It Must Be the End of the World

San Diego is sweltering. Today, I went to visit my mom in East County (not the brightest idea I've had this week) and it was 101 degrees mid-day. It was a much cooler 91 degrees in my area. Tomorrow and Sunday show no relief from this heat wave. Of course, we don't have a hurricane or major flooding to worry about, just the ever constant danger of fire. And, to add to the intolerable heat, word is out that Dubya will be staying at the Hotel Del Coronado on Monday. The Del is famous as the location where Some Like It Hot, with Marilyn Monroe, was filmed. Mr. What-Me-Worry will be here to rally for support for his heinous war. With the weather and Dubya as ominous portents, either we are in hell or it truly is the end of the world (tongue firmly planted in cheek, so no e-mails about the apocalypse). A great antidote, by the way, to the heat is a perfect Margarita--it went down very easily :)

Hybrids Triumph Again!

Seems our beleaguered and one-too-many-face-lifted governor, the Hummer-driving Schwarzenegger, finally did something right: We hybrid drivers now have unfettered access to the HOV, or carpool lanes--even with one driver in the car! Yippee for me! With gas prices averaging $2.80 a gallon in San Diego (the highest in the nation) and the new hybrid HOV law, maybe more people will ditch their Expeditions for the hybrid Escape.

Must go mail my application to the DMV for my new HOV/Clean Air Vehicle sticker....

Butterfly Factory

My postage stamp of a patio has become quite the little wild kingdom. The Passionflower vine, photographed here with fecund butterfly, has been decimated, literally devoured by the caterpillars that emerged from the eggs the butterfly laid. There are about 13 caterpillars that we could see/count and several are already in cocoons or hanging upside down in preparation to don a cocoon. This is really cool. Considering that aphids and other annoying pests constantly plague my container garden, this destruction will have a very nifty outcome. Unless something big comes along and eats the cocoons.

All Things Girl!

Check out my essay, Little Epiphanies, on All Things Girl, a groovy little online journal about, what else? all things girl! Follow this link: www.allthingsgirl.com/aw/as/000770.shtml

Of Mayors and Minutemen

Today is election day in Enron-by-the-Bay. With a field of 7, or is it 9, candidates, we are on our way to our second mayor in as many weeks. It kills me that Murphy fought Donna Frye over her write-in ballot bubble fiasco and then he quits anyway. What a waste of carbon, that man is. If a candidate doesn't get at least 51% of the vote we will be without a mayor for another 4 months until the November run-offs. If there is a deity more powerful than Bill Gates, then I pray to that divine being to let Frye win. And on another front, the Minutemen are planning a full-on border assault in mid-September. According to an Orange County mouthpiece, who I will not name because the bastard doesn't deserve any publicity, he is trying to take his group to nonprofit status! As a writer working for a nonprofit literacy organization, I am so offended. And I don't offend easily. Said mouthpiece claims they are going after employers who hire undocumented workers next. I hope the jerk doesn't eat out, or golf, or have his car washed, because who does he think does these "menial tasks?" Another thing about the Minutemen--Have they really thought about the connotation of this moniker, besides the historical significance? In my book, a minuteman is not a good thing!

Turkey

What a great idea! Someone weighed in with the idea that I visit Turkey. A place I have been wanting to visit for some time now. That and Morocco. Both countries just slipped my mind as many things do these days.

Where to next?

OK, dear readers, where should we go next? I have some vacation time at the end of September or early October and am trying to decide what to do. Needs to be relatively cheap (as always), culturally rich (small c not just big C), and relaxing. I am thinking about going back to Mexico to Guanajuato for the Cervantino Festival, or perhaps to Paris, Copenhagen, or Budapest. I am open to suggestions so chime in and let me know.

Bokashi!

I am always on the look-out for cool things that make recycling, impacting the planet lightly, or just plain living much easier. Bokashi, a small home composting system that has been on my radar for a while now, is something I think I must have. Imagine recycling all your kitchen scraps without a traditional compost heap--and no smell! The perfect solution for tiny abode dwellers like me!

The Bokashi system uses a microorganism that digests the food stuff in half the time of a traditional composter. It yields, in addition to perfectly fermented compost, that yummy tea that plants are so fond of. Who knows, maybe I'll become a distributor of this magic little thing :) Check it out here: www.scdworld.com/product.cfm?product_id=030203

Mexicanwave

One of the greatest things about the intersection between travel and technology is that it's possible to meet someone during your travels, someone you think is simpatico but you don't have much opportunity to chat past "hello" and "where are you from," only to return to your respective countries and discover one another over the DSL lines. This is exactly how I met, and later accidentally stumbled across, Steve Bridger of Mexicanwave. He, his wife, and two kids were on the same bus with Todd and I, as we traveled from D.F. to San Miguel. Steve and I talked about the beautiful lavender flowers of the blooming Jacarandas, a tree I told him we were fortunate enough to have in San Diego.

During my usual webcrawl of all things Mexican, I came across Mexicanwave and saw a photo of the editor. I knew the moment I saw his picture that it was the guy on the bus. What a weird feeling when the subconscious recognizes something before the waking mind comprehends it. Anyway, I sent him an e-mail and he replied that he was the guy on the bus and he remembered our chat! Funny how tiny the world has become. So, point your browser his way and check out Mexicanwave:
http://www.mexicanwave.com/index.html

On Mexican Time

Like visiting Paris three times before I toured the Louvre, I am finally reading Tony Cohan's book, On Mexican Time, for the first time. For those few Mexicophiles who haven't read it, it's about the author and his artist wife's escape from Los Angeles (and all L.A. stands for) in the 80's to San Miguel de Allende high in the mountains of colonial Mexico. Cohan's bright and spicy storytelling takes me right back to the Mexico I recently visited and the Mexico that swims around in my dreams of ex-patriate life.

