So, Friday, Amelie had her "Spring Hat Parade and Egg Hunt" which was a little late for Easter, but as it's a secular school - SPRING. Anyway. I felt like coffee and I hadn't tried the coffee shop around the corner from school (the Daily Grind). So I popped in. I notice that the white board says "cash only" but that the coffee advertised is organic, fair trade, and shade grown (Do you like birds? Buy that kind of coffee.) . So I stand there counting my pennies and the nice owner lady is telling me about her great coffee and how she doesn't mind if I live nearby if I pay her tomorrow (seriously) and THEN this guy comes from across the room and gives her $2 for my cup of coffee. It's this TOWN. I do not carry cash, I guess I must start, I did have some but I spent my last quarter on strawberries at the farmer's market on Thursday. Those looked good. Amelie snuck into the fridge and ate them ALL. And then he went back to sit with the very cute girl he was with. Altruism. I am too cynical for this!
Anyway, so we did the parade and hunt (super cute, photos soon). I met one of Amelie's classmates moms and she basically told me this IS a small town - everyone knows everyone else either by blood or friendship, so be careful what you say. It's not L.A. Funny. Then I hit the Methodist rummage sale (maybe I was an hour too late but that was a bust) on the way home.
And, I miss my dogs. They are back in Phoenix as they couldn't get the hang of timed elimination. Mom and Dad will be fostering them until we are in a more suitable living situation. Aloha oe, Bonnie and Jake, until we meet again.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
10 Things to Do in the Dark
No, it's not that kind of list!
Tomorrow is Earth Hour, 8-9 PM. See how much you can turn off! Then, try these things:
WWF Presents: Ten Things to Do in the Dark
Wondering what to do when the lights go out for Earth Hour? Here are ten fun ideas to help you, your family and your friends make a change and make a difference on March 29.
Host a Green Party
Get your friends together for an Earth Hour eco-party. Fire up the flashlights and battery lanterns, serve organic food, avoid the disposable utensils, use natural décor (like flowers and hanging plants) and have a friend provide acoustic music. Talk to your guests about how you’re each reducing your environmental footprint and share ideas and solutions for saving more energy, money and carbon dioxide.
Give Yourself an Energy Makeover
Use Earth Hour to make your home more energy efficient: Replace your old light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs; install power strips (so you can turn computers and electronics on and off more easily); and change your air conditioner filters. Or go one step farther and install one new energy-efficient item, like an EnergyStar qualified DVD player. And on Monday, call your local utility and sign up for green power—like wind, hydro or solar.
Go Green with Your Kids
Earth Hour is a perfect time to talk to your kids about the environment and why we need to protect our planet from the dangers of climate change. Check out books on the environment from the library and read by flashlight, or head into the yard and have a night picnic. Or how about a night of board games? There are even Earth Hour kids’ activities you can download at www.earthhour.org.
Do a Recyclables Scavenger Hunt
Get your flashlights and scour your cabinets and shelves for cans, bottles and cardboard (like cereal boxes) that you don't normally recycle. Make a list of all the non-recyclable containers you’re using now (like plastic shopping bags and butter tubs), and figure out ways to reduce your consumption of items that end up in landfills. One easy tip: get reusable grocery bags...and reuse them!
Green That Workspace!
Working the night shift? Even if you can’t turn off all the lights at work, look around and see what you can unplug, turn down or use less of (like consuming less paper by printing double-sided). Every day millions of computer screens and speakers are left on overnight—shut ‘em off! And talk to your coworkers about what they can do to help make a difference too.
Involve Your Local Leaders
If your city or town isn't already hosting an Earth Hour event, ask your local government to set up a community "green" discussion in a public building from 8 to 9 p.m. on March 29. Help organize attendance by reaching out to local environmental and community groups, and come prepared to ask your leaders what they’re doing to make your city greener.
Clean Up Your Neighborhood
Grab a flashlight and take a long walk through your neighborhood, picking up trash and recyclables as you go. It's a great chance to do some stargazing too!
Unplug and Chill Out
Most of our daily activities—like watching TV, shopping online and texting friends—require loads of electricity, but do we really need to do so much stuff all the time? Take one hour for yourself to just chill...turn off the screens, put down the handheld devices and just take some "you" time to reflect, read or talk to your family. After all, why do more when you can do less?
Take Your Temperature
Your thermostat and your refrigerator are responsible for a huge portion of your carbon footprint. If you lower your thermostat by just 2 degrees and set your fridge to 37° F. and the freezer at 0° F., you'll make a big difference.
Make a Pledge for the Planet
Earth Hour shouldn't end at 9:01 pm—it's a chance to take a first step toward lowering your overall impact on the environment. So use part of that hour to make a personal pledge to do more—recycle, drive less often, remember to turn off or unplug electronics, and beyond. The only way we're going to stabilize our climate is if we make real changes in our everyday lives. That change begins with Earth Hour, and ends with a healthy planet.
