Same sex marriage is now supported by a clear national majority, and Monsignor Craig Harrison deals with two parents under hospice care

 * ... GAY MARRIAGE: No matter how you feel about gay marriage, it's hard to deny that support for it has been rising over the last few years. National polls now show a clear majority of Americans support the right of gays to marry, and even in California - where Proposition 8 passed to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman - today fully 61 percent of California voters approve of it. The California case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Said The New York Times about a recent survey: "The poll found that a third of Americans who support legal marriages for same-sex couples said they did not always feel that way and had changed their thinking for a variety of reasons. Among those who changed their minds, one in five said that personally knowing someone who is gay or lesbian influenced them. Other reasons volunteered by respondents included increased tolerance (17 percent) or education (17 percent) and that support for same-sex marriage is the modern way of thinking about the issue (12 percent)."

* ... VANDALISM: If you park your car in the lot across Stockdale Highway from Cal State Bakersfield to use the bike path, do so at your own risk. Yet another person has complained that their car was broken into, in broad daylight, while they were on the path walking. "We got off the path and my car alarm was blaring," one woman said. 'I think we scared them off and this isn't the first time this has happened in that lot."

 * ... MONSIGNOR: Holy week has taken on a special meaning for Monsignor Craig Harrison, who is now caring for both his ailing father and mother in his own home. Just five years after losing his sister, Harrison said both his parents are now under hospice care battling cancer. Harrison said his Easter sermon would likely reflect this important passage in his own life.

 * ... GARCES: Hats off to the Garces girls basketball team that made it to the Valley Championships, even if the team did fall short in the final. Vernetta West was one of the parents cheering on the Rams and is an unabashed Garces supporter. One of her daughters, Rachol West, is a senior and has received a full ride scholarship to San Jose State University. Her freshman daughter, Celeste West, is a six foot, three inch standout who is already on the radar of several Division 1 schools.

 * ... OVERHEARD: A middle aged woman is telling a friend about jogging in the Seven Oaks area. "I was running down Old River near Ming and counted 19 paper cups, most of them from McDonald's.  There were so many thrown out of cars I couldn't help but count them all."

 * ... SOROPTIMIST: Talk about consistency and commitment: Betty La Course of Delano has been a Soroptimist for 64 years, an engaged and active member the entire time. She and her husband owned the Delano Mortuary and then sold it to retire. She is not only a director on the the Soroptimist board, but is also a charter member of the Delano club when it was founded on March 12, 1949. The organization is devoted to helping women succeed.

 * ... GAY BLADES: From Gary Crabtree: "Oh how times have changed. Trivia question for your blog. What was the name of the East High Dance Band in 1956? Answer: The Gay Blades."

 * ... BAKERSFIELDISM: Reader Gene Bonus says you may be a Bakersfield old timer if "you played tackle football on the north lawn of the Baker Street library wearing hand sewn uniforms put together by Jesse Martinez."