I have a couple of articles coming out. In the most recent issue of Bay Nature, I wrote an article looking at the Pacific leatherback turtle. This amazing turtle–the biggest turtle in the world, in fact–migrates through the Bay Area every year. I would love to see one. Here’s an excerpt:

Go sailing off the coast in late summer and you might not notice a Pacific leatherback turtle when one swims past you, even though it is the largest turtle in the world—it can grow up to 1,500 pounds. A solitary creature, it glides smoothly through the water, its mottled blue-gray back blending in with its surroundings and obscuring its huge bulk. From beneath, it is covered with white spots, which help it blend in against the sun-dappled ocean surface.

More here.

In last week’s Pacific Sun, I wrote an article on the newest wedding trend: green weddings. Some people are trying to make their weddings more environmentally friendly. Take a look at the article here.

Kyle and I with Louisville behind us, about eight years ago.

Tomorrow is my six year wedding anniversary. I enjoy being married. I can’t relate to those people who say marriage is work. Really, what is Deanna on the comic strip For Better Or Worse talking about here? Marriage is a blast. I like love!

We’re not sure what we’re doing tomorrow, but we’re thinking day trip, watching the sunset, and eating fancy food at the local fancy food gettin’ place. Hooray romance!

I have an article in the most recent North Bay Bohemian on ICE’s raids of Marin County apartment complexes. If you haven’t heard, ICE is sweeping Bay Area apartment complexes to arrest illegal immigrants, but they are also using the raids as an excuse to interrogate other people about their immigration status–including people who are here legally. The article doesn’t appear to be online yet, but if you are in the North Bay, pick up a copy and check it out.

Are our cosmetics safe? Some people say no. Increasingly, experts are looking to the chemicals in make-up for the answers to cancer rates and other health problems. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about–especially if you don’t wear make-up every day–but a group of teenagers in Marin disagrees with me. They think we should all think about what exactly makes up (heh) our make-up. I wrote about this issue in the most recent issue of the Pacific Sun. Excerpt:

Just when you start to feel that you’re getting a handle on all the environmental hazards around you, another one pops up like a toxic bubble.

In fact, a group of young women from Marin worries that hazard might actually be a toxic tube of lipstick. Those girls want everyone to be aware of the possible dangers of cosmetics, and they aren’t stopping until teenagers nationwide join their cause.

Teens for Safe Cosmetics started in 2005 as a division of Search for the Cause, a nonprofit agency devoted to understanding Marin’s high breast-cancer rates. As Teens for Safe Cosmetics approaches its third anniversary, it’s showing no sign of slowing down—it now boasts hundreds of members, a fledgling branch in New York and its own product line to be distributed by Whole Foods this fall.

Read the rest here.

I also have a piece of satire coming out in the upcoming issue of the Wittenburg Door. Keep an eye out for it.

This year, I’m keeping track of the yield from my garden, not counting herbs. It’s pretty fun to see how many things I’ve grown (and to see if it is worth it to grow them again next year). Here is the list so far:

Radishes: 47 (I will sow again in fall and break 100, I hope)
Mushrooms: 15
Green onions: 1 (this was an experiment to see if the root of a green onion bought in the store will yield another green onion. It does.)
Baby Spinach: 22 (my spinach bolted, sadly.)
Carrots: 11 (I have at least that many still out there waiting to be harvested)
Strawberries: 35 (I lost 5 others to the birds. Still, not bad considering it’s the first year)
Peas: 34
Zucchini: 3
Beets: 9 (These I will try again in the fall as well)

Not bad, if I do say so myself.

I am over Las Vegas now. I don’t need to return again … ever. I probably will go back because it’s the kind of place you end up having to visit periodically. And that’s okay. I don’t hate Las Vegas. I am just over it.

A few other thoughts:

1. Someone needs to tell Las Vegas that it is not a world-class city like New York or Paris and therefore shouldn’t charge prices like it is. Pricing I ran into: $3 coffee, $2.50 soda, $30-$50 entrees, $15 cocktails, $30 per person cover charges for clubs. I admit I don’t know how to work the Vegas system, so I guess I’m one of the suckers who support all the people who do know how to work the system. Yes, I am bitter about this.

2. We ate food. The best meal we had was at Table 10 in the Palazzo. I had a lamb dish that was surprisingly good.

3. I ate the lamb dish while sitting on the restaurant’s “terrace.” Which was in a mall. The view:

4. Waiters in Las Vegas are pushy. They want you to know your drink order right away. If you don’t know, they pressure you to know. And if you still don’t know, they go away for 30 seconds and come back and expect you to know. Then they want you to leave as soon as you are done with your meal. I think that when you are paying between $30-$50 for an entrée, you should be able to sit there for as long as you want.

5. I wanted to go on a gondola ride, but when I realized it was right off the strip and everyone stares at you while you do it, I decided to take a (blurry) picture instead:

6. This trip forced me to finally get a cell phone. For some of my friends, this should be exciting news. Now when people take out their cell phones and start fiddling them in the middle of a conversation, I can do the same thing.

7. Casinos are fun to walk through. When I wasn’t eating, that’s generally what I was doing: walking through casinos and taking pictures of people. My camera did surprisingly well in low light.

8. Here is a picture of a strip seen through some bushes:

9. The trip home was delayed for an hour because there was fog in San Francisco. I don’t even know what to say about that.

10. Sorry this post is so negative. It’s what Las Vegas does to me. Here is what it does to other people:

(Taken at the gate in the Las Vegas airport.)