I haven’t been a regular viewer of the Weather Channel since I moved to sunny coastal Southern California, but even this region does have its weather issues. (And when weather is a story here, it’s huge.) It’s literally been years since this mostly desert climate has received adequate annual rainfall, and that’s led to a wildfire “season” that lasts nearly year-round. The wildfires clear land that turns into mud and floods when we do get rain. […]
I’m supposed to be going to Disneyland with a group of coworkers next week. I feel like we should confirm that everyone has been vaccinated against measles before we go…just in case. I’m pretty sure I got a measles shot as a small child, but thanks to a cross-country move and lost immunization records, I know I got one during my senior year of college. Due to an outbreak of the disease within the Florida […]
I love the idea of Sheila’s Summer-Cation Blog Hop— “Everywhere I look in Minnesota there is SNOW SNOW SNOW. We are having wind chill warnings weekly, snow storms, and more school closings this year then I remember in my entire life. 😯 Then I go on-line and read other book reviewers in the same boat – unusual cold temperatures, winds, snow in states that normally do not get snow… “I am calling an emergency Summer-Cation. […]
I originally wrote this after the Tucson shootings in early 2011, and revised it a bit after the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut last week. Members of the #GenFab bloggers’ group have been sharing their responses to the Sandy Hook School shootings with the hashtag #stopitnow. What follows are my personal opinions on the generalities of a very complex issue, with links to facts on the matter where appropriate. I’ve linked to others’ posts in a […]
I never get one of those “I voted” stickers, so I had to find a photo of someone else’s to post here. I have voted “permanent absentee” for at least the last half-dozen years. In California, that means I vote by mail, even though I’m almost never out of state, let alone out of town, on Election Day (although I truly was an absentee voter for this year’s June primary). The vote-from-home, mail-it-in ballot makes dealing […]
(I rescheduled a book review from today to Thursday because I wanted to put on my mom-blogger hat before last week’s news literally becomes “last week’s news.”) I really wasn’t sure if I’d make a response to last week’s sensational TIME magazine cover for its feature on attachment parenting, but the more I read other people’s responses to it, the more I realized I did have some thoughts of my own to add to the many […]
By virtue of my position with my employer (management level) and my age (several decades old), I tend to dress fairly traditionally for work–usually in dresses or skirts. But tomorrow, April 25, I’m going to wear jeans to the office to participate in Denim Day in LA & USA. Denim Day is a nationwide event launched in Los Angeles in 1999 by the pioneering anti-violence organization Peace Over Violence to promote education about and prevention of […]
Greetings, Readathoners! I’m sorry not to be among you this weekend, but I have a good bookish excuse. I’m at the University of Southern California today (and possibly part of tomorrow) for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books! I picked up my media badge on Thursday afternoon, which will admit me to the press room and serve as my ticket to any and all panels. I have three I’d like to go to today–and […]
Today is International Women’s Day, and I’m going back to a post I published on this date in 2011 as a jumping-off point. I’m sorry to say there hasn’t been a lot of positive progress since then. Source: wildgypsies.tumblr.com via Malina on Pinterest March is Women’s History Month – a time to reflect on where we’ve been and consider where we go next. As the saying goes, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it…and those who […]
I’m not officially “going dark” today, but since I’m sending you to read someone else’s post somewhere else, I’m not really counting this as a post… Some major websites, including Wikipedia and Reddit, are taking themselves offline in a one-day protest against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act), two pending Congressional bills that could change the Internet as we know it–and not necessarily for the better. Social-media wise woman (and my […]
Well, close enough. The title of this post contains a slight geographical exaggeration, given that I live more than 30 miles from Glendale, California, but we are neighbors in the Los-Angeles-Suburban-Sprawl sense. Other than that, it’s pretty accurate. Earlier this week, Adrienne Van Houten posted at Moms LA about the Glendale Unified School District’s efforts to keep Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood out of an AP English classroom. District approval is required before any teacher […]
Before too long, I will be living in a town that doesn’t have a bookstore. I’ve known it was a possibility since early this year, but I didn’t want to accept that it might actually happen. But the liquidation sales started on July 22, and when I drove by the store a few days later, I saw the sadly familiar yellow-and-black banner. This one didn’t say “Store Closing,” though – the new wording is “Going […]
