NYT Quote O' The Day

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"The problem is time. There just isn’t enough time. Men won’t spend a whole day away from their family anymore."
WALTER HURNEY, a real estate developer, on the decline of golf.

Earth Hour 2008

Lights Out, 3/29/08, 8 PM.


Generic e-mail w/the link:
I just signed up to the new Earth Hour website for 2008 and I thought you might like to take a look and possibly sign up too. Earth Hour is on 29 March 2008 at 8pm, and it looks like it's going to be really big. So far, as well as Sydney, there'll also be Chicago, Tel Aviv, Manila, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Brisbane and Toronto all turning off their lights for an hour in the name of fighting global warming. And I'm sure there'll be more cities by March. Sign up for Earth Hour with me by visiting http://www.earthhour.org/user/s6vR and join the movement.

Yeah, baby!!

Let's hope this is one long-coming sequel that George Lucas didn't screw up!!

Going to California

Well, pretty officially now, Amelie and I will be joining Greg in L.A., specifically in El Segundo. Now, El Segundo is an odd little town.


View Larger Map

Note it is happily situated adjacent to LAX. The other mud-colored areas on the map are the L.A. wastewater treatment plant on the coast and a Chevron refinery to the south. Despite this (or because of it?) there is this great little town. It has clean coastal air (they have really worked on the smell issues), the BEST schools, no traffic, a great tiki bar, independent coffee shops, good Thai food, and the walk score for this house is 89 (my current house is 54 and I think that's too generous by half).

We're hoping to be out there by the end of the month, if all goes well! Here's hoping, anyway!

Obama is the guy

We saw Barack Obama in Phoenix on Wednesday. He was inspirational. The energy was palpable. I'm actually excited about his candidacy. I went back and read this article by the late, great Molly Ivins on why she would not be supporting Hillary, and it still rings true. So I am for Obama. We'll see what happens Tuesday. I would support her over any Republican (and take it from an Arizonan, McCain may be no conservative to some, but he is certainly no moderate). Would I be sorry about a split vote resulting in a floor fight ending in a Gore nomination? No, I'll admit that would be a dream scenario for me. However, Barack Obama is an exciting candidate and I think that his candidacy will signal the new direction I think that America is desperate for. Vote Obama!

Dump Your E-Hog Xmas lights

If you, like me, have a bag of old fashioned Christmas lights (my C-7, C-9, and even icicle lights are HISTORY) that you just can't bring yourself to throw away, here is your chance. HolidayLEDs.com will recycle them for you for free, you just have to pay postage. They have to be postmarked by January 31, but you can send them parcel post, so that may not cost you too much. Or, take them apart yourself, I hear that the scrap metal market is way hot right now. But do NOT give them to Goodwill, because someone will use them as Christmas lights (duh) thus negating any positive benefit you hoped to achieve by replacing your guzzly bulbs in the first place.

Oh, and also, a tip for next year- Greg disliked the cold, bluish lights our LEDs gave off, so I used squares of red and white tissue paper on top and secured them with the tiny rubber bands used for girls' braids (the Goody area of your drug store will have them) which made the light far more pleasant. It only took me about an hour and a half to do 150 lights. The packaging said not to cover the bulbs, but they burn so cool that with supervision I think the risk is minimal.

We took a nice brief trip to Seattle over New Year's - we're thinking about maybe moving up there some day (?) and the Stevensons were soooo nice to put up with us for a few days and even show us around town. So, a big thanks to Amy, Matt, Liam & Lochlan. You guys so rock. We had a great time, depite the C-O-L-D!! This is a video of A. on the Seattle Monorail during our whirlwind act-like-a-tourist day.

MY Prius!!

OK, no photos of the actual yet but FINALLY I got one. Loooove it!!

And ALREADY I found myself being one of those overbearing you-won't-believe-my-mileage people at a kid's birthday party yesterday. Is there a reason it rhymes with "pious"? Whatever, it's cool!

Cute polar bears

My aunt sent me an e-mail with misattributed pictures of Knut the Berliner polar bear. Cute! Looking for the proper link, I found this game. As treehugger says, you can use it to jump start a convo with your own youguns re global warming and all that. But it's just fun. Merry!

World clock

This actually gave me vertigo, a little bit.

