Concerned About Bicycle Safety? What You Can Do TODAY
Did you know that biking and walking fatalities represent 16.3 percent of all traffic deaths? Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed that and that a total of 5,469 people killed.
The League of American Bicyclists reminds us that among those killed in 2013 was Joy Covey who helped catapult Amazon.com from a small company to today’s global powerhouse. Earlier this year, on a bicycle ride in San Mateo County, Calif., the 50 year old woman was struck by a delivery van and killed.
Contact members of Congress TODAY to ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 3494 / S. 1708, which requires the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and state DOTs to account for and work to reduce bicyclist and pedestrian deaths. Take Action Here.
Bicycle Awareness: Taking It To the Streets (+ City Hall!)
Have you seen a ghost bike in your community?
Pictured here is a ghost bike: simply, it’s a bicycle that has been painted white and placed where a bicyclist has died to remind us all of where and how they lost their lives–and to remind drivers to BE CAREFUL. (Learn about the Ghost Bike Film Project here).
In the past few years, far too many people have died or been seriously injured here in Ventura County as well as elsewhere by collisions between drivers and cyclists.
My friend Rachel Morris, the Executive Director of VCCool, recently let me know about a series of events here in Ventura to bring awareness and solutions to the traffic casualties that bikers and walkers are experiencing.
Grateful for Exciting Sparkling Wine From Franciacorta Italy
Have you had Franciacorta sparkling wine from Italy? If not, you should find some and try it! Very exciting wines–not inexpensive but an excellent value anyway!
We are about ready to saber these #Franciacorta bubbles from Italy! #minecraft@JulieanneCase@mwangbicklerpic.twitter.com/onqYDwEmwP
— Gwendolyn Alley, MA (@ArtPredator) November 21, 2013
Today is the second Franciacorta twitter tasting that I’ve had the opportunity to participate in, thanks to Balzac Communications.
Before September, I don’t think I’d ever tasted this sparkling wine from Italy that rivals Champagne in quality, but is much lesser known. You’d be amazed at the quality that you can get for the money–I know I was!
Tune in to twitter #Franciacorta to see what we think about today’s line-up. Post to follow soon with more tasting notes.
I’m also planning on spending some time with that massive map they sent to learn more about this region that I hope to visit one day soon!
PS And no, I am NOT going to let my son saber the bottles with his new Minecraft sword because Rusty…
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Celebrating Zinfandel Day with Lodi Wine at Cantara Cellars
On today’s agenda: tasting zinfandels and other wines from Lodi!
On the heels of #zinfandelday! Getting ready for #lodiwine twitter tasting today! Discover more than great zin! pic.twitter.com/OsiI7fk84w
— Gwendolyn Alley, MA (@ArtPredator) November 20, 2013
What’s my favorite wine for Thanksgiving? ZINFANDEL! It’s magical with turkey and ham, and it can stand up to all those crazy rich side dishes.
So what better time to celebrate zinfandel day but in November as we’re preparing for Thanksgiving and figuring out the wines we want to enjoy on this special day?
Today I’m heading over to Cantara Cellars in Camarillo CA where we will taste zinfandel from the Lodi region as well as other wines from Lodi that you might want to consider sharing with your friends and family on Thanksgiving, or other special occasions. We’ll be posting pictures and tasting notes with the hashtag #lodiwine if you want to follow along.
These are the wines that were sent to…
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A Look at Wealth Distribution
Published on Nov 20, 2012, this video as been viewed nearly 12 million times. It shows up on my Facebook feed every month or so which makes me think that a lot of these views have happened through sharing. It shows infographics on the distribution of wealth in America, highlighting both the inequality and the difference between our perception of inequality and the actual numbers pointing out that reality is often not what we think it is. The video uses information from:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2…
http://danariely.com/2010/09/30/wealt…
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011…
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/19/news/…
This video inspired the following look at the global distribution of wealth:
Published on Apr 3, 2013, this video is closing in on 400,000 and shows how the richest 300 people in the world are more wealthy than the poorest 3 billion combined, and every year rich countries take over 10 times more money from poor countries than they give in aid. Find out more at the website of the advocacy group that produced this video: http://www.therules.org Reference material used in the video can be found: http://www.therules.org/inequality-vi…
and http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opin…
Feliz Dia de Los Muertos! Happy Fifth–no SIXTH?– Bloggoversary!
