Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Thu, May 31 2007
Science fiction to combat terrorism
Well, I suppose one way to stay ahead of terrorists is to invite unusual minds to come up with futuristic ways to counter their madness. And I'd much rather see creative thinkers putting their talents to work for good instead of evil.
Fiction writers of any type are used to coming up with endless scenarios of conflict. Without some kind of conflict there just isn't much of a story. And terrorism presents some major conflict. I believe the Department of Homeland Security finally has something going that makes real sense to me. When it comes to weird thinking, maybe it takes one to know one. (A tip of the Stetson goes to Techdirt for the pointer to the article.
posted at: 09:49 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Well, I suppose one way to stay ahead of terrorists is to invite unusual minds to come up with futuristic ways to counter their madness. And I'd much rather see creative thinkers putting their talents to work for good instead of evil.
Fiction writers of any type are used to coming up with endless scenarios of conflict. Without some kind of conflict there just isn't much of a story. And terrorism presents some major conflict. I believe the Department of Homeland Security finally has something going that makes real sense to me. When it comes to weird thinking, maybe it takes one to know one. (A tip of the Stetson goes to Techdirt for the pointer to the article.
posted at: 09:49 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Wed, May 30 2007
Blues Skies Caffe brightens our day
The best way to lighten up a foggy coastal evening? How about a plate of fluffy, 3 Cheese Lasagna in a pool of sauce so mellow that you get no trace of acidic bite to it, so that every other flavor shines through? (That same sauce is wonderful over Chicken Parmigiano, which is not on the menu, but if you ask for it, the chef will happily make it. He made it for my spouse. And then he came out to our table and made sure it was satisfactory. Satisfactory would have been an understatement.)
Forgive me. I'm teasing all of you who aren't within fork-reaching distance of Watsonville, California. But if you can get here you must find your way to 1983 Main Street. Tucked between a chain sandwich shop and a chain pizza place, Blue Skies Caffe is the newest restaurant in town, and it's a keeper. Think of comfort food favorites like Chicken Fried Steak, Meatloaf and Gravy, but a bit more upscale in quality and presentation, still with a price that won't make you reluctant to open your wallet. Now surround yourself with walls of graduated hues of relaxing blue (which will have faux clouds added as soon as the artist can schedule adequate time to do them).
To be fair, we know the owner, Joanna, from a previous engagement at another area establishment. But you'll be treated like an old friend, no matter who you are. And when she asks you how things are, she isn't just being polite. She wants your input so that the place can best serve the needs of those who choose to eat there.
If you prefer vegetarian meals, you can opt for a Portabella Burger, Veggie Stacker or pasta with that great sauce. (They also have Fettucine Alfredo, which I haven't yet tried, but plan to soon.) They also serve breakfast in the mornings. If you want some zing you can have them put jalapenos in your 3 Egg Omelet. (The menu says it's for the Chorizo Omelet, but ask for it anyway.) I have to go and try their 2-piece Belgian Waffle. Yes, of course I'll have them add the blueberry topping and freshly whipped cream. Charbroiled Steak and eggs? No problem. Are you a hot cereal lover? They've got several kinds of that too, including grits. How many places in California can you get grits? If you don't eat pork, order the turkey links instead of regular sausages.
We have it on reliable authority that weekend karaoke will soon be available. The restaurant has applied for a license to sell beer and wine. Even a place full of blue skies has to put up with the inevitable red tape.
Did I mention the homemade Flan, which is another of my spouse's test dishes, and which got a solid nod of approval after he let it linger on his palate for awhile. My Tiramisu was top-notch. I won't give away his secrets, but the chef told me he replaced one often-used ingredient (that I don't care for) with another ingredient. It works. The effect is subtle and decadent at the same time.
Their Coffee Bar is open with Espresso, Cappucino and other specialty hot beverages. A full menu is also available there.
I apologize to those of you who can't make it to the restaurant in person. It isn't very nice to tantalize you, but I had such a good time there that I had to write about it. They do cater. I don't know if you could get them to cold-ship that Tiramisu to you, but if you could, it would be worth it.
I also apologize to those of you who are professional restaurant reviewers. My food descriptions don't really do justice to the food at Blue Skies Caffe. But I'll bet yours won't either. If you don't believe me, go and give them a try.
posted at: 09:47 | category: /Food | link to this entry
The best way to lighten up a foggy coastal evening? How about a plate of fluffy, 3 Cheese Lasagna in a pool of sauce so mellow that you get no trace of acidic bite to it, so that every other flavor shines through? (That same sauce is wonderful over Chicken Parmigiano, which is not on the menu, but if you ask for it, the chef will happily make it. He made it for my spouse. And then he came out to our table and made sure it was satisfactory. Satisfactory would have been an understatement.)
Forgive me. I'm teasing all of you who aren't within fork-reaching distance of Watsonville, California. But if you can get here you must find your way to 1983 Main Street. Tucked between a chain sandwich shop and a chain pizza place, Blue Skies Caffe is the newest restaurant in town, and it's a keeper. Think of comfort food favorites like Chicken Fried Steak, Meatloaf and Gravy, but a bit more upscale in quality and presentation, still with a price that won't make you reluctant to open your wallet. Now surround yourself with walls of graduated hues of relaxing blue (which will have faux clouds added as soon as the artist can schedule adequate time to do them).
To be fair, we know the owner, Joanna, from a previous engagement at another area establishment. But you'll be treated like an old friend, no matter who you are. And when she asks you how things are, she isn't just being polite. She wants your input so that the place can best serve the needs of those who choose to eat there.
If you prefer vegetarian meals, you can opt for a Portabella Burger, Veggie Stacker or pasta with that great sauce. (They also have Fettucine Alfredo, which I haven't yet tried, but plan to soon.) They also serve breakfast in the mornings. If you want some zing you can have them put jalapenos in your 3 Egg Omelet. (The menu says it's for the Chorizo Omelet, but ask for it anyway.) I have to go and try their 2-piece Belgian Waffle. Yes, of course I'll have them add the blueberry topping and freshly whipped cream. Charbroiled Steak and eggs? No problem. Are you a hot cereal lover? They've got several kinds of that too, including grits. How many places in California can you get grits? If you don't eat pork, order the turkey links instead of regular sausages.
We have it on reliable authority that weekend karaoke will soon be available. The restaurant has applied for a license to sell beer and wine. Even a place full of blue skies has to put up with the inevitable red tape.
Did I mention the homemade Flan, which is another of my spouse's test dishes, and which got a solid nod of approval after he let it linger on his palate for awhile. My Tiramisu was top-notch. I won't give away his secrets, but the chef told me he replaced one often-used ingredient (that I don't care for) with another ingredient. It works. The effect is subtle and decadent at the same time.
Their Coffee Bar is open with Espresso, Cappucino and other specialty hot beverages. A full menu is also available there.
I apologize to those of you who can't make it to the restaurant in person. It isn't very nice to tantalize you, but I had such a good time there that I had to write about it. They do cater. I don't know if you could get them to cold-ship that Tiramisu to you, but if you could, it would be worth it.
I also apologize to those of you who are professional restaurant reviewers. My food descriptions don't really do justice to the food at Blue Skies Caffe. But I'll bet yours won't either. If you don't believe me, go and give them a try.
posted at: 09:47 | category: /Food | link to this entry
Tue, May 29 2007
Kidney contest
The proposed kidney donor reality show begins to remind me of the (once) futuristic books and films in which people fought to the death in cages—and drew large, eager crowds who watched and wagered. Reality TV is getting closer to that moment every day.
posted at: 10:17 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
The proposed kidney donor reality show begins to remind me of the (once) futuristic books and films in which people fought to the death in cages—and drew large, eager crowds who watched and wagered. Reality TV is getting closer to that moment every day.
posted at: 10:17 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
Fri, May 25 2007
Will retail clothing stores learn their lesson?
I had to smile at the San Francisco Chronicle's report on Gap Inc.'s recent profit slide, particularly after them chasing the young demographic group and then throwing a bone to older women. Here's a clue for the store execs. I'm well over 35 and I never heard of their Forth and Towne brand until just this moment. If the only place they promoted the brand was in their stores it may explain why they had no takers. Most of us in the over-35 age group haven't gone inside a Gap Inc. store in at least a decade, unless we were gift shopping for a teen relative.
I remember when Banana Republic first began opening its stores. The store was full of jeeps in the windows, odd runs of black trench coats and merchandise we had never seen in a mall. Within a few years the offerings had blurred into the now-familiar washed-out blues and regurgitated mangoes that sit in every clothing store you pass in America's malls.
I chatted with an elderly lady in Sears about a week ago. We both complained of the fact that most clothing is cut either for trim 18-year old bodies. The few offerings one can find that don't make older women look like they're trying to look too young end up cut like a potato sack and have no shape. They're designed to hide, rather than enhance, the changing curves of a mature woman's body.
I've watched Stacy London and Clinton Kelly work with plenty of younger women on TLC's What Not to Wear. Let's see them outfit the 68-year old great grandma who fashion designers, clothing manufacturers and mall stores have thrown away in favor of dressing teens and 20-somethings.
I'm turning more and more to the internet in search of more inventive designers. And I give a hearty hurrah to the young women who have abandoned the likes of Gap, Inc. in favor of making their own clothing creations or simply refashioning ho-hum store-bought items and even vintage pieces.
posted at: 07:07 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
I had to smile at the San Francisco Chronicle's report on Gap Inc.'s recent profit slide, particularly after them chasing the young demographic group and then throwing a bone to older women. Here's a clue for the store execs. I'm well over 35 and I never heard of their Forth and Towne brand until just this moment. If the only place they promoted the brand was in their stores it may explain why they had no takers. Most of us in the over-35 age group haven't gone inside a Gap Inc. store in at least a decade, unless we were gift shopping for a teen relative.
I remember when Banana Republic first began opening its stores. The store was full of jeeps in the windows, odd runs of black trench coats and merchandise we had never seen in a mall. Within a few years the offerings had blurred into the now-familiar washed-out blues and regurgitated mangoes that sit in every clothing store you pass in America's malls.
I chatted with an elderly lady in Sears about a week ago. We both complained of the fact that most clothing is cut either for trim 18-year old bodies. The few offerings one can find that don't make older women look like they're trying to look too young end up cut like a potato sack and have no shape. They're designed to hide, rather than enhance, the changing curves of a mature woman's body.
I've watched Stacy London and Clinton Kelly work with plenty of younger women on TLC's What Not to Wear. Let's see them outfit the 68-year old great grandma who fashion designers, clothing manufacturers and mall stores have thrown away in favor of dressing teens and 20-somethings.
I'm turning more and more to the internet in search of more inventive designers. And I give a hearty hurrah to the young women who have abandoned the likes of Gap, Inc. in favor of making their own clothing creations or simply refashioning ho-hum store-bought items and even vintage pieces.
posted at: 07:07 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
Thu, May 24 2007
Fish and other sea inhabitants in the California news today
The great white shark released from the Monterey Bay Aquarium earlier this year made quite a journey following its release.
Two wayward humpback whales, nicknamed Delta and Dawn, are still hanging around Rio Vista in the Sacramento Delta region.
Meanwhile the Sacramento splittail fish became a topic of dubious language in the work of at least one woman who was with the Department of Interior. The woman has since resigned from her position and may have inadvertently guaranteed the fish a place on the Endangered Species list, because removing the spittail at this point might look suspicious.
On the other side of the coin, sea lions were once given preference under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. But now they've grown to such large numbers that they're making life miserable for people who fish. They steal the bait, they eat the fish who are attracted to the bait and they even eat the caught fish right off the lines.
posted at: 10:51 | category: /Science | link to this entry
The great white shark released from the Monterey Bay Aquarium earlier this year made quite a journey following its release.
Two wayward humpback whales, nicknamed Delta and Dawn, are still hanging around Rio Vista in the Sacramento Delta region.
Meanwhile the Sacramento splittail fish became a topic of dubious language in the work of at least one woman who was with the Department of Interior. The woman has since resigned from her position and may have inadvertently guaranteed the fish a place on the Endangered Species list, because removing the spittail at this point might look suspicious.
On the other side of the coin, sea lions were once given preference under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. But now they've grown to such large numbers that they're making life miserable for people who fish. They steal the bait, they eat the fish who are attracted to the bait and they even eat the caught fish right off the lines.
posted at: 10:51 | category: /Science | link to this entry
Wed, May 23 2007
This is no time to waste time
CNN has been reporting that Osama bin Laden planned to use Iraq in launching attacks in the U.S. If that's true, we should have been, and should be now, assisting Iraq to build up its own security forces and get ready to meet any further outside challenges. The ongoing skirmishes that kill troops and civilians on a daily basis and that destroy Iraq's physical infrastructure could weaken the country's chances of defending itself against future anarchists.
I can certainly understand President Bush wanting to use declassified intelligence reports as a basis on which to defend our military actions in Iraq, but since we've already gone into Iraq and contributed to its defense against terror we also have to face the fact that our own actions have done some damage and cost many people there money and changed their daily lives.
The time has come to work as quickly as possible to assist them in taking control over their own destiny now or else we could be inadvertently opening Iraq up to even stronger terrorist infiltration down the line. And if our administration believes that opening up Iraq to terrorist infiltration threatens the U.S. then it becomes that much more imperative that we help them get their own schools, courts, hospitals, businesses, churches, roads, utilities and life in general back on track. Iraq is a mess after this many years of fighting and bombing. It's time to give the people there the kind of assistance they need to become autonomous. If we don't change direction with this involvement right now we're going to end up becoming long-term caretakers and caregivers to the people of Iraq. I'm not sure I see how that would make them feel more democratic than when Iraq was under the thumb of Saddam Hussein. We have to find a way to do this or else we'll compromise the dignity of the people of Iraq and the dignity of the people of the U.S. We'll not only have lost big-time in the war on terror, but we'll have given ourselves over to the very kind of long-term despair that terrorists will seize on and use against us.
posted at: 07:36 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
CNN has been reporting that Osama bin Laden planned to use Iraq in launching attacks in the U.S. If that's true, we should have been, and should be now, assisting Iraq to build up its own security forces and get ready to meet any further outside challenges. The ongoing skirmishes that kill troops and civilians on a daily basis and that destroy Iraq's physical infrastructure could weaken the country's chances of defending itself against future anarchists.
I can certainly understand President Bush wanting to use declassified intelligence reports as a basis on which to defend our military actions in Iraq, but since we've already gone into Iraq and contributed to its defense against terror we also have to face the fact that our own actions have done some damage and cost many people there money and changed their daily lives.
The time has come to work as quickly as possible to assist them in taking control over their own destiny now or else we could be inadvertently opening Iraq up to even stronger terrorist infiltration down the line. And if our administration believes that opening up Iraq to terrorist infiltration threatens the U.S. then it becomes that much more imperative that we help them get their own schools, courts, hospitals, businesses, churches, roads, utilities and life in general back on track. Iraq is a mess after this many years of fighting and bombing. It's time to give the people there the kind of assistance they need to become autonomous. If we don't change direction with this involvement right now we're going to end up becoming long-term caretakers and caregivers to the people of Iraq. I'm not sure I see how that would make them feel more democratic than when Iraq was under the thumb of Saddam Hussein. We have to find a way to do this or else we'll compromise the dignity of the people of Iraq and the dignity of the people of the U.S. We'll not only have lost big-time in the war on terror, but we'll have given ourselves over to the very kind of long-term despair that terrorists will seize on and use against us.
posted at: 07:36 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
Tue, May 22 2007
Born May 22: Arthur Conan Doyle
Today is the birthdate of Arthur Conan Doyle, whose best known character was Sherlock Holmes. Doyle's own life seemed to be constantly plagued by one paradox after another, with his work as a physician not nearly so recognized as was his writing. Sherlock Holmes dealt with science and physical evidence, yet Doyle's own life seemed drawn more to mysticism and apparitions than to a life of religious fruit. He ended up killing off Sherlock Holmes in order to spend more time writing about what happens after people die. I've often wondered why he didn't kill Holmes and then write him up as continuing to solves crimes by communicating with still-living characters. In the end, I think maybe Mr. Doyle didn't want to communicate with the dead so much as he realized that life under the current human condition is an unfinished work. I'd like to believe that he died in 1930 with hope and with the belief that God is the true Author and Finisher of our faith.
posted at: 13:14 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Today is the birthdate of Arthur Conan Doyle, whose best known character was Sherlock Holmes. Doyle's own life seemed to be constantly plagued by one paradox after another, with his work as a physician not nearly so recognized as was his writing. Sherlock Holmes dealt with science and physical evidence, yet Doyle's own life seemed drawn more to mysticism and apparitions than to a life of religious fruit. He ended up killing off Sherlock Holmes in order to spend more time writing about what happens after people die. I've often wondered why he didn't kill Holmes and then write him up as continuing to solves crimes by communicating with still-living characters. In the end, I think maybe Mr. Doyle didn't want to communicate with the dead so much as he realized that life under the current human condition is an unfinished work. I'd like to believe that he died in 1930 with hope and with the belief that God is the true Author and Finisher of our faith.
posted at: 13:14 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Mon, May 21 2007
Away on civic duty
Jury dury has stolen my day. At least I won't have to call and call all week long.
posted at: 10:51 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Jury dury has stolen my day. At least I won't have to call and call all week long.
posted at: 10:51 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Fri, May 18 2007
Lugging
The household is enjoying a bit of vacation time, although we haven't gone far from home. We had a leisurely breakfast out yesterday and made a trip to the nearest IKEA, which is located more than an hour's drive from here. I love the clean lines of their furniture and their modular approach to things like storage units and bookshelves. What isn't fun is trying to lug the stuff home and get it into the house once you get home. I think I woke up my lazy biceps in the worst kind of way. It doesn't seem quite right that there should be muscle pain on vacation time. I suppose I could imagine I'd been mountain climbing or bull riding or some such thing. When it comes to soreness, muscles don't seem to know the difference between work and play.
posted at: 06:49 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
The household is enjoying a bit of vacation time, although we haven't gone far from home. We had a leisurely breakfast out yesterday and made a trip to the nearest IKEA, which is located more than an hour's drive from here. I love the clean lines of their furniture and their modular approach to things like storage units and bookshelves. What isn't fun is trying to lug the stuff home and get it into the house once you get home. I think I woke up my lazy biceps in the worst kind of way. It doesn't seem quite right that there should be muscle pain on vacation time. I suppose I could imagine I'd been mountain climbing or bull riding or some such thing. When it comes to soreness, muscles don't seem to know the difference between work and play.
posted at: 06:49 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
Wed, May 16 2007
Self-forgiveness, self-esteem and self-compassion
The Science Daily article on self-compassion made me think about forgiveness. We're often told by psychologists that forgiving others for hurting us frees us to work toward healing and moving on with our lives. I find that many of us get stuck, not on forgiving someone else, but on our own shortcomings and reactions to the wrongdoing by others. This puts us in a position where we block our own ability to perceive healing and where we tend to repeat destructive patterns in our future human relationships and interactions.
Sometimes we're tempted to try to make up for some injury we've received in the past by doing one good deed after another, as though these many good deeds will make up for, or even cancel out, the bad thing that someone else did to us. I've seen very good-hearted people burn themselves out doing church work or volunteer work this way. We're also tempted to do the make-up work in in response to our own mistakes. But this kind of reaction to hurt just doesn't work very well in a universe where time moves on no matter what we do. We can't actually go back and undo (or make someone else undo) a wrong. Attempting to do so wastes the present and blinds us to the real prospects of the future.
Even if we could see the end from the beginning, our ways of preventing wrongdoing in the first place would be through human attempts, which are limited. The only One who has claimed to know the end from the beginning and has been able to really take charge to change the ultimate outcome of past wrongs is God. And even God is using time as we perceive it to teach us that the past is not ours to change or make up for. The future is not ours to rule as mistake-free. We can learn from history but we can't live in history, nor can we live in the future. Our self-esteem is only as good as our perception of the present. Today can be as fresh and new for us as we choose it to be, not by forgetting that wrongs have been done, but by acknowledging that fact fully, and then choosing to leave up to God the things God has promised to take care of. That way, self-compassion isn't just saying, "Maybe I can make up for this or that, or maybe I can do better than that". Self-compassion becomes a process that moves us to see each moment in our day as a new creation, full of possibilities not strictly bound to past wrongs—ours or anyone else's.
posted at: 07:52 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
The Science Daily article on self-compassion made me think about forgiveness. We're often told by psychologists that forgiving others for hurting us frees us to work toward healing and moving on with our lives. I find that many of us get stuck, not on forgiving someone else, but on our own shortcomings and reactions to the wrongdoing by others. This puts us in a position where we block our own ability to perceive healing and where we tend to repeat destructive patterns in our future human relationships and interactions.
Sometimes we're tempted to try to make up for some injury we've received in the past by doing one good deed after another, as though these many good deeds will make up for, or even cancel out, the bad thing that someone else did to us. I've seen very good-hearted people burn themselves out doing church work or volunteer work this way. We're also tempted to do the make-up work in in response to our own mistakes. But this kind of reaction to hurt just doesn't work very well in a universe where time moves on no matter what we do. We can't actually go back and undo (or make someone else undo) a wrong. Attempting to do so wastes the present and blinds us to the real prospects of the future.
Even if we could see the end from the beginning, our ways of preventing wrongdoing in the first place would be through human attempts, which are limited. The only One who has claimed to know the end from the beginning and has been able to really take charge to change the ultimate outcome of past wrongs is God. And even God is using time as we perceive it to teach us that the past is not ours to change or make up for. The future is not ours to rule as mistake-free. We can learn from history but we can't live in history, nor can we live in the future. Our self-esteem is only as good as our perception of the present. Today can be as fresh and new for us as we choose it to be, not by forgetting that wrongs have been done, but by acknowledging that fact fully, and then choosing to leave up to God the things God has promised to take care of. That way, self-compassion isn't just saying, "Maybe I can make up for this or that, or maybe I can do better than that". Self-compassion becomes a process that moves us to see each moment in our day as a new creation, full of possibilities not strictly bound to past wrongs—ours or anyone else's.
posted at: 07:52 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
Tue, May 15 2007
Stairs in a home require strength and agility
Other than the way they give one a chance to make a grand entrance, I've never been all that interested in climbing long staircases in a home. I much prefer living on one floor. I've seen a broken hip or a round of debilitating chemotherpy make someone a prisoner on one floor of their multi-story home. So the current developers' tendency to cram many two and three-story homes on one lot has me wondering where all the baby boomers are going to live as arthritis sets in or walkers and wheelchairs are an everyday part of navigation. I was glad to see that at least some builders seem to be considerating such things.
Of course, one could have a stair lift installed, but how do you transport items you want to take with you to the other floor? I suppose one could install a dumbwaiter for that. There are wheelchair lifts for help to and from a second story deck. All these things take up extra room and can cause you to have to remodel your house and spend a lot of extra money to make them feasible at a time when you might be looking to economize for your later years. For me, a one-story dwelling is the preferable choice, now or in my old age to come.
posted at: 12:22 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry
Other than the way they give one a chance to make a grand entrance, I've never been all that interested in climbing long staircases in a home. I much prefer living on one floor. I've seen a broken hip or a round of debilitating chemotherpy make someone a prisoner on one floor of their multi-story home. So the current developers' tendency to cram many two and three-story homes on one lot has me wondering where all the baby boomers are going to live as arthritis sets in or walkers and wheelchairs are an everyday part of navigation. I was glad to see that at least some builders seem to be considerating such things.
Of course, one could have a stair lift installed, but how do you transport items you want to take with you to the other floor? I suppose one could install a dumbwaiter for that. There are wheelchair lifts for help to and from a second story deck. All these things take up extra room and can cause you to have to remodel your house and spend a lot of extra money to make them feasible at a time when you might be looking to economize for your later years. For me, a one-story dwelling is the preferable choice, now or in my old age to come.
posted at: 12:22 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry
Mon, May 14 2007
Food and beverage saturation seems oddly skewed in this area
Restaurant Hospitality's article on pleasing customers before bankers mentions Starbucks in particular as an example of the dangers of a brand name saturating the market. For some time there was only one Starbucks store in our area, in Watsonville. Then one opened in the shopping center at Freedom and Airport Boulevard in Freedom. The newer one has actually been very convenient for folks who live in the immediate area. But a brand new Safeway grocery store opened in this same shopping center a couple of weeks ago and there is also a Starbucks inside the Safeway store. They were very busy during the grand opening, but I do wonder if one shopping center can support two Starbucks stores. Only one store is visible from the street, so maybe that one handles most of the drop-in business, while the one inside the Safeway might be more of an attraction to shoppers who want to sip while they shop for groceries.
There's also a Jamba Juice counter inside the new Safeway store. The number of their stores seems to be increasing in this area, though they haven't flooded the market yet. They do produce tasty fruit smoothies which are relatively low in fat, though the store's 16-ounce Chocolate Moo'd carries 480 calories and 6 grams of fat. Most of the concoctions are much lighter. The 16-ounce Mega Mango has 220 calories and only half a gram of fat.
What we're definitely saturated with in this area are Mexican food establishments, from tiny mom-and-pop taco stands to full-service restaurants with sports bars, strolling mariachi musicians and weekend karaoke. It would be great to have a few more local choices for pastas or even some Pacific Rim fusion creations. I love to go out for Mexican food, but I do like a change now and then. I often hear local residents wish for a little more saturation from Olive Garden or Even IN-N-OUT Burger. As far as I know, neither or those companies has yet seen fit to put a restaurant anywhere in Santa Cruz County. The closest Marie Callender's restaurant is in this county, but is in Capitola, which is several miles away through heavy traffic. Watsonville once had an Arby's restaurant, but it closed many years ago, before we ever moved here. The building still has the hat-shaped sign out in front, but the only kind of food you can get there now is— you guessed it—Mexican.
posted at: 09:47 | category: /Food | link to this entry
Restaurant Hospitality's article on pleasing customers before bankers mentions Starbucks in particular as an example of the dangers of a brand name saturating the market. For some time there was only one Starbucks store in our area, in Watsonville. Then one opened in the shopping center at Freedom and Airport Boulevard in Freedom. The newer one has actually been very convenient for folks who live in the immediate area. But a brand new Safeway grocery store opened in this same shopping center a couple of weeks ago and there is also a Starbucks inside the Safeway store. They were very busy during the grand opening, but I do wonder if one shopping center can support two Starbucks stores. Only one store is visible from the street, so maybe that one handles most of the drop-in business, while the one inside the Safeway might be more of an attraction to shoppers who want to sip while they shop for groceries.
There's also a Jamba Juice counter inside the new Safeway store. The number of their stores seems to be increasing in this area, though they haven't flooded the market yet. They do produce tasty fruit smoothies which are relatively low in fat, though the store's 16-ounce Chocolate Moo'd carries 480 calories and 6 grams of fat. Most of the concoctions are much lighter. The 16-ounce Mega Mango has 220 calories and only half a gram of fat.
What we're definitely saturated with in this area are Mexican food establishments, from tiny mom-and-pop taco stands to full-service restaurants with sports bars, strolling mariachi musicians and weekend karaoke. It would be great to have a few more local choices for pastas or even some Pacific Rim fusion creations. I love to go out for Mexican food, but I do like a change now and then. I often hear local residents wish for a little more saturation from Olive Garden or Even IN-N-OUT Burger. As far as I know, neither or those companies has yet seen fit to put a restaurant anywhere in Santa Cruz County. The closest Marie Callender's restaurant is in this county, but is in Capitola, which is several miles away through heavy traffic. Watsonville once had an Arby's restaurant, but it closed many years ago, before we ever moved here. The building still has the hat-shaped sign out in front, but the only kind of food you can get there now is— you guessed it—Mexican.
posted at: 09:47 | category: /Food | link to this entry
Fri, May 11 2007
You don't get class by just going to class
I was kind of saddened when I read about Santa Cruz City Council memeber Tony Madrigal having behaved badly on the job. I went back and read an interview done with him just after he was elected to the council in 2004. He seemed to be expressing some good ideas and hope for improving life in the area. It sounds as though he's been through some good times and bad times of his own. He's dealt with labor issues and knows how to relate to the public in general. He even knows what it's like to look a certain way and be treated stereotypically because of that. So it's a little extra disappointing that he would use stereotypical language that made him look bad, put police officers in an uncomfortable position and might have offended taxpaying voters in general if they had heard his remarks. (The latter might be doubly true for female taxpaying voters.)
What I do realize is that Mr. Madrigal is, at least in part, a natural outcome of the loose-tongued talk that goes on all the time in our society. Companies, organizations and city councils try to combat the trash talk with sexual harrassment policies and forced classes in sensitivity training, but the truth is that these comments are everywhere. I'm not saying this gives Mr. Madrigal an excuse to say whatever he wants to say. I'm saying this should give us all pause to think about our own words and even our private thoughts toward other people. We don't teach people true sensitivity by putting them through forced class time. We teach it by choosing to make it a habit to respect and care for ourselves and for others every day of our lives.
posted at: 11:51 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
I was kind of saddened when I read about Santa Cruz City Council memeber Tony Madrigal having behaved badly on the job. I went back and read an interview done with him just after he was elected to the council in 2004. He seemed to be expressing some good ideas and hope for improving life in the area. It sounds as though he's been through some good times and bad times of his own. He's dealt with labor issues and knows how to relate to the public in general. He even knows what it's like to look a certain way and be treated stereotypically because of that. So it's a little extra disappointing that he would use stereotypical language that made him look bad, put police officers in an uncomfortable position and might have offended taxpaying voters in general if they had heard his remarks. (The latter might be doubly true for female taxpaying voters.)
What I do realize is that Mr. Madrigal is, at least in part, a natural outcome of the loose-tongued talk that goes on all the time in our society. Companies, organizations and city councils try to combat the trash talk with sexual harrassment policies and forced classes in sensitivity training, but the truth is that these comments are everywhere. I'm not saying this gives Mr. Madrigal an excuse to say whatever he wants to say. I'm saying this should give us all pause to think about our own words and even our private thoughts toward other people. We don't teach people true sensitivity by putting them through forced class time. We teach it by choosing to make it a habit to respect and care for ourselves and for others every day of our lives.
posted at: 11:51 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
Thu, May 10 2007
Extortion and intimidation part of e-mail scam
I somehow missed an FBI alert in January that warned us to be careful about a new type of e-mail scam. The recipient is basically targeted for extortion by the sender. The recipent is told that the sender will give them proof that someone the recipient knows and trust is trying to kill them. The recipient may be tempted to panic when the sender includes a few personal details about the recipient. The basic claim is that the sender has been hired to kill the recipient, but will not complete the job of assassin, and will reveal the name of the person who hired them, to the sender if the recipient gives them a large amount of money. The tone of the e-mails seem to be more threatening than helpful, but I'm wondering if that will change as time goes on and more criminals attempt this scheme. They may soften their language in order to try to get the recipent to trust them.
This takes the Nigerian scam to a whole new level with the threat of violence, so I thought it well worth mentioning. The FBI recommends that anyone receiving this type of e-mail should not attempt to contact the sender on their own, but should first notify the police.
posted at: 10:34 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
I somehow missed an FBI alert in January that warned us to be careful about a new type of e-mail scam. The recipient is basically targeted for extortion by the sender. The recipent is told that the sender will give them proof that someone the recipient knows and trust is trying to kill them. The recipient may be tempted to panic when the sender includes a few personal details about the recipient. The basic claim is that the sender has been hired to kill the recipient, but will not complete the job of assassin, and will reveal the name of the person who hired them, to the sender if the recipient gives them a large amount of money. The tone of the e-mails seem to be more threatening than helpful, but I'm wondering if that will change as time goes on and more criminals attempt this scheme. They may soften their language in order to try to get the recipent to trust them.
This takes the Nigerian scam to a whole new level with the threat of violence, so I thought it well worth mentioning. The FBI recommends that anyone receiving this type of e-mail should not attempt to contact the sender on their own, but should first notify the police.
posted at: 10:34 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
Wed, May 09 2007
Sioux nation or General Custer: Are those the only choices available?
Time Warner Inc. CEO Richard Parsons is quoted as seeing new media as General Custer and traditional media as the Sioux nation. If we were to carry the analogy a bit further, who would be Ulysses S. Grant, who first backed the military's actions and then followed up after Custer's death by dismissing the general as a foolhardy renegade? And who would Mr. Parsons cast as the general's devoted widow, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, who spent the rest of her life defending the man she loved in the face of public ridicule? Who would be seen as Sitting Bull, who took his family and a few followers into Canada when things didn't get any better for them after the Battle of the Little Bighorn? Mr. Parsons made an interesting analogy, but he raised, for me, a lot more questions about why he would use that particular historical clash in order to make his point.
This whole thing makes me consider the soap opera-like possibilities of other historical personal and political clashes. It seems that the further we get from a previous generation's foibles the more we tend to forget details of the history and the more we tend to identify with the legendary aspects of the telling. And the more we hear legend, the more we tend to forget that great themes repeat themselves in both real life and in storytelling. Whether this human tendency changes the course of our own generation's future may depend upon our willingness to challenge the very nature of legend itself.
posted at: 10:40 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Time Warner Inc. CEO Richard Parsons is quoted as seeing new media as General Custer and traditional media as the Sioux nation. If we were to carry the analogy a bit further, who would be Ulysses S. Grant, who first backed the military's actions and then followed up after Custer's death by dismissing the general as a foolhardy renegade? And who would Mr. Parsons cast as the general's devoted widow, Elizabeth Bacon Custer, who spent the rest of her life defending the man she loved in the face of public ridicule? Who would be seen as Sitting Bull, who took his family and a few followers into Canada when things didn't get any better for them after the Battle of the Little Bighorn? Mr. Parsons made an interesting analogy, but he raised, for me, a lot more questions about why he would use that particular historical clash in order to make his point.
This whole thing makes me consider the soap opera-like possibilities of other historical personal and political clashes. It seems that the further we get from a previous generation's foibles the more we tend to forget details of the history and the more we tend to identify with the legendary aspects of the telling. And the more we hear legend, the more we tend to forget that great themes repeat themselves in both real life and in storytelling. Whether this human tendency changes the course of our own generation's future may depend upon our willingness to challenge the very nature of legend itself.
posted at: 10:40 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Tue, May 08 2007
Baby formula locked up like expensive liquor
I was with my spouse in the grocery store last Friday and he called my attention to the strange display in the aisle that has the baby products. There were only a few cans of baby formula on the shelf and the ones that were there had some sort of anti-theft device attached to them. He picked one up and said that he knew it was expensive to raise kids, but that he hadn't realized formula was such an enticement to shoplifters.
It didn't dawn on me until later that I recalled some issues a couple of years ago with people stealing infant formula for using to cut illegal drugs and also to repackage and sell to small stores for a lesser amount than the store would generally be paying on the wholesale market. I hadn't heard much about the whole issue lately, but I've learned that the black market for baby formula is still very active, with whole theft rings in operation. Whether thieves are desperate parents trying to feed their children or greedy crooks eager to make a profit on reselling the formula, the end result seems to be less formula on the store shelves and more formula behind the counter where you have to ask for it in order to make a legitimate purchase.
posted at: 12:10 | category: /Food | link to this entry
I was with my spouse in the grocery store last Friday and he called my attention to the strange display in the aisle that has the baby products. There were only a few cans of baby formula on the shelf and the ones that were there had some sort of anti-theft device attached to them. He picked one up and said that he knew it was expensive to raise kids, but that he hadn't realized formula was such an enticement to shoplifters.
It didn't dawn on me until later that I recalled some issues a couple of years ago with people stealing infant formula for using to cut illegal drugs and also to repackage and sell to small stores for a lesser amount than the store would generally be paying on the wholesale market. I hadn't heard much about the whole issue lately, but I've learned that the black market for baby formula is still very active, with whole theft rings in operation. Whether thieves are desperate parents trying to feed their children or greedy crooks eager to make a profit on reselling the formula, the end result seems to be less formula on the store shelves and more formula behind the counter where you have to ask for it in order to make a legitimate purchase.
posted at: 12:10 | category: /Food | link to this entry
Mon, May 07 2007
Content control plus yard duty
We're making some transitions in content hosting this week, so blogging posts may or may not be regular events, depending on how smooth the process is. My spouse already moved a lot of his Forex material to its own domain at ForexMT4.
Yours truly will also be on extra late-afternoon lawn duty while this transition takes place. I bought a container of Ortho Weed B Gon MAX Plus Crabgrass Control yesterday in hopes of making my work a wee(d) bit easier. It's supposed to kill weeds but not lawn. The back yard is extremely weed-ridden this spring, so there may be nothing left standing by the time I finish spraying. We'll see what happens.
posted at: 07:12 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
We're making some transitions in content hosting this week, so blogging posts may or may not be regular events, depending on how smooth the process is. My spouse already moved a lot of his Forex material to its own domain at ForexMT4.
Yours truly will also be on extra late-afternoon lawn duty while this transition takes place. I bought a container of Ortho Weed B Gon MAX Plus Crabgrass Control yesterday in hopes of making my work a wee(d) bit easier. It's supposed to kill weeds but not lawn. The back yard is extremely weed-ridden this spring, so there may be nothing left standing by the time I finish spraying. We'll see what happens.
posted at: 07:12 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
Fri, May 04 2007
Don't confuse these two publications
Because of a question recently posed, I would like for everyone to know that the Seventh-day Adventist publication called Signs of the Times has no affiliation with The Signs of the Times material that is produced by the Westboro Baptist Church. The magazine Signs of the Times has been around since the late 1800s. You will not find Signs of the Times publishing picketing schedules for funerals, nor will you find a count of someone's days in Hell. For one thing, Adventist beliefs do not carry the burden of a belief in an everlasting, punishing Hell. We believe that Hell is for an appointed time and place and that once it has allowed those who want no part of God's love to choose to cease to exist, Hell will serve no further purpose. Then God will heal and comfort those who grieve for anyone who has chosen to be lost.
Rather than see Hell as some fiery punishment for sin, we see it as a natural outcome of sin's inability to exist in the direct presence of pure love. It's hard for we humans to really comprehend, but somehow Christ gives those who wish it a type of protection that allows us to meet God directly, face to face, even though we've all been touched by sin. It isn't forced on any of us, but it was planned for everyone and provided for everyone, whether we choose to accept it or not. We can reject God's love, but then we can't look at Him. And God intended for us to be with him face to face, in the end.
As Adventists see it, Hell is forever, but not as a burning flame. It's forever in its finality and in the eternal wasted life of someone who rejects God's gift. I'm no preacher, and I don't claim to speak for all Adventists, but I really feel that it's important to make a distinction between these two denominations' very differing ideas of Hell. Don't take my word for it. Take time to study it for yourself. I just want people to know that when someone asks the old question, "Why would a loving God toss people into a burning pit to suffer forever?", my answer is that I don't see any evidence that God would do that to anyone.
posted at: 09:08 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
Because of a question recently posed, I would like for everyone to know that the Seventh-day Adventist publication called Signs of the Times has no affiliation with The Signs of the Times material that is produced by the Westboro Baptist Church. The magazine Signs of the Times has been around since the late 1800s. You will not find Signs of the Times publishing picketing schedules for funerals, nor will you find a count of someone's days in Hell. For one thing, Adventist beliefs do not carry the burden of a belief in an everlasting, punishing Hell. We believe that Hell is for an appointed time and place and that once it has allowed those who want no part of God's love to choose to cease to exist, Hell will serve no further purpose. Then God will heal and comfort those who grieve for anyone who has chosen to be lost.
Rather than see Hell as some fiery punishment for sin, we see it as a natural outcome of sin's inability to exist in the direct presence of pure love. It's hard for we humans to really comprehend, but somehow Christ gives those who wish it a type of protection that allows us to meet God directly, face to face, even though we've all been touched by sin. It isn't forced on any of us, but it was planned for everyone and provided for everyone, whether we choose to accept it or not. We can reject God's love, but then we can't look at Him. And God intended for us to be with him face to face, in the end.
As Adventists see it, Hell is forever, but not as a burning flame. It's forever in its finality and in the eternal wasted life of someone who rejects God's gift. I'm no preacher, and I don't claim to speak for all Adventists, but I really feel that it's important to make a distinction between these two denominations' very differing ideas of Hell. Don't take my word for it. Take time to study it for yourself. I just want people to know that when someone asks the old question, "Why would a loving God toss people into a burning pit to suffer forever?", my answer is that I don't see any evidence that God would do that to anyone.
posted at: 09:08 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
Thu, May 03 2007
Civil disobedience and saving our right to fairly use what we pay
Have you been observing the recent brouhaha regarding the online publishing of that sequence of AACS numbers? Is this actually a form of civil disobedience? When you look back a bit at the history of civil disobedience you can see that one of the key elements of the practice is the willingness to deal with the consequences that follow actions of civil disobedience, even if that inconveniences the one doing the disobeying. Thoreau did a little jail time when he refused to support certain laws that he felt were morally wrong.
Quite a few people now, including devout Christians, struggle with how to respond when laws seem to cross the threshold of personal moral conscious or when laws seem to deny basic human rights or even fair trade. Are those who oppose the holding of this AACS sequence of numbers ready to pay the piper for refusal to comply? It would make a huge statement if they really are willing to do that by continuing to make public the numbers. In the future, people might also think up other actions which hold consequences.
Modern technology makes it difficult to blur the lines of ownership at times. Some are debating whether the AACS even has a right to hold a copyright to a sequence of numbers, much less to demand that others not publish that sequence on the internet.
I think one of the things that makes people so angry over the DVD copyright types of issues is that we're used to being able to pay for something and then do what we wish with it, within current legal guidelines. If I buy a toaster, I might want to toast bread. I might want to modify the toaster to toss the toast to me when it's done toasting. I might want to smash the toaster with a hammer. I might want to plug the toaster into any of three dozen outlets in my home. I might even take the toaster to a potluck and make toast for everyone there. I can do any of these things without the manufacturer of the toaster having much to say about it in the legal sense, because I paid for that toaster, fair and square. I can comment publicly about my positive or negative experience of using the toaster. I can't legally pick up the toaster and use it to hit someone. There are already laws in place for that sort of thing. But what if I could clone the toaster and give all the clones away to my friends? The manufacturer might sit up and take notice of that, because I'd be hurting their chances of selling that toaster to all those other people.
When I buy a DVD or similar piece of merchandise, I'd like to be able to do with it what I wish, within reason. Unless, and until, I clone and give away (or sell) copies of that DVD, I'd like to be able to use the DVD I paid for in any machine I wish. When I find out I can't do that legally anymore because the manufacturer or copy-prevention folks have assumed negative intentions on my part, I'm tempted to stop buying DVDs at all. I can choose to not pay money for something I'm limited to using in such a narrow way. It might inconvenience me at times, but it could be seen as another form of civil disobedience. (This form of civil disobedience, by the way, is becoming one that I find more and more people choosing to use.)
I don't know yet whether making clones/copies of a DVD and giving it away to everyone I know would be a legitimate form of civil disobedience. I'm still thinking about that on a moral and practical basis. And in this particular situation, the question is complicated by the fact that one entity claims to own the DVD content and another entity claims to own the copy-prevention software and number sequence that handles the copy-prevention.
Thoreau was a thoughful, gentle man. I wonder how he would have handled this dilemna? I suspect that his eventual preference for solitude in nature was at least in part a direct result of becoming disgusted with the tendency of society's laws to evolve into rules that ruin a good thing for most people by restricting the freedoms of not only wrongdoers, but law-abiding souls who were trying to deal fairly and who were no longer allowed to enjoy the simplest of pleasures anymore because of all the crackdowns. If Thoreau had ever bought a toaster or a DVD we might have found that he had even less patience than he had with slavery and war. I know my own patience is certainly on the wane these days.
posted at: 09:42 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
Have you been observing the recent brouhaha regarding the online publishing of that sequence of AACS numbers? Is this actually a form of civil disobedience? When you look back a bit at the history of civil disobedience you can see that one of the key elements of the practice is the willingness to deal with the consequences that follow actions of civil disobedience, even if that inconveniences the one doing the disobeying. Thoreau did a little jail time when he refused to support certain laws that he felt were morally wrong.
Quite a few people now, including devout Christians, struggle with how to respond when laws seem to cross the threshold of personal moral conscious or when laws seem to deny basic human rights or even fair trade. Are those who oppose the holding of this AACS sequence of numbers ready to pay the piper for refusal to comply? It would make a huge statement if they really are willing to do that by continuing to make public the numbers. In the future, people might also think up other actions which hold consequences.
Modern technology makes it difficult to blur the lines of ownership at times. Some are debating whether the AACS even has a right to hold a copyright to a sequence of numbers, much less to demand that others not publish that sequence on the internet.
I think one of the things that makes people so angry over the DVD copyright types of issues is that we're used to being able to pay for something and then do what we wish with it, within current legal guidelines. If I buy a toaster, I might want to toast bread. I might want to modify the toaster to toss the toast to me when it's done toasting. I might want to smash the toaster with a hammer. I might want to plug the toaster into any of three dozen outlets in my home. I might even take the toaster to a potluck and make toast for everyone there. I can do any of these things without the manufacturer of the toaster having much to say about it in the legal sense, because I paid for that toaster, fair and square. I can comment publicly about my positive or negative experience of using the toaster. I can't legally pick up the toaster and use it to hit someone. There are already laws in place for that sort of thing. But what if I could clone the toaster and give all the clones away to my friends? The manufacturer might sit up and take notice of that, because I'd be hurting their chances of selling that toaster to all those other people.
When I buy a DVD or similar piece of merchandise, I'd like to be able to do with it what I wish, within reason. Unless, and until, I clone and give away (or sell) copies of that DVD, I'd like to be able to use the DVD I paid for in any machine I wish. When I find out I can't do that legally anymore because the manufacturer or copy-prevention folks have assumed negative intentions on my part, I'm tempted to stop buying DVDs at all. I can choose to not pay money for something I'm limited to using in such a narrow way. It might inconvenience me at times, but it could be seen as another form of civil disobedience. (This form of civil disobedience, by the way, is becoming one that I find more and more people choosing to use.)
I don't know yet whether making clones/copies of a DVD and giving it away to everyone I know would be a legitimate form of civil disobedience. I'm still thinking about that on a moral and practical basis. And in this particular situation, the question is complicated by the fact that one entity claims to own the DVD content and another entity claims to own the copy-prevention software and number sequence that handles the copy-prevention.
Thoreau was a thoughful, gentle man. I wonder how he would have handled this dilemna? I suspect that his eventual preference for solitude in nature was at least in part a direct result of becoming disgusted with the tendency of society's laws to evolve into rules that ruin a good thing for most people by restricting the freedoms of not only wrongdoers, but law-abiding souls who were trying to deal fairly and who were no longer allowed to enjoy the simplest of pleasures anymore because of all the crackdowns. If Thoreau had ever bought a toaster or a DVD we might have found that he had even less patience than he had with slavery and war. I know my own patience is certainly on the wane these days.
posted at: 09:42 | category: /Religious and Spiritual | link to this entry
Wed, May 02 2007
Another whole life for art
If you can't get enough of your own art noticed, or you just can't get enough art in general, you might have more success in the art galleries of Second Life.
posted at: 08:43 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
If you can't get enough of your own art noticed, or you just can't get enough art in general, you might have more success in the art galleries of Second Life.
posted at: 08:43 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
Tue, May 01 2007
The right kind of wag
After reading about dogs wagging their tail one way or another, depending on their emotional state, I have a question. If this has to do with the dominant side of the brain, could some dogs be wired the opposite way, much the way a certain percentage of humans are left-handed? And if so, could a human still misinterpret a dog's wag if it appeared to be a friendly wag to the right? A wag of the tail—er, tip of the Stetson— goes to Boing Boing for the link.
posted at: 10:20 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
After reading about dogs wagging their tail one way or another, depending on their emotional state, I have a question. If this has to do with the dominant side of the brain, could some dogs be wired the opposite way, much the way a certain percentage of humans are left-handed? And if so, could a human still misinterpret a dog's wag if it appeared to be a friendly wag to the right? A wag of the tail—er, tip of the Stetson— goes to Boing Boing for the link.
posted at: 10:20 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
