Sleeping is legal once again

Posted on 31. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, non-profits, politics, startling statistics

Here’s a sad statistic: there are approximately 74,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County’s 4,060 square miles, but only 17,000 shelter beds for them. That means that only 23% of the homeless can sleep in a shelter bed on a given night.

As if that’s not bad enough, lately the LAPD has been cracking down on sleeping on the street. According to today’s NY Times story, Some Respite, if Little Cheer, for Skid Row Homeless,

Under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, Los Angeles agreed on Oct. 10 not to appeal a federal court order and will instead allow sleeping on the sidewalk, at least until the city provides 1,250 new beds in low-income housing.

The deal partly rolls back a zero-tolerance crackdown on petty offenses in the Skid Row area, including sleeping in public places, that was undertaken late last year by Police Chief William J. Bratton. The effort has reduced by about half the 8,000 homeless who frequented the area a year ago, according to police estimates.

Gee, wow. Another 1,250 beds will mean that 24.7% of the homeless will have access to a shelter bed. If you’ve got to be homeless, you might as well be in a warm place like L.A., but clearly something’s not working here.

By the way, check out this animated Cartifact map that the NY Times story refers to. It shows how fluid the downtown Los Angeles homeless population is.

One group that is working to help the people of Skid Row is the Inner City Law Center. They help “homeless and low-income clients obtain the housing, healthcare, and government benefits to which they are entitled under the law.”

I just finished re-designing their website. Hopefully it’ll raise their profile even more.

Looking for love in all the right places

Posted on 30. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in animals, cool websites, food, shopping

If I didn’t have a devoted dog, a handsome husband and a flock of friends, I’d check out these two sites:

The Lunch Club: Because eating alone is boring

This website advertises gatherings where you can catch a meal while meeting new people. It’s got branches in NY, Los Angeles, Boston and 15 other U.S. and U.K. locations. It’s not a pickup scene. Here’s a description from the site:

When you arrive, we learn your name. Then we introduce you to lots of other “strangers” who are there for the same reason: To make friends and forge community. You’ll simply hang out and get to know each other. Perhaps you’ll share a meal, or take part in one of the many fun activities we do all the time. Afterward, you can keep in touch through this web site. Strangers become neighbors. And that’s merely the beginning.

I’d be so there if I weren’t already busy having lunch with the ladies! This would have been fun when I first moved to L.A.

Flexpetz: Dog sharing service

Do you love dogs but you don’t have the space or the time to own one? Do you want to see what dog ownership is like? Flexpetz allows you to share a dog with other owners. You can “rent” one of their dogs for a specified period of time and enjoy its company or even see if you want to adopt it. All Flexpetz dogs come from animal shelters and are carefully screened for friendliness and general health. Here’s how their website describes their services:

FLEXPETZ is a shared dog ownership concept that provides our members with access to a variety of FLEXPETZ dogs. All FLEXPETZ dogs complete obedience training and some FLEXPETZ dogs are also certified as therapy dogs.

Through the FLEXPETZ shared dog ownership concept, members can spend from just a few hours to a number of days with each of our dogs. FLEXPETZ dogs are available in varied breed sizes to ensure compatibility with our member’s individual lifestyles and unique circumstances.

I think this is great. It’s a win-win for dogs and humans!

Maybe someone will bring their Flexpetz dog to a Lunch Club lunch!

Tapestry pre-dates computer art

Posted on 29. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in art

Elaine Reichek explains the continuum from tapestries to modern computer art in this week’s New Yorker magazine:

“I think that what makes tapestry so topical is its relation to computer art,” Reichek said recently over lunch at her studio, in Harlem. “They both involve patterning, and reducing or enlarging an image to a charted form. A stitch, in essence, is a pixel. With any pixellated surface, whether it’s a tapestry or a difital photograph, the more pixels you have, the higher your image resolution.”

So impressionism, and in particular, pointillism, would be between tapestries and computer art in this timeline.