Tomorrow is Earth Hour, 8-9 PM. See how much you can turn off! Then, try these things:
WWF Presents: Ten Things to Do in the Dark
Wondering what to do when the lights go out for Earth Hour? Here are ten fun ideas to help you, your family and your friends make a change and make a difference on March 29.
Host a Green Party
Get your friends together for an Earth Hour eco-party. Fire up the flashlights and battery lanterns, serve organic food, avoid the disposable utensils, use natural décor (like flowers and hanging plants) and have a friend provide acoustic music. Talk to your guests about how you’re each reducing your environmental footprint and share ideas and solutions for saving more energy, money and carbon dioxide.
Give Yourself an Energy Makeover
Use Earth Hour to make your home more energy efficient: Replace your old light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs; install power strips (so you can turn computers and electronics on and off more easily); and change your air conditioner filters. Or go one step farther and install one new energy-efficient item, like an EnergyStar qualified DVD player. And on Monday, call your local utility and sign up for green power—like wind, hydro or solar.
Go Green with Your Kids
Earth Hour is a perfect time to talk to your kids about the environment and why we need to protect our planet from the dangers of climate change. Check out books on the environment from the library and read by flashlight, or head into the yard and have a night picnic. Or how about a night of board games? There are even Earth Hour kids’ activities you can download at www.earthhour.org.
Do a Recyclables Scavenger Hunt
Get your flashlights and scour your cabinets and shelves for cans, bottles and cardboard (like cereal boxes) that you don't normally recycle. Make a list of all the non-recyclable containers you’re using now (like plastic shopping bags and butter tubs), and figure out ways to reduce your consumption of items that end up in landfills. One easy tip: get reusable grocery bags...and reuse them!
Green That Workspace!
Working the night shift? Even if you can’t turn off all the lights at work, look around and see what you can unplug, turn down or use less of (like consuming less paper by printing double-sided). Every day millions of computer screens and speakers are left on overnight—shut ‘em off! And talk to your coworkers about what they can do to help make a difference too.
Involve Your Local Leaders
If your city or town isn't already hosting an Earth Hour event, ask your local government to set up a community "green" discussion in a public building from 8 to 9 p.m. on March 29. Help organize attendance by reaching out to local environmental and community groups, and come prepared to ask your leaders what they’re doing to make your city greener.
Clean Up Your Neighborhood
Grab a flashlight and take a long walk through your neighborhood, picking up trash and recyclables as you go. It's a great chance to do some stargazing too!
Unplug and Chill Out
Most of our daily activities—like watching TV, shopping online and texting friends—require loads of electricity, but do we really need to do so much stuff all the time? Take one hour for yourself to just chill...turn off the screens, put down the handheld devices and just take some "you" time to reflect, read or talk to your family. After all, why do more when you can do less?
Take Your Temperature
Your thermostat and your refrigerator are responsible for a huge portion of your carbon footprint. If you lower your thermostat by just 2 degrees and set your fridge to 37° F. and the freezer at 0° F., you'll make a big difference.
Make a Pledge for the Planet
Earth Hour shouldn't end at 9:01 pm—it's a chance to take a first step toward lowering your overall impact on the environment. So use part of that hour to make a personal pledge to do more—recycle, drive less often, remember to turn off or unplug electronics, and beyond. The only way we're going to stabilize our climate is if we make real changes in our everyday lives. That change begins with Earth Hour, and ends with a healthy planet.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Yes, finally, pictures!
Sorry, all, I have been technically challenged these last weeks, and though I have been online, it is company equipment which I can't upload onto. So I finally dug up the necessary infrastructure to get my photos online. Here are the ones I took of the empty-and-therefore-spacious-appearing house before we filled it chock full of our sh*t. And you should just SEE the stuff we left in Phoenix!! Yeesh!
I hope to have more about the lovely and scenic El Segundo on here soon. And we found out that indeed, parts of town smell bad, but not our part.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
On the Carbon Tax
"Free market" solutions to pollution have always been a problem because the costs of pollution are not part of the market, instead, they are borne by society without costs to the polluter. So, there lies the need for a carbon tax. Policy makers in many cases have already moved on from that fact to the issue of what to do with the revenues. But, if a carbon tax is doing what it should, it's a tax you should never want to collect. For more, an enlightening article from the NYT Op Ed Page is here.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Just a couple of things...
Hi from Sunny California!
This is just too good (thanks, laist.com)!
And Battlestar is coming back, fools! Rent the DVDs now & thank me later. Watch this to see why you must watch this show. You must watch this show!!
And also, the cast doing last night's Top 10 on Letterman here.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
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.
"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.
Friday, February 15, 2008
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.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, February 03, 2008
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!
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
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.
Monday, December 17, 2007
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!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
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)!
Choose your favorite species and doom the ugly ones to extinction (just kidding)!
Monday, November 19, 2007
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.
Friday, November 16, 2007
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
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
Thursday, November 15, 2007
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 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.
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