I constantly feel torn between staying in this country where life is too complex and expensive but all my family resides, to pulling up stakes, cashing out, and discovering the other; becoming the other. In many ways, I will always feel like an outsider regardless of where I am. So why not be an outsider in a place where the colors, flavors, arts, and traditions are so rich?

What's next, Locusts?

As everyone has most likely heard by now, 2 days ago California had a tsunami warning. It turned out to be a big nothing but it was kinda fun to figure out what I would take with me to higher ground when the 45 minute warning came.

Now I bet the White House and their friends, the bible-thumpers, are convinced that California's recent string of earthquakes and the tsunami threat are evidence that the heathens and sodomizers residing in the golden state are going to get their due. And, with the California governor's recent budget cut to the mosquito abatement program, the blood-sucking insects that will soon over-populate and wreak havoc on bare arms and naked legs could be likened to a plague of locusts.

What fun neo-apocalyptic times we live in. Kinda brings to mind the warm and fuzzy Reagan years. Only worse. Much worse. And I am not talking about Mother Nature's little hiccups and emissions.

Earthquake!

We had another 'quake this morning at about 8:41 am. Preliminary reports show the magnitude at 5.6 centered out of the Palm Desert area. I had just gotten out of bed a few moments before and when it hit I was in a doorway. Automatic earthquake preparedness training kicked in and I threw my arms up in the door jamb, crouched slightly and waited -- one eye on my dog and one eye on my cat. Funny the things that went through my mind in 5 seconds -- that it wouldn't matter if I didn't edit a story I finished writing last night. Or that it wouldn't matter that I would miss my date for margaritas with a friend this afternoon. Or that I hadn't taken a shower. Then, as quick as it started, it subsided and I went back to my morning routine. So much for my exciting Sunday.

My website is up!

After owning my domain name for about 6 months, I have finally published my freelance writer website! I tweaked, re-wrote, changed, and moved pages until I finally realized it would never truly be finished. So, I called it complete (for now) and published it. I have more content to add and a few changes to make, but hey, it's a start. Now I will just sit back and watch all the writing jobs roll in.... And I hope you will check it out and give me some feedback (or hire me).
Point your browser to: www.shannatrenholm.com

Oh, and yes, I used a template -- I'm a writer, not a website designer! Sheesh.

Keywords

"green architecture" "french bulldogs" Prius "Trader Joe's" organic Europe travel France Mexico yoga -- let's see if this works until I figure out this ad filter thing. In the mean time, click all the ads you want and make F**d pay me $$!

Crap! I guess I need

to figure out this Google ad thing. I post a negative missive about Ford and what happens? Lots of ads for, oh never mind. I am not going to day it or more will appear on the sidebar. So maybe I should just pepper this blog with word like sustainable or organic or Annie's macaroni and cheese. Any suggestions? In any event, click on whatever is there and put a few pennies in my piggybank.

Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius, Toyota Prius, Toyota Prius!

Does It Make Any Sense?

I know I have addressed this topic before, but I am still amazed that people are still buying SUVs. With gas prices edging closer to what Europeans pay (and the actual price we should be paying if the industry wasn't subsidized), why do people continue to buy and drive those gas-hogging weapons-on-wheels? I mean, what other area of consumer culture would a person feel so righteous about being ripped off? Can you imagine someone buying a HUGE bag of chips and saying," Dude, look how cool I am. My bag has only 3 chips!" OK, scary, maybe that is imaginable. But with people always bitching about not getting a good value and wanting to buy the cheapest, fall-apart Walmart shit and then turning around and spending vast amounts of $$$ on a means of transport that they can't afford to maintain or keep fully fueled, well, I just don't get it.

Years ago, when Ford (who's bond rating was just downgraded) came out with the Excursion, their latest monster-sized SUV, I proffered up a name for them to consider for the next in the Explorer, Expedition, Excursion family -- The new Ford Excrement! Whaddaya think? Fits the E- theme and gives an honest assessment of what the vehicle does to our roads, air, etc.

OK, rant over.

Firefox

If you are not using Firefox as your browser, why not? Perhaps you love all those bugs and security leaks in Internet Explorer? Do yourself a favor, download Firefox. It's free, easy, small-- like the best things in life.

Memefest/05 The International Festival of Radical Communication

Just doing a little light reading and research this Saturday afternoon led me to this great website devoted to memes and radical communication for social change. In case you haven't heard, memes, ideas and their dissemination, are like genes (in the replication and evolutionary sense), they are the mental building blocks that influence what we think and our belief systems. Memes are effective not based on the value of the meme but on the receptivity of the host (you) and the mode of transmission-- sort of a right place at the right time thing. Anyway, the most amazing website for a faux temporary travel office designed by a group of Chicago-based activists has the coolest postcard with a random address generator thingy, just answer a few questions as you attempt to penetrate the border of your chosen destination and, well, anyway, just go there and see what I mean. It's a postcard from Eutopia(sic) sent by you to bio- and nano-tech bigwigs. Mine is addressed to John Hewitt, Interim Director of the Center for Reproductive Science. Just go to the site already and check it out: http://www.yougenics.net/traveloffice/main.html

City Manager

Regarding my last post: I can't get used to this city manager form of governance. Guess I won't have to as we will soon have a "strong mayor" form of government. That is if we can actually elect a mayor. Anywho, it seems the city manager, Lamont Ewell, is the one who drafts the budget. So my apologies (yeah, right) to Dick Murphy in my previous post.