-12 years, and if we get strong here, we’ll be better off everywhere else.
That’s enough, now enjoy the rest of the website. Or don’t, I don’t care.

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