I never thought of it this way. Now I feel more like an artist. :)

Forget breadcrumbs: kids need a GPS to get home

Posted on 28. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in parenting, technical

This truly is a Gilded Age. Today’s Toys-R-Us “Biggest Toy Book Ever” catalog includes the following ad for a handheld GPS system:

This would be perfect for little backseat drivers. “Mom, turn right here to get to Pinkberry.”

Otherwise, I don’t see the point. If your kid is ever unsupervised enough to need a GPS, then there’s a bigger problem at hand.

(Why was I reading the Toys-R-Us catalog? My teenage daughter and I read it together, and reminisced about the old eToys days when I brought home so many toy samples for free…)

Animated map of how religions spread

Posted on 28. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in cool websites, international, religion

What’s the world’s oldest major religion? I thought it was Judaism, but I was off by several millenniums. Find out the answer by viewing the short animation at “Map of Religion.” It shows where each religion was dominant for the past 5,000 years.

It’s made by the people who brought us the excellent “Map of War.”

We’re such a product of the cultures we live in. It’s unlikely you’ll find someone choose to be Hindu in the middle of South America. I wonder what religion people would choose without cultural constraints?

It’s also amazing how Christianity spread so much further and so quickly compared to other religions once missionaries spread out throughout the world.

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You-know-what flows downhill in La Canada

Posted on 27. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in local news

When my husband and I purchased our first house in La Canada Flintridge, he said he’d never consider a house on a street with a yellow line or that had a septic tank. Never say “never”: our second house has both. Thankfully, the septic system hasn’t been a problem since we moved in 7.5 years ago.

We live in the only part of town that hasn’t approved sewers yet, but our time has come to decide what to do. According to this week’s La Canada Valley Sun,

Residents of the about 1,800 homes, in what the city has designated sewer district No. 5, were recently mailed a survey that asks them how they would vote on a proposed $4.2 million design for a future $91 million low pressure sewer system. If, after the design is complete and the sewer district approved by property owners’ vote, they would be assessed either a one-time fee, based on lot size, of between $33,150 to $60,550 cost per home, or a yearly fee of between $3,085 and $5,638. A $514 yearly maintenance fee would also be assessed.

Ouch. That’s a lot of money. But it’s cheaper than some of the other options, and the state might demand that we do something soon. Here’s the rub, however:

The proposed system would cost homeowners less than a traditional gravity flow system, but would require more maintenance. The low-pressure system also requires electricity. Many residents expressed concern about the possibility of power outages, to which panel members said a generator could be brought to the affected homes within the 1,800 home area, one at a time, as part of the maintenance agreement. That would allow residents short-term use of their system until power was restored.

Excuse me? If the power goes out, I can’t flush the toilet unless it’s my turn to have the generator at my house? Power has gone out in parts of this town for days at a time when there’s a big windstorm. What if you have to go in the middle of the night? If I’m understanding this wrong, please correct me.

In the meantime, I’m grateful for my low-tech septic system.

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All’s quiet on the home fronts

Posted on 26. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in animals, local news, my life

My mother and stepfather decided to return to their home in Escondido. I advised them not to, since there are still two fires raging within eight miles of them that are about 40% contained, and there’s lots of smoke in the air, but they wanted to make sure all is well there.

They just arrived, and thankfully all is well. It’s a bright, sunny day, and they can’t smell smoke inside or outside. My mom said it was sad to see how much of Fallbrook had burned as they drove down the 15 freeway, and she’s afraid some of her friends’ houses may have burned.

My dog (pictured above) cried for about a half an hour after they left. She really adores my stepfather in particular, because he takes her on walks to the donut shop. (I don’t think he feeds her donuts…but I can’t be sure…) She’s asleep on the couch now, and I can tell she’s having some bad puppy dreams. So sad.

What I remember since a year ago today

Posted on 25. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in life lessons, my life

One of my father’s favorite expressions is, “You learn something new every day.” I agree with him, but thought I’d put it to the test anyway. So a year ago today I started a feature on this blog called, “Memorable Lesson Learned Today.”

My dad’s right. We do learn something new each day, but only if we’re open to it. We need to retain our curiosity and sense of wonder at the world around us. Without it, life would be boring, and being bored is a waste of time.

So check it out. Some of the things I’ve learned have been obscure, some have been personal, and some I’ve had to keep vague in order to protect the people I love. But I have indeed learned something new each day for the last year, and plan on doing so for many more years.

Fishing for a new theme

Posted on 25. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in technical

Yes, it’s still me! My old theme wasn’t displaying properly in AOL, so I switched to this new one. I wonder how long it will last?

No new taxes = no new firemen

Posted on 24. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in local news, politics

Today’s LA Times quotes former San Diego fire Chief Jeff Bowman:

But as we drive to get his mother, he can’t help but go over some of the facts.

Although the city of San Diego has a fire department, the county doesn’t, leaving many suburban and rural areas to rely on volunteer departments. The city has but one firefighting helicopter and just 975 firefighters for 330 square miles and 1.3 million residents.

Compare that, he says, with San Francisco, which has 1,600 firefighters for 60 square miles and 850,000 people.

“San Diego practices the biggest don’t-tax-me campaign I’ve seen,” says Bowman, a proud, lifelong Republican. Fine, he says, don’t raise taxes. But reevaluate how money is spent and redistribute it to public safety.

A number of San Diego suburbs have the same resource problems, he says, and are more inclined to invest in evacuation technology than fire prevention and suppression.

“It’s a lot cheaper,” he says. “I’ve had the hardest time with the culture of ‘We can do more with less.’ “

This would make a great little algebra problem:

San Francisco: (1,600 firefighters / 60 sq. miles) = 27 firefighters / sq. mile
San Diego: (975 firefighters / 330 sq. miles) = 3 firefighters / sq. mile

San Francisco: (850,000 people / 1,600 firefighters) = 531 people / firefighter
San Diego: (1,300,000 people / 975 firefighters) = 1,333 people / firefighter

Perhaps San Francisco’s numbers are favorable since they’re more urban and they remember the earthquake and subsequent fires a century ago.  But shouldn’t San Diego remember the lessons of the fires just four years ago?

Deer in river surrounded by fire

Posted on 24. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in animals, local news

If I were a deer, this is where I’d go too. I hope they followed the river downstream.

NOTE: I was told by the person who sent this to me that this was taken near Lake Arrowhead this week. That’s incorrect: Ron Brookman left a comment that says, “This is NOT a picture from Lake Arrowhead. It is, however, a real picture taken in Montana on August 6, 2000, at the Bitterroot Fire.  A famous, once-in-a-lifetime photo! See: http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/deerfire.asp” Thanks, Ron!! 

I received this picture from my sister-in-law’s sister-in-law. Does that mean she’s my sister-in-law²?

A life too full?

Posted on 24. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in my life

I use Calendar Creator to keep track of my family’s many commitments. Today I happened to flip forward to November, and saw that November looks a lot less busy than October has been. I was pretty excited by that prospect, but then realized that it’ll probably fill up before long.

On the other hand, I’m blessed to have such a full life. Truly. And for those of you who wonder why I’m saying “no” to so many new commitments lately, here’s why.

What a difference a day makes: see the smoky sky

Posted on 23. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, local news, my life

Here’s a picture I took in La Canada yesterday afternoon:

Here’s one I just took:

The closest fire to us is about 15-20 miles away, so we’re in no danger from them. However, the air is smoky enough that sports practices have been cancelled.

How literature inspires in Burma

Posted on 23. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in books, international, politics, quotes, religion

Anger, hopelessness and fear prevail in Burma now that the military has cracked down and internet access has been shut off. Here are some quotes from yesterday’s NYTimes:

“It’s not peace you see here, it’s silence; it’s a forced silence,” said a 46-year-old writer who joined last month’s protests in Yangon and was now on the run, carrying with him a worn copy of his favorite book, George Orwell’s “1984.” “We are the military’s slaves. We want democracy. We want to wait no longer. But we are afraid of their guns.”

My daughter says that Napoleon carried around a copy of Machiavelli’s “The Prince.” I wonder what literature other famous people have cherished?

More quotes:
“Keep your pen and piece of paper in your pocket; there are spies everywhere,” said a 62-year-old retired man in Yangon’s Chaukktatgyi Pagoda. “Please don’t tell anyone my name. Big trouble for me.”

…

“Please solve this problem,” wrote a 9-year-old girl in her diary the day she heard her government was shooting at monks. “Who can solve this problem?”

…

At the same time, government-run media carried pictures of generals kneeling and bowing before senior monks with cash and food donations — an apparent effort to soften the military’s image. “They come with fire in one hand and water in the other,” said the 60-year-old monk. “These days, I cannot even leave my monastery without their permission.”

I was pleased to see that the U.S. Treasury froze the assets of 14 senior members of Myanmar’s government, and that the State Department imposed travel restrictions on them. I hope we can find a way to help the people of Burma achieve their freedom from these evil people.

For more on “evil,” read today’s NYTimes Magazine article, Speak No ‘Evil’. I hope I’m never afraid to call evil what it is.

Smoky sunrise

Posted on 23. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, local news

All’s still clear here. But check out this morning’s sunrise:

San Diego fire status links

Posted on 22. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in local news, my life

My mother and stepfather just arrived from Escondido. They weren’t ordered to evacuate, but the fire was getting closer so they decided to flee in daylight rather than in the middle of the night. It was a wise decision: it’s very smoky down there, and vital services such as grocery stores are probably closing. We’re happy to see them, but wish it were under better circumstances.

I’m collecting San Diego fire information links. If you have any, please comment below. Here’s what I have so far:

• CBS8.com: Includes a map, a blog, traffic information & much, much more
• KPBS: Includes a map and a live feed
• SignOnSanDiego.com: Blog
• feed
• List of homes destroyed
• Official government site
• Weather
• Valley Center weather
• View from space
• La Jolla Indian Reservation Update (blog includes Hidden Meadows info)
• Closed roads (Fox6, San Diego)
• Active fire maps: Download the CONUS KMZ.  Very information rich for just 50K!

Many thanks to Mark for providing most of these links to me!

The joys of teaching a teen to drive

Posted on 22. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in art, parenting

My daughter found this Zits comic in today’s paper. I can totally sympathize.

I’m surprised the Zits mom doesn’t have more grey hair. Oh, she dyes it.

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Which of the seven deadly sins do you struggle with the most?

Posted on 22. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in religion, startling statistics

Love this Christianity Today poll. Add your vote!
I answered “gluttony.” I don’t think I’m a glutton, but I do have to fight hard sometimes not to eat too many goodies when they’re put in front of me, especially during the holiday season.

Here are the poll results so far. Guess it just shows that sinners struggle in many different ways.

Google Map of Southern California fires

Posted on 21. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in local news

Current Southern California fires :

I found it from a link on the . Hopefully all those blue tags will disappear soon.

I leave the house for 10 minutes and this is what I come back to

Posted on 21. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in environment, my life

I should have said “kaynahora” when I told my daughter that with this wind I’m happy we don’t live up the mountain anymore. I left the house for 10 minutes to drop her off for a birthday lunch, and this is what I found in front of our house when I returned:

Someone had reported a fire, but thankfully when the firefighters poked around our neighbors’ houses they found nothing.

See all the leaves on the ground? There wasn’t a single leaf there at this time yesterday. They’re all blowing down with the strong winds that have continued from last night. I clearly can’t trust the weather feed that’s showing up on my iGoogle homepage.

Who said California doesn’t have seasons?

Malibu Presbyterian Church burns to ground

Posted on 21. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in local news, religion

Malibu Presbyterian burned to the ground this sunny but windy Sunday morning. I tried going to their website, but got this error message:

Hopefully it’s because too many people were trying to access it at the same time, not because their servers were in the church building.

I believe that a church is its people, not its building. I suppose it’s not its website either.

The above picture is from the LA Times website. 

Bookins status report – amazing!

Posted on 20. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in books, shopping

I’m so happy I joined Bookins last month. So far I’ve traded away 9 books and received 5. I’ve got lots of credit points amassed, so I’m sure I’ll get more of the books on my wish list long before I read the books I’ve already received. It’s only cost me $3.99 for each book I’ve received.

My previous blog posting describes how Bookins works. I highly recommend it if you’re an avid reader. I wasn’t going to re-read the books I traded away, so I’m happy to pass them on to someone else who will appreciate them and get some points in the process. You can click here to sign up for Bookins.

A mother’s love..NOT!

Posted on 19. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in quotes, tv

Heard on the season premiere of “Samantha Who?” on ABC this week:

Daughter: “You made me who I am.”

Mother: “That is a terrible thing to say!”

Catch this show – it’s got a great premise, about a woman who goes into a coma as a jerk and emerges as a nice person, and Christina Applegate and Jean Smart make it funny and thought-provoking at the same time. And, it’s only 30 minutes long, and even less if you watch it online a day later.

An explanation of internet jerks

Posted on 19. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in my life, technical

From the comments on Pogue’s Posts:

Normal person + anonymity + audience = total jerk

Thankfully, my audience doesn’t fit this bill. And I’m not anonymous, so I don’t fill the whole equation. But am I normal? Who cares???

By the way, I highly recommend that you click on the link above to see responses to a bunch of questions Pogue asked. When I read it I learned that other countries have implemented great ideas we haven’t, such as cell phone charges for the minutes you actually use (India), separated recycling bins in food courts (Portugal) and foot pedals on sinks (India).

Prescribing birth control to teens without parental permission

Posted on 18. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in education, my life, politics, religion

If my daughter has a headache at school, the health clerk can’t give her Tylenol. She’d have to have a note from me, and probably from a doctor, to be able to do so. I’ve even had to sign permission slips to allow adults to slather sunscreen on my kids on trips.

Our school’s not unique in this regard: yesterday’s NY Times article, In a Competitive Middle School, Triage for Aches and Anxieties, reports that the Millburn, NJ middle school nurse has the same restriction:

Conversely, she is limited in what she can give on her own. In litigation-sensitive Millburn, a nurse can administer over-the-counter medications only if the parent has sent in the child’s own bottle, with a doctor’s note.

So I was surprised to read in today’s NY Times that

The Portland (Maine) school board on Wednesday approved a measure allowing middle-school students to gain access to prescription birth control medications without notifying parents.

…

According to the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care, about 30 percent of the 1,700 school-based health centers in the United States provide birth control to students, Dr. Patterson said.

Are there schools out there that won’t give Tylenol without asking parents, but will provide prescription birth control?

I have mixed feelings on this issue. If a girl is sexually active, but afraid to tell her parents, it’s probably good that she has access to birth control. On the other hand, as a parent, I want to know what medications are going into my child’s body. I also want to be able to counsel her on other ramifications of being sexually active, such as STDs and emotional issues. (Though parents should do that anyway.) Also, what if a family’s religious beliefs don’t accept birth control? I know some very conservative families who think it’s wrong.

Either way, it doesn’t make sense if a school can prescribe a prescription medication without parental permission, but can’t administer an over-the-counter drug.

Side note: I don’t think this would happen much in California anyway. Most districts can’t afford real nurses or school-based health centers. Sad, but true.

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More proof of my dog’s high IQ

Posted on 17. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in animals, my life

When she goes out at night, she first takes a detour to the driveway to activate the motion sensor light, then trots over to the lawn to do her business. She’s done this two nights in a row now.

I’ve always known this dog is smart.

It also goes to show that a dog can learn new tricks. This pooch is somewhere between 13.5 and 15.5 years old. (We’ll never know for sure…she was a stray when she was picked up by the Humane Society.)

What’s a tamarillo?

Posted on 17. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in food

Curiosity got the better of me at Gelson’s today, and I bought a tamarillo. I couldn’t tell if it was a fruit or a vegetable, but I was willing to try it.

Here’s what it looked like before I cut it:

And here’s what it looked like after I cut it:

It tasted like a cross between a pepper and a tomato. Here’s what Wikipedia says:

The tamarillo is native to the Andes of Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia. It is cultivated in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, the United States, Venezuela, Portugal and Indonesia where it is known as “’terong Belanda’” or ”Dutch eggplant”. It is grown as a commercial crop for international export in New Zealand and Portugal.

The fruit is eaten by scooping the flesh from a halved fruit but, in New Zealand, children palpate the ripe fruit until it is soft then bite off the stem end and squeeze the flesh directly into their mouths. When lightly sugared and cooled, the flesh makes a refreshing breakfast dish. In addition, they give a unique flavor when compoted or added to stews and curries. They are also tasty and decorative in fresh salads. In Colombia and Ecuador, fresh tamarillos are frequently blended together with water and sugar to make a juice.

Maybe I’ll mix it with my other fruit for breakfast tomorrow morning. Maybe not: I don’t like tomatoes, and I don’t eat tomatoes or peppers for breakfast.

If I ever lose my curiosity, I won’t be myself anymore.

How I know my son’s not a packrat

Posted on 17. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in my life, parenting, sports

He insisted on throwing these trophies out. I figured it was ok – they were old team trophies, and none had his name on them.

I made him throw them in the trash himself to make sure he really wanted to do it. He decided to save the AYSO medallion and one of the baseball guys. I think they’d be great for an art project.

What do Anne Coulter & banned books have in common?

Posted on 16. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in books, politics, things that bug me

Anne Coulter’s not kidding when she describes herself as a “mean-spirited bigot.” Whether she’s slamming Jews, Muslims, presidential candidates, or anyone else that doesn’t share her beliefs, tolerance and civilized discussion clearly aren’t at the top of her agenda.

She has a right to say these things. But I also have a right to not listen to her, and I choose not to. If I ran a media outlet, I wouldn’t invite her to be a guest. That wouldn’t be censorship: it would be my choice. She can rant and rave all she wants, but I’d prefer she did it in the privacy of her own home.

This reminds me of the American Library Association’s recent Banned Books Week. According to their website,

Banned Books Week (BBW) celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

I absolutely agree that we should be free to choose and express our opinions. However, just as I believe television and radio stations have a right to choose whether to put Anne Coulter on the airwaves, I also believe that libraries should exercise their right to decide what goes on their bookshelves. In fact, they already do. They decide what to shelve and highlight based on the quality of the literature and the wants and needs of their patrons. They’re also careful not to expose children to inappropriate material.

Perhaps it boils down to this: if a speaker or author produces high-quality, respectful work, then we’ll be more inclined to listen to or read it. But if they spew hatred, or their work is inappropriate for the audience, then we can choose not to consume it or distribute it.

One of the great things about being an American is that not only do I have freedom of speech, but I have freedom of listening, viewing and reading.

Note: The great Anne Coulter image above is from Salon.com.

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One explanation for toilet papering

Posted on 15. Oct, 2007 by kchristieh in art, my life

My son found this great Jason Yungbluth cartoon in the Mad Magazine he received today:

I don’t think our toilet papering was a hate crime. If anything, it was probably the opposite. But I still appreciated this cartoon.

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