Help Wildlife this Christmas

Order an adoption from Defenders of Wildlife by Saturday and save 10% with code KID10.

Choose your favorite species and doom the ugly ones to extinction (just kidding)!

Oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die?

Frrrrrraaaaaaacccccckkkk.......

We're Number 75

Wood is number 75 of most common surnames (I would have guessed higher, actually)...but up 3 from 1990, interestingly. Try your name here. This is why I hyphenate. Well, that, and I CAN, because I am not chattel. Thank you.

Save These Dolphins (Hayden Rawks)

Anyone notice I have gone a little YouTube crazy?

So they announced yesterday that Hayden Panettiere (the cheerleader of "save the.." fame from NBC's Heroes) has a warrant out for her arrest in Japan for trying to stop a dolphin hunt last month. In this day and age, where so many young celebs' only noteworthy actions are crotch flashes and trips to rehab, I really have to admire her.

So, here's the video (graphic & sad, be WARNED):


And, NOW:

Write to the Japanese Embassy and urge them to stop the yearly slaughter of thousands of dolphins!

We can put pressure on Japan and help bring a stop to this cruel tradition, it just takes a second:
http://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=17309

Those Subversive Long-Hairs

Today's offering: "Pleasant Valley Sunday", The Monkees

The local rock group down the street
Is trying hard to learn their song
Seranade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care

See Mrs. Gray she's proud today because her roses are in bloom
Mr. Green he's so serene, He's got a t.v. in every room

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land
Mothers complain about how hard life is
And the kids just don't understand

Creature comfort goals
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see
My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away
I need a change of scenery

Ta Ta Ta...

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday...


See? Even then, they knew the 'burbs sucked.

The Best Bags

Obviously now everyone knows the correct answer to "Paper or plastic?" is "Neither." I have had the same string grocery bags since 1995 and I love those, don't get me wrong, but I don't know how many times I have been caught without them (too many). So that is why I am CRAZY about are these bags I got at Claire's, the accessory store at the mall, of all places. They were $1 with any purchase and they are fantastic! They're made out of umbrella-material nylon and they pack away into a teeny tiny tote bag. I just saw them recently and they were about $6 now, still in a bin by the register. They have a variety of colors if rainbow polka dots are to chicky for you. I keep them in my purse and I am never, ever without a bag anymore.

A Little Perspective, Please

Actual video of "Earthrise" and "Earthset" from the moon. Very cool!

Go See This Guy

OK, kinda late now, but a week ago we saw this guy who does a one-man show of all three original Star Wars movies (yeah, 4-6, WHATEVER!! 1 to 3, you are DEAD to me). The whole show is one hour and FUNNY. We scored discount tix at showup.com. What I don't get is that Greg and I bought before Jamie and his friend and yet they were two rows in FRONT of us? WTF? Oh well, small theater, it was actually the top half of the former IMAX at the Scottsdale Galleria. That place didn't get anything right, eh?

The show plays until the 11th and after that he travels, look for him at a theater not far, far away.

Good News for Oregon

When we first visited Oregon in November of 2004, they had just passed measure 37 which was what is commonly referred to as 'takings legislation' which heavily restricts the ability of government to regulate property by zoning. Most people, when you talk to them about it, like zoning, as they don't want a factory or motel built in that nice empty lot across from their house. But on the surface, Americans, a freedom-loving bunch, viscerally connect with the notion that people should be able to do what they want with their land, and with ballot measures, a lot of times it's the visceral that wins out.

Which brings us to the present day. Yesterday Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved measure 49 which strictly curtails the effects of 37 and will hopefully keep the worst consequences of the former measure from taking place. A lot of that will depend on the courts. The story says this was an expensive and vicious fight, so it's nice to see that the good guys won. Yay, Oregon!

Jamie's photos from the party last weekend

Here's Jamie's version of the Pirates of the Carribean ride skeleton (rags blowing, wheel turning - nice effect):

Our host Random Jedi Jamie and his gal Dawn of Gryffindor:


The annual and each year more elaborate Pirate Bar hosted by Greg:

Such cuties - Amelie, Eleanor, and Eileen:

Alex, me (pirate/coctail waitress), Greg (pirate/bartender), Connie, Irene, and Vik:

Fun party. Grownups are so silly.