ojai blog - news and events in the Ojai community

Ojai Valley Community Forum: Iraq

Passing this on from Evan of the Ojai Peace Coalition:

As a community, we represent various positions with on the Iraq war, and the role of the U.S. in the Middle East. Many of us have complex and sometimes conflicting feelings about the spiritual and pragmatic aspects of these issues. Please join us for an exploration of our thoughts and feelings about these subjects within the safe environment of our community TONIGHT, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30th at 7:00 p.m, hosted by our local synagogue, K'Hilat Ha'Aloneem, 530 W. El Roblar, Meiners Oaks. For further information, please contact Peggy La Cerra (805-640-7173).  Peggy has worked hard to make this forum happen at all, and then to get it opened to the public. Please consider coming and sharing your energy and thoughts.

Local Computer Heroes tonight!

Come on down to Lavender Inn (across the street from Rainbow Bridge) for free computer consulting tonight from 5-7pm.  Join Dave Lawrence of Smart Technology Enablers and myself, and get your questions answered regarding computer hardware, software, networking, business decisions, online marketing, search engines and much more.  And if you haven't seen the inside of Lavender Inn, its worth a trip down just for that.  See you there!

Click the image for a flyer:

Ojai, the Goddess Town

From Didj: "I'm just a human in a goddess town, oscillating between lost and found."

He nailed the town right there - it IS a goddess town.  The strong, maternal female energy is nurtured by and perhaps a product of our litle valley, a womb-like nest tucked just south of the Los Padres National Forest.

Where in the world is George Flannery?

Three friends from high school are looking for George Flannery, who mysteriously dropped off the face of the earth over ten years ago.  Where is that guy?  Perhaps you can help.  An excerpt from the blog:

Whenever beginning a sojourn of any historical significance, it's important to remember where one's been. That said, I offer this quick look back at our dear friend George and how he became AWOL.

The four of us (George, Mike, Wayne and I) attended the same high school in Ojai, CA. For those of you not familiar with the area, it's a stone's throw from Los Angeles and an even shorter distance from Santa Barbara. Ojai is basically famous for three things:

1. Sprawling citrus orchards
2. The "Pink Moment"
3. Spiritual tree-huggers

Happy Thanksgiving, Ojai

This is a very different Thanksgiving than I had expected.  My girlfriend and I were going to be hosting our first one - our collective families coming to Ojai from LA, Orange County, Northern California and Reno.  Fourteen loved ones around the table, eating heirloom turkey, vegetarian stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with chipotle molasses butter, stir-fried green beans and homemade cranberry sauce.

And then we got a call last Saturday night.  My girlfriend's little brother had been in a car accident up in Santa Rosa.  We spent the next couple hours packing, making lists, doing laundry, getting cash, printing maps, collecting toiletries.  We left Sunday morning at 7 am for Santa Rosa, where we arrived 7 1/2 hours later. 

We walked into ICU to see him with tubes coming out of his nose, neck, stomach, even more hidden below the blanket.  Two of the other siblings were already there from Reno, the fifth one on his way from Venice.  Danny greeted us with a smile - it was so good to see him alive.

Danny's going to be OK.  He and his girlfriend were hit by a drunk driver head-on at 60+ MPH.  Erin was driving - she fractured her foot and had a nasty gash on the other leg. Danny had some internal injuries caused by the seatbelt - a perforated colon and torn small intestine. 

I came back Monday night, my girlfriend is still up in Santa Rosa.  She'll probably be there until next Tuesday or Wednesday, after Danny is released from the hospital and resting comfortably at a friend's house.  The siblings have been invited to Thanksgiving at Erin's parents' house, but my girlfriend is staying behind with Danny at the hospital.

Demitri has invited me to join him at a couple local Thanksgiving celebrations, which will be nice.  And I'm not disappointed about making a big dinner this evening, because when it comes down to it, Danny is going to be OK, and that's all that really matters.  We'll have plenty more Thanksgivings to celebrate together, as a family.

(sort of near) Ojai Fire

I've had a lot of Google traffic today from people searching for "Ojai fire" - more here on today's fire at the VC Star.

Strong Santa Ana winds are continuing to fuel a 2,000-acre wildfire that is raging out of control along on the Ventura hillside today, threatening dozens of homes.

A mandatory evacuation is in effect for residents living north of Lincoln Street at Barnard Way, city officials announced at 11:15 a.m.

The fire was threatening houses along the San Jon Barranca, including homes along Lincoln Drive, Lupine Way and Buena Vista Street. The flames were burning southeast toward the Hall Canyon area about noon.

Firefighters are trying to establish a border around the fire and keep the fire contained inside that area. They hope to keep the fire east of Ventura Avenue, north of Poli Street and north of homes that sit above Poli Street, south of Canada Larga and west of Sexton Canyon.

And here's a gallery of reader-submitted photos of the fire from the VC Star.

Vlogging with ExploreVentura

Video blogs and podcasts abound at ExploreVentura.com - check out the video of Sulphur Mountain. 

Ojai's Local Computer Heroes

The Local Computer Heroes return to the Lavender Inn from 5 to 7 PM tonight, Tuesday, November 15 with free computer advice for all comers.  We handle questions from hardware and networks to software such as MS Office and Photoshop to online marketing for your business.  Join David Lawrence of Smart Technology Enablers, Tyler Suchman of Tribal Core (me) and John Brondyke of Essence Quest Consulting and get those computer-related questions answered.  There's no obligation or fee to come and see us.

Click the flyer for a larger image.

The Saga of O-Hi Frostie

I dig O-Hi Frostie.  I don't go there that often, but for what, three bucks, you're at the sweet spot of diversity in the Ojai community, sitting at an outdoor bench with a turkey burger and fries.  Ten people lined up at the window, owner Rik Henderson or a high-school student taking orders for the locals - kids, parents, workers, seniors.

Read this article on O-Hi Frostie in the VC Star (free reg. req.) - it is a microcosm of the struggle that this town faces in many ways - on growth, design, landmarks, eateries and what the essence of Ojai is.  Be sure to check out the comments - they are a crack-up.

 

If Polito tears down the O-Hi Frostie, Henderson plans to buy a piece of property in Ojai and rebuild the restaurant. The only difference would be a modern kitchen inside. "We will measure this thing inch by inch, and I will go into debt up to my eyeballs to re-create the O-Hi Frostie exactly as it is," he said.

Enough to buy my own beer

Talk about a labor of love.  In a post entitled "What Your Blog Is Worth," Nic Duquette says, based on his algorithms and calculations, I should be making $540 a year blogging, which is enough to "live in my parents' basement, but buy my own beer."  Sounds about right.