Feliz dia de los muertos!
and Happy Fifth Bloggoversary to me!
Or is it sixth?? or seventh?
On the urging of the Accidental Novelist Danika Dinsmore and Sophia Kidd, I started this blog the night the time changed in November 2007. Read more…
Tributes to Lou Reed
Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson and John Zorn at the Stone, NYC (Photo credit: wallyg)
On Sunday Oct. 27 we were driving home from a relaxing weekend camping and soaking at remote Benton Hot Springs in the Great Basin Desert on the far eastern edge of California when I read the news on Facebook that Lou Reed had died. We switched the radio to KCRW and listened to Gary Calamar’s tribute, then we listened to Henry Rollins who had changed his line up and went from a canned show to a live one when he heard the news Sunday morning. On Monday, KCRW did another tribute on Morning Becomes Eclectic and the tributes have continued all week including this tribute to Lou Reed from his yoga teacher and this one from Lou Reed’s wife musician Laurie Anderson where she writes:
Lou was a tai chi master and spent his last days here being happy and dazzled by the beauty and power and softness of nature. He died on Sunday morning looking at the trees and doing the famous 21 form of tai chi with just his musician hands moving through the air.
Lou was a prince and a fighter and I know his songs of the pain and beauty in the world will fill many people with the incredible joy he felt for life. Long live the beauty that comes down and through and onto all of us.
And finally, here’s a tribute by Ron Wells, a semi-regular contributor to this blog:
Lewis Allan “Lou” Reed (March 2, 1942- October 27, 2013)
Today (especially!) is Champagne Day!
Happy #ChampagneDay !! A toast to you!! Cheers!
Cheers!
In my book, every day is Champagne Day! But last Saturday was a super special occasion, my husband’s birthday, and Ima Zin’s, so we opened up this grand lady–a 1983 Cristal! (A report on that later!)
Today, Friday, October 25, 2013 marks the fourth annual Champagne Day, where wine lovers around the globe raise a flute to the quintessential wine of celebration, good cheer and toasts everywhere: Champagne. There will be terrific opportunities for Champagne lovers to celebrate in wine stores, restaurants, bars and in spontaneous gatherings with friends.
Share the love! Post about your experience celebrating with the #ChampagneDay hashtag.
In 2011 and 2012, I organized Champagne Day events where we paired sparkling wine with oysters at the Ventura State Beach. In 2011 we raised over $500 to contribute to reopen McGrath…
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Story of Stuff Leads to Stories of Solutions
First, there was the 2007 STORY OF STUFF. This 20 minute video has been watched by over 2.2 million people.:
The Story of Stuff (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-
That led to a few more stories of STUFF, including the 2010 Story of Bottled Water, watched by 2.95 people :
“From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. http://storyofstuff.org”
And that led, in October 2013, to the STORY OF SOLUTIONS:
In their about, they say: “The Story of Solutions explores how we can move our economy in a more sustainable and just direction, starting with orienting ourselves toward a new goal.
In the current ‘Game of More’, we’re told to cheer a growing economy — more roads, more malls, more Stuff! — even though our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing and polar icecaps are melting.
But what if we changed the point of the game? What if the goal of our economy wasn’t more, but better — better health, better jobs and a better chance to survive on the planet?
Shouldn’t that be what winning means?”
What are our GOALS?
How are we going to participate in getting there?
For me, as an ecopsychologist, a Burner, a college teacher, and a writer, I’m interested in exploring ways that I can help get my family and those in my sphere of influence toward a move from MORE to BETTER. I’m interested in how the 10 Principles of Burning Man, and the way many of us live on the playa and the gifts and lessons we bring home can be applied more widely at home–for Burners and non-Burners alike, in a way that is better for the planet and for people. If we do, I also believe we will profit as well…with a better way of life, not more stuff.
After Burning Man, many people experience difficulty adjusting back to the default world. Depression is common as are epiphanies, breakthroughs and major life changes. It can take from a few days to a few months to adjust as it is not unusual for the transformation th
at begins at Burning Man to continue when people get back home. For myself, I used to stay another day on the playa after the event then take my time driving home, camping at night at hot springs along the way. (That was how Burns 2-9 went; for my past 5 burns we’ve had to be at work on Tuesday–but we still made time to stop at hot springs on the way home!) Read more…
